Book: “Wish You Were Here”

– C1 (advanced) –

Photo courtesy of Abe Books, Fair use, on Wikipedia.org.

Practice Your Listening Comprehension

Practice Your Reading Comprehension

Back in 2022, my wife and I went camping together for the first time in over a decade. While, unfortunately, the trip ended up getting rained out, we enjoyed the little time that we did have to relax. When we weren’t shovelling water out of our tent or trying to keep a fire alive, we were kicking it back with a good book on the beach. We found the latter so rejuvenating that we have since decided that we want to make this a yearly tradition. So, before we pack our trunk and hit the highway, we head to a bookstore to find ourselves a couple gems to read. “Wish You Were Here” by Jodi Picoult is one of those gems that I chose.

Picoult’s book is a domestic fiction novel that centres around a woman who works in art curation. She and her fiancé plan to go to the Galapagos for a dream vacation, but when the time comes for their flight, her fiancé is pulled into work and she ends up going to the islands alone. To make matters worse, her significant other is unable to fly later because the world is hit by a global pandemic, COVID-19.

When reading this book, not only does one dive into Picoult’s beautiful writing, but one swims among the characters, feeling the profound emotions and living the unique experiences that they each feel and live. With such humanity and relatability, this novel quickly became one of my favourite books read.

WHAT TO LEARN

With something as captivating as “Wish You Were Here",” the opportunity for learning increases, as one’s ability to understand and memorize increases due to genuine interest in the material. In this way, there are a variety of English language elements to practice and review:

• American English

• the present tense

• the past tense

• dialogue

• italicization

• letter writing

• question structures

• vocabulary related to:

  • work

  • art

  • medicine

  • the COVID-19 pandemic

  • politics

  • relationships (love and romance, family, friendship, coworkership, clientship, acquaintanceship, self)

  • travel and vacation

  • tropical nature

  • guilt

  • grief

  • change

  • endurance

  • mental health

  • passion

  • identity

  • time

  • perspective

• and much more…!

Do you like reading on the beach or while camping? What’s a book that you have read recently? Does this book sound interesting to you? Let me know in the comments below.