- My Wish List
See below for the form to fill out to win an ARC paperback or ebook of this book!
In the midst of coursework, I took the time to read this book for a blog tour. I loved the premise (who doesn’t dream of winning the lottery?) and it is a mere 176 pages, so it was a quick read. I read it with a highlighter in my hand (a little bit of the student coming through?) because some of the sentences and passages called out to be reread and read aloud. Wow. I loved the language.
Jocelyne is a 47 year old woman who married a man named Jocelyn (“One chance in millions. And it happened to me.”) Jo and Jo have two children, they both work hard and have what they need but little more. They were in that place in their marriage where they were happy, content. Their children were raised, they were comfortable being together, and their dreams were small. He worked for Haagen Daz and she owned her own fabric store (haberdashery) and started a blog. He dreamed of a big screen TV and a fancy car. She dreams of being happy and having her father with a failing memory well-cared for.
She wins a large sum of money (18,000,000 Euros) and doesn’t tell anyone. She hides the money in a shoe and then creates lists – lists of things she needs, lists of things she want – and she worries about how the money will change her life. And change her life, it does.
“Being rich means seeing all that’s ugly and having the arrogance to think you can change things. All you have to do is pay for it.”
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the care that the translator took with the language – I loved the writing, period! The chapters were short, but for example, one chapter was infused with “I dreamed…” sentences. Another is full of “I am happy with Jo” sentences. I love that. I love that the things on our “need” lists are called our “daily little dreams” that keep us going. There was so much of the language of the book that really was beautiful. It was spare but meaningful. But the book does have a surprising twist which packs a powerful punch, so it is not without plot.
There is much I could highlight about this book in this blog, as is shown by the highlights in my book! Whoever borrows the book from me will have to contend with the orange highlights throughout. But as the book uses few words to make its point, so will I.
This book would lend itself to great discussion and would be a great book club book. Who doesn’t like to dream of winning the lottery? Who also doesn’t want to dream about how money would change their life? And it sounds like it’s going to be made into a movie! French or American, I’ll see it!
Good stuff. And this good stuff can be yours! I’m hosting a GIVEAWAY! Tomorrow I’ll give the details on how you could win an ebook or Advanced Readers Copy paperback of this book of your very own (you won’t have to see my highlights!). Stay tuned!
Thanks Emma for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour! More info can be found by clicking here:
Fill out this form to be entered in random drawing for a book of your own!
SYNOPSIS
A cathartic, charmingly tender, assuredly irresistible novel, MY WISH LIST (Penguin; ISBN: 9780143124658; On-sale: March 25, 2014: $15.00) imagines one answer to the question: If you won the lottery, would you trade your life for the life of your dreams? With sales of more than half a million copies in France alone, rights sold in twenty-five countries, and a major motion picture in development, this slim yet spirited tale has sewn up the interest of the literary world.
Jocelyne Guerbette is a forty-seven year old who runs a modest fabric shop in a nondescript provincial French town. Her husband—instead of dreaming of her—wants nothing more in life than a flat-screen TV and the complete James Bond DVD box set. And to Jocelyne’s two grown-up children, who live far from home, she’s become nothing but an obligatory phone call. Perpetually wondering what has happened to all the dreams she had when she was younger, Jocelyne finally comes to terms with the series of ordinary defeats and small lies that seem to make up her life.
But then Jocelyne wins the lottery: $25,500,000! And suddenly she finds the world at her fingertips. But before cashing the check, before telling a soul, she starts making a list of all the things she could do with the money. While evaluating the small pleasures in life—her friendship with the twins who manage the hairdresser next door, her holidays away, her sewing blog that’s gaining popularity—she begins to think that the everyday ordinary may not be so bad. Does she really want her life to change?
MY WISH LIST is an essential reminder of the often-overlooked joys of everyday life and a celebration of the daily rituals, serendipities, and small acts of love that make life quietly wonderful [provided by the publisher]
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“A runaway bestseller that looks set to follow the success of The Elegance of the Hedgehog.” — Elle (France)
“Delacourt has hit the jackpot… [He has a] knack for finding exactly the right words and for evoking feeling” — Le Nouvel Observateur
“Delacourt has a keen eye for everyday life and for the extraordinary challenges that ordinary people face” — Le Parisien
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grégoire Delacourt was born in Valenciennes, France, in 1960. His first novel, L’Écrivain de la Famille, was published in 2011 and won five literary prizes. MY WISH LIST has been a runaway number-one bestseller in France; publication rights have been sold in more than twenty-five countries. Delacourt lives in Paris, where he runs an advertising agency with his wife.
Walkie Talkie Book Club 
thanks for your great enthusiastic review, glad you were able to enjoy the writing, not all Americans do. Emma
I absolutely adored the writing style, and soooo appreciated the translation. Beautiful and meaningful choices for every word.
Amen to all that!