Rambling Reads | The Girl on the Train

It's been awhile since I've posted a book review, and silly me: I started my own book club! Since I've always wanted to be a part of a book club (wine, snacks, good friends, and discussing books, what's not to love?) I decided to host my own!

Books and Babes is a book club dedicated to badass women who enjoy discussing and reading books. I thought it would be fun to make the club female-oriented, so we choose only books written by female authors. So far, we've read three books and I'm disgustingly behind on reviewing them for this blog. Life, work, and my dogson constantly demand my attention, I apologize. However, that will change because here is my review of our very first book club novel, The Girl on the Train. 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was an experience. Even though it was our January book club novel, I still remember the narrative like it was yesterday. Everyone who read the book in our club was fully immersed into the world of the three women we meet: Rachel, Anna, and Megan.

Our main protagonist is Rachel. Right off the bat, we learn she's a recently unemployed alcoholic recovering from a brutal divorce. As a reader, her drunken stupor throughout the novel forces you to find her a potentially unreliable narrator, which keeps things interesting, for sure. We go on to learn that she takes the same exact train route to and from work, even though she was fired from her job. Taking that same route gives her a sense of comfort. On that route, she lives vicariously through a couple she sees from outside her train window, who she's adoringly named Jess and Jason. They are the couple she aspired to, but we soon learn they are actually Megan and Scott: and they aren't the perfect couple, not at all.

The second voice we become acquainted with is Megan Hipwell, the woman living what Rachel believes her fantasy to be. As it turns out, Megan's life is pretty chaotic. I won't spoil things for you though.

Our last narrator is Anna, the shiny new wife of Rachel's ex-husband, Tom. Initially, I found her to be fake and overwhelmingly aggressive when it came to Rachel in Tom's life, but as you journey through each of these women's lives, you start to see the full picture that is Anna.

This book is a real page turner, and takes several different twists and turns. It certainly didn't turn out the way I thought it would, and I was really pleased with that. Also, I really enjoyed all the different themes surrounding the novel such as gender culture/norms, addiction, friendship, marriage, and sexuality.

If you're a fan of crime thrillers with some deep themes, this is the right book for you!

Fun fact: They are officially making this book a movie! The fantastic Emily Blunt will be playing the main character of Rachel, and I'm beyond stoked to see how the adaptation plays out in theaters.

Have you read The Girl on the Train? Let me know your thoughts on the novel in the comments below! 

4 Things I Learned From My Papu

While driving home from work today, my dad called me and I was half listening to him on my car phone (I was partially thinking about finally getting to take my dog for a walk because it's now light enough when I get out of work) but then suddenly he told me he was having a martini to celebrate my papu and it hit me. Today is the anniversary of his death. It's been two years since he left us, and while everything feels different, my love for him has remained the same. 

So, I decided to honor him in the best way I know how. These are just a few things I learned from my papu. 

Always tell stories

I truly believe I inherited my love for storytelling from my papu. He always lived to tell a good story when our entire family was together. Not only did he love the attention, he loved the journey of a story. I could see it in his face when he was telling it. His eyes would light up, and his hands would wave around once he got really into it. I lived to watch him talk and appreciated a real value for history through him, and learned about my Greek lineage because of him. Our family has an unique personality, and my papu was the heart and soul of it. 

Love, love, love 

Although he didn't always show it to our whole family, it was clear who he loved. He admired my yaya unconditionally. Whenever our family would be all together, it definitely got loud. In the middle of it all, he would stop, look at her, and say, "my koukla," which in Greek means, "my doll" or "my gorgeous." Then, like clockwork, my yaya would give him a quick smile, then immediately yell at him to stop it in Greek and life would go back to being too loud. I caught these moments several times in my childhood, and I don't think I ever truly appreciated them until now. When you're young, you only see love in others, because you haven't experienced it yourself. Being in my mid-20's, I've experienced versions of love and now truly understand how much he loved her. I hope to one day have someone look at me like that and call me gorgeous, even when I'm in my 70's. 

My papu also loved his children, and grandchildren, fiercely. My relationship with him may have been later in his life, but he was one of my favorite people because I never wondered if he loved me. I just knew. He showed me every time he got worked up reading a story I wrote, or when he would tell me all about growing up in Hell's Kitchen while he cooked me orzo and lamb. 

Live with passion 

Every Christmas, papu never asked for anything from any of his grandchildren, just to see them and talk to them. Papu always had a passion for writing himself, so when it came to me, he would ask me to print out everything I wrote that year and put it together as a book so he could read it. He taught me to never give up on my passion for writing, and always made me feel like I was working towards something. Like I mentioned in my previous post about my New Year's goals, it's because of this support from him that I'm planning to write a children's book in his honor. I have big plans, papu. I wish you were here to see them, and to read what I've written. 

Stay young at heart

"Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth, to be young at heart." Papu always immortalized Frank Sinatra, and "Young At Heart" will always be my go-to song when I want to think of him. While he could be a very serious man, I got the rare treat of seeing his silly side. I will treasure those memories forever, and it will constantly remind me to stay young at heart. Being serious has its time and place, but if you don't stop and let the nonsense in, you aren't truly appreciating life. That's what I learned from my papu, take it or leave it. 

Like in most Greek families, our papu was a gigantic part of the family. So losing him was devastating, but we hold onto our moments with him and he taught every person in my family a different lesson that will guide them for years to come. 

Do you have a grandparent who taught you some great lessons in life? I want to hear about it! Share your story in the comments.