Happens Every Day

I sometimes long for enough time to really settle in to a good book but being a full time mom with a full time job doesn't always allow this little luxury.  That being said...there haven't been too many books in my life that have really taken hold of me and had a lasting impression.  Isabel Gillies, Happens Every Day, is one of those books.  My sister, an avid reader, told me about the author & book.  She had actually had the pleasure of meeting Isabel on several occasions.  I remember not wanting the book to end and after finishing; searching and hoping to see if the author had written any other books.  Happens Every Day is Gillies debut memoir (March 2009) and I am so excited to learn that her second book A Year and Six Seconds will be available August 2, 2011.  All I will say is: READ IT!!!  I will not pretend to play book critic so below are some reviews from those in the industry.


"A memoir so raw you feel like it's your best friend telling you her story." Glamour ("Must Read" pick)


"This is another favorite of mine. I started this book on a plane last week and did not stop until I'd finished. What I really admired about this book is the way Gillies is brutally honest, even when it comes to certain moments that are less than flattering for her. Fans of "Eat, Pray, Love" will devour this book."
-John Searles, book editor, Cosmopolitan magazine


"I couldn't put the book down. Gillies' memoir is so disarming, especially given that she's not a writer. But therein lies her charm... you're on her side. Gillies comes off as a genuinely peppy, uncomplicated woman. For those readers who've endured similar seismic shifts of the heart, Happens Every Day will offer the comfort of solidarity. For the rest of us who've been, so far, spared, it makes for compulsive and, frankly, chilling late night reading."
– Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, NPR


"It's a surgical reconstruction of her marriage's sudden collapse, and it's utterly honest and painful. It's a tart book, a universal book, which is to say completely human, and eminently worth reading for both men and women."
-Palm Beach Post


"As intimate as if it came from your best friend." 
—Parenting magazine


"Happens is an emotional train wreck you gobble up, rooting for the engaging Gillies."
-USA Today


"[Gillies] brings to life the town of Oberlin, Ohio, complete with organic market, eccentric academics and insanely quaint coffee shops."
—Kirkus


"Emotionally involving...There's a redemptive grace in her struggle."
—Entertainment Weekly


"This is a memoir that reads like a gripping mystery and a moving coming-of-age tale."
-David Auburn, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Proof


"A smart, rueful memoir of love, betrayal, and survival."
-O, The Oprah Magazine