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patriciau36's reviews
906 reviews
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
5.0
When my sister and I were kids, she wrote this hilarious story called Mr. Jaws, which was constructed on a type of MadLibs concept, but using song titles. I remember laughing until it hurt as I read it, then feeling totally jealous of her talent for crafting such hilarity.
I had the same feeling as I read the much anticipated Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. I had already enjoyed some of the material included in the book on Brosh’s website, but Simple Dog and Helper Dog travel well from interweb to book. Of course, God of Cake will always be one of the funniest things I have read. E.V.E.R.
Brosh has an uncanny talent for nailing feelings and emotions using what appear to be childishly crude drawings. She conveys disappointment, rage, and happiness with just a few well placed lines. The accompanying text tells stories that we can all relate to on some level.
The most powerful piece in the book, however, is Brosh’s description of her battle with depression. We are given a glimpse into the very real, very confusing, and wholly debilitating experience of suddenly finding yourself in the middle of a severe depression. Anyone who has grappled with depression can relate to what Brosh endured, and I am sure that pieces of her artwork and text are printed out and taped up on walls all over the world. My favorites are “Not today! I’ve got legs, motherfucker!” and “I wish to rent all these movies and purchase all of these Skittles!” Those two acts of defiance can rally me on my worst days.
I have to wonder if the tremendous attention Brosh has experienced through her website and now the publication of her book has contributed to her owns struggles. Suddenly discovering that there are legions of fans out there who totally get her work has got to be startling. She has been missed on the web, but has returned triumphantly with a new story about the power of a dinosaur costume, another true gem of childhood.
Hyperbole and a Half is an awesome book and everyone should buy it. It has alot of heart. ;-)
I had the same feeling as I read the much anticipated Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. I had already enjoyed some of the material included in the book on Brosh’s website, but Simple Dog and Helper Dog travel well from interweb to book. Of course, God of Cake will always be one of the funniest things I have read. E.V.E.R.
Brosh has an uncanny talent for nailing feelings and emotions using what appear to be childishly crude drawings. She conveys disappointment, rage, and happiness with just a few well placed lines. The accompanying text tells stories that we can all relate to on some level.
The most powerful piece in the book, however, is Brosh’s description of her battle with depression. We are given a glimpse into the very real, very confusing, and wholly debilitating experience of suddenly finding yourself in the middle of a severe depression. Anyone who has grappled with depression can relate to what Brosh endured, and I am sure that pieces of her artwork and text are printed out and taped up on walls all over the world. My favorites are “Not today! I’ve got legs, motherfucker!” and “I wish to rent all these movies and purchase all of these Skittles!” Those two acts of defiance can rally me on my worst days.
I have to wonder if the tremendous attention Brosh has experienced through her website and now the publication of her book has contributed to her owns struggles. Suddenly discovering that there are legions of fans out there who totally get her work has got to be startling. She has been missed on the web, but has returned triumphantly with a new story about the power of a dinosaur costume, another true gem of childhood.
Hyperbole and a Half is an awesome book and everyone should buy it. It has alot of heart. ;-)
Nefertiti's Heart by A.W. Exley
5.0
We first meet Cara Devon as she fends off a couple of tough guys sent to her father’s home in London searching for a valuable artifact. We quickly see that Cara is not to be trifled with, as she shoots one and wounds the other. Their boss also quickly comes to understand that Cara is not typical of the society debutantes who populate his world. She is not only beautiful but also very dangerous and certainly unconventional. Cara's story is ugly, the true extent of the ugliness only hinted at in the early chapters of this captivating novel. Her father, we learn, cared more for the unusual and valuable artifacts he collected than for his only daughter, resulting in a terrifying, traumatic event that scarred her at thirteen. Now, however, he is dead and she is his only heir, now owning all of those artifacts he so treasured. She has an inkling that the artifacts, which her father separated and hid in multiple locations, are much more than they appear, and she quickly discovers that there is one that someone will kill for. Cara finds an unlikely ally in Viscount Nathaniel Lyons, the man who sent the villains Cara so easily handled in the first chapter. The two embark on an adventure that takes them beneath the Thames, to fancy dress balls, to backroom sex clubs, all throughout a London painted with a broad steampunk brush as they search for the one artifact that can grant everlasting life to the right pair of lovers. Dogging their every move is the mysterious, deadly maniac responsible for a series of gruesome murders of young society ladies, all found with a key twisted into their hearts, whose path comes closer and closer to crossing Cara’s, leading them all to a grisly climax. Exley has done a masterful job creating memorable characters in Cara and Nathaniel. They complement each other beautifully, with just the right blend of romance and sex. The story here is fast-paced with a well-constructed plot, leading to an unexpected and satisfying conclusion. Exley develops Cara’s character with sensitivity but also a bit of irreverence. Her story is revealed bit by bit, and the effect it has on the relationship between Cara and Lyons is nicely handled. I was reminded very much of the Theodosia series of children’s books by R.L. LaFevers – Cara could be Theodosia all grown up, except Theo’s father was not a scoundrel. Being fairly new to the steampunk genre, I have found that the stories are either really, really good, or really, really bad; Nefertiti’s Heart falls into the former category. Highly recommended.
