The Mill River Recluse

The Mill River Recluse: [I will not copy the description of the novel from any other source. Doing that would only give away the story. If you like, follow the link to Amazon page and read the "Product Description" but it will tell you a lot of the plot.]

Author: Darcie Chan
Genre: Fiction / Literary

I selected this book simply because it was available on the kindle daily deals page for 99 cents and it had good reviews. The character development is very good. The author has decided to tell the story from two ends, the past and present, switching back and forth in alternating chapters. No big deal there, but usually when writers do that, there's a mystery or a "present nicely tied with a bow" at the end, but this book's ending was quite weak. The development of just a few characters, out of a town of 400, intertwined in rather plain (and easy) ways is all that is at the end. I enjoyed the easy reading, but it was sort of like peeling an onion; at the end, there's nothing there. Specially so, since I didn't learn anything new from the historical perspective either. I would not recommend this book, but I've noticed that people have given this book 5/5 stars in quite a few places. Perhaps, those who like reading for the sake of reading may find this appealing.

The Dirty Parts of the Bible

The Dirty Parts of the Bible: A Novel: It's 1936 and 19-year-old Tobias Henry is stuck in the frozen hinterlands of Michigan. Tobias is obsessed with two things: God and girls. Mostly girls. But being a Baptist preacher's son, he can't escape God. When his father is blinded in a bizarre accident, Tobias rides the rails to Texas in search of a lost fortune. Along the way, he is initiated into the hobo brotherhood by Craw, a ribald yet wise black man. Obstacles arise in the form of a saucy prostitute, a giant catfish, and a flaming boxcar. But when he meets Sarah, a tough farm girl under a dark curse, he finds out that the greatest challenge of all is love.

Author: Sammy Conner
Genre: Humor

The title is misleading; this books is not so much about the bible, but it is about a boy growing up and becoming a man. It is sort of like Tom Sawyer meets the railroads kind of deal with a bit of religion thrown in. The religion is, most of the time, the butt of the jokes, so if that's not your cup of tea, don't read this one. A quick read. The language and the subject matter makes is not suitable for the young reader but what do I know, these days, the middle-schoolers can make an old sailor blush. No, I didn't learn a great deal about the 1930's Michigan or Texas or hobos or anything; but just enough to get the feel for it. I liked it. Wouldn't "very highly" recommend it, but if you like old-time stories and a bit of humor, this could be a fast read on a plane ride or something.