Spotted | The Novel Cure: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Bethoud and Susan Elderkin

Dear Blue:

Loads of smiles and blessings to you, Dearie. 

I come bearing a gift sure to knock your bookish fancy off its axis. I've forgotten what book I was actually looking for when I spotted The Novel Cure by Ella Bethoud and Susan Elderkin, but like kids running towards the Ice Cream Truck, I could not take my eyes off it. It is, quite simply, the definitive bibliophile's dream. It's bound simplistically with a lovely (and rather sturdy) book jacket, it's a solid weight with a satisfying number of pages, and even though it's a whopping $26.95 (This is the reason I go to the Strand so often...my poor wallet) (Another reason I shouldn't wander through a bookstore aimlessly), I rushed to B&N during my lunch hour to grab up this little treasure.

Have you ever felt a kinship with a character who just happens to be going through the same things as you? Felt the uncanny pleasure that comes with discovering that a writer has somehow tapped into your life for a mere moment? Imagine a dictionary filled with every emotion you could experience (Anxiety, Broken Heart, Dizziness, or Fear of Flying, for example,) and instead of finding useless suggestions, you could discover a novel that may put your 'ailment' in perspective. That is the aim of The Novel Cure. I had such fun discovering which novels were paired with which 'ailments': Carelessness = The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery (e.g. my brain in written form), Breaking Up = High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, or Broken Heart = (my favorite) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Along with fabulous suggestions for numerous ailments, they've also included Top Ten Lists for every age group,  Sitting in the Bathroom, Flying on a Plane and more. Approaching my thirties means taking on a ten year project of reading the books on their 30 Somethings list. But I might as well not get ahead of myself and finish my twenties off with a bang. I have one more full year of twenty, after all.

The only bone I have to pick with these beautiful women are that for some novel suggestions they explain a little too much, spoiling major plot lines for said books (*coughs, Jane Eyre*). But if you're like me, especially for some classics, it won't matter so much that the plot has been exposed, as the experience is worth taking a gander on regardless. This book has placed a ton of novels on my radar (as if I needed any help) that I would never have encountered, like Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, written in 1688 under the entry, Bitterness, about a couple who must endure overwhelming odds, but who manage often frightening circumstances with hope and courage. Who doesn't need a lesson in gratefulness these days, when the mere thought of my Venti Caramel Brulee Latte being prepared wrong could have me spiraling into post Quarter Life Crisis?

I can't imagine holding a better bookish book in my hands, and if I could, I would send it straight to you.

Hugs and Love,