Arrow of the Mist by Christina Mercer
5.0
Arrow of the Mist introduces us to Lia, daughter of Carin and Dylan, a young herbalist determined to keep the old crafts of potion mixing and magic alive. She is well-taught by her Granda, who in turn learned from Lia’s magical Grandma Myrna. Lia lives in Rockberg, a village bordered by a mysterious, fog-bound land called Brume. She tends a beautiful garden planted in a labyrinth pattern around a huge crystal rock formation. Lia and her Granda are suddenly faced with finding a cure for a terrible illness that is striking down the men of the village, including Lia’s father. Lia and Granda are convinced the only cure lies within the land of Brume, and, accompanied by Lia’s cousin Wynn and his friend Kelven, they embark on what becomes a life-changing experience for all of them. As soon as Lia enters Brume, she knows something has changed. She alone can hear the whispers of the shades that guard the fog. While in Brume, Lia and Wynn come to understand that they are descendants of royalty and it is their responsibility to bring magic back to their world. As Granda is stricken with the same poison attacking their home, Lia and Wynn embark on an adventurous quest to find the 13 ingredients needed to brew the curative potion. Along the way, they meet dwarves, unicorns, enchanted trees, and the master of the evil shades, Draugyrd, who has bound the spirit of Lia’s Grandma Myrna to his bidding. Will Lia and Wynn triumph? Will Lia and Kelven’s blossoming romance get legs? Will magic come back to Rockberg? Read this and find out! It is clear that this is the start of a series, which promises to be very good. All the elements of a great fantasy are here – good against evil, three children rising up against oppression, fantastic creatures, communion with nature, and a beautifully drawn fairyland – all knit together by skilled storytelling. There are some echoes of Piers Anthony and even a little Terry Pratchett, but Mercer’s Brume is all her own. The characters are likable, the plot captivating, and the writing whimsical and evocative. Highly recommended for middle school and up.
Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
4.0
Speaking from Among the Bones is Alan Bradley’s latest entry in the superb Flavia deLuce series and is just as entertaining as his previous books. This time, Flavia discovers the corpse of St. Tancred’s church organist, Mr. Collicut, in the most unlikely of places – the tomb of St. Tancred himself. Flavia goes on to experience all sorts of the amusing and clever adventures we have come to expect from the author, all rendered with Bradley’s wonderful combination of wit and gravity. By the end of the story, the murderer is unmasked, a de Luce sister is engaged to be married, and Buckshaw may indeed be lost to the family. The current state of the family finances pales, however, in comparison to the bombshell dropped by Mr. de Luce on the very last page. Speaking from Among the Bones features a Flavia who is starting to grow up. Her relationships with her sisters, her father, Dogger, and the police inspector assigned to Bishop’s Lacey all have evolved from the first entry in the series, where her behavior was often that of a spoiled, willful child. Bradley reveals a little bit more of each family member in each book, which is what keeps me coming back for more. Flavia grows on you as the series grows; in fact, I found myself thinking of her as a young Harriet Vane by the end of this one. As for the bombshell at the end, I won’t spoil it, but I will say….I KNEW IT! Highly recommended for those who enjoy witty, English mysteries, but I do recommend reading the series in order.
