Book Review: Happy People Read and Drink Coffee, by Agnes Martin-Lugand

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

One last time, I snuggled up against Colin’s side of the bed, my head buried in his pillow, and cuddled Clara’s favorite soft toy; my tears made them damp. The alarm clock went off and I got out of bed, like a robot.

Reading Happy People Read and Drink Coffee wasn’t exactly the carefree pool read I’d been planning on, but I definitely wanted to know how everything ended for Diane and the others in her life. Maybe there can be a rule against saying ‘happy’ in the title, and then having a lot of the book be sad?

Official synopsis:

Diane seems to have the perfect life. She is a wife, mother, and the owner of Happy People Read and Drink Coffee, a cozy literary café in Paris. But when she suddenly loses her husband and daughter in a car accident, the world as she knows it disappears.

One year later, Diane moves to a small town on the Irish coast, determined to heal by rebuilding her life alone-until she meets Edward, a handsome and moody photographer, and falls into a surprising and tumultuous romance.

But will it last when Diane leaves Ireland for good? At once heartbreaking and uplifting, Diane's story is deeply felt, reminding us that love remembered is love enduring.

I was originally expecting a hipster, coffee-shop, feel good book when I started reading this on the plane to Vegas, but I learned better in a hurry. As I was flying away from my children and husband for almost a week, I got to read about Diane losing her family and the crushing effect it had on her.

Luckily, she finally chooses to move on (thanks for not giving us a lot of the depressing year or so in the apartment!) and relocates. Who hasn’t had that dream of running away before?

In Ireland, the shadows of Paris slowly lift, and she finds her way through a totally different normal. Learning her way around a whole new world is exciting an terrifying all at once. The romance that develops is reasonably predictable, but after the tragedies in the beginning, I was happy for the change of pace. The ending admittedly threw me for a loop, and I still haven’t decided if that was good or bad.

Overall, the descriptions and characters make this book worth the read. It was also a nice length for a flight, layover, and waiting around between conference meetings. I could read a few pages and not end up confused, which is perfect for a book I just had along for extra entertainment.

I’d give it 3 out of 5 stars.
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Becki Bayley loves hearing her children giggle, oatmeal scotchies, and baby sloth videos. She’s been blogging in SE Michigan since March 2002 at www.sweetlybsquared.com.