Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

Happy 2024! I hope your year is off to a relaxing start with lots of good books being read. I am on holiday with my family so I have written these early to give myself a break. I will do a 2023 wrap up post at some stage in late January or early February. Watch this space!

Sometimes a book recommendation comes from interesting places. This book was recommended to me by Goodreads – not in the usual way, as in “Since you read X, you might like Y”. I got an email from Goodreads saying, we see you read Angie Kim’s book, Miracle Creek and gave it five stars, did you know she has a book coming out in 2023 that you might like? It’s called Happiness Falls. Great marketing, Good Reads, great marketing. It worked on me at least! I read Happiness Falls in November 2023, and it did not disappoint!

This one actually doesn’t have a particularly high rating on Goodreads. I am interested in how you have all found this one? I really enjoyed it. It got me thinking so much about happiness, and our actions and reactions in difficult circumstances, as well as giving me a small window into what it might be like for some people who are non-verbal.

The Goodreads synopsis reads:

“When a father goes missing his family's desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another --- both a riveting page-turner and a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of Miracle Creek.  “We didn't call the police right away.” Those are the first words of this extraordinary novel about a biracial Korean-American family in Virginia whose lives are upended when their beloved father and husband goes missing. Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything--which is why she isn't initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don't return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia's brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.

What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance. Full of shocking twists and fascinating questions of love, language, race, and human connection, Happiness Falls is a mystery, a family drama, and a novel of profound philosophical inquiry. With all the powerful storytelling she brought to her award-winning debut Miracle Creek, Angie Kim turns the missing person story into something wholly original, creating an indelible tale of a family who must go to remarkable lengths to truly understand one another.”

Does this sound intriguing to you? It is very hard to explain this book without giving the plot away. When reading it, it seems like you are involved in a real-time account of the reaction to a missing family member, and everything that follows. I really liked the main character Mia, although I didn’t always agree with her actions. I also really enjoyed the philosophical discussions about happiness throughout the book. I think this would be a great book to “buddy read” or read for book club. If you are in charge of your book club list, add this one to it! I would’ve liked to have someone to debrief with as I read along, and hear about others interpretations of what was happening or going to happen. This one was addictive! Another unputdownable book from 2023 which I recommend you add to your list for 2024, because life is too short to read bad books.