Tag: life

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#BlogTour: Reports Of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by James Goodhand

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a hilarious and heartwarming absurdist British drama. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Reports Of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by James Goodhand.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com / BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / PageBound.co / TheStoryGraph.com) and YouTube:

Hilarious (If In An Absurdist/ British Manner) And Heartwarming. I’m going to do this review in two parts, because there is a very key similarity between this book and a (possibly now somewhat obscure) movie that was at one time decently well known – but to reveal which movie is a *massive* spoiler.

So here’s the spoiler free part:

This book is going to make you laugh. It is going to make you cry. It is going to make you reach out to speak with and hold those closest to you, and it is going to make you think about your own life. And it is going to do all of that via allowing you to see through the eyes of a loner recluse that nobody gives a damn about who happens to be mistaken for a dead neighbor. Goodhand does another amazing job of telling a story in such a low key way, yet managing to hit exactly the notes he seems to have been going for. Truly an awesome story that will be a great counter weight to both the bubble gum pop or hyper macho action books you’re reading this summer as well as the extreme dark horror tales some (weirdos – joking, to be clear) look to this time of year or even the nonfiction books that a lot of ppl seek to read in the summer. And yes, guys, put down the nonfiction and read this book. It is absolutely for you, and you’re going to be able to have quite a bit of “teh feelz” in a safe space with this book. Ladies, don’t let the last sentence fool you, you’re going to enjoy this book at least as much as the guys, as there is quite a bit here for you too – just not quite as prominent, more in the sub story with some stuff that is going on throughout the book.

And now… the spoilers. DO NOT READ BELOW HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Giving.
People.
Who.
Don’t.
Want.
To.
Be.
Spoiled.
Time.
To.
Leave.

Ok, at this point I’ve given everyone’s eyes a chance to leave before you read what I say next, so HERE COME THE SPOILERS.

Mr. Holland’s Opus has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Its final scene in particular, where Mr. Holland comes to school ostensibly to pick up his last remaining boxes from his classroom after a lifetime of teaching at this school, only to hear some noise coming from somewhere… then following it to find an auditorium full of his former students and colleagues, all there to celebrate him… simply phenomenal.

If you love that movie, and particularly that scene, as much as I do… well, you’re already in the spoiler section of this review. Suffice it to say, without giving *everything* away, that there is a very similar scene here, and it is just as phenomenal as that one. *Maybe* even a touch better. I don’t *know* that Goodhand was aware of this scene, but it at least seems possible.

Now, my job as a reviewer is to both describe my experience with a book and, ultimately, to try to help sell it, even on books I absolutely detest. So particularly when a book was as excellent as this one, I need to talk about the things that I think could help it sell, and thus I *needed* to mention this movie. Plus, I couldn’t help but immediately think of that movie as the scene here was playing out, so I’m also being true to my own experience with the book in mentioning it. But I do know it is a massive spoiler, so it has been embedded in these spoiler tags.

And.
Now.
We.
Come.
Back.
Out.
Of.
The.
Spoilers.

Ultimately, this was truly an excellent book that I think most anyone will truly have a great time with, and in the lower half of the 300 page range, it isn’t a tome that will take weeks to read either, so it should be accessible to most readers.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: Reports Of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by James Goodhand”

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#BookReview: Friends Are Forever by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Strong “Finale”. I use “finale” in quotes in the title of this review because it seems we are getting a Christmas “epilogue” for this series later this year, at least per book site listings as I write this review nearly a week before this book publishes.

This noted, the story here absolutely reads like a genuine and strong finale of a series that has put its main characters through quite a lot… and has still more for them to go through. The laughs… and dusty rooms… are both timed and executed well, even as many of them seemingly come out of the blue – particularly the dusty rooms. Yet every aspect here remains perfectly true to who each of the main characters are, even as the situations they find themselves in through the course of this series finale are very unexpected.

Even as someone who first came to this series at Book 4, and thus missed the developments of the first three books, this really was very well done – one of the better finale/ wrap-ups/ send-offs I’ve seen done in a series finale in any medium, and certainly *far* superior to the various infamous finales over the years. No one is waking up and claiming it was all a dream here, y’all. 😉

Read the rest of the series before reading this book. But then make sure you have some tissues ready, because when those dusty rooms hit in this book – and yes, I said “rooms”, as in plural – they *really* hit, and you’re going to need them.

Fortunately each book in the series (at least those I’ve read) is at or under 200 pages, which makes them all fairly quick reads, even for busy parents (or others busy with whatever life you may lead).

By the time you get to the end of this one, you’ll be satisfied with where Gilbert leaves these characters… but you’re also going to welcome that epilogue currently scheduled to release in late October 2025. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of Friends Are Forever by Kellie Coates Gilbert was originally written on June 23, 2025.

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#BlogTour: Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a tale that is an interesting examination of life and death. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle.

Here’s what I had to say on Goodreads:

Jumbled And Disjointed, Yet Somehow Works. This is one of those books that arguably *shouldn’t* work, given how truly disjointed it is with its time period and character jumps, and yet as more of a meditation/ reflective work on life and death, it really does actually work. As we work through the various streams of consciousness of Fred, Lil, Shelley, and Harvey, we see each of their lives through their own eyes as they struggle with past, present, life, and death. We see the traumas large and small, the regrets and the victories, the confusions and the joys. Admittedly, the particular writing style will be hard to follow for some, and even I found it quite jarring despite my own abilities to largely go with any flow of a book. But in the end it really does work to tell a cohesive yet complex story, and really that is all anyone can ultimately ask of a fiction tale. Thus, there is nothing of the quasi-objective nature that I try to maintain to hang any star reduction on, even as many readers may struggle with this tale. And thus, it is very much recommended.

And here’s the new paperback cover provided by the publisher, as well as a photo of the author. 🙂