The Uncommon Reader (Book Post) with a side of nervous breakdown(Cancer Post)

Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader just charmed the socks off of me. Here's my Goodreads review:

What's not to like in this adorable and thoughtful little (seriously, it's a novella and weighs in at only 120 pages) paean to books? Author Alan Bennett imagines a world in which HRH, whilst chasing her corgis, stumbles onto a mobile library out back the kitchens and, having gone inside the van, feels compelled to choose a book. Thus begins the Queen's love affair with the written word. Her stiff upper lip attitude begins to soften a tiny bit as she is swept away on a tide of Proust, Trollope, Dickens, Munro...the list goes on. Before you know it, her habits change, she begins reflecting on the meaning of reading, and then she begins to even *gasp!* write, first transcribing passages from her latest read and then, tentatively, adding her own ideas and insights. 

It's the story of a woman - and thus, her office - transformed. Funny, endearing, insightful, and short - the perfect summer read. Five stars and highly recommended to anyone who loves books, reading, writing, or the monarchy. Corgis do make a few cameo appearances. I checked this book out from the library today but love it so much that I think I'll have to buy the actual book because there were so many passages I wanted to mark up!

This book was just what I needed to brighten my day, because I had a bit of a nervous breakdown last night and it continued into the morning. I started obsessing about the unknown and my health and just couldn't handle it for a little while. Here's the thing: being diagnosed with advanced stage cancer in your thirties changes the trajectory of your entire life. Instead of wondering what it will be like to take your kid on college tours and send them off to university, you suddenly are forced to recognize that such activity is not a given and you should probably realize that seeing them off to middle school is what you should be hoping for instead. Their little milestones: learning to ride a bike, losing a tooth, attending a slumber party, outgrowing another year's worth of clothes - these become your big triumphs. But then, at the same time, you can't afford to think like that at all, because such considerations tend to put a bit of a damper on everyone's day. So you squeeze your eyes shut and hope like hell that it all works out, while before you stretches the unbelievably treacherous, impossibly narrow, fiery path (that in my mind looks like the stone bridge that the Fellowship of the Ring encounters when they're deep in the abandoned dwarves' mines) to full health and vitality. Fun stuff, isn't it?   Now I've probably thrown your afternoon for a bit of a loop. Guess you should hustle to the bookstore and pick up Bennett's book. Trust me, you'll feel much better. :)