Last week went much better than I dared hope it would be. I managed to catch some parts of the Presidential Inauguration and the evening program, and just the realization that the administration is really, truly, definitively changing has just sunk in, I think. I haven't spent more than about 5 minutes each day on the news (didn't feel the need to) and I hope to keep it that way for as long as possible. Life Yep, another busy work week. I know I hoped for a lighter work week, but who am I kidding. Work has been a different kind of busy each week this whole month and it will be nothing different this coming week. I just hope to figure out how to get my lunch hour freed up and use it to recharge. Not much happened in life this week - kids are loving being back at school, and I am loving my uninterrupted time, something that was only a luxury for much of last year. Reading Even if life was busy this week, I did read quite a bit. I'm slowly reading So You Want To Talk About Ra

Planning to Live is definitely way out of my usual genre. But I still got pulled into it because the themes explored and Rhiannon's character sketch had a more personal connection to me. Rhiannon is goal-obsessed. She plans every detail of her day and sticks to it. So, when a distraction comes by, she doesn't respond well to it. She is the kind of person who believes that doing a task in two hours with no distraction is way better than doing the same task in less time with plenty of breaks. She works too hard, both at work and at home.
She has another problem. She is obese, or so she believes. She wants to lose weight for her best friend's wedding, and enrolls with a dietitian for help. She has drastically reduced her food intake, eats vacuum-wrapped tasteless meals, and works out like crazy each day. Except, none of this is having an effect on her body.
Planning to Live does a very good job of demonstrating the thoughts that go through Rhiannon's mind after the accident. With all the time she has, she wonders about her actions over the past many years. Every once in a while, she picks up her laptop and starts writing letters to everyone, thinking she may not live. And soon after she abandons the writing to go back to her memories. Having planned for every minute of her life, she wonders if she wasted it all - by not living in the present, and by chasing too many goals.
I found Planning to Live quite enjoyable and conscience-provoking. But I didn't enjoy it entirely. I felt that some of Rhiannon's memories dragged on for too long. There were moments that could have been glossed over, since they were just plain non-plot-contributing actions. Also, not being a romance fan, I got really bothered by the excessive romance in the book, but that's just me - it was in no way distracting, but it just wasn't my taste. I should say though that this isn't a romance book, since the romance only features as an element to stress on Rhiannon's goal-making obsession. Still, I found myself turning those pages faster.
The other thing that seriously bothered me was Rhiannon's boyfriend, Andrew, who was too perfect to feel real to me. I know good guys exist, but this one seemed too naive, too nice and too unreal to me. Other than these elements, Planning to Live was written well, and I especially appreciated reading how Rhiannon's thought process was changing on the brink of isolation.



I received this book for free from the author for review.

Comments
It was an interesting review - sounds more thought provoking than the romance novels I have read in the past.
PB