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A review by rainbowbookworm
The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle
5.0
Many years ago I read [b:My Legendary Girlfriend|442087|My Legendary Girlfriend|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320420450l/442087._SY75_.jpg|814099] and loved it. The following year I read [b:Mr. Commitment|469915|Mr. Commitment|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1175027896l/469915._SY75_.jpg|562669] and was equally delighted. In fact, I liked it so much, I gave it to my sister Joanne so that she could read it and that book ignited her love of reading. For this reason alone, I will be forever grateful to Mike Gayle. Joanne and I talked about books right up to the week before her accident.
Mr. Commitment was also responsible for me going down the rabbit hole of what was then know as "lad lit." For a while I also read everything Gayle published: [b:Turning Thirty|11840048|Turning Thirty|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387755432l/11840048._SY75_.jpg|2570657], [b:Dinner for Two|469916|Dinner for Two|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348721161l/469916._SY75_.jpg|2570646], [b:His 'N' Hers|82225|His 'N' Hers|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419181104l/82225._SY75_.jpg|2570642], [b:Brand New Friend|841711|Brand New Friend|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419183686l/841711._SY75_.jpg|2570645]; the list can keep going. However for a while I had not heard about new works by him. I'd look for him in bookstores and could not find him so I stopped reading him.
One day I went to Netgalley and saw his name as author of this book. I had to double-check that this was the same Mike Gayle who had not let me astray for years. He was! I requested the books and the ARC gods smiled down upon me and here I am, with the mildest of book hangovers and a heart full of joy ready to tell you about this delightful tome.
This book is very wholesome. It stars two people who are dealing with the lingering aftermath of trauma. Two people who have had to deal with situations that derailed them in life and made them suppress their dreams. Two people who did not know that a set of Encyclopædia Brittanica was going to lead them to find joy and purpose in their lives.
The book is not all sunshines and rainbows, but you are rooting for these characters and the support network they found as a result of the endeavor that was getting the Museum of Ordinary people up and running. I was geared up for an unconventional (non-Hollywood) ending, and I would have given the book a five-star rating regardless, but in the epilogue the author gave us glimpses about the happiness that is to come.
Mr. Commitment was also responsible for me going down the rabbit hole of what was then know as "lad lit." For a while I also read everything Gayle published: [b:Turning Thirty|11840048|Turning Thirty|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387755432l/11840048._SY75_.jpg|2570657], [b:Dinner for Two|469916|Dinner for Two|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348721161l/469916._SY75_.jpg|2570646], [b:His 'N' Hers|82225|His 'N' Hers|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419181104l/82225._SY75_.jpg|2570642], [b:Brand New Friend|841711|Brand New Friend|Mike Gayle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419183686l/841711._SY75_.jpg|2570645]; the list can keep going. However for a while I had not heard about new works by him. I'd look for him in bookstores and could not find him so I stopped reading him.
One day I went to Netgalley and saw his name as author of this book. I had to double-check that this was the same Mike Gayle who had not let me astray for years. He was! I requested the books and the ARC gods smiled down upon me and here I am, with the mildest of book hangovers and a heart full of joy ready to tell you about this delightful tome.
This book is very wholesome. It stars two people who are dealing with the lingering aftermath of trauma. Two people who have had to deal with situations that derailed them in life and made them suppress their dreams. Two people who did not know that a set of Encyclopædia Brittanica was going to lead them to find joy and purpose in their lives.
The book is not all sunshines and rainbows, but you are rooting for these characters and the support network they found as a result of the endeavor that was getting the Museum of Ordinary people up and running. I was geared up for an unconventional (non-Hollywood) ending, and I would have given the book a five-star rating regardless, but in the epilogue the author gave us glimpses about the happiness that is to come.