mitch albom | Watching the Words

In Mitch Albom’s latest a group of people in a small town in Michigan start receiving phone calls from their deceased loved ones – from heaven. The police chief gets calls from the son he lost in Afghanistan, Tess’s mom calls after having died from Alzheimer’s, Katherine’s sister died of an aneurysm but now is calling her every Friday. Sully doesn’t believe in any of it, his wife is dead, he can’t find a job, and he just served ten months in prison for an accident that wasn’t his fault. When his 6-year old starts waiting for his dead mom to call him Sully decides it’s time to prove that the phone calls are a hoax. With the help of another man who is getting calls (from a man who blames him for his death) and the local librarian (this might be the best part), he goes on a quest to find out the truth.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I loved some of Mitch Albom’s previous works – Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I didn’t love his previous book, The Timekeeper, so I was really hoping that this book was going to make me a die-hard fan again. It didn’t happen, and I’m not sure why. Maybe I’ve outgrown the stories that he tells? Or they touched me because of a where I was in my life at the time that I read them? I’m afraid to go back and re-read previous books, scared that I will discover that I don’t love them anymore. Or maybe this just wasn’t one of his best works and the stories he tells are becoming to formulaic, with no real surprises left, no new discoveries to make?

Title: The First Phone Call From Heaven
Author: Mitch Albom
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 336
Publication: Harper, November 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books. And who doesn’t love lists??

So this week’s challenge was to list the top ten list of books that I want to read this fall. There are WAY more than ten, there are always way more than ten books on my TBR list, and I am probably forgetting some or there are some that will hop to the top of the list later this year when I realize they are coming out, but here’s what I’m looking forward to right now…

Allegiant by Veronica Roth – This is a series that I have been reading along with my daughter this summer and I am eager to read the final book!
Sycamore Row by John Grisham – Grisham’s legal thrillers are always a fast and fun read and I am looking forward to a return to the setting of A Time to Kill.
The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom – I’ve been a fan of Albom’s work in the past but found The Time Keeper to be a disappointment. I’m hopeful for better things with his next book.
Just One Year by Gayle Forman – I read Just One Day earlier this year, not realizing that it was part of a series, and now I want to finish the story!
Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich – The one series that always makes me laugh out loud!
Loss of Innocence by Richard North Patterson – This novel is a prequel to Fall from Grace which I devoured in a day!
Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith – This series always entertains me, yet always leaves me feeling relaxed and peaceful – must be something to do with the main character’s personality.
Death of Santini by Pat Conroy – An author I have always enjoyed, with much of his work based on his life – this autobiographical story is sure to be worthwhile.
Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore – I am interested in learning about Ben’s little sister who apparently had quite an active part in history as well.
Edison and the Rise of Innovation by Leonard DeGraaf – The dork in me is always interested in the great scientific and engineering minds throughout history.