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag
A Red Herring with Mustard
I am Half-Sick of Shadows
Speaking from Among the Bones
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag
A Red Herring with Mustard
I am Half-Sick of Shadows
Speaking from Among the Bones
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
5.0
1 Vote
“Tell me,” Penumbra said, “about a book you love.”
The answer unemployed marketer Clay Jannon gives to this simple question starts a journey of discovery, mystery, and adventure that leads from a dusty, unremarkable San Francisco bookstore to the whitewashed walls of Google to a hidden library beneath New York City.
Clay is at first amused, then intrigued by the strict instructions given him by bookstore owner Mr. Penumbra, paramount of which is do not read any of the books located in the soaring stacks of the store. His curiosity piqued by the odd customers who show up at all hours of the night looking for a new book, and, compounded by the boredom of working the night shift in a 24-hour bookstore, Clay eventually turns to his computer to pass the time. His first inelegant attempt at charting the use of the books turns into an algorithm that predicts use, ultimately helping him solve a part of a larger mystery hidden in the encoded books.
Throw in a romantic love interest in the form of a spunky, eccentric girl genius who works for Google, concern for the suddenly missing Mr. Penumbra, and a wealthy, eccentric best friend, and Clay finds himself winging his way to NYC, where he traces Penumbra to an underground library full of readers devoted to cracking a code devised by a 15th century printer, believed by the First Reader and his followers to be “the key to everything.” What Clay and his friends discover, however, is not immortality, but something much more precious.
On the surface, this is a typical adventure story – the unlikely hero, the smart-than-everyone quirky girl, the eccentric best friend, the quest for knowledge. Underneath, however, there is so much more. In one regard, this is a cautionary tale addressing the current rush to “googlize” everything. What will happen to the way we gather and retain knowledge when everything is in Google? Will we forget how to think in favor of being told?
And on an even deeper level, why do we read? Does the very act of reading set us each on a personal journey? Is our reading connected to something bigger? The First Reader tells his followers: “It is the text that matters, brothers and sisters. Remember this. Everything we need is already here in the text. As long as we have that, and as long as we have our minds, we don’t need anything else.”
An interesting perspective in the print vs. digital debate of 2013. Does the container matter as long as we have the text? Can we separate the physical act of holding a book from the act of reading the text? Do we read print and digital text differently? There is some emerging research that suggests physiological differences in how we retain information read in digital format versus traditional print. How will those differences affect the way we learn and the way we record information?
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is, in itself, perhaps an allegory for the shift in how we obtain text. The internet has become our 24-hour bookstore; is there still a place for physical repositories of text?
This is a multi-layered book that begs to be re-read, and I expect that I will find even more to think about the second time through. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book that resonated quite like this one, and I will be thinking about it for a long time.
“Tell me,” Penumbra said, “about a book you love.”
The answer unemployed marketer Clay Jannon gives to this simple question starts a journey of discovery, mystery, and adventure that leads from a dusty, unremarkable San Francisco bookstore to the whitewashed walls of Google to a hidden library beneath New York City.
Clay is at first amused, then intrigued by the strict instructions given him by bookstore owner Mr. Penumbra, paramount of which is do not read any of the books located in the soaring stacks of the store. His curiosity piqued by the odd customers who show up at all hours of the night looking for a new book, and, compounded by the boredom of working the night shift in a 24-hour bookstore, Clay eventually turns to his computer to pass the time. His first inelegant attempt at charting the use of the books turns into an algorithm that predicts use, ultimately helping him solve a part of a larger mystery hidden in the encoded books.
Throw in a romantic love interest in the form of a spunky, eccentric girl genius who works for Google, concern for the suddenly missing Mr. Penumbra, and a wealthy, eccentric best friend, and Clay finds himself winging his way to NYC, where he traces Penumbra to an underground library full of readers devoted to cracking a code devised by a 15th century printer, believed by the First Reader and his followers to be “the key to everything.” What Clay and his friends discover, however, is not immortality, but something much more precious.
