Today I have been a slug. As usual, I awoke several minutes before my alarm was to go off, but this morning instead of letting it go through several snooze cycles and then waking the girls for church, I simply turned it off and let them sleep.
I started reading Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler a week or so ago, a page or two here and there. Then last night it grabbed hold of me, and I stayed awake too long reading. It demanded to be finished today, so I moved from my cozy bed to the living room couch and continued reading. I was totally captivated by this sweet love story, told in alternate chapters by the five main characters who grew up in a small Wisconsin farming community.
I am always pleasantly surprised when a male author gets properly into the head of his female characters, and Butler did this so very well. My favorite character shifted as the story progressed, and I’m still not sure which one I ultimately loved the most. But the key to the tale is how much they loved each other — childhood friends, rivals, lovers, buddies, neighbors.
I highly recommend Shotgun Lovesongs. Give yourself the gift of time to read it. (By the way, it is now after 1:00 p.m. and my Fitbit reads 207 steps. Definitely slug status.)
Reading progress so far: 27 of 50 towards my 2015 reading challenge.
