The Book That Matters Most

The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood

I love a book about books, but you probably know that already.  The Book that Matters Most was no exception.  However, before I recommend this one to you, I must give a trigger warning – this book discusses some pretty heavy drug use and suicide.  I am not a sensitive reader, but I would have preferred a toned down version of the drugs because I didn’t think it was necessary for the story.

Now, on to The Premise: The book is composed of 3 separate stories that all circle around our main character Ava.  Ava has suffered tragedies in her past, including the death of her sister followed by the suicide of her mother.  Ava has recently joined a book club at her local library.  Each member is tasked with choosing a book for the group to be. The book they choose should be the book that matters most to them.  Some members choose great books, and they share their reasons for their choices.  Ava chooses a book nobody has heard of called “From Clare to Here”, because the book was a godsend to her after losing her sister and mother.  Ava also has a daughter, who is a bit troublesome.  The daughter is visiting Paris and gets herself mixed up in some heavy drug use.

I was not a huge fan of the daughter’s story, and felt it could have been lightened a bit for my taste, but hey, that’s just me!  There was a point where I questioned where the book was going and even thought about setting it aside.  I am glad I didn’t.  The author did a great job wrapping the stories together in the end so that it went from feeling a little disjointed to becoming a very cohesive story.