The A-List:
Small Rain by Garth Greenwell (A): A 40 something year old gay man finds himself in the hospital with a mysterious disease that isn’t Covid (it takes place in 2020 if I remember correctly) and deals with the bureaucracy of hospital and questions his life choices.
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky (A-) A single mom and her son (10 or so) move to a new town and he finds himself slipping through this world and an evil world and having to stop evil from getting into this world. It was so Stephen King inspired but Chbosky doesn’t quite reach King’s talent…I wonder if it started off as The Talisman FanFic?
The X-Files: Perihelion by Claudia Gray (A-). Gray captures the essence of The X-Files and continues the story after the mess that was S11 in 2018, explaining the ending and offers more continuity than the actual show ever did. Must read for fans of the series.
The B-List
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig (B+): His fans will love it, his haters will hate it. A woman inherits a house in Ibiza and finds herself with gifts of another sort as she tries to stop a developer from destroying a beach. It sort of touches on some of the massive tourism issues some places (Barcelona) in Spain are facing right now.
Mermaids by Patty Dann (B) : Yes, the book that inspired the Cher movie. Just as enjoyable as the movie. I want to read the sequel, Starfish, but haven’t been able to find it.
Fiasco by James Robert Parrish (B): From 2003, so a bit dated (No Gigli!), but it’s the backstory behind some of Hollywood’s most infamous bombs and what went wrong. I sorta want to see some of the movies in here and have already seen Paint Your Wagon and Ishtar.
Mine by Robert McCammon (B): A former hippie/protestor kidnaps a newborn baby she wants to raise as her own to make up for the miscarriage she had. This one is even more dated (1990), but it was a fun read.
Memorials by Richard Chizmar (B): A group of college students in the 1980s do a research project on highway memorials but find themselves the target of the local residents who aren’t so happy about their research. Stephen King recommended his friend’s book for reason. It just was a bit long and could have been 100 pages shorter without losing anything.
The C-List:
House of Gucci by Sara Gay Forden. The Lady Gaga-Adam Driver et al movie was better. This was a slog to read.
