Into This River I Drown by TJ Klune

Into This River I Drown by T.J. Klune
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't think I can find enough superlatives for TJ Klune. This is the fourth book I've read by him, and once again, I'm absolutely in awe of his lucid prose, and his utterly human characters.

Benji Green is drowning, in grief, in regrets, in life. He mourns his late father, Big Eddie, with a ferocity I can understand. I lost my father five years ago, and I still talk to him. I keep an old phone so I can re-read his texts. I completely understand Benji.

Benji's need calls down his town's guardian angel, Calliel, who is impossible, and improbable, all at once. He is also impeccably human at his core, and he loves with all the innocence of a child, and all the ferocity of heaven.

There are plots, and sub threads, and I won't spoil them. There is nothing simple in this book, but I could not, or more accurately would not put it down.

Read this book, if you believe in love, and even more so if you need your faith in the power of love restored.

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The Dead Book - D.M. Pulley

The Buried Book by D.M. Pulley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read the book because I'd read, and loved, The Dead Key. It was a wise choice on my part.

To put it simply, I could not put this book down. I needed to find out, along with Jasper, what had happened to his mom, and I needed to know with an urgency which kept me up way too late.

The author does a wonderful job capturing the prevailing opinions and mood of the period in which the story takes place. I'm sure many readers will find the overt bigotry of some of the characters uncomfortable, but at the time, it would not have raised an eyebrow. Kudos to D.M. Pulley for not sanitizing history.

I will go back and read this book again. It's one of those books I won't forget.

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The Ocean at the End of the Lane review

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was astonishing, and completely engrossing. Maybe because I was one of those bookish kids myself, happier in my fantasy worlds than in the real world. Maybe it was because even in the heart of a bustling city, you can still feel alone.

The nameless narrator reminded me of so many things from my own youth, not the least of which was how much I would have wanted to be like Lettie-fearless and independent. The juxtaposition of his home life, with the discord between him and his father, and the affair with Ursula behind his mother's back, and the welcoming warmth of the Hempstock farm creates the sort of tension in a reader that keeps you turning pages. The language is almost lyrical, and the recurring imagery of the moon and the ocean adds a gloss of tranquility over the turbulence that is existence.

Love this book, love this author. Read it.

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