"She says isn't it funny how every second, every minute, every day, month, year, is accounted for, capable of being named - when time, or life, is so unwieldy, so intangible and slippery? This makes her feel compassion toward the people who invented the concept of 'telling time.' How hopeful, she says. How beautifully futile. How perfectly human." - from Chapter 3 of All My Puny Sorrows 
 Goodreads tells me that it took me approximately three months to read All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews even though the book is barely over 300 pages. This is not an indictment of the book however. I basically took a 2 1/2 month hiatus from reading when I suffered a pinched nerve. I just did not feel I was up to putting the extra strain on my neck. Thankfully I've finished physical therapy and was able to read the rest of this terrific book by Toews. 
 This is clearly a very personal novel for the author as she has admitted it is very autobiographical in nature. The main character is dealing with an older sister who is depressed and attempts suicide multiple times. Towes' sister did the same thing IRL. That may sound like a difficult pitch to the reader but it's not as much of a downer as it sounds. Toews definitely injects the book with a decent amount of humor as well. Just like in life, there is no division between the comedy and the tragedy. The writing in the book is beautiful which makes it a smart and compelling read. 
 If you decide to sit down and read AMPS, you'll laugh, you'll cry and it'll make you think about various things as well. That's a full day. I'm glad I can read again.