Inspired by some recent conversations I had with a friend of mine, I decided that now is the time to read this book of ghost stories that my sister-in-law was kind enough to give to me. (Thank you!) She knew I would like it. This book can be found in the travel sections of bookstores, and not the fiction section. You pretty much have to already believe in the existence of ghosts as a “given” in order to enjoy this book.

The book is filled with stories of encounters with ghosts in many different places in California. Many of these stories are about ghosts who are currently still haunting some specific place. One could just about plan a paranormal road trip this summer and use this book to decide on where to go visit. At least, that is what I want to do now that I have read this book.

Some of the stories end with a similar disappointing theme that goes something like : “…. and the ghost was never seen or heard from again after that…..”. Visiting those places won’t do you any good now. The best story is about the ship The Queen Mary that seems to be haunted by several ghosts, including Winston Churchill, and the ghost of an Irish Setter dog. You can’t beat that!

This book is part of a series of ghost stories that the author has collected. So, if you like this book, there is more where it came from.

Maggie Walsh is the one perfect daughter her parents have. (She is part of the Irish family of five daughters that Keyes often writes about.) Then, one day, seemingly out of the blue, Maggie loses her job, leaves her husband of nine years, gets on a plane, and visits her friend Emily in Los Angeles. It is hard to say who is more surprised by this, her family, her husband, or Maggie herself.

Once in the land of sunshine, Maggie starts to explore. She spends lot of time on the beach. She shops expensive and famous stores. She helps her friend Emily deal with the drama involved with being a scriptwriter. She goes to parties with famous people. Its a completely new world for Maggie.

Maggie spends some time being sad and mopey about her recently ended marriage, but then, starts to rebound. She dates some people she never would have considered dating before all this happened, and for the first time, starts to consider what it is that she, herself, wants in life, instead of just what everyone expects her to want.

Just when everything is going well, things change. Maggie runs into an old boyfriend, that she might still be carrying a torch for, and this makes her think about events in her life (events that happened with this ex boyfriend and also later on, in her marriage), that were far from perfect. Her crazy Irish family takes a plane to visit her in California, and this makes Maggie remember who she really is, and where she is from. And, finally, Maggie must decide. Should she stay in LA with the stars and the sun, or, return to Dublin, and try to get her marriage, (which wasn’t that bad after all, was it?) back together again?

This book is really funny, and a quick and easy read. Its the perfect beach read, especially since the setting is in sunny California, and the characters spend lots of time on a beach. I always enjoy books by Marian Keyes. This book was written before Anybody Out There? and after Rachel’s Holiday. I think the reader can still enjoy each of the books about the Walsh sisters without reading them in any specific order. They each can stand alone.

Leon just started fourth grade. The good news is his two best friends, P. W., and Lily-Matisse, are both in his class. The bad news is that the school bully is also in his class this year. Worse news is that Leon’s teacher, a strict woman named Miss Hagmeyer, has a unique method of teaching. She makes her class do sewing projects! Leon is known for lacking fine motor skills. How will he ever make it to fifth grade? Can he finish all his projects on time for the end of the year carnival, or will he be doomed to spending another year with “The Hag”?
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Mitch is a gardener. One day, out of the blue, someone kidnaps his wife, calls Mitch on his cell phone, and demands a ransom of $2 million, cash, in what seems like an impossibly short span of time. At first glance, this sounds like a plot line I have heard before, in several other books, and quite a few movies as well, for that matter. The title didn’t inspire me much either. I mean, The Husband? That’s not a scary title! That sounds more like a title for a romance book! C’mon, Koontz! Have you run out of ideas? I wasn’t looking forward to reading this one.

To my surprise, Koontz had me at the first chapter. I am amazed at how much I enjoyed this book! Each chapter is short, (only a few pages), and every chapter has some twisted surprises hiding inside it, just waiting for the reader to trip over them. At the end of every chapter, I wanted more. What happens next? What does Mitch do, now that this incredibly bad unexpected thing has happened? How is he going to get his wife back, with this new setback in his way? It’s like crack for readers, and I considered calling in sick to work one day just so I could stay home, read more, and find out what happens!

So, overlook the tame sounding title, the story line you think you know, and give this book a read! This book is a thriller, and I highly recommend it. It would make for a spectacular summer read for those of you on vacation with some extra free time on your hands. Those of you stuck working like I am will be just at tempted to take a sick day and finish off this book!

Here is a book about some college kids who go on a road trip to Los Angeles. On the way across the desert, they stop at some gas station in the middle of nowhere, and find that for 75 cents, you can go check out “The Mystery”. This much I got from flipping the book over and reading the back cover, and it had me interested right then. “The Attraction” is not a love story, or a porn, its actually about thing you view in a circus like side show. A thing that is both unbelievable and dangerous! How exciting!
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I think I was seduced by the artwork on the cover of this book. It shows a pale blue sky, with some white puffy clouds, over a body of water that could be an ocean, made up of various shades of blue. In the center, on the horizon line, is a woman’s face, surrounded by the puffy white clouds. Its very surreal. It made me wonder what was going on with the disembodied floating face, and what happens in the book. The book was interesting, but I definately liked the cover art, (by Jeanne M. Lee), more than the story.

The story is about the life of Dolores Price as she grows up, has problems, and gets over them. I guess in some ways it can be seen as inspiring. For most of the book I was cringing, watching Dolores make bad choice after bad choice, and screwing up her life. To be fair, Dolores has some really bad things happen to her that are no fault of her own, and the effects of these events linger on and color the rest of Dolores’ decisions. But still, it was hard to watch at times. I can’t really write about the specific problems Delores goes through without giving away large parts of the story. I will say the problems tend to merge together and grow, like a snowball rolling down a hill.

There were some things that I thought were exceptionally well done. Lamb does a masterful job of getting inside the head of Dolores, describing everything from how her body felt to what her thoughts were. Everything is written out in great detail, from having her first period, to massive weight gain and loss, to pregnancy, to what her sexual experiences felt like to her. I kept looking back at the cover of the book, wondering if “Wally” could somehow be the name of a woman. Mr. Lamb does an amazing job of making Dolores come across as very real. I was impressed.

Lamb also does a great job of capturing the specific years Dolores lives through. He descibes what it was like to be in the 1950’s and get a brand new television, and what it was like to watch it for the first time when television was still a very new thing. He weaves into the story the moon landing, the Beatles, the death of Elvis, Farrah Fawcett hairstyles, AIDS, even the Rubix cube. Different characters drive vehicles that were new for that time period, and there are many scenes where someone is singing along to music that is popular in that year. Lamb blends it all in smoothly with the story he is telling.

The book is well written, and interesting. This is not what I would consider a light, easy, “beach read” though, because too many serious things are going on at any given time. The calm, blue, airy cover art made me think I was about to read something lighter than what I found. I did enjoy the story, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.