TCCDM 11 Favorite Books Read In 2024

"Every book is a new book if you haven't read it!" 
 And so, let us begin.



Holly
by Stephen King
(2023)
Hardcover, 449 pages
If you are familiar with Stephen King's "Bill Hodges Trilogy" beginning with Mr. Mercedes then you have already met Holly.  In this one, Holly is hired to find a mother's missing college-age daughter.  The missing person case leads to a creepy stomach-churning thriller.  King proves once again that creepy weird supernatural ideas are often no match for the creepy horrible stuff inflicted via human discourse.  Holly is filled with page-turning uncertainties with Holly's detective skills weaved in a believable investigative manner, with King playing fair with all the clues. Holly is a stand-alone hardback novel, but that's no reason to skip the trilogy. (full review)


The Feud: The Hatfields & McCoys
by Dean King
(2013)
Holy Schnikes!  The conflict between the West Virginia Hatfields and the Kentucky McCoys was a complex flustercluck of stealing, pay-backs, grudges, revenge, murders, maiming, Romeo-Juliet romances, shunning, and a whole lot of sneakery.  Both sides.  It involved close family members, cousins, uncs, friends, and neighbors.  It was blood for blood and don't ever go against the family.  An eye-opener, for sure.  Well-written with photographs. (full review)


The Rook
by Daniel O'Malley
(2012)
Softcover, 486 pages 
Takes a familiar trope and turns it on its head.  A special agent of a clandestine government learns she has amnesia from a note she left herself in case it ever happened.  With that premise, the reader is on a graphic and unpredictable adventure with one coffee-spitting idea after another.  Characters are easy to take a shine to.  If you like mixing up your book-reading genres from time to time, The Rook is a tasty page-turning curveball. (full review)


From Hell
by Alan Moore (writer) & Eddie Campbell (artist)
Eddie Campbell Comics (1999)
Softcover Graphic, 564 pages
Since 1888, five gruesome murders in London, maybe more, ascribed to a killer known as Jack the Ripper have remained unsolved.  To this day, Ripperologists all over the world, have been trying to solve the mystery.  Alan Moore adds his two cents into a pot of what has become an amalgam of ideas and theories.  Heavily researched and footnoted, Moore offers an interesting explanation for this serial-killer puzzle.  And it's a fantastic read. (full review)


The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
by Bill Bryson
(2006)
Hardcover, 268 pages
Bryson's recollections of the olden days as a young boy reminded me of Christmas Ralphie with a bit of Scut Farkus orneriness thrown in.  It's a sweet, amusing read that causes us all to measure what we've lost with what we've gained.  Nostalgia will do that to ya.  It's the perfect book to chill your mind and break up the monotony from the thrillers, mysteries, and horror stories you've been gorging on.  Pick this one up and give your pulse a break. (full review)


LATER
by Stephen King
(2021)
Paperback, 248 pages
The third SK Hard Case Crime novel.  A shortie, but the story doesn't hurt none and reads like melted butter.  Jamie, a youngster who has occasional brushes with dead people is quick to remind the reader that it's a horror story but it doesn’t smack you hard in the mouth.  There is a crime to be resolved within these pages, and the small handful of characters that further along the story are all interesting to meet.  Not a nerve-rattler, but it scratches a bit of the itch. (Full review) 


The Eden Hunter
By Skip Horack
(2010)
Paperback, 320 pages
In the early 1800s, a pygmy tribesman named Kau is taken from his family in Africa and brought to the Americas to be sold into slavery.  Kau tries to escape through Florida (before Florida became a state) to find his own place in the world.  Skip Horack's descriptive style paints a clear picture of the dangers and challenges and reminds us of the cruelty humans will inflict on others.  The story reads quick and makes for a good historical fiction novel. (full review)


2001: A Space Odyssey
by Arthur C. Clarke
(1968) Published - New American Library
Hardcover, 222 pages
I'm not a sci-fi reader of habit but I saw this early hardback in the used library bookstore and picked it up. This Arthur C. Clarke classic reads easily, and is not at all a time-suck.  And having seen the movie first doesn't hurt the reading experience one bit.  In the novel, the world is a conflict of sterile yet oddly warm experiences, and ultimately, it is about exploration and pushing the limits of space travel.  A few of the dangling questions left from the film are partially filled in within these pages yet the bigger picture is left for us to decide "...which is right and which is an illusion." (full review)


Ghost Story
by Peter Straub
(1979 - Rei 2003)
Hardcover, 483 pages
Ghost Story is a slow-burn read, but the best kind.  A simmering crockpot of atmosphere and characters.  Ghost Story has a delicious claustrophobic vibe that works all through the story.  A small group of elderly, long-time friends socially meet to smoke a smoke and drink a drink while each swaps stories about odd occurrences they remember.  Somewhere among their stories, an unexpected connection begins to unfold.  And I was all in. (full review)


Billy Summers
By Stephen King
(2021)
Hardcover, 515 pages
Billy Summers is not a horror novel, but this should not surprise any long-time fans of Stephen King.  The story is a fantastic crime novel about a seasoned gun-for-hire taking one last job.  Wrapped up between the pages is an assassination double-cross with an underlying 'story within a story' that King so often likes to employ.  The plot is suspenseful and meticulous in the telling; relentless in the dotting of i's and crossing of t's.  The pacing is just right.  Plus a couple of Easter Eggs within the pages are sure to bring a smile and nod to faithful readers.   Redemption is seldom nice and neat. (full review)


The Sandman Overture (Deluxe Edition)
by Neil Gaiman (writer), J.H.Williams III (artist) 
DC Vertigo 2015
Hardcover, 224 pages
This graphic novel is a stand-alone prequel to The Sandman series and explains what Dream dealt with right before the original series took off.  It's mind-blowing as is the series. I've yet to meet a more beautifully dysfunctional family than the Endless Family.  Dream and his six siblings...Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire, and Delight/Delirium.  Each figure a conundrum.  More than anything, this graphic novel displays the amazing osmosis between writer and artist.  The meshing of story and art is jaw-dropping.  Highly recommended. (full review)

And that's it 'til next time.
"Remember...every book is a new book if you haven't read it!"
Go out and get yourself one.

"I'm Reading A Book" - Julian Smith (2011)

Good stuff.

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