Last week I finished reading Emily Henry’s Happy Place. If you’re an Emily Henry fan, then you know Happy Place was last year’s book. (Emily Henry’s newest novel is called Funny Story.)

Generally, I don’t read books immediately upon publication. I like to read books on my own timetable, and enjoy (or not) a book without feeling like I was influenced by any of the surrounding buzz.

Emily Henry’s Happy Place was a delightful read. Like all fine novels, it did allow me to temporarily escape my life and spend some time with other people in other places dealing with other things.

Which is one of the reasons I read. I read to take a break and get away from my life and learn about someone else’s life. And lately, my life has been — challenging. 

I hesitate to write that word, challenging. I do not want to come across as a whiny, complaining, ungrateful woman. Because I know I am very lucky. I know I have many blessings in my life. I am grateful — every minute of every day. 

But the truth is, I can be fortunate and still struggling at the same time.  

And while I won’t go into the struggles in this post, I will share one of my favorite passages from Happy Place:

“ ‘What if I’m bad at it?’ I ask. ‘Being a parent.’
He sweeps my hair back from my neck. ‘You won’t be.’
‘You don’t know that,’ I say.
‘I do,’ he says.
‘How?’ I say.
‘Because you’re good at loving,’ he says. ‘And that’s all you have to do.’ ”

Readers, have you read any of Emily Henry’s novels? Do you have a favorite? So far, my favorite is Book Lovers, which I wrote about in this post from November 2022. 

Please note: I am including a link to buy the book that I’m highlighting this week. If you use my link, I do make a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am working with Bookshop.org which also sends a portion of the profit to support local, independent bookstores.