Teaser Tuesday: The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith.

The Geography of You and Me –
Poppy

Sometimes it seemed as if his whole life was an exercise in waiting; not waiting to leave, exactly, but simply waiting to go. He felt like one of those fish that had the capacity to grow in unimaginable ways if only the tank were big enough.
— Chapter 4

But there’s no such thing as a completely fresh start. Everything new arrives on the heels of something old, and every beginning comes at the cost of an ending.
— Chapter 36

When I was younger there were always two sayings that I couldn’t quite figure out how both of them could exist at the same time: “Distance makes the heart grow fonder” and “Out of sight, out of mind.” I always kept asking myself which is it? For this novel, it’s definitely absence ... or rather distance, because even if there is half the world between them, they’re never really far from each other. Jennifer E. Smith writes happy books that don’t scream happiness at you from the very beginning and that’s what I probably appreciate most about them. If a book has the claim to be contemporary, I want it to have a make-believe reality that makes sense. As someone who has been stuck in a small lift more often than she likes to count (damn you, insufficient university funds!), it makes a lot of sense that you can feel connected to the person you were stuck with. (Always a great conversation starter that “Seems like I’m stuck with you then” line ... not really.) And since travelling is one of my other favourite things, this story is a perfect reading balm for dreary autumn days. Works also for any other kind of weather but the sun hasn’t come out at all today so please excuse the light depressive turn. Fact is, this book has quite a bit of sunshine between its pages.

We switched back to standard time this weekend and thus have early nightfall from now on, time to cosy up with books! Where is your favourite reading spot? Take a blanket and share your teasers in the comments.