The last two

      I finished the last of my library books last night. Time to go back and reload. And today is my library's used book sale. I usually find some goodies there.
      Pontoon by Garrison Keillor was excellent, although I have noticed that his writing gets sadder and darker each book. But it's still lyrical and wise with just the right amount of physical comedy.
      I don't what to say about The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. It's a dark, horrific fantasy that reads like a fable for adults or maybe the Brothers Grimm before they were cleaned up. It's the story about a young boy whose mother passes away. Soon the books in his room are whispering to him, and he is having "fits" where he falls unconscious and sees glimpses of another world. Lured by the voice of his dead mother, he enters that world that is more nightmare than fantasy.
      It's definitely not a children's book even though our hero is a child. You meet a Snow White who is so horrible that the Seven Dwarfs try to poison her; a noble, tragic, gay knight who meets a terrible death on his quest to find his missing lover; wolf-men who like the taste of human flesh and intend to rule the world; insect-like Beasts who like the taste of any flesh; trees that weep blood and flowers that scream; a beautiful huntress in the woods who likes to make children into half-animal/half-human blends and then hunt them, kill them, and mount their heads on her walls; a villain who preys upon the weak with relish and has a terrible fate planned for your young hero; and so on.
      But the book also has moments of true heroism and courage. Our hero learns terrible and beautiful lessons about the pain and glory of life. It ends well, although it's not a happily ever after ending, but how life goes on even after world changing events. I do recommend it.
      And now I'll close. I still have writing of my own to do. Night!