5 Stars for Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler deserved the 1989 Pulitzer Prize. Any writer who can make boring everyday life absolutely meaningful gets my vote. Reviews that rank this book lower than four stars seem to base their score on this story not being thriller content. Real people are not interesting all the time, and a trip to a funeral isn't high on the list of exciting things to do; however, in the midst of commonality - I kept discovering little pockets of truth parallel to my own life and people around me.

For example, Ira, the husband's need to play solitaire all of the time while keeping a cool distance from emotional drama sounded much like my husband and my father-in-law. I loved Ira from the beginning, because I knew beneath his carefully carved out unobtrusive personality was a guy with deep emotional ties to the people he loved dearly. Ira's wife, Maggie, was quite a busybody, but no matter how annoying she became - Ira loved still loved her.

Maggie wasn't my favorite character, but reflecting upon my own flaws I certainly didn't wish for her death in the story, rather I tried to understand the loneliness she felt. Maggie's children has recently left home. Maggie wanted to desperately hold on to them.

Maggie's character needed a dynamic change from something she had been to something she could be with her husband and as a person on her own. This change couldn't happen unless she changed her way of thinking.

She couldn't see what worked in her life. For example, Maggie couldn't accept Ira and his flaws without losing the idealism she held in the things she could not control. Her journey is not unlike my own as a mother, and like my mother. All moms have a tough time letting go of their kids. I can't dislike Maggie for holding onto her children a little longer.

I highly recommend this book to every married couple and all mothers. For Maggie, a day trip to a friend's funeral changed her way of thinking, but for me it was watching the love between my mother and father-in-law, and appreciating my husband a little more every day. Thank you, Anne Tyler.

5 Stars for Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology

Everyone should read this. Neil Gaiman certainly did not inhale the fumes of Odin's odious fart. This is a spoiler I will not spoil.  He was certainly blessed with the gift of retelling a story and reinventing his own. I loved his retelling of Norse Mythology. His voice carried the harsh tempos of the tragic moments, but also humor in the more flute-like places. I began this book with Marvel knowledge and came away feeling a bit like a mythology historian. Neil Gaiman can do that for a person. I also began this book as a respect towards my dad, who found a hero in Thor, also Conan the Barbarian, but that's another story. For me, Loki is certainly my favorite, and I was happy to discover his tale did not disappoint. Gaiman should seriously think about a story that involves both Othello's Iago and Loki in a modern world setting. They could pour poison into the ear of great leaders turning the world into what it is not. And who to save the world but a child not yet born, one of a new birth out of the death of the old one. Everyone should read this! Seriously, I might listen to it again.

5 Stars for The Tomb (Repairman Jack, #1) by F. Paul Wilson

The Tomb (Repairman Jack, #1) by F. Paul Wilson is not an original horror or thriller novel. In fact, Jack is your typical tough guy with a superman moral compass. I adored his character. jack reminded me of Dean Winchester from the TV show Supernatural. Like Supernatural's Dean, Jack operates under a code of honor killing monsters along that path. If this book made it to the big screen, I could see it  having a cult following. Think about cult movies like The Big Lebowski, or The Princess Bride that drip with warm familiar cheese. The Tomb, like Supernatural, Lebowski, and The Princess Bride swim in sliced melted cheddar. Elements of humor, gut wrenching monsters, and cool backstories echo in well told stories creating a solid plot line. Wilson certainly knows how to sew up a dang good plot. Repairman Jack doesn't seem to ask you take him too seriously. But, you do, because the stakes are raised high enough to keep you reading. I cannot wait to read more. And my fingers are crossed that Netflix might find this book as charming as I have.

Thinking Outside My Coffee Cup: 5 Stars for The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Thinking Outside My Coffee Cup: 5 Stars for The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes: The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes shines. The plot twist the typical serial killer story into a web of time traveling, creepy madness. Th...

5 Stars for The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes shines. The plot twist the typical serial killer story into a web of time traveling, creepy madness. The killer, Harper, travels through time to murder girls who have glimmering potential. However, one girl, Kirby, survives a vicious attack and becomes the hunter. Kirby and the rest of the shining girls are characterized splendidly, unfolding like a well-constructed origami butterfly colored in shades of yellow and gold.

With each girl, I died a little with them. But for all the characterization given to Kirby and the shining girls, Harper remained bland like a paper doll, completely non-dynamic and static. I am sure Beukes intended him to be this way, because he foiled against the girls making them shine even brighter and causing me to root against him. Harper's reasons to kill did not follow logic.

The reasons followed that of a deranged one-dimensional monster who only wanted to snuff out the life of those who were born three-dimensional meant to add to the world around them rather than take from it. Harper seemed lost in finding something shiny in himself and this black hole inside him seemed to grow larger and more persistent sucking him in a void of nothingness.

With this in mind, I didn't need a scientific explanation for his time travel nor did I need rational from the mind of a monster on why he murdered. The story unfolded throughout time and reason and became a need to survive. The story traveled through time in darkness and in light and ended up on one of those sides. No spoilers, but I highly suggest reading it.

Four Stars for Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons

Throwing an original twist on the vampire story and making it bloody stick takes more than fangs. Dan Simmons is original with Carrion Comfort. His story expands the original Dracula's mind control and takes it to a whole new level through some pretty nasty monsters hungry for destruction and power. The victims are left with only wit, hope and some darn good reasons for revenge. My favorite character and victim was Saul. The book was incredibly lengthy, and often rolled around in the details of what felt like an explosive Hollywood movie loaded with bullets flying, helicopters, and clipped dialogue. Those scenes often distracted me from the real story. This is where my rating went to a four; however, because of Saul I read until the end. I was thoroughly invested in him as the book's hero. Further, I love a great vampire story written well. Great vampire stories...

John Ajvide Lindqvist - Let the Right One In
Anne Rice - Interview with a Vampire
and now Carrion Comfort.

Let the Right One In is still my favorite, but the other two are tough contenders.
I highly recommend Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons

Four stars for The Ignored by Bentley Little

Overall, I enjoyed The Ignored, by Bentley Little. The concept crackled in a smoldering fire originality dripping in a kind-of marshmallow stickiness. I hated Bob Jones, the protagonist, but I rooted for him in a sense of righting the rest of the world. Not only did The Ignored have a great concept, it followed through. Everything Bob Jones felt in being ignored followed through with odd, logical consequences resulting from Bob's bloody reactions to being ignored - or not. Yes, sometimes Bob's meanderings made the plot drag, but for what Little seemed to be going for the pacing was perfect. There was a psychological horror on top of the blood and gore that made this book different from a typical horror novel. I recommend The Ignored, but really any Bentley Little.