“Lisey’s Story” by Stephen King

"Lisey’s Story" by Stephen King

2006, Pocket Books
ISBN: 978-1-4165-2335-2

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Stephen King is one of my favorite writers. “Lisey’s Story” fulfilled every expectation I had. It’s a love story. It’s a peek into what one writer’s writing life is like. It’s a horror story. It’s a story about living through unrelieved terror and desperation and how a person can be hammered and shaped into somebody who can live a good life. It’s a story of courage.

“Lisey’s Story” is about Lisey and Scott Landon. Scott is a writer who survived a horrific childhood, who has very real demons he wrestles with constantly and who because of the love Lisey has for him is able to translate the horror he has in his life into happy. Sort of happy. Relatively happy. Happy with bumps in the road that he deals with. But, isn’t that what we all do anyway?

He dies and Lisey is left to put away his writing life, to sort through all the writing he has left behind. But, there are things he never told her while they were married. She had seen glimpses into what his world was like when he went to the secret pool to drink, but mostly she tried to ignore what she knew, to forget even as she became aware of the horror. And, the rest she didn’t know. But, with his death it all came to a head and she was forced to make further inroads on the grieving she had for Scott, to remember what he had told her of the horror of his life, to deal with a madman who tries to kill her, and to finally, in the end, come out braver than she’d been when she went into it.

I love Stephen King stories because the good guys always win. Always. And, love always conquers all. It’s a twisted route to get there, but in the end there is always a happy ending. There may be blood and guts hanging off of the light fixtures, but the good guys always win.

“Four to Score” by Janet Evanovich

“Four to Score” by Janet Evanovich
1998, St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 0-312-18586-3

“Four to Score” by Janet Evanovich. I want to say this is the best book I’ve read in awhile. I have this personal gauge of judging books that if I cry at the end it was a good book. “Four to Score” had me howling with laughter many times throughout the book. I have a new standard for judging books. I couldn’t turn a page and I was laughing. This isn’t the first book I’ve read by Janet Evanovich and it sure won’t be the last. Same caliber of excellent writing. Same fantastic one-liners and wonderfully quirky witticisms.

Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter. “Four to Score” is another one of her attempts to bring in somebody who has jumped bail. Actually, it isn’t an attempt. She does get her man; or her lady in this case. But along the way she has terrific sex with a cop, she gets assistance from a rock star who dresses as a woman for success and a former prostitute now file clerk who yearns to be a bounty hunter too. They go after the bad guys. And, this has got to be the best few hours you will spend during the summer you can imagine.

“Dying for Chocolate” by Diane Mott Davidson

“Dying for Chocolate” by Diane Mott Davidson
1992, Bantam Books
ISBN: 0-553-08576-X

“Dying for Chocolate” by Diane Mott Davidson. I’ve been hanging out in the mystery section at the library lately and I happened to be drawn to this book. It wasn’t anything that had been recommended to me. I’m generally relying upon psychic impulses and nudged from Spirit as I wander around the library these days. I have to say I snagged a winner with, “Dying for Chocolate”.

This story centers upon Goldy Bear a caterer in the mountains of Colorado. She has a friend, Tom Shultz, who is a policeman and who comes to her aid as Goldy finds herself embroiled in the middle of a horrible mystery where another friend of hers has been murdered. She lives with a bunch of odd characters as she tries to establish some stability in her life after a nasty divorce. Her son, Arch, is 11 years old and is becoming a pretty good magician. Swirling throughout this story are her efforts to cater this or that event and a most wonderful part about this book are the fantastic recipes included!

But, first and foremost this is a murder mystery and an excellent one at that. Diane Mott Davidson has created a series with Goldy as the star. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series. Excellent book. I highly recommend it.

“Simply Magic” by Mary Balogh

“Simply Magic” by Mary Balogh
2007, Bantam Dell
ISBN: 978-0-385-33823-3


I have my own personal gauges for what I consider good books. You can get a “good” feeling in your body. That’s not something that’s real obvious, but you know personally if you feel good or not. A more obvious clue for me if I like a book is if I cry at one or more points along the way. I did that with, “Simply Magic” by Mary Balogh.

If you’ve read any other books by Mary Balogh you’ll recognize some of the names in the books. Her characters are finely drawn and crafted and deserve to be in more than one book. I think it’s wonderful how she pulls the awkwardness of first meetings, of first infatuation and the hesitancy of first loves into this story. This is a Regency Romance with balls and coaches and polite teas. But, this is also the story of two people from different worlds who recognize in each other that simple gold and silver thread that is love.

Susanna Osbourne, with her green eyes and auburn hair, meets Peter Edgeworth, Viscount Whitleaf, by pure happenstance. If either of them had made a decision they’d both been contemplating the day before their meeting it would never have happened. And, I thought it was fantastic to read Peter’s thoughts as he saw her for the first time, “There she is.” Simple, but how wonderfully a heart will recognize love before the people involved will acknowledge it.

It is also always interesting to me to see how people in stories grow and develop. I loved seeing how their love brought them both the courage to do things for themselves that prior to their meeting they’d just not been willing or able to do. Together they created a formidable force.

“Simply Magic” was terrific. You can vist Mary's website here.