Now I See You by Nicole Kear

In my last post I told you that I had started reading Now I See You for my book club.  Well I have finished it and even got a chance to discuss it with the club.  Can I just say that I really enjoy my book club?  It's nice reading books that I probably never would have picked up.  Being able to talk about the books really makes me enjoy them more too.  In school I got to discuss books in the many English courses I took.  But discusses books in English class is more like "what symbolism did the author use" and "what is the theme of the book" as opposed to book clubs which is more "what  did you think of this character" and "did that annoy you as much as it annoyed me".  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the English courses I took.  But I struggled to find the symbolism in EVERY SINGLE BOOK  I read in school.  Sometimes I just wanted to bash on a character or critique a decision that was made.  And that is why I love book club.

Now back to the book.  Now I See You is a memoir about a young woman who learns that what she thought was a bad case of near-sightedness and clumsiness is actually the beginnings of an eye disease.  She discovers at the ripe old age of 19 that she would probably be blind in the next 10-15 years.  The book tells the story of Nicole coping with that news and trying to get as much done on her bucket list before she loses sight.

 Now I See You is not a "woe is me, everyone feel bad for me, my life sucks" kind of memoir . It is hilarious and shows that even with a grim diagnosis life can be joyful and enjoyable. While her eye disease plays a huge part in this book and her life, Kear does a great job about making the book about the struggles every young adult faces: finding a job, falling in and out of love, getting married, and having children.  Everyone that met to discuss the book at our recent club meeting was able to relate to some story that Kear tells.  

I don't read a ton of memoirs.  I find myself drawn to stories about people I have heard of and know a little bit about, whether that be a historical figure or celebrity. On one of the flights I took this summer I read an article in one of the in flight magazines about Kear.  I thought her story was interesting, but didn't really think anything of it until this book was mentioned as a possibility for the club.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to read a genre that I don't read a lot of and see how I liked it.  I must say I enjoyed it.  Everyone has a story worth telling.  It's all about finding the angle or lens to tell that story through.  Kear did a great job finding a way to tell her story and make it interesting. If you can look past the language (which I think gets a little bit more under control as the story progresses) it is definitely worth the read.

I have started reading a book called The Little Women Letters on my own time.  I found this book on the bargain rack at Barnes and Noble. I'll be sure to keep you posted on how that turns out.

The next book up for the Book Club is Room by Emma Donaghue.  One of the ladies in the club read it before and said it would be a great book for discussion.  I'm definitely intrigued and will start reading it probably later this evening. 

Happy Reading!

~Tara