The Hour I First Believed

"The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb was quite the book.  It has been a while since I have read something I enjoyed this much.  It was riveting. (that's my word for when I want to sound like a publication reviewing a book.)

I haven't read any of Lamb's other books ("She's Come Undone" and "I Know This Much Is True" were both Oprah books and on my 'to-read' shelf on GoodReads) so that may be part of why I liked this so much.  I often find that when reading works by the same author, I like the first I read better than any others.  There are exceptions (Kurt Vonnegut) but generally speaking, this is how it goes for me.

Starting in Littleton, Colorado in April 1999 just before the Columbine shootings, it followed a couple who worked in the school through their life and the changes that took place after facing an event that turned the world as they knew it upside down.

I expected a little bit more about Columbine but was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't focused so much about the actual event than it's effects moving forward.  There were a number of stories going on throughout the book and each of them felt like they could have stood alone but worked well together.  (It reminded me of when we went to see 'Seabiscuit' in the theatre and my sister said, "that was like seeing 5 movies for the price of one.")