Saturday, March 15, 2014

The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley

I read (and really enjoyed) this book and the rest of the books in the series years ago (well, 7 of them the author hadn't written the 8th and the 9th yet so I haven't read those).  I had to reread this first one because it was one of the books chosen for the One Book One Family book club and I remembered why I liked it so much. I like fairy-tales and the retelling of fairy-tales and this one has both old characters and new action.  Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have been abandoned by their parents and after some awful experiences in foster care have come to live with their Grandmother, Relda Grimm.  The problem is, their parents told them that she had died before they were born.  Sabrina is very suspicious of "Granny," especially when she starts spouting crazy stories about how the fairy-tale characters are real and living in their town and it's the Grimm family's job to keep them in line.  The Sisters Grimm is a great series.  

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

I had heard of this book, but did not realize we had a copy in the library till it literally jumped off the shelves when I was helping someone find a different book.  I just had to read it.  I love books that deal with near death experiences.  One of my favorites is "Heaven is for Real."  Anyway, this is the story of Eddie.  Eddie is a pretty gruff old man, and unfortunately, Eddie dies.  This is the story of the 5 people Eddie meets after his death.  They help Eddie make sense of his life and the choices that he made during his life.  Some of them are people that Eddie has no idea he had an effect on.  I liked the way this book showed that our lives are tied to others by even the smallest choices that we make.  I couldn't put this little book down!  I loved it.