Here we go – year 7.   I am THRILLED to continue this tradition, even when I don’t stay as well connected as I once did on this space. Thank you to those who have messaged me to ask if I will be doing it again.

The answer is…

Of course we are doing it.

My life has changed quite a bit.  Now working as a Full-Time Event/Promotions coordinator, and involved in a few non-profits, I don’t have the reading time or writing time that I used to.  I do write a bit at I Guess I Am Doing This (also a work in process… but I am not giving up.)

So what is First Book?  First Book to me, is that first book you plan on reading for the New Year.  It can be a long-coveted read you have not had time for, a guilty pleasure read like a re-read of a favorite…  really it can be anything – it is, after all, YOUR First Book.

Make it AWESOME.

Then, once you have picked what it will be, email/ Facebook message me a picture of you with the book (send it to sdechantal@gmail.com).  This adds to the excitement of the First Book.  You have between now and December 31st to send in your choice.  On January 1st I will post all the pics in a collage format of all of you around the world that are doing First Book.  I do hope you will join me – friends, family, fellow book lovers, a friend of a friend of a friend… this event each year and your willingness to do this with me makes my heart smile.  🙂
Here is some (yes some)  of what came in last year:

Remember – this should be the first book you plan to be reading into the New Year.  Yes, you can start it New Year’s Eve. :p  You can send the picture (sdechantal@gmail.com) anytime between now and December 31st so I can prep the collage.  Thanks, everyone… having this project to work on makes the New Year fun.

A book about four siblings knowing the day they will die and what they do with that knowledge….  it really opens up the question, would you want to know?

~Sheila

It is the late 1960’s and four children (from 7 – 13) find themselves before a Traveling Physic who claims to be able to tell them the day they will die.  She does, privately with each one and go on their way believing and not believing…

The Immortalists then breaks into 4 parts and follows each sibling throughout their life to that day.  What choices they make, and where it all ends.  Do they live recklessly – or with abandon – or fully… as we, those who do not know, all should never knowing when that day or this day – will be your last.

What does the sibling do that has the least amount of time?  What about the one with the most?

I finished this book late yesterday afternoon.  I was listening to it on audio while channeling Marie Kondo and tackling my closet.  And to be honest, I am still tossing around in my head what I think of it.

I think I am struggling because it was not what I thought it was going to be.  I expected a more magical element to the book.  One portion of the book was also way more sexually detailed then for my taste in books and while that chapter is extremely powerful, admittedly I had a few moments where I considered giving up on the book.

Now – that I have completed the book and understand what the author was doing… I feel that overall the book is brilliantly written.  The diving of the chapters is a perfect telling for this style of read.

This book was up for vote by my book club on three separate occasions and won for our current read that we will be discussing tomorrow evening.  I am super curious where they landed on this one and I feel it is going to bring out good discussion.  I am looking forward to the big questions regarding dealing with grief, and the supernatural – and of course… if we could know when our last day would be…

would we want to know? 

NPR Review of The Immortalists

In my teens… I loved me some Stephen King… he was my go to for dark stories.  In my twenties, I discovered Dean Koontz (a little less wild than King) and read everything the man wrote… and then I found Harlan –  who has a a way of mixing great mystery with witty humor…  there’s a little something he adds to the genre that makes my heart leap when a new book is coming by him.

~Sheila

New jersey Detective Napoleon Dumas (yes… Dumas… not a typo) is still haunted by the freak accident that took the life of his twin brother Leo and Leo’s girlfriend Diana when they were all still in High School.  Both were found dead on the railroad tracks, the whole episode put in the books as teen partying.  That same night, Nap’s girlfriend Maura broke up with him and was never seen again… as years go on, it seems that other close friends of Leo’s are also dying in mysterious ways.  Is someone trying to keep something quiet?

15 years later… none of this still makes sense.

When Maura’s fingerprints show up in a rental car of a suspected murdered, Nap feels he may finally have a lead to answers.  His search becomes an obsession as he feels he is on the verge of knowing what really happened that night to his brother, Diane and what are these ripple effects that still seem to be happening….

I do love Coben’s mind.  Don’t Let Go, is a perfect title for this book and true to form… Harlan does not let me down with a protagonist with a last name of Dumas.

Classic Coben.

Don’t get me wrong –  Coben’s humor does not get in the way of a good mystery, in fact other than Dumas’s unfortunate name (which admittedly he was teased for throughout school) the book lends itself to a dark mystery of covered up events.  I found myself having a hard time putting the book down as I wanted to know what was going to happen.  The ending was a solid “Whoa!”  And that’s a good thing.

Readers who enjoy a good solid mystery that does not go too far or gory will enjoy Coben’s books.

Sheila DeChantal enjoys reviewing books here, and also writes on other subjects (as well as books) at IguessIamdoingthis.com