7. When You Reach Me

By Rebecca Stead 

6. The Imperfectionists

By Tom Rachman 

I used to go to high school with Tom Rachman - we were in the same class in Grade 9.  I remember him because I think he was the new kid, he had a British accent and he always hung out with the only headbanger in our class.  

I think it was when I was chatting long-distance with an old friend and we always bring up books we've recently read that she mentioned Tom Rachman.  I remember reading a review about his debut novel a while back, but I didn't make the connection until my friend pointed it out.  Ah, no wonder the name sounded familiar!

To be honest, I started reading this book in 2014.  It took me this long to finish it because I would pick it up intermittently between books.  I don't know why I lost interest in it so many times.  Rachman is a skilled writer, but it just didn't pull me in somehow.

My friend however quite liked this book and I believe she had already read his next one The Rise and Fall of Great Powers. To her credit, my friend has a much higher threshold for literary fiction than I.