Book of the Month: The Power of a Second Chance
- Lance Alvarez
- Jan 1, 2024
- 6 min read
As 2023 comes to a close and 2024 stretches far beyond, full of opportunities, I find myself thinking about new beginnings. In the grand scheme of things, a year begins a new cycle of twelve months, every month a new cycle of weeks, every week a new cycle of days. And yet, 'cycle' seems too much of a box to confine the endless continuum of time that each new year ushers us towards. I prefer to view the start of a new year as a continuum. We do not simply press the reset button at midnight on December 31st and wake up reborn on January 1st. Instead, we wake up a day older, living the same life we led the year before, but with one singular distinction: opportunity.
Opportunity is defined in many ways by many dictionaries---and if we're honest, each of us has our definition of the word---but I have a personal preference for the definition provided by the Cambridge Dictionary. The dictionary defines opportunity as "an occasion or situation that makes it possible to do something that you want to do or have to do, or the possibility of doing something." While not entirely diminishing that the first half of the definition has its merit, the keyword I draw from the definition is possibility from the shorter second half. The dawn of a new year arrives chock full of possibilities for you to choose from, and even more, it presents the opportunity to select from those possibilities and shape the coming year ahead.
The New Year's resolution is a popular modern concept born in this same vein—the staple of most traditional New Year's festivities. We take a moment to decide or, for those of us who enjoy making ourselves the center of attention, present to the room our new goals and desires for the new year. Why do so many of us establish New Year's resolutions when it has been statistically proven that a quarter of us will give up on them before the end of the first week of the year? This number increases to nearly half of us when extended to the end of January. A cynic might say that a resolution is born of the opportunity a new year presents without considering that while the year may be new, we are not. We continue to be our same selves with the same responsibilities---or lack thereof---that impede us from meeting those goals we set for ourselves in hopes the new year will bring an actual change. Unfortunately, if the research is to be believed, less than ten percent of us will see our resolutions through to fruition. Meanwhile, the rest of us who forgot our resolutions at the beginning of the year or somewhere along the line will find ourselves back in the same place come the end of the year.
Coming of Age
This has led us to select the Coming of Age genre as our Genre of the Month for January. If you have read a book of any genre that exists, you have undoubtedly read at least one book in your lifetime that falls within the coming of age category. The foundation of the coming of age genre is that of transition, specifically, that transition that occurs when a person grows from youth into adulthood. It is the evolution into maturity that makes the genre. And it is what they do with the opportunities and possibilities presented to them in their newfound adulthood that propels the genre into almost every other that exists. As anyone who has gone through this transition knows, maturing into adulthood brings a plethora of trials and upheavals that one must learn to navigate in the pursuit of discovering who we are. In the same way the onset of a new year brings endless opportunity, so too does the metamorphosis we undergo as we leave our youth behind and embrace the unknown ahead and all of the surprises it may bring.
As we think about all the opportunities that now stand ready for the taking before us in this new year---and doubly so if you find yourself as do our protagonist of coming of age stories on the cusp of maturing into your adulthood---we cannot overlook that nagging pest that is regret. Regardless of your age, every single one of us has regrets. Even if you believe that you don't, I can assure you that if you spend long enough thinking about it, there will always be at least one that comes to mind. Whether recent or over something that happened long in the past, regret is a beast that festers silently and one day becomes hungry and begins to tear at us from the inside. Regrets are built in many ways, such as missed opportunities or unanswered questions. But the worst regrets, the ones that chip away at you relentlessly until all you can do is wade in all of the what-ifs, are the ones most frequently self-inflicted. The opportunities we purposefully allow to pass us by or the questions we could have asked but chose not to. The ones that were within true and willing reach and yet were intentionally overlooked.
And so, with the emergence of regrets, we arrive at what I believe makes for one of the most genuine and compelling themes of coming of age---or truly any---stories: the second chance. Barring the youngest toddlers, almost everyone has an opinion on second chances. And for those who enjoy indulging in romance, we are all too familiar with the raw, juicy plots that emerge from this popular trope. You will find that there tends to be an even split regarding the opinion of second chances. Half of us will vehemently swear that they are not to be given---and for anyone who has at one time in their life been a scorned lover, this point is ever more true. The other half, those more willing to forgive, even if we don't as easily forget, will accept that all but the most horrid actions can merit a second chance given the circumstances.
Just as easily as a new year or the transition from youth to adult fosters many opportunities, so do second chances. A second chance can be the door to love, the path to reconciliation, the road to a new beginning, and much more. But most importantly, a second chance is the most potent weapon against the beast that is regret. And you don't have to look much farther than our carefully selected Busy Bee Book Club January Book of the Month. Brimming with the essence of a true coming of age story with a second chance so ripe for the taking at its core that you can practically see it taking a physical form just within your reach, you can't help but want to dive into this story just as the characters on the cover can't keep from diving into that tranquil lake.
Book of the Month
Let me introduce you to the Busy Bee Book Club's January Book of the Month: Every Summer After by Carley Fortune.
They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart. Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without. For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart. When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past. |
Of course, selecting a book of the month for the coming of age genre---if my previous mention of the genres ability to be included in nearly every other genre went unnoticed---was supremely difficult. As I surveyed my list of contenders I found myself asking "will this one be too romance-y?" or "is this one too heavy on the horror?" which caused hours of relentless debate. In the end, it was the acceptance that coming of age will never truly be an isolated genre as at its core it is one that celebrates change and transition throughout ones life that allowed a decision to be made. And if we are to be truly honest, the decision came down to the recommendation of a close friend that read and adored the story craftfully weaved together by Fortune. That said, while the recommendation went a long way, the true seal of approval came upon reading the above blurb for the book. And truly what more is there to be said? However, if the above is not enough to have you ordering a copy of the book (or downloading one if you enjoy ane-book as much as I do), then look no furhter than the tag line for the book below.
Six Summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.
I hope you will join me in taking a leap into the lake as we fall in love with Percy and Sam and discover the heartbreak of their past while experiencing the unfolding of their future. And did I mentione this is Carley Fortune's debut novel? Talk about new beginnings and a whole new world of opportunities. If New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry (Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book Lovers) is to be believed when she calls Every Summer After "a radiant debut" then I look forward to seeing where Fortune's storytelling will take her next.
JOIN THE BUSY BEE BOOK CLUB TO BEE A PART OF OUR MONTHLY BOOK DISCUSSIONS AND COME BACK ON JANUARY 31ST FOR OUR OFFICIAL REVIEW OF
EVERY SUMMER AFTER.
Comments