Recently Read: A Monster Calls

I have been snowed in for the past week, temperatures have been crazy cold, and we got around a foot of snow. I have been blazing through this months TBR which is really great since my next semester of college starts next week. I am taking all English classes so my required reading and paper writing will be through the roof. The other night I sat down and read a beautifully illustrated version of Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls in one sitting and I loved it!

The story centers around Conner, a young boy with a sick mother. Conner has been having the same nightmare every night ever since she got sick, and one night a monster comes to visit him, but it's not the monster Conner has been expecting.

This book was beyond beautiful. If you are interested in reading this book, please read the illustrated edition, with pictures by Jim Kay. The pictures add so much atmosphere to the story. This book was quite an emotional read, and I cried at the ending. Despite that, this book is hopeful and inspiring, not depressing and crushing. As soon as I finished it, I sat down and wrote a couple pages about the power of stories. It had been a long time since I felt the urge to sit down and write so I was glad for the boost of inspiration.

I would highly recommend this story, especially if you have the evening to sit and read it straight through. I can already predict that this novel will appear on my top books of 2014 list.