Wow. What a story! AS you read this book, you may think you know what is going to happen next, but trust me you will not see these sharp turns coming! I sounds simple; a man is sold a liquid, by a traveling salesman, that when applied to mirrors makes the person reflected in the mirror, look better. Not perfect or amazing, just a little more full of life and with the rough edges smoothed out. No big thing, right? Wrong!

Full disclosure: I am a Stephen King fan. But as I read this I was a little disappointed in the first half as I found it predictable. But I should have had faith in King, because the second half delivered what I was waiting for. A young man hitches a ride from his college to the hospital where his mother has been taken. When it comes to choosing a ride, do you use your head and logic, or do you listen to your instinct? King will help you look at this a whole new way.

This translated book from Japanese was very interesting. A boy of high school age who works in his family’s bookstore has just lost his grandfather who he lived with. He shuts himself away in the bookstore until a strange visitor comes into the shop. I liked the different writing this book presented as well as the way it presents a different way of looking a books.

Not sure I would like reading a Christmas book in July but turns out I did enjoy this one. It was light on the Christmas stuff, except for Santa; Santa plays a pivotal role here, especially letters written to him…even if they are not mailed! While it had the plot right out of a Hallmark movie channel production, it was well done and I liked the development of the characters.

This is one of those books you can read more than once because there is a lot going on and there are parts of it I still am not clear on. An investigator is hired to check on large payments that were made by the client’s late aunt. The investigation uncovers more than initially suspected and reveals a well-crafted web of deceit. A good book but I feel like I missed some things.

I would say that the central part of this book is solid and enjoyable, but some of the peripheral stuff I could do without, including names of many people who have little or nothing to do with the story. And maybe it is just me, but I found the ridiculousness of the names, virtually all of them, to detract from the serious central plot. There is a god story in here, but you just have to wait for it to rise to the top.

The trouble I had with this book is that I did it as an audiobook. There were just too many characters, and sometimes the characters were referred to differently depending upon who was speaking about them. Add to that the challenges of the language of 1826 and I was not able to enjoy the book or really follow what was going on.

This was an OK romance book; not too sappy and portrayed the female central character as strong and independent. But there were just too many characters and unnecessary short sub-plots. For example, one of the side characters is losing and then does loose his mother to brain cancer. How can you make this a sub plot? And because the side characters were not well developed it took me a while to remember who everyone was.

A wonderfully told story by a man who can see and talk to dead people as he looks back over the defining moments of his young life. A must read for all horror and King fans.

A fun academic mystery in a beautiful location. Great cast of characters to spend a little time with in the summer.