Where the Lost Wander, by Amy Harmon

I’m a firm believer that some things are, well, for me and some things just aren’t. Maybe that’s true for everyone, but I think I’m more particular than most. Part of my personal brand of intensity is that I tend to have a gut reaction to things and for this reason, my gut is one of my most trusted advisors. Whether it’s meeting a new person, deciding what to eat for dinner, watching a movie, or reading a book, I have come to rely on my intuitive response almost before anything else. Often, when making a decision, my logical reasoning comes after I already know what to do.

This is definitely true when it comes to art. Sometimes, I see a preview for a movie and I just know I am going to connect with it. Or I read the first paragraph of a book and I know if I will be into it or not. Sometimes these reactions follow a pattern, sometimes they don’t (or maybe they always follow a pattern I just haven’t recognized yet). One thing, though, is true–when I do have that instinct, it is almost never wrong.

So, Where the Lost Wander. A book I knew right away wasn’t for me. Historical fiction is not my favorite, nor is romance, and this book combined both. Never in a million years would I have bought this book or even taken it out from the library. You might wonder, then, why I was reading this at all.

The answer: book club. This was the pick for our last meeting. And look–I knew when I joined a book club that I wouldn’t like all the books. The truth is, I like the weird. The weirder the better. I love books that shake up a genre, that leave me unsettled, that don’t explain everything. I love books that feel a little off-kilter or books where I finish without understanding all (or most of) what happened.* However, finding an entire book club of people with similar tastes is impossible and frankly, not the point. As I’ve discussed previously, being in a book club forces me to expand my horizons and read novels I would normally pass over.

With all of that in mind, I dove into Where the Lost Wander, a book about, to put it succinctly, the Oregon Trail. Ok; not exactly the video game but rather, covered wagon travelers on the Oregon Trail. Yes, they get diseases like cholera. Yes; they have to hunt for food. Yes; they have choices about how to cross rivers (ford or raft?). I know this book wasn’t written to trigger nostalgia in us Xennials, but it totally did. Honestly, it was my favorite part of the book.

As usual, my gut was right. This book wasn’t for me. But what I didn’t expect was that this book would be, well, really good. It was well written and well paced. It was engaging. I cared about the characters, even the side characters (and sometimes more than the protagonists). I wanted to know what was going to happen and I definitely cried a few times (not hard to make me do but still a good sign). I had some cognitive dissonance while reading–I didn’t like the subject matter or the genre, but I did actually like the book.

It was really a great experience to be surprised that I liked a novel while I was reading it. My participant-observer brain was in full gear watching my reactions. I had fun both reading out of my comfort zone and observing the experience of moving out of my comfort zone. It made the whole thing even more enjoyable.

So, will I be picking up more historical fiction romances? Probably not; I’ll stick with my weirdo books for the time being. But maybe next time I read something I haven’t chosen, I’ll start out a little more open minded and expect it to go well.

–Babs

* Yes, there’s a footnote. Cue the eye roll at my pedanticism, even on a blog. But if you, too, like these kinds of books, make sure you check out This is How You Lose the Time War. Yes, I’ve mentioned it before. I’m going to keep recommending it, so you may as well read it now.