Normal/ Graeme Cameron/ 294 pgs

This book is...not normal. At all. I loved it nonetheless. This book has the darkest and blackest humor you'll find, so if that isn't your thing, this book isn't for you. Normal is told from the point of view of a serial killer. He's never given a name so we don't really identify with him, which is good. He describes his life in a matter of fact way. Killing his victims, cleaning up afterwards, cooking their flesh (yes indeed, I did say dark), all of these things are described in a humdrum manner. His tone is engaging and it's easy to get drawn in. While he's been at this for a while, things start to go haywire when he's discovered during cleanup by the friend of his last victim. So he kidnaps her and keeps her in a cage in his basement. The only thing is, Erica doesn't just sit there quietly. She turns her sassy attitude on him, complains, and generally turns his "normal" world upside down. He meets another woman, Annie, who becomes a pseudo-friend (though she does not know what he's really like). And finally he meets a third woman, Rachel, who he falls for and begins to date. All three of these relationships are completely foreign to him and he doesn't know how to navigate them. As well, the police are finally onto him and the suspense comes from waiting to see when they'll catch up to him. So, good book but only if you like really dark humor and can handle graphic violence.

Normal/ Graeme Cameron/ 294 pages

Normal is Graeme Cameron's first novel.  What a fun novel it is!  A black comedy about a serial killer who decides to clean up his act when he falls in love.  Even though you know what he's doing is wrong, the reader still finds him likable, in a quirky kind of way.  For more information check out the entry for this book on the SCCCLD website.  If you like A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, this might be the book for you.

The 100-Year-Oled Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared / Jonas Jonasson / 384 pages

     If you are looking for a hilarious romp through history, poking fun at just about every important figure, this is the book you are looking for! Allan Karlsson is about to turn 100 and he doesn't want anything to do with it. The nursing home is throwing a birthday party complete with the town's mayor and media but Allan has made a decision. After working his way through a window, Allan makes his way to the bus station. He picks up a rather large suitcase and takes off on the bus. No, the suitcase isn't his and yes, the owner is very angry.
     As Allan travels across the breadth of Sweden, we flashback to his life and where he has been. His father wasn't happy because Socialism wasn't taking hold in his country so traveled to Russia where he could help their cause. The father left Allan and his mother behind. Thus Allan's life is set. He becomes interested in explosives and becomes a rather rich business man. He blows up his own house and his travels begin on a bicycle. I am not sure how he does it but Allan does manage to meet just about every major figure during the 20th Century. He first goes to Spain with a friend to help in the revolution only to end up saving General Franco's life. Franco offers him a chance to go to New York and from there he ends up in New Mexico. It is a little head shaking at all the connections but read the book, you will laugh out loud at Allan's madcap adventures.
    The one thing I thought about with recommending this is someone has to be familiar with all the historical events of the 20th Century. One has to be of a certain age or even a true history buff to understand all the hidden innuendos. The author really did his research and Jonasson admits sometimes a bit too much. I found this a quick read. I was very curious about what was happening in the present as well as what happened in the past. Excellent satire on our world and historical events.

Six degrees of reading: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.

Stupidest Angel: a heartwarming tale of Christmas terror / Christopher Moore 275 p.

Pine Cove, Ca. is all out in getting ready for Christmas where ringing the bells for donations includes badgering ex-s for donations, digging up live Christmas trees for the needy, parties to plan, when a 7 yr. old boy sees Santa get it in the neck and offers up a prayer that Santa comes back from the dead; enter a new arrival who glows, Archangel Raziel, set to grant a child’s wish. At the town Christmas party, a gruesome Christmas arises with resurrected zombies seeking to feast on their brains.  They need an angel to rescue them from a Christmas massacre?  So where is he?

A comic satire from the author of Lamb: the gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal. 

Apocalyptic fiction