Many Books Where Someone Dies 🐋🦊🐰🧙‍♂️

SPOILERS AHEAD

    Every book I've read this week featured the death of someone crucial. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling is book six in the Harry Potter series, the second to the last. It stands in a difficult position of setting up the final book, but not outshining it and still telling a worthwhile story. It accomplishes that. The book ends with the death of Dumbledore, the protector of Hogwarts and Harry Potter. The defeat of Voldemort is all up to Harry now. 

    As a reader, I know Rowling is willing to sacrifice beloved characters, making for intense, compelling reading. I badly want to read the final book even though I've read it before. Not enough to actually pay for it, though. 

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    In The Last Devil to Die, the fourth in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman, the adventures of four dissimilar seniors continue. In this book, I learned about the antique field, more about Alzheimer's and dementia, the background of Ibraham, how drugs travel into England, and online romance fraud. It's a lot. Like the previous books, The Last Devil to Die is humorous, with unexpected hijinks. Osman tackles the nature of death and the morality of euthanasia. It gave the book a different, deeper flavor from the previous ones. Even though the main characters are elderly, in their late 70s or early 80s, they change and learn. This keeps Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibraham exciting and me wanting to read more of their escapades.

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    Reviews of Whalefall by Daniel Kraus have compared it to The Martian in its scientific depth and imagining. The premise of Whalefall is a scuba diver is swallowed by a sperm whale. It is set in the Monterey, California area. I lived there for a year and a half and recognized many locations. John Steinbeck's book Cannery Row features prominently in the book and the setting. When I lived there, I also read Steinbeck. It seemed appropriate.

    The young scuba diver, Jay, is trying to find his father's remains in the Pacific. The story moves between Jay's predicament of how to get outside of the whale and recalling his relationship with his erratic, larger-than-life, recently deceased father. The story is one dangerous episode after another. I read it in a day because I wanted to know what happened. 

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    When I heard my grandson was reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, I also wanted to be one of the cool kids. I enjoyed other Kate DiCamillo's books like Because of Winn Dixie and Tales of Despereaux. Edward, the well-dressed china bunny and narrator, did experience a journey of discovery both in the world and in his heart. Initially, he is a self-centered, adored toy who needs to learn to love others. It is hard, and he finds it costly, but, in the end, it is worth it. He does go through extraordinary adventures.

    This was not my favorite Kate DiCamillo's book. Edward Tulane grew in his ability to love others; however, I didn't warm up to him. My ten-year-old grandson likes the book, so I may not be the target audience. The story gives many opportunities to discuss love, sacrifice, and death. 

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