Review: Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets by Jessica A. Fox

Title: Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets: A Real-Life Scottish Fairy Tale
Author: Jessica A. Fox
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Atria
Publish Date: August 27, 2013
Source: I received a copy from the PR; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a romantic.
• You're an armchair traveler.
• You like memoirs.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Jessica Fox was living in Hollywood, an ambitious 26-year-old film-maker with a high-stress job at NASA. Working late one night, craving another life, she was seized by a moment of inspiration and tapped “second hand bookshop Scotland” into Google. She clicked the first link she saw.

A month later, she arrived 2,000 miles across the Atlantic in Wigtown, on the west coast of Scotland, and knocked on the door of the bookshop she would be living in for the next month . . .

The rollercoaster journey that ensued—taking in Scottish Hanukkah, yoga on Galloway’s west coast, and a waxing that she will never forget—would both break and mend her heart. It would also teach her that sometimes we must have the courage to travel the path less taken. Only then can we truly become the writers of our own stories."

My Two Cents:

Dropping everything you know, moving across the ocean, and going to work in a bookstore in the wilds of Scotland sounds like a fantastic adventure to me. While I would never have the courage to actually do something like that, I loved living vicariously through Ms. Fox's journey in "Three Things You Need to Know about Rockets."

This memoir gave me the warm and fuzzies. Jessica falls hard for the owner of the bookstore and upends her life in the United States to be with him. It's truly romantic. I really liked to see how their relationship unfolded in the book. They fall pretty quickly for each other.

The book talks a lot about cultural differences between Jessica and her beau, which I thought was interesting. There are some very funny moments in the book (I don't want to give away anything but the part having to do with wax had me giggling out loud on the Metro, a mark of something truly funny). There's even a little bit of magical realism thrown in the mix (Jessica has a penchant for having heart-to-hearts with Mr. Herman Melville).

I was a little disappointed with the ending. I wanted something a little more conclusive because I was so invested in the story. Nonetheless, this book is great for when you're looking for something to make you say awww.