Twelve year old Lois Bates is miserable - her dad died of a mysterious (to her) illness when she was five and her mum's now remarrying a man she met at the bingo. She just knows if her dad was still around everything would be much better than it is. So she's excited, and a little nervous, when her father's' sister gives her a manual written just for her by her father. There are rules: the manual is private between the two of them, and she can only read a birthday entry on her birthday, but she can read the miscellaneous advice and Kevin facts any time she needs to. For the next eighteen years, until the ancient age of thirty, Lois will have her father to guide her through every stage, from starting high school and changing friendships to her first job and buying a car.
The author was inspired by news stories about dying parents leaving their children mementos, usually in the form of DVDs etc; she wondered what it would be like for someone living in the early 1980's, when that technology wasn't available, and the idea is certainly intriguing.
However, I found Lois' voice annoying (though this improved over the course of the novel), and her self-focus grating (which didn't change). Over the eighteen years we see Lois grow up: her mother has another child, who Lois deliberately stays distant from, at least until a near tragedy forces her to face her feelings about the moppet); she avoids her mother and new husband as much as possible, never revisiting her adolescent perceptions; she worships her dead father over the living people in her life; and she leaves relationships before the men in her life can leave her.
I should have related to this character, particularly as my grandmother died when my mother was the same age as Lois (and was never really mentioned again, like Lois's father). I get a little choked up whenever I think of my mother and her twin sister looking around the house for evidence that they hadn't made their mother up, but was wholly unmoved by Lois and her journey through life. Plus, I found the fact that her dad always had the right advice really annoying. Seriously - every time? That's pretty comprehensive for a guy who has only a few months to live. And yet there's barely a thing, especially in the beginning entries (where one would imagine it was the most important) on thinking about her mother's feelings, or it being okay for her to remarry. Later on there are a few mentions of it, but by that stage Lois's dislike of her new "dad" is deeply entrenched.
I certainly finished By The Time You Read This, but only because I bought it and am in Rome, with limited English-language reading material available (and my Italian is very much at the "Spot has a baby sister. Say hello, Spot" level).
So, rule five of buying books - don't buy on impulse or in panic at the airport. It's great that you can buy 3 books for the price of 2 (or buy one, get one half price) but if you don't like the book then it's a waste of time and money.
And rule six - don't let your choice of books in said situation be influenced by the opinion of your friend, particularly if she doesn't have the same taste as you and (though specifically asked which she thinks she'd like to read when you're finished with it) declines to take it when you've finished.
And most of all, remember rule two. - Alex
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