Josie Silver’s novel “One Day in December” is a charming, light read that will warm your heart, and don’t let the title fool you: this book is perfect to read any season. However, winter is probably the best.
Here’s the premise per the book cover: “Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.” The story begins when Laurie, newly graduated from university, gets off work at her crummy job a few days before Christmas and gets on the bus to go home. This bus ride is different though because at one bus stop she looks out the frosted window and makes eye contact with a handsome man she instantly feels is the one. Laurie thinks that this stranger may have the exact same feeling, but then the bus drives away. How cute (and sad) is that? Laurie continues to look for this mystery man throughout the next year, and just when she’s given up, she finally meets him, Jack. There’s a catch though: he’s just started to date her best friend, Sarah. One can only guess what will happen next as the novel takes its readers through the next ten years of these characters’ lives.
The premise might sound a little cliché. Afterall, there’s a similar plot line with Jill Santopolo’s novel “The Light we Lost” and the film “Love, Rosie” (both good too) along with countless others, but sometimes one just needs a familiar story. Silver also makes sure to add her own twists as well like a chapter set in a “Grease”-themed amusement park and a call-in radio exchange that goes viral on Twitter.
“One Day in December” is an absorbing read with characters that just make one smile. Although the novel takes place over ten years, reading it can be done in a day since each chapter in Silver’s novel features an ending that keeps pulling one back in, again and again. Overall, “One Day in December” is the perfect winter read that serves as a great escape as the semester starts to pick up. It can be found at places like Books-A-Million and wherever else books are sold. Plus, Reese Witherspoon’s book club picked this book as its December-read so it has to be good.