GREAT READS

Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love

Matthew Logelin.

Matt and Liz Logelin were high school sweethearts. In the years after high school they had gotten married, traveled the world, and finally settled down in a house in Los Angeles. Now the only wish they had left was to have a baby. Baby Madeline arrived several weeks early, but despite a difficult pregnancy, she was healthy and growing strong in the NICU. Sadly, shortly after giving birth, Liz passed away unexpectedly from a pulmonary embolism without ever getting to hold Madeline. Within one day Matt had become a father as well as a widower. He documented his struggles and triumphs with Madeline for his family in his online blog, which has since become the foundation for this book.

It's pretty much guaranteed that I won't finish a book in under a month. I'm lucky if I get to read for a few minutes every couple of days. However, I started this book over the weekend and a few days later,  I was pages from finishing. I could not put it down. When it wasn't in my hands, I was thinking about it. The author's voice was so authentic and honest that I didn't feel like I was reading the story, I felt like I was witnessing it.

This recommendation comes with a warning: only read this book if you are prepared to cry, a lot. I was crying by page 33 and sobbing by page 39. This is not the type of book you want to read in public. But, despite what you might think, the story did not have a wallowing or self-pitying tone, which made me fall in love with it even more.

Recommended by Lacey MacMurray