just finished an amazing book....

[Nomilynn]

Has anyone else here read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold? I started it last night, and I couldn't put it down.. until I started falling asleep :p ... then tonight I finished it. Wow.. I'm totally blown away by this book. I highly recommend it.

[Fuzzy317]

What type of book is it? mystery, history, horror, funny?

[Nomilynn]

I dont really know how to describe it?? I guess it's a young adult fiction novel, but it also isn't... its like a coming of age novel but the main character has already died...

this is the write up on the jacket flap:

When we first meet Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. As she looks down from this strange new place, she tells us, in the fresh and spirited voice of a fourteen-year-old girl, a tale that is both haunting and full of hope.

In the weeks following her death, Susie watches life on Earth continuing without her-her school friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her family holding out hope that she'll be found, her killer trying to cover his tracks. As months pass without leads, Susie sees her parents' marriage being contorted by loss, her sister hardening herself in an effort to stay strong, and her little brother trying to grasp the meaning of the word gone.

And she explores the place called heaven. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. There are counselors to help newcomers adjust and friends to room with. Everything she ever wanted appears as soon as she thinks of it-except the thing she most wants: to be back with the people she loved on Earth.

With compassion, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie sees her loved ones pass through grief and begin to mend. Her father embarks on a risky quest to ensnare her killer. Her sister undertakes a feat of remarkable daring. And the boy Susie cared for moves on, only to find himself at the center of a miraculous event.

The Lovely Bones is luminous and astonishing, a novel that builds out of grief the most hopeful of stories. In the hands of a brilliant new writer, this story of the worst thing a family can face is transformed into a suspenseful and even funny novel about love, memory, joy, heaven, and healing.

It's a great book, and I don't think it's meaning would be lost on "adults" just because it's supposed to be a YA novel :) Check it out! :)

[Fuzzy317]

I may check and see if a library near me has a copy. Sounds like an interesting story.

[tomkatzid]

I just got on hold for it at the library. WOW, a very popular book. 726 holds for regular print, but only 206 for large print, which I like better anyway.

[Nomilynn]

its brand new - that is partly why its so popular. The other part is it's so good! :)

[tomkatzid]

well here it is August and I read the book. strange ending.

[Cataholic]

It took you EIGHT months to read it? That must have been some large print book. :D

[tomkatzid]

:D :D :D :D
iT DID TAKE ME OVER A MONTH TO READ IT THOUGH. i WAS AROUND 200 ON THE HOLD LIST. oops caps, sorry. not yelling. I'm cheap so I get all my reading at the library, the movies too. Any other good books we should know about, or movies??
Katz

[Cataholic]

Well, I just finished 'listening' to SECOND CHANCE by James Patterson. It had me guessing until the very end.

[tomkatzid]

I'll get on hold for it. I'm sure it too will have quite a long waiting list because it's a James Patterson book. Have you ever read any Sandra Brown. Stand Off was good. And David Baldacci, The Winner. I thought it would make a GREAT movie.
Katz

[Cataholic]

I think I read one by David Baldacci...but, not that one. I haven't heard of Sandra Brown, and here comes my sexist comment- I usually find books authored by women to be too unscientific for me....now that is a general statment, of course.


How funny, I just checked my shelves- I have two D. Baldacci books, The Simple Truth and Saving Faith. My sister works for a county library system, and gets books like crazy. My two fave authors are John Lescroart and my mind just went blank. Funny, I have read most of his books, Palindrome, LA Dead, Sante Fe Rules....

I just got into James Patteson. This is the second one on tape, and I have Pop goes the Weasel in the shelf.

[Karen]

I thought "the Lovely Bones" was a very good book (read it last year) and very interesting in its' treatment of the afterlife - with no discussion of any deity or heaven or a belief system at all ... what was just was ... could spark much interesting discussion.