The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones is one of those books I put off reading because I knew the story would probably be tough to read. I finally pulled it off my bookshelf recently, and wow, what a book. I love to read, and I read a lot, but it’s not often I get a book in my hands that rips me up and stays with me even now, weeks later. I was sucked into this book, and it ripped me up emotionally, but it was such a beautiful story I just can’t say I regret the experience. As I remember the story and how it was told, I can feel that sorrow work its way back into my heart, but it is bittersweet.

 Susie Salmon, a 14 year old girl, is the narrator of The Lovely Bones. When we first meet her, Susie is in heaven watching over her family. She tells us how she died, and she watches her family deal with that loss. Her parents struggle to keep their marriage together, her sister refuses to feel anything so avoid the sorrow of losing her sister, and her baby brother struggles to understand where Susie went and why she is never coming back. For years, Susie watches the world and struggles with letting it all go. While she works through the grief of losing her life, Susie sees her family grow, mend, and eventually move on.

 I really don’t want to say too much, because I truly believe this is one of those novels that you simply must just discover on your own. I couldn’t do Alice Sebold’s prose justice. Her words are too lyrical and haunting to condense, and I hate to take that experience away from anyone. The Lovely Bones is a memorable and stunning story about love, loss, grief, marriage, memory, heaven, and moving on. I can’t recommend it enough.

Rating: 5 Purrs for one of the best books I have ever read, hands down.

 

I have to point out on  completely personal and braggy note - I am writing this and all future blog posts on my new favorite thing in the world...my new MacBook. I haven't decided a name for it yet, but she is sleek and black and her apple lights up. 

My precious. I loves it.

The Living and the Dead by Todd Livingston and Robert Tinnell

I picked up The Living and The Dead in the bargain bin at my favorite comic shop, Titan Comics.  The cover looked interesting, and you know, it sounded like it was about zombies.  It wasn’t about zombies after all, but it was still a pretty good read. Technically the undead were involved, so it worked out.

In this graphic novel, Livingston and Tinnell revisit the Frankenstein story and see where it could lead if the Baron lived on.  They throw in to the mix all sorts of nasty sins: torture, incest, necrophilia, murder, and resurrection.  This is not a kid’s comic book. Here, the Baron is trying to live a good life with his wife and children and make up for his indiscretions by working as a country doctor and hiding his infamous past history. Unfortunately for him, his relatives won’t let him live free and be the good guy. Instead, they want him to resume working on his evil experiments raising the dead. This naturally leads to all sorts of trouble and the multitude of sins listed previously.

I like the Frankenstein mythos, I always have, and this was a very pleasant surprise. The plot was good, the art was decent, and I got it for a steal. What’s not to like?

Rating: 4 Purrs for a great horror story. I’d rate it higher if I liked the art better.

 

Recent Aquisitions to the Library

I just picked up a few new books and used DVDs. Love to grow that library!

• Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott
• The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis
• Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
• Duma Key by Stephen King
• Glacial Period (Louvre) by Nicolas De Crecy
• Complete Novels: Red Harvest/The Dain Curse/The Maltese Falcon/The Glass Key/The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
• Zodiac by Robert Graysmith
• Ex Machina Vols 1-6 by Brian K Vaughn
• Fell Vol 1 by Warren Ellis
• If I Am Missing or Dead: A Sister's Story of Love, Murder, and Liberation by Janine Latus
• Voodoo Heart by Scott Snyder

DVDs

• 5 Dolls for an August Moon
• The Case of the Bloody Iris
• Black X-Mas (2006 remake)
• Dead Silence
• Sunshine
• Flushed Away
  

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

I loved Erik Larson’s book, The Devil in the White City. I thought it was an extremely well-written, engrossing non-fiction account of building the Chicago World’s Fair and the reign of the serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes. When I heard that Larson had another book out, I knew I had to give it a try just to see how it fared.

This time around in Thunderstruck, Larson tells the parallel stories of Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of wireless telegraphy, and Hawley Crippen, murderer. Marconi’s struggle to succeed in creating wireless telegraphy is intriguing, but also a little hard to warm up to because of the subject himself. Marconi was not a humble man, and kudos to Larson for not glossing over that fact. The parallel story of Crippen is also interesting in its own. It is an excellent picture of an ordinary, mild-mannered man driven to a rather heinous murder to be free and happy with the woman he loves. His story, to me, was the more interesting one, but then again, it could be because murder interests me more than scientific invention.

Larson’s attempt this time didn’t really grab me the way his other book did. I think it could be a number of things: Marconi was not a likable character, and neither were the other men who were competing with him to succeed with inventing successful wireless telegraphy. (I will say the intrigue that comes up with the German government was an interesting tidbit though.) Hawley Crippen was a mild man, beaten down by an irresponsible, slovenly, and careless wife. It was hard to have any respect for him either. In fact, his life sounded down-right horrible. The book really takes off once you get to the part when Crippen’s wife turns up missing and the police investigation begins. Then you can clearly see why Larson decided to integrate these two stories into one book. Marconi’s tenacious quest to create wireless telegraphy enabled the police’s hunt of Crippen and his mistress to cross the ocean, and kept journalists and readers appraised much like we are now while watching O.J. drive around in his white SUV.

Overall it was a decent book, but not quite up to the excellent The Devil in the White City.

Rating: 3 ½ Purrs for what this book could have been

The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Mario Brava’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much is a well shot, spooky mystery with elements of Hitchcock and Agatha Christie. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would (I noticed it was in black & white and thought, oh, a silly horror movie. I was shamefully wrong.)

Nora is a young woman on vacation for the first time alone. She arrives in Rome to stay with her aunt, who is very ill. During her first night in Rome, Nora’s aunt dies, and a horrified Nora rushes out of the house to find help. The poor girl is mugged and while she fights for consciousness, she witnesses a murder on the plaza below. No one believes her, but a strange man seems to be following her everywhere. She moves into a flat on the plaza, the house of a new friend, and while house-sitting she finds information on the murder she witness, a killing by the serial killer of the Alphabet Murders. Will Nora solve the murder and figure out what she saw? Will the killer come after her? Will she be safe, and who can she trust?

Brava’s story here isn’t his masterpiece, but the film is well-shot with some beautiful parts of Rome pictured. There is even some light comedy here, i.e., the sometimes silly behavior of Nora trying to protect herself. I just loved the little traps she set. I wouldn’t say this is a must see for everyone, but if you like a nice, a little bit old-fashioned but beautifully shot mystery, check it out.

Rating: 4 Purrs for string!