“He came close, bent down, put his arms around me and he cried and so did I, so did I, and I knew where crying was made; it was made in me.”

Date Completed: May 3 2016
Page Length: 308
Goodreads

This book was compelling. I think that’s the best way to describe it. It’s a page turner, although, for me it’s hard to know if this novel would have been compelling enough to break through the normal routine of everyday life, forcing me to neglect family, friends and reality TV, or whether my circumstances at the time of reading allowed it to be a welcome distraction. You see, I read the first 70% (thank you Kindle for the stat) of The Eye of the Sheep while I was in Brisbane to visit my day in intensive care. Suffice it to say I had a lot of down time that was better spent inside a book.

When I got home from Brisbane I stopped reading. I had missed Book Club and new I would miss the next one so it didn’t really matter. Then I read The Little Prince. It was short and sweet and quickly consumed. A week later by boyfriend gave me the first book in a series by Raymond E. Feist called Shadow of a Dark Queen. I read that on the plane back to Brisbane a few days later. My dad had died. I read the first quarter of that novel while travelling; to Brisbane to be with mum and for the funeral, to Melbourne for the memorial, back to Brisbane then back to Wollongong. Then I stopped reading again.

A month later I began tackling short stories; Henry Lawson, David Malouf, Charlotte Wood, Angela Carter. Then I remembered I had one more Book Club before I moved so I buckled down and devoured Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

I was waiting for the bus to go to Book Club, proud of my achievement having actually finished the book when I realised; I had finished the book… What would I read on the bus? I had my phone, so I had my kindle, I could choose anything. I was excited, more importantly I was excited about reading again.

I choose to finish off The Eye of the Sheep. It was just as compelling as I remembered it and I finished a few nights later. It has always interested me how a sound or a smell can send you back mentally and emotionally to another time when you experienced it. The voice and the tone of this book was able to do the same to me. Last night as I read the last few pages I felt like I was back in the hospital courtyard waiting for my mum and brother to come out of intensive care. It’s a sad feeling, it remains sad and I remain sad. I will remain sad for who knows how long, but tomorrow my mum is coming to visit and I am so bloody grateful for that… I think she’s bringing books!