Reading

I used to share what I read, and what I thought of it, something short of a book review. I’ll probably eventually move on to that form, but in the meantime, here’s what I’ve been up to.

The Taking by Dean Koontz – I let this one sit on my shelf a long time because the first few pages were frightening. Picking it up again, my instincts proved correct. The main character Molly battles impossible scenarios as it seems the world is coming to an end. She’s a wonderfully resourceful character, pure and sweet in contrast to the evil Kooontz has thrown at her. I enjoyed this one, though I should warn you, I couldn’t read it when I was home alone.

The Moonpool by P.T. Duetermann – a suspence novel with the main character being a retired cop (I like those) with a flair for getting into trouble. He found himself quite the scenario in this novel, which I listened to in the car, and displayed a remarkable sense of self preservation in extracting himself and his german shepards from all that trouble. An excellent read, with suspence in all the right places. Duetermann has many other novels, which I for sure will be checking out.

Deeper Than The Dead by Tami Hoag – another author I hadn’t read before and thoroughly enjoyed. There’s a murder loose and who else gets into trouble but the local 5th grade school teacher with a heart of gold. She’s dead center in this, counseling her students and an FBI agent (the other POV character) in a suspence that tangoes with romance. The FBI agent has a remarkable history, one that makes his present case something to fear. Wonderful characters, especially the teacher’s best friend, and the student that were sucked into this atrocity. There are serious flaws in every character in this novel and they tie each character into another in horrifying ways.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks – tissues needed for this one. Mr. Sparks has done it again, pitting one sympathetic character after another after another. I liked how he took what felt like a sterotypical teenager and her dad and gave his readers another level of attachment to them. There are gravely sad parts to this story, but the magic of connection between one character and another made the cost of those tissues negligible.

A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks – I hadn’t even heard of this one and was uncomfortable with the voice reading this audio book, but I stuck with it. It didn’t take long to ease into the character and the girl he spent time with, another pair of teenagers, and I found myself relating to kids I didn’t think I could relate to. Sparks hits his readers hard with reality, and throws us into troubles where the only comfort found is through God. He reminded me how precious and unpredictable life is, and as much as we try to control it, we just need to hang on and enjoy the ride, no matter how long or short it is.

The Koontz novel was the only paperback, the rest were audio books. I’m glad for the audio books and the chance to branch into other genres than science fiction and fantasy (at least for a little while!). Hope you’re enjoying a good book, too.