I started the year with a rather long, bleak read. Afterwards, while I was lying on the bed in an oily puddle of depression and complaining to Min about the crushing nature of the book/month/season, he said, “there should be red warning stickers on sad books, so you can emotionally prepare.”

And then I showed him the red sticker on this book. Okay, it was a sticker saying the book had won an award. A big award. “Same thing, really,” I said (in my oily puddle voice). “They don’t give big awards to peaceful, happy, uplifting books.”

But they should.

And the shortlist should come out every January 2nd.

And then winter would seem just a tiny bit sunnier.