For One More Day by Mitch Albom

If you could have one more day with someone you loved would you take it? What would that day look like? For "Chick" Benetto that wish has been granted with one more day with his mother. The story tells us about how his life went from one of promised grandeur to one of desperation at the end of a neck of a bottle.

Albom creates a story filled with hope even in the darkest of times and how we as humans can return from that darkness to live fulfilled lives. He is one of the masters of this type of uplifting story, another master is Coelho for another example of this particular type of story. Albom creates realistic and believable characters here because he roots them some firmly in reality, while allowing for the mystical elements to shine through as well. He lets the otherworldly elements not be so boldly shockable that they feel organic in the context of the story. He never makes a bigger deal of them than he should, which provides the right touch for such an enjoyable read.

If you have ever felt down and out in your life this is a book that you need to read. There are millions of people similar to "Chick" out there and to have someone tell such a story will help you connect with others that have shared similar experiences. For a brief moment it does help to recognize that we are not the only ones that go through struggles in this life. People can become overwhelmed by their own individual struggles that they feel they are alone, but we are not. There are those of us out there that have struggled and Albom taps into that. So if you are struggling read this and recognize you are not alone, but afterwards take the first steps like "Chick" does to recuperate that lost life you want back. It just takes one single step forward because unlike "Chick" most of us will never get "One More Day" to make the things right, so do what you can today. It is a powerful book with a strong message that will engage a reader that understands it. Share that message with the world.  

 

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Random Read: P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern

"Love is a many splendored thing"

P.S. I Love You

by Cecelia Ahern

Available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Half Price Books

"P.S. I Love You" is about dealing with the loss of a loved one, in this a spouse. Imagine thinking you have your whole life stretched out before you with them only to discover they are dying. Upon their death you are not sure how you will go on. Your spouse was your rock and your future. This is what Holly Kennedy is faced with. How does she move on with her life after her great love, Gerry? She just wants to sit around and cry about his death. Gerry had other plans though and wrote ten letters to Holly, extending their relationship and helping Holly down the road to forming a new life without him.

Ahern wrote the character of Holly stunningly. She taps into the emotions of the grieving widow in a shocking way since she is a relatively young writer who has not grieved the death of her spouse, in fact I do not believe she is married. Ahern understands human emotions obviously and because of this she creates this ravishing masterpiece of learning that even after someone we love dies we have to still live. We can't allow ourselves to die simply because they have. It takes Holly awhile to learn this lesson, but she ultimately does. The journey of her getting there is hysterical, sweet, and breathe-taking all at the same time. Each moment culminates together like each stroke of a paintbrush working to create a lavish painting. One moment taken away from this novel would have decreased its worth significantly. 

A particular nice aspect that she adds to the story is the reality of discovering who your friends are upon death. In real life we can discover who is there for us when dark times come rolling in and we all know they will at times. Those people that are there for us are true friends and Ahern showcases that here. She also does a masterful job of showcasing that it isn't always the people we thought it would be and that people we disliked at one point of our lives can prove to be our rock in the storm. I found this added element to be realistic and needed, so Ahern's inclusion strengthened the book beyond what it could have been otherwise.

Yes, there is a point where the reader wants to say, "just get over it already" but this doesn't happen until near the end. To have her grieving for Gerry for the great length of the story and not feel this way long before you arrive there is simply awe-inspiring and shows just how wonderful a tale Ahern has created. It was nice that when you get that feeling she indeed does get over it, as best as can be said when someone is grieving. Outside of this one simple flaw, which is it really?, there isn't much to be upset about. 

I would highly recommend this book to individuals that are looking for a simpler read about an important part of the human experience. Grieving the loss of a loved one is natural and not everyone knows how to deal with it. Ahern captures grieving realistically and shows that everyone has their own time schedule. The time spent reading this is well worth it. 

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!

Fear Street Friday- "Fear Street Seniors: The Thirst" by R.L. Stine

Fear Street Seniors #3: The Thirst

by R.L. Stine

3 Faerie Points

These books can get a little mundane as an adult reading them because of Stine's chosen style to be shocking at the ending of every single chapter. Chapter Ends: "Becky shrieks" Next Chapter Opens: "Becky saw a spider is why she was shrieking". Sometimes this makes you want to yawn very hardcore. This book does pick-up some of the steam for the series overall though. We finally have a real death and we can see where things might be going for the rest of the series. Trisha Conrad, a girl in the senior class that had a psychic vision about all the seniors dying, is obviously going to be an important character throughout the series since she has been mentioned in every single book to date, while many other characters haven't made even the first appearance. 

