Patty Pick for March 19th is "The Ocean at The End of the Lane" by NeilGaiman

This little book had a lot to say in a small amount of pages. All though fantasy is not always my first choice, I read this book because I had heard a lot of good things about it. Our narrator, now a middle-aged man, revisits his hometown to attend a funeral. He decides to travel down the lane in the neighborhood in which he lived growing up. As he drives down the lane, he begins to remember the events that took place in the summer he met Lettie Hempstock and her family at the end of the lane.

Neil Gaiman uses his rich storytelling imagery to open our imaginations up to the fantasy world he creates in our narrator's world. As Neil Gaiman weaves his tale of the summer that Ursula Monkton, monster, took over the life of the our narrator, we start to get afraid for him. Ursula is evil incarnate and we watch her use our young narrator's family for her own gains and to destroy the world as they know. it. Our young hero turns 7 and learns that he can be braver than he imagined. As you get lost in vivid descriptions of the story you will realize that the "monsters" and "events" relate to real life situations. Our narrator had to overcome being nerdy and shunned by this fellow students to come to the realization that he could stand up to the bad things that happened to him and control his own future. 

  

Patty Pick for 3/12/15 is "The Shadow of the Crescent Moon" by Fatima Bhutto!

"The Shadow of the Crescent Moon" centers around a morning in the lives of three brothers in the town of Mir Ali, Pakistan. It perfectly chronicles a society caught between the layers of war. In war there are always the innocent people who trying to survive while at the same time are caught between the warring factions involved. 

Brothers Aman, Sikandar & Hayat are having breakfast together on the morning of Eid.

Their lives have been effected by the war in unspeakable ways and they are each coping as best as they can. The details of their daily lives as they just try to survive another day is heart-wrenching. They make choices on this day that will shape their futures and reflect their souls. This snapshot leaves me wanting to know more but saddened by the truth woven in the native words of  Fatima Bhutto. This one gets a 3.5!

WORLD BOOK DAY!!

Today is World Book Day and in it's honor I am not going to review a book, but 

read a book! There are so many wonderful authors and books that there never seems 

to be enough time to read or find them all. Hopefully one day in the near future, some 

of you will be reading my book, Evil Was Born First!

So take this day to remember some of the wonderful books you have read and pass 

them along to your friends and family. And above all - READ!!

Great Quote from Dr. Suess!

Goodreads shared this with me today and it is too good to not share with all of you! 

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, 

the more places you'll go." - Dr. Suess

Wisdom to live by!

Patty