The A to Z of You and Me by James Hannah

It isn't often that I buy the wrong book - I can't remember having done it before. On this occasion I did. I can't remember which book it was that I was looking for, but the covers were similar, and, I thought this was the right one. Oh well. It wasn't the worst I have made. In fact, this seemed a bit serendipitous.

Ivo is dying. He is in a hospice, sounded by the nursing staff who are doing all they can for him to help him through his last days. One nurse suggests he plays a game, listing body parts in alphabetical order. This sends Ivo down memory lane.

This was such an enjoyable read. If it weren't for work commitments, I would have finished in a fraction of the time.

One thing I really enjoy in books in unpredictability, and this book was filled with it. For starters, I loved the non-linear approach. It worked magnificently in this. This needs a bit more explanation. The present day story is presented as though the reader is a fly on the wall. Life happens as it would happen without any explanations, no dumbing down. (I LOVED that about this.) This would naturally make me extremely curious, but I would have to wait for the flashbacks to the past (which did not come in a linear fashion) to work out what had happened - and sometimes Hannah would really make me wait to find out. Talk about reason to keep turning the pages. Oh, and did I mention that there was a love story in here too? I enjoyed the puzzle of finding out what happened there too.

Ivo was an interesting character. In real life, he would have been a guy I scorned. This book got me to see a completely different side to him. By the end I felt bad that I had labeled him an idiot-loser who 'made his bed'. But even though I felt guilty for having thought that, Ivo does not try and justify his former stupidity. He owns it. Good for him.

This was a pleasant mix of touching, heart-breaking, humorous, suspenseful and insightful. Overall a good read, and I would recommend this to folks who like contemporary novels in general. This got a well-earned 4 star rating on Goodreads, and 4.5 on my own.