On the surface, this is a typical adventure story – the unlikely hero, the smart-than-everyone quirky girl, the eccentric best friend, the quest for knowledge. Underneath, however, there is so much more. In one regard, this is a cautionary tale addressing the current rush to “googlize” everything. What will happen to the way we gather and retain knowledge when everything is in Google? Will we forget how to think in favor of being told?
And on an even deeper level, why do we read? Does the very act of reading set us each on a personal journey? Is our reading connected to something bigger? The First Reader tells his followers: “It is the text that matters, brothers and sisters. Remember this. Everything we need is already here in the text. As long as we have that, and as long as we have our minds, we don’t need anything else.”
An interesting perspective in the print vs. digital debate of 2013. Does the container matter as long as we have the text? Can we separate the physical act of holding a book from the act of reading the text? Do we read print and digital text differently? There is some emerging research that suggests physiological differences in how we retain information read in digital format versus traditional print. How will those differences affect the way we learn and the way we record information?
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is, in itself, perhaps an allegory for the shift in how we obtain text. The internet has become our 24-hour bookstore; is there still a place for physical repositories of text?
This is a multi-layered book that begs to be re-read, and I expect that I will find even more to think about the second time through. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book that resonated quite like this one, and I will be thinking about it for a long time.
Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island by
4.0
“He triggers memories like you were a jukebox and he was the man with all the quarters.”
This quote comes from an amazing book that I have just rediscovered…Stranded: Rock & Roll for a Desert Island by Greil Marcus.
Sometime in the 70′s, Marcus decided that it would be really cool to ask music critics and performers what music they would absolutely have to have if they were stranded on a desert island. This book is a compilation of those answers, and it contains some brilliant essays on rock and roll and the people who made it part of the fabric of our lives. Most notable is the astonishing essay by Ariel Swartley, “The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle.” She dissects Springsteen and his band at a time when they were at their most raw. This was before The River and Born in the U.S.A., back when Bruce and the boys were still those grungy “boy-prophets” from the streets of New Jersey….before Bruce married and divorced a super-model, before he had kids and moved to Beverly Hills, before he became, well, unimportant.
The whole book is filled with essays like Swartley’s, and it is a psychadelic memory romp that includes music as diverse as the Ronettes and the New York Dolls. If you were alive and listening in the 70′s, you need to read this book. It will make you remember what it was like to feel the music you listened to.
It’s believed that certain smells can trigger strong memories. I believe the same is true for certain songs. There are songs that always take me back to a certain time, place or person. For instance, Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain takes me back to the parking lot of Grants on Jefferson Road, Rochester, NY oh, maybe 1973. It was the first time I heard a song that made me want to stay in the car and listen instead of heading inside with my mother. Then there’s Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill, which transports me to 1983, and the Journey’s End bar in Canton, NY with Tom Wanamaker, Jeni Armeson, Mike Collins, and Alan Haberstock. And of course, Genesis’ Follow You, Follow Me always puts me in 1985 at the bar of the Holiday Inn at the Airport in Rochester, with my husband Very likely the night we fell in love.
This quote comes from an amazing book that I have just rediscovered…Stranded: Rock & Roll for a Desert Island by Greil Marcus.
Sometime in the 70′s, Marcus decided that it would be really cool to ask music critics and performers what music they would absolutely have to have if they were stranded on a desert island. This book is a compilation of those answers, and it contains some brilliant essays on rock and roll and the people who made it part of the fabric of our lives. Most notable is the astonishing essay by Ariel Swartley, “The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle.” She dissects Springsteen and his band at a time when they were at their most raw. This was before The River and Born in the U.S.A., back when Bruce and the boys were still those grungy “boy-prophets” from the streets of New Jersey….before Bruce married and divorced a super-model, before he had kids and moved to Beverly Hills, before he became, well, unimportant.
The whole book is filled with essays like Swartley’s, and it is a psychadelic memory romp that includes music as diverse as the Ronettes and the New York Dolls. If you were alive and listening in the 70′s, you need to read this book. It will make you remember what it was like to feel the music you listened to.
