Hello Stranger

I was really lucky in that I got the opportunity to ask all of the questions I had while reading this book directly to Katherine Center when she came to the bookclub I'm in. She not only answered every one, she also gave me some life answers I didn't know I was looking for. Joe/Oliver was, as the author puts it, swoony. He was ridiculous in his perfection. I loved that he was giggly and ticklish. The Kim family was lovely, Mr. Kim especially. When he bought Sadie's ugly painting for an exorbitant amount of money, I got teary. It did hurt me that Peanut had such a poor diet, but if Dr. Oliver says he's healthy, I'll take it. I found it refreshing that the evil characters stayed evil throughout, and even more refreshing that when I asked Katherine about it, she mentioned that she still holds grudges from grade school and said people don't redeem themselves in real life, so why should we expect them to in fiction. The greatest take away I got from the talk with Katherine was when she mentioned how important memory is in creating joy. When we think back on our memories, our minds only hold a few specific moments from the memory and our brain fills in the rest with fiction. Thinking of a few moments every day that bring you joy can change your outlook and train you to keep an eye out for those joyful moments so they become your lasting memories.