Utter Joy

I have always loved Stephen King, from the moment I picked up Carrie as a teenager, I was hooked on his stories. There have been a few duds, but for the most part his stories keep me enthralled, and usually quite scared.

The books I haven't read were the Dark Tower series, and perhaps I should give those a chance. One novel I loved was The Eyes of the Dragon, which falls into the YA category, but is a wonderful story if you haven't read it.

I just finished Joyland, and I have to say it was a true joy to read. I loved the characters; the protagonist, Jonesy, is a great lead, utterly believable, and his narration leads the story at the perfect pace. Bits of foreshadowing, expertly done, mark it as a novel by King.

It didn't scare me, nor is it meant to. It is a coming of age story...of a 21 year old, a love story, a ghost story, a human story. There are life lessons here, and some wonderful quotes about life as well.

They sell fun at Joyland, and sometimes fun is what is needed, particularly if you spend too much time immersed in the news, politics, tragedies, you need a bit of fun. Read Joyland, enjoy it, take a breath and revel in what many would say is a simple story, but it is one that leaves me feeling hopeful, and there are too many times when that concept is hard to hold on to.

Possible new venture

I have always wanted to own a bookstore. I have chatted about this for years, and soon I might just embark on this adventure. I plan on attending a weeklong workshop, in either Jan or May, 2014 to learn how to start an Indie YA bookstore, that I plan on calling YA Java :-)

I already have business cards, and changed the name of this blog to kind of jump start the process.

I will keep you apprised of my progress, as this daydream takes off.

Great new (for me) series.

I had downloaded a sample chapter of The Stranger You Seek, by Amanda Kyle Williams sometime ago, but never got around to reading it. I finally read it, and had to read the novel. At that point I was lucky because there was a special running, and I bought it for 99 cents...

Keye Street is the detective in this series, and she is a unique character who is well drawn out by Williams. The supporting cast is also nicely developed.

The crimes in this first novel, are a gruesome series of killings. I was guessing throughout who the killer might be, and was surprised when the identitiy was revealed. Keye's insights are interesting, her friendships are believable, and her experiences are all too real.

I will soon download the second book in the series, Stranger in the Room. I know Ms. Williams is working on the third novel, Don't Talk to Strangers, (due in Feb., 2014) because I follow her on Facebook.

If you enjoy Lescroart, for his engaging characters and friendhips, mixed with interesting cases, you should check out this series.