It’s believed that certain smells can trigger strong memories. I believe the same is true for certain songs. There are songs that always take me back to a certain time, place or person. For instance, Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain takes me back to the parking lot of Grants on Jefferson Road, Rochester, NY oh, maybe 1973. It was the first time I heard a song that made me want to stay in the car and listen instead of heading inside with my mother. Then there’s Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill, which transports me to 1983, and the Journey’s End bar in Canton, NY with Tom Wanamaker, Jeni Armeson, Mike Collins, and Alan Haberstock. And of course, Genesis’ Follow You, Follow Me always puts me in 1985 at the bar of the Holiday Inn at the Airport in Rochester, with my husband Very likely the night we fell in love.
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
4.0
The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years – except Biff. Ever since the day when he came upon six-year-old Joshua of Nazareth resurrecting lizards in the village square, Levi bar Alphaeus, called “Biff,” had the distinction of being the Messiah’s best bud. That’s why the angel Raziel has resurrected Biff from the dust of Jerusalem and brought him to America to write a new gospel, one that tells the real, untold story. Meanwhile, Raziel will order pizza, watch the WWF on TV, and aspire to become Spider-Man. Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes – whose considerable charms fall to Biff to sample, since Josh is forbidden the pleasures of the flesh. (There are worse things than having a best friend who is chaste and a chick magnet!) And, of course, there is danger at every turn, since a young man struggling to understand his godhood, who is incapable of violence or telling anything less than the truth, is certain to piss some people off. Luckily, Biff is a whiz at lying and cheating – which helps get his divine pal and him out of more than one jam. And while Josh’s great deeds and mission of peace will ultimately change the world, Biff is no slouch himself, blessing humanity with enduring contributions of his own, like sarcasm and cafe latte. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior’s pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there’s no one who loves Josh more – except maybe “Maggie,” Mary of Magdala – and Biff isn’t about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.” Moore’s work reminds me of John Irving’s early work. His story ideas are so fresh and original that I can’t keep away from his books. I thought Fluke was out there, but Lamb far surpasses the witty and fearless writing in that book. Despite the wry and often irreverent humor in Lamb, the life of the Christ simply shines. Moore has rooted out the best things about Christ and the beginnings of Christianity — such as forgiveness, bloodless sacrifice, and love — things that, 2000 odd years later, have in many ways been sucked out of the daily lives of the believers. A truly extraordinary book
Everybody Was So Young: Gerald and Sara Murphy, a Lost Generation Love Story by Amanda Vaill
4.0
Gifted artist Gerald Murphy and his elegant wife, Sara, were icons of the most enchanting period of our time; handsome, talented, and wealthy expatriate Americans, they were at the very center of the literary scene in Paris in the 1920s. In Everybody Was So Young, Amanda Vaill brilliantly portrays both the times in which the Murphys lived and the fascinating friends who flocked around them. Whether summering with Picasso on the French Riviera or watching bullfights with Hemingway in Pamplona, Gerald and Sara inspired kindred creative spirits like Dorothy Parker, Cole Porter, and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Nicole and Dick Diver in Tender is the Night were modeled after the Murphys). The era of the Lost Generation has always fascinated me, and Vaill provides a delicious keyhole look at this period and the people who made it so colorful.
The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry
5.0
I don’t know why I keep picking up these books that center around debunking Christian mythology, but I do. It must be rooted in my youthful rebellion against the mind-numbing church history classes I was forced to endure at my Catholic high school, which were taught by a nun, Sr. Delphine, who looked, moved and spoke as though she were a step away from one of the catecombs she taught about with such relish. But I digress.
This book is one of the recent spate of DaVinci Code-alikes that have hit the bookshelves. Now, I have to say that I wasn’t too enamoured of Dan Brown’s controversial tale, mostly because I thought Robert Langdon was incredibly boring, and that the French police officer was a total stereotype. I liked Templar Legacy much, much more…better characters, better pacing, better everything.
