This year might as well be labeled "TJ Klune" in the annals of my life because all of my top books of the year really should be by TJ Klune. I'm late to his game. My agent told be that I HAD to read his books, though, when I said that I wanted to write a magical realism novel next. So, this is where I started, and I am so glad I hopped on board this train because O. M. G! There are no words to describe how absolutely wonderful this book is. And I swear I cried my way through at least half of it. I cried to the point that I had to put it down because I literally couldn't see words for all the tears. Klune has a real way with assembling a group of mistfits and turning them into family, and that's no more evident than in this book. As a misfit myself, I found myself wanting to hop into the tea shop of squeeze right into the middle of this lovely group of oddballs. Oh how I love them so.
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead. Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop's owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over. But Wallace isn't ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo's help, he finally starts to learn about all the things he…
Oh my gosh! Can you believe it's another TJ Klune book. I tried to warn you...
Seriously, though, I love Linus and Chancey and Arthur and Theodore and every other character in this book almost as dearly as I love the actual real people in my life. And honestly I'm not entirely convinced that this orphanage isn't out there on some hidden, remote island just waiting to be discovered, but that's only because of how desperately I want everything about this book to be real. One thing about me -- I don't like to read books with kids in them. Usually I'm a romance reader and if there's a single parent among the protagonists, good for them, but I'm not reading their story. I have a good reason for this. I swear. I am a parent. Of two autistic boys. I read to escape. And the last thing I want to escape to is more of the struggles of parenting. I don't want to be reminded of those hard parts.
But these kids? I would read about them all day and all night and never get tired of them. Their struggles are adorable even when they're hard. And I dare anyone of you to hate Lucy (short for Lucifer) who is the actual spawn of Satan and has been deemed a danger to the world. You know what? He's not. He's silly and precocious and loves to listen to music. And don't even get me started on Chauncey... I just want scoop him up and squish him to bits he's so freaking adorable!
Then, there's Linus and Arthur. Maybe the most improbable and wonderful couple to ever couple. My life is so much better for having found them.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.
When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not…
I put off reading this book for a long time, too. Maybe I should quit doing that since I seem to love all the books I put off reading. I must admit, I'm really only putting this here because I didn't want to put another TJ Klune book. Seriously. Sorry, Elissa Sussman, but if I'm being honest, your book came in fourth this year. Don't get me wrong. I really loved this book. Especially with how it portrays the way that the two protagonists have grown and changed since the weekend they met. The originality of the two characters sort of dancing around the edges of being famous is pretty great and puts a tension there that a normal famous person hooks up with non-famous person trope doesn't normally have. It's charming and real and has lots of true-to-life flaws that make me love it even more.
Weaving culinary delights with an honest, appraising look at how we deal with the world when it becomes too much, Closer to Okay is the comfort food we all need in these, well, crazy times.
Kyle Davies is doing fine. She has her routine, after all, ingrained in her from years of working as a baker: wake up, make breakfast, prep the dough, make lunch, work the dough, make dinner, bake dessert, go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. It's a good routine. Comforting. Almost enough to help her forget the scars on her wrist, still healing from when she slit it a few weeks ago; that she lost her job at the bakery when she checked herself in as an inpatient at Hope House; then signed away all decisions about her life, medical care, and wellbeing to Dr. Booth (who may or may not be a hack). So, yeah, Kyle's doing just fine.
Except that a new item's been added to her daily to-do list recently: stare out her window at the coffee shop (named, well...The Coffee Shop) across the street, and its hot owner, Jackson. It's healthy to have eye candy when you're locked in the psych ward, right? Something low risk to keep yourself distracted. So when Dr. Booth allows Kyle to leave the facility--two hours a day to go wherever she wants--she decides to up the stakes a little more. Why not visit? Why not see what Jackson's like in person?
Turns out that Jackson's a jerk with a heart of gold, a deadly combination that Kyle finds herself drawn to more than she should be. (Aren't we all?) At a time when Dr. Booth delivers near-constant warnings about the dangers of romantic entanglements, Kyle is pulled further and further into Jackson's orbit. At first, the feeling of being truly taken care of is bliss, like floating on a wave. But at a time when Kyle is barely managing her own problems, she finds herself suddenly thrown into the deep end of someone else's. Dr. Booth may have been right after all: falling in love may be the thing that sends Kyle into a backslide she might never be able to crawl out of. Is Jackson too much for her to handle? Does love come at the cost of sanity?
