Recent Reads

142. A Monster Calls
Thirteen year old Connor has nightmares. And if that wasn't bad enough a monster comes calling, or in this case walking. 

This short fairy tale is targeted for the middle grade reader, and explores illness, loss, grief, anger, the power of stories, and how we live through terrible times that we can survive. 

There is much I liked about this book, and yes tears were shed, but unlike other reviewers I did not love it. I am reading this while traveling, so the fault might be all mine. I would love to read some reviews written by young readers. I wonder how they connected to the story. As an aside, I loved the art in this book. Rating: 3 stars.

143. The Blood Gospel (The Order of the Sanguines #1)
Archeology, relics, religious conspiracies and vampires are right up my alley, so imagine how disappointed I am that I did not love this book. Thoroughly enjoyed the premise, but the writing is clunky, the romance read like a high school kid wrote it, and the character development was non-existent. This is not a book I would have finished at home, but I guess my vacation brain is more forgiving. Rating: 2 stars.

144. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Small Southern town writ large indeed. We meet the characters and learn about the story through flashbacks, flash forwards, news articles and present time. A fun read. Rating: 3 stars.

145. The Godfather
I loved the Godfather movie trilogy. Actually I loved the first two and found the third not as thrilling, but I have watched that trilogy more times than I care to count. We used to have back to back viewings in college, and I felt like I could speak Sicilian at that end of those sessions.

Well, it is time for another viewing of the trilogy, and I realized that I have yet to read the book that launched the movies. Yes, the writing is a little dated and repetitive, and the way women and African Americans are portrayed is not acceptable in our times, but this is historical fiction that captures a place and time really well. I got more of the back story of the characters, and craved Italian food and wine the entire time. A fun (for a mafia story) fast read. Rating: 4 stars.