The Year I Met You

I think Ahern is underrated. Her books keep getting slapped with the chick-lit tag, but they lack the frivolity that accompanies a lot of the books in the genre. On the contrary, they're insightful and go quite deep into the human condition. I'm always amazed by how she's able to grab me with her storytelling right away, from the first few pages and make me empathize with/root for characters that aren't particularly likable and that have quite a lot of flaws. But they seem real. Real people, living next door. People with whom you enjoy spending time with even if can be unlikeable and flawed. People that become more mindful about their existence, that go through changes and become better, wiser by the end. Her books make me look around me and think “Why don't I have people like Cecelia Ahern in my life?” I love her mind, the worlds she creates. I would just love to pick her brain over a cup of coffee.