Carpe Diem

The Happiness List by Annie Lyons is a really fun contemporary novel that focuses on good friends, carpe diem and dealing with grief.

Loss consumes. “After two years, people sort of expected you to have moved on.” There is no time limit on grief. It is “my grief, my way.” We have to find a way to move into a new normal. “Grief is ongoing. It never leaves you. You’re finding a way to live around that.”

With grief, comes guilt. “Guilt… my oldest and most reliable friend… I get to live, to carry on.” Guilt can weigh us down. We need to let it go and live again. We must not be afraid to laugh and to live and to love again. It does not mean we forget our loved one, but we have to learn to live with our memories and not our guilt.

The novel is about good friends who stand by us and support us. The sort of friends who will drop everything to be by your side in a crisis.

At different stages in life, we play different roles. As we get older, we fear losing our purpose. Do people see a wrinkled old woman? Or the girl she once was?

Life should be about carpe diem. We need to seize today because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

New hobbies, new interests, focusing on others are all good choices that we can make. We can choose what makes us happy.

The Happiness List was really fun and amusing. It did also have serious underlying themes. Life was shown from three different points of view – each one struggling to survive in today’s world. I loved all the women.

A perfect book for a summer holiday read.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON