A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

I read another book (Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time) by the author that I liