How to Stop Time

How to Stop Time
by Matt Haig
Pages: 325
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Tom Hazard learns as a teen that he is different. His mother dies because of his secret. He is a man lost in time. Though he looks like an ordinary 41-year-old he is really, much, much older. He has a rare condition that causes him to age incredibly slowly and boosts his immune system to fight off disease. He has fell in love once and still mourns her loss. He has meet Shakespeare, Captain Cook and F. Scott Fitzgerald but what he really wants is to be ordinary. To be able to enjoy ordinary things, have friends and connect with other people without endangering them.

But the Albatross Society tracks down everyone with Tom's condition and enforces strict rules of behavior including rule number one -- don't fall in love. Can Tom actual form a friendship and maybe even fall in love again or will he be forever stuck in the past with the leader of the Albatross Society?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

#BecRereads2018

I both love and hate that I reread this gorgeous, funny story that fist punches people right in the soft places. The previous review still stands.

Book 5 read in 2018

Pages: 313


PREVIOUS REVIEW:

Eff.

This novel destroyed me from the inside out. I avoided it, because I thought it was going to be another Cancer Kid book that makes me cry. It is (a Cancer Kid book) and it did (make me cry), but it went way beyond that. I think it set a new standard that other authors in this genre will struggle to live up to.

I let this story into my life, all the gorgeous notions and metaphors and ideas and words. I almost wanted to be the characters, full of wit, humor, life, and individuality, despite how difficult, messy, and painful their lives actually were.

And then the grenade exploded. The shrapnel pierced me, and I stood by and let it happen. Because some stories are worth bleeding over, worth crying for, and worth screaming at the universe for.

The ache it leaves is a tragic side effect...of Epic Stories, not Dying. Well, both actually.

Read with caution: I think it left a new scar on my well-traveled reader's heart.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Major Ernest Pettigrew lives a quiet life in Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside. He bases his life on duty, honor and family traditions, his most important values. At first, he seems a bit stodgy and rigid, but as the book progresses, he is forced to take a closer look at what is really important in life.

His younger brother’s death leads to an encounter with Mrs. Ali, who is the Pakistani owner of the local food shop. She helps him deal with his grief, and they slowly develop a friendship based on a shared interest in literature, and their common bond as widow and widower. The fact that they both love a good cup of tea doesn’t hurt!

Major Pettigrew is 68 and Mrs. Ali is 58, and both are dealing with a younger generation whose values and behaviors are quite different from theirs. As their friendship deepens into more, they also have to overcome obstacles from a society that considers the difference in their classes, cultures and ages insurmountable.  But they persist, and in the end find a way through it all.

Both characters are immensely appealing. Witty and endearing, they slowly seep into your consciousness and make you want to read more about them.  A most satisfying read.

384 pages