Our protagonists, Cotton Malone and Stephanie Nelle, find themselves smack in the middle of another gosh-darn conspiracy that will reveal a shocking historical truth intended to rock the foundations of the known world. Stephanie’s dead husband, Lars, spent most of their marriage searching for the lost treasure of the Knights Templar. Seven years after his death, Stephanie receives his journal, sent anonymously through the mail, and decides she must have closure. So, she pulls up stakes from her high level government job, and flies to Copenhagen, where she stirs up a whole bunch of trouble. Teaming up with former intelligence officer turned bookshop owner Cotton Malone (maybe I’m wrong, but I really do think this is the name of the sports announcer played by Gary Cole in the movie Dodgeball), the two follow clues supposedly leading to the Great Devise — the legendary Templar treasure hidden in the 14th century as the Knights were being exterminated by French royalty. The two are challenged by Raymond deRoquefort, Marshal, then Master, of the current, hidden Knights. Twists and turns abound as Cotton and Stephanie race against time to discover the Great Devise and foil the evil deRoquefort’s plans of world domination.
Yep. It’s a page-turner all right. Actually, one of the things I liked best about this book is the short sections within the chapters. There wasn’t that whole one-chapter-about-Raymond, one-chapter-about-Stephanie thing going on. I could pick the book up, read for about 5 minutes, put it down to check dinner, change the laundry over, or help a patron and then pick it right back up without missing a beat. And the story itself was full of surprises. I sure didn’t see the twists coming at the end.
The setting is almost identical to that in The Labyrinth by Kate Mosse — Carcasonne and other areas of France — and there are echoes of the same ancient legends in both books. Templar is a much better read, however. Definitely pick it up and give it a shot.
This book is one of the recent spate of DaVinci Code-alikes that have hit the bookshelves. Now, I have to say that I wasn’t too enamoured of Dan Brown’s controversial tale, mostly because I thought Robert Langdon was incredibly boring, and that the French police officer was a total stereotype. I liked Templar Legacy much, much more…better characters, better pacing, better everything.
Our protagonists, Cotton Malone and Stephanie Nelle, find themselves smack in the middle of another gosh-darn conspiracy that will reveal a shocking historical truth intended to rock the foundations of the known world. Stephanie’s dead husband, Lars, spent most of their marriage searching for the lost treasure of the Knights Templar. Seven years after his death, Stephanie receives his journal, sent anonymously through the mail, and decides she must have closure. So, she pulls up stakes from her high level government job, and flies to Copenhagen, where she stirs up a whole bunch of trouble. Teaming up with former intelligence officer turned bookshop owner Cotton Malone (maybe I’m wrong, but I really do think this is the name of the sports announcer played by Gary Cole in the movie Dodgeball), the two follow clues supposedly leading to the Great Devise — the legendary Templar treasure hidden in the 14th century as the Knights were being exterminated by French royalty. The two are challenged by Raymond deRoquefort, Marshal, then Master, of the current, hidden Knights. Twists and turns abound as Cotton and Stephanie race against time to discover the Great Devise and foil the evil deRoquefort’s plans of world domination.
Yep. It’s a page-turner all right. Actually, one of the things I liked best about this book is the short sections within the chapters. There wasn’t that whole one-chapter-about-Raymond, one-chapter-about-Stephanie thing going on. I could pick the book up, read for about 5 minutes, put it down to check dinner, change the laundry over, or help a patron and then pick it right back up without missing a beat. And the story itself was full of surprises. I sure didn’t see the twists coming at the end.
The setting is almost identical to that in The Labyrinth by Kate Mosse — Carcasonne and other areas of France — and there are echoes of the same ancient legends in both books. Templar is a much better read, however. Definitely pick it up and give it a shot.
A Gracious Plenty by Sheri Reynolds
5.0
I love storytelling. I am not a storyteller in the sense that I get up in front of groups of people and tell memorized, rehearsed stories, but I have been known to spin a yarn or two among friends. And I truly appreciate the skill it takes to tell a story as rich as this one. Finch Nobles is a caretaker of the dead, literally and figuratively. She tends the grounds of the cemetery in her town, but she also tends the souls of those people buried there. Finch is feared by the locals, mostly due to her disfigurement from a burn suffered when she was a child, but also because of her “I don’t give a damn” attitude. However, both obstacles are overcome by her relationships with the spiritual inhabitants of the cemetery and the live people who visit them. Reynolds weaves a gentle but riveting tale of love, hate and redemption that stretches the veil between the living and the dead. This is one I’ll remember for a long time…