The Wandering Hour

(The Doomsday Archives book 1)

by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos

Libby audiobook 5 hours

Read by: Ramon De Ocampo

Published: 2024

Genre: children's suspense, supernatural

I'm not sure what I expected, but I did not enjoy this book much. Three kiddos - Emrys, Hazel, and Serena - love horror movies. Emrys is new to town and is a bit of a third wheel to Hazel and Serena's long-term friendship. They get drawn in to a real-life mystery that involves the disappearance of kids but it also involves monsters, magic, and the stopping of time for an hour. The huge hourglass with blood red sand was an interesting detail. It was enough to keep me listening for part of a work shift, but definitely NOT one I'll want to recommend, re-read, or find book 2 when it's published.

Walking Papers: A True Story

[Subtitled: the Accident that Changed my Life, and the Business that got me Back on My Feet]
by Francesco Clark
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Kirby Heyborne

This is a fascinating story and Heyborne brings great expression to the reading of it - Clark's young life changed forever by a late-night dive into the shallow end of a pool at age 24. His broken neck, SCI, surgery, therapy, and everything that goes with a life-changing event made me both sad and hopeful.

I remember when Christopher Reeve broke his neck and I scoffed at all the attention and money that went to help a superstar. What about ordinary people? Louie pointed out that ordinary people would benefit from the research and advances *because* of Reeve's celebrity. Yeah. Didn't think about that. Hearing the author's admiration of Reeve reminded me of this long-ago conversation.

Listening to this was hard for me because of everything that happened with Sam. At times, I thought that Clark was a little too whiny . . . but I get whiny too without as much cause. And I'm sure for all of Sam's incredibly positive attitude, there are times she asks the hard questions too. I wish I could talk with her.

This is a fascinating story about SCI and recovery. It's also about the human spirit. Clark recognizes that his family and their incredible support made a huge difference to him. How maddening to have insurance companies dictating the level of therapy, supplies, etc. What transformations in his life! Pre-accident, soon after, and years later continuing to "get better" (his words). I'm glad I "read" this book.

Freakboy

by Kristin Clark
Hennepin County Library hardcover 427 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction

Written in prose poetry, this is a story told from three viewpoints. Brendan is a wrestler who doesn't love wrestling. He has a little sister, Courtney, toward whom he is loving. His girlfriend Vanessa (another perspective) is also a wrestler. She enjoys ceramics and is struggling to maintain her friendship with two girls as she becomes more and more focused on Brendan. Angel is a transgender living as a young woman. Her perspective is the third. Angel's story is the most compelling, although Brendan's is clearly the focus of the book. Angel was abused by his biological father as a child. His mother died when Angel was quite young. He loves his little brother Frankie, but runs away to live with his aunt until her new boyfriend starts threatening him. Having sold his body, lived homeless, and gone hungry, he now works in a gathering place for GLBTQ youth.

Difficult to read and think about kids actually dealing with gender identity issues (Brendan decides on "gender fluid" since he identifies both ways), this book is a fairly quick read with lots of provoking themes. At one point as Brendan commits suicide, he is forced to think of how the discovery of his corpse would impact his little sister.

My favorite part was Angel praying and talking about God's love.

The House That Cleans Itself

by Mindy Starns Clark
Hennepin County Library, paperback, 234 pages
genre: self-help / housekeeping

I am torn between wanting to buy a copy of this book and just starting with the notes I've made to see how it goes. I will be gone too much in the next few weeks to start this system. I love her tone and the fact that she struggled for a long time with the clutter and lack of cleanliness that I am dealing with. I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle this, though. It will take time to go through the whole house and change how we do things. By the end of the book, I thought, "well, we're not THAT bad around here." But I recognize that we have too much clutter and we need to make some changes so our house is more enjoyable. I may be checking this one out again. Or simply buying a copy.

The Cradle Will Fall

by Mary Higgins Clark
Beaudoins' condo, paperback, 314 pages

I just picked this up to while away some time and it ended up helping me stay awake so we were ready to leave the condo at 4:00 a.m.! I figured if I went to bed, I might not wake up in time, so this thriller helped me stay up.

A doctor is doing some weird experiments on his patients. When he is "forced" to kill one of his patients to protect his secret, things start to unravel. At first, suspicions fall on the woman's pilot husband. But the noose is tightening. Great thriller. Classic MHC.