Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024--San Antonio

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune deals with living life, the end of life, and reflections on life with an alternative story to traditional religious beliefs about what happens when one dies.  Wallace was a workaholic, tough, unsympathetic, divorced and friendless lawyer.  When he dies suddenly of a heart attack, he becomes a ghost attending his own funeral with only 5 other attendees--his partners and his former wife--when an unknown person shows up and announces to him that she is there to take him to the ferryman to prepare for transitioning to the next life.  Upset about dying young and unexpectedly, he is taken to a halfway house, which is a tearoom in the countryside near a remote village, where the ferryman will assist him in the transition.  He argues and rails against the situation as the ferryman, the woman "reaper" who met him at his funeral and brought him there, the ghost of the grandfather of the ferryman, and the ghost of the ferryman's dog all try to help him accept his situation before progressing to the next life.  According to those at the tea room, he is a tough case, but not that unusual a case.  The story progresses over weeks as Wallace becomes comfortable and even happy just existing at the tea room in this transitional state and is in no hurry to leave.  In doing so, other characters are introduced, relationships develop, and Wallace begins to care for others beyond those of the main characters.  It's the story of a man who never really enjoyed and lived life until he was dead--a man who didn't want to move on to the next stage because the transitional one was so good.  The last third of story turns into a tearjerker with the reader rooting for a way for this new "family" of the main characters to be able to stay together.  It's not great literature, but it is a good story.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5 for pulling me into the story and providing so much enjoyment.

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle

Friday, May 22, 2026--San Antonio

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle was named a top book of 2025.  It is science fiction dealing with an alternative concept of the afterlife.  (Another book I read previously, Under the Whispering Door, had a similar theme.)  In this book, a young man keeps having tastes show up in his mouth that are very detailed.  While working at a bar and serving a final customer of the night, he has the sensation of the taste of a drink.  He makes it and hands it to the man in front of him.  At the first sip, sparkles occur in the air that come together in a non-solid form but one that can communicate by voice.  It is the ghost of his lost wife.  They communicate with each other under he takes the last sip of the drink causing he to then disappear again.  Most of the tastes he gets like this are for food.  He tests a theory by trying to recreate them, but he doesn't know enough about cooking to do it exactly right, so he gets a job as a dishwasher in a nice restaurant and starts observing and learning from the cooks.  Eventually, he learns enough that he brings back an occasional ghost but not always.  When and why does it work?  Is he doing these people a favor by bringing back the ghosts?  Is he doing the ghosts a favor or creating a problem for them?  He approaches it all with an altruistc attitude of trying to help both people and ghosts.  But he is doing it still without complete understanding of the questions he had been asking himself--based instead on assumptions he is making.  And others who do not have altruistic attitudes become involved.  There is a grand climax with major aftereffects.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.