Book 2 of 2024 --The Dead Sociologists Society

 On Christmas Morning as I was emptying my stocking I found this little volume.

IT is an interesting concept. A bunch of dead sociologists have a meeting, one might even call it a seminar, to present papers about the events most live people would consider the fictional account of Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Because after all the events were real and the story had been fed to JK Rowling by the Ministry of Magic as part of a grand cover-up. Only the ghosts know the real truth.

What results is a unique way of presenting different sociological theories and showing how they might be applied. I like the tool. I greatly enjoyed the reading and pondering if I agreed with the interpretations being presented. 

This is a great way of introducing theory and showing how the theory can be used to analyse a culture. I think I would greatly like to take an introductory Sociology course from the author.

Book 1 of 2024 -- The Undertaking of Billy Buffone

 Love, death, secrets, scandal, a ghostly narrator.  Makes for an interesting book. 

This one I bought simply because I knew the author. Besides a novel to read over the break of the year seemed a nice idea.

It is a story that takes place both in the mid 1970's and in the mid 1990's. On one side we have a scandalous troubling story. On the other we have the story of a blossoming romance, and a family deep in fresh grief, a minister in her first year of ministry, and an odd small-town undertaker. Then there is a surprising twist....

But in the end there is healing, or at least that seems to be where we are headed.

A very good read indeed. Touches the heart. Leads one to consider the power of buried secrets.