I was recommended the book  ‘Anything is Possible’ by Elizabeth Strout by a number of ‘best books of 2017’ lists and by the author Elizabeth Day on Twitter (whose book The Party was one of my highlights of the year.)  I was clearly rushing on Amazon and accidentally downloaded the wrong Anything is Possible without realising:

“Matt leads an ordinary life, working at a bank in London. He whiles away the hours at his normal job, fantasising about a soap star, Abbey Jones – and can’t believe his luck when she arrives in his branch to make a cash withdrawal during a visit to London. However, during this once-in-alifetime moment, Matt makes a fool of himself and Abby is somewhat abrupt with him.
Following a stream of events and another chance encounter, Matt and Abbey begin to develop feelings for each other. After all of these years spent yearning for Abbey, Matt does not feel an ordinary man like him can develop a sustainable relationship with someone so famous, which leads to their relationship breaking down.

Will Matt and Abbey find a way to be together? Or will her fame destroy their chance of happiness?

Anything is Possible has been inspired, in part, by Rob’s jobs in banking – from Nationwide Building Society to Alliance & Leicester and then Lloyds TSB.”

On page 1 I was surprised this was such an acclaimed book as it felt like it had been written by someone in the pub whilst reading The Sun or maybe Heat magazine.  I kept reading, expecting it to improve – but after the first chapter wondered what on earth was going on and checked – and realised my mistake.

I hate giving up on a  book, so persevered for a few more chapters before deciding it was total dross.  It has full 5 star reviews on Amazon – but admittedly that’s just from 5 people, and I assume all must be friends or relatives of the author.  It really is formulaic and dire.  My 14 year old could write a more nuanced book. The sentence construction, storyline, character development, scene setting, relationships are all pretty awful.

Don’t waste your time reading this drivel.  What a downer to end my 2017 reading!

So I’m hoping the Anything is Possible I should have downloaded is infinitely better – and will feature in my 2018 Reading Challenge some how!!