I came across two fun new favorites this week, a song and a book series, and they both turned out to be created by local Utahns.
The first was introduced to us by the Halloween house down the street. It plays music in time with holiday lights and scenes. He has a scene of a bride and groom zombie set to a fabulous zombie love song. You can hear it and watch it's delightful animation, created by the song-writer's 14-year-old niece, here: The Zombie Song. Her website, StephanieMabey.com, has all of her other music, including a free download of the zombie song!
My other newly discovered favorite thing is a book by Charlie N. Holmberg, called The Paper Magician. I picked it up at the library where it is part of the county library system's Readers' Choice books, and I could barely put it down. Even better, after I finished it, I still liked it, and I wanted more. Do you know the feeling? Some books are fun during the read, but then they conclude, and my life goes on. No painful goodbyes occur as I let the characters go. Other times, I even look back and think, "That was a waste of time."
Good books, however, create an alternate world that I want to keep sharing. I don't want to leave the characters; I want to keep watching them grow. This was one of those books.
The author has created a whimsical world of magic set in the early 1900's. Her particularly unique twist is that magic is available to everyone, but with limits. Attending magical college is very expensive, and even then, magicians choose or are assigned a man-made material they will work with, such as paper, metal, or plastic. Of course, there are evil magicians who practice flesh magic, called exorcision, and this, of course, leads us to our main conflict which has both personal and societal implications. Seriously, I haven't read such a well-written (and well-edited) book with a decent plot in a long time. There is humor, deep emotion, fantasy, and a hint of romance. I'll just let you read the rest.
What made me even more happy is that it is part of a trilogy, and (get this), they have all been published already! (Anyone else tired of book series that consume years of our lives? Hand raised here. Especially if the ending seems anti-climactic, and you have to sell off all your previously loved books because the ending just killed the whole thing!?) Well, instant gratification is available, my friends - at least if you have Amazon Prime or a bookstore nearby. I was put-off by the 36 holds ahead of me in the library system to get the second book, so I just ordered all three books for my library. I am re-reading the first one until they get here. I liked it that much. (Don't let me down, Charlie!)
The entire series and the author's other work can be viewed on her website, CharlieNHolmberg.com. If you are going to order any of her books from amazon, use the links from her website!
Happy reading and listening!
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