This book focuses on the horror stereotype of the vampire. It is funny to read this particular book now because of "Twilight" being so huge still, but this follows some of the cliched things we immediately associate with vampires, though the ones here can indeed step into the sunlight (no they do not sparkle jeeze). In this book you are trying to figure out who the vampire is that is draining the blood of people, but it is pretty apparent if you follow the formula of the first two books or if you have read any other Fear Street book. By the end you go "Okay, so (insert character name) is the vampire thanks captain obvious". *Not giving you any spoilers since you know you should actually read these things I post about hehe*

The main reason that this volume gets 3 points instead of 2 is it picks up the pace a bit, as previously mentioned. Characters actually die in this book, which makes you start to believe the series will have a bigger pay off at the end. This is still in the first 1/3 of the 12 book series, so I wasn't expecting these first few books to be all that great. They have to build to something, but the nice thing is that they are not direct continuations of each other. They all to this point have independent stories that can be read singularly, so anyone can pick up one in the series that sounds interesting to them without having to read all of them. 

I should also mention that anyone that enjoys reading about twins this book does feature twin sisters prominently. They go through it, but they are the main characters here, so you will see how they interact with each other. The issue is do not go in expecting a lot of characterization of them as twins because they are pretty much different as night and day. Also Stine tends not to give his characters a very clearly distinct personality for some reason. I think this could be because of the fact that there are 12 books in the series and he isn't sure which characters he will need for what yet, so having them to defined could result in them being unusable in future books. 

The Fear Street books are easy reads. You can read them in the matter of an hour or two, so don't worry about wasting your life away from reading this drivel, but if you like a quick horror story that will tantalize you you can pick these up. There are ones you will enjoy and others you will not. It all depends on what tale Stine is weaving at the time. 

On My Shelf Book Review: Fear Street Seniors- In Too Deep (Book 2)

Fear Street Seniors: In Too Deep (Book 2)

by R. L. Stine

2 Faerie Points

Another of the senior books bites the dust. In this book we see the cliche of a summer camp introduced. A senior is working at it. The first two books are basically the summer before senior year, which makes sense because you technically become a senior at that time. It appears though that the real story doesn't start until the next book called "The Thirst" when the seniors it appears actually start to die and the mystery of who is doing it gets introduced (I read the blurb for the next book that was in this one, so shoot me). 

This book is very predictable with the horror aspect of it. You won't be left going "Oh I didn't see that coming." At least not if you are familiar with any other horror story in existence. There will be a part of you that yawns through this particular book in the series as it feels like mainly filler because they wanted it to be a year long series. The only nice thing is for most of the book you are laughing at the main character because you know that the troubled kid in the book is not the kid he thinks it is. It became apparent while reading this book that I have developed as a reader and understand good writing, which this is not. To fit into stereotypes of your genre isn't a pretty thing, which makes this a less joyful read than the first book in the series that actually spent time to introduce us to all the characters in a reasonable fashion (a simple party without focusing on them). This book had little redeeming qualities about it though. 

This book would have received 1 faerie points if it hadn't been for the nostalgia of reading a Stine book.  As previously stated I devoured these books as a child, but I recognize now that sometimes our taste matures. I have definitely found stronger and a lot better fiction than this. I am going to read the rest of the series because it has been on my bucket list for far too long and it is time to knock it off, but I hope that they are not all as painful as this particular book or I may have to kill someone myself. 

On My Shelf Book Review: Let's Party by R.L. Stine (Fear Street Seniors Book 1)

Fear Street Seniors: Let's Party (Book 1)

by R.L. Stine

3 Faerie Points

As a teenager I used to devour the "Fear Street" books. I would go to the Muncie Mall bookstore and always turn the corner to the young adult section looking for one of these books that I hadn't previously acquired. I would devour them in no time at all and wish that I could read the next one. There are some good memories attached to these books thus I decided to purchase them again as an adult. 

I never had the opportunity when I was reading the series previously to read the Senior series, so I wanted to start my trip back down Fear Street with it. One of the important things that it has been important for me to recognize is that I am not the same reader that I was when I used to read these horror books. I can spot bad writing or a bit lousy writing better than I could back then. Stine is not bad writing, but he uses a formula at the end of every chapter that gets frustrating to read. He always had to finish the chapter with some horrible thing happening only to reveal that it wasn't what you thought in the beginning of the next chapter. This takes away from the writing, but it also is what makes the Fear Street books unique. They try to keep in invested and guessing what is real and isn't. 

Some of the joy of the books obviously has waned with the passing of time, which is only natural. I was shocked that I still enjoyed them as much as I did. They still hold my interest enough to get through roughly 200+ pages, but now I do so with a few eye rolls. Eye rolling is not always a bad thing in fiction writing, especially with a horror element. 

This first book in the series mainly sets the stage for the upcoming books. We are introduced to numerous members of the Shadyside High Senior class. This feels appropriate and not at all confusing since there are 11 other books featuring these characters. Stine did the intelligent thing by having the characters go to a party. This feels natural for high school students and allows us to gain a lot of names at once without being too concerned about who each of them are just yet. 

Stine made a solid first book in this particular series for young adults. Do I recommend this for the more adult reader? Probably not. There is better stuff out there to read, but for those that just want a short horror book this will keep you entertained. You won't gain any deep meaning about life, but you will be wondering if anyone will die. That is the ultimate question though in this series: Will the senior class make it to graduation? Welp, I guess I have to continue reading to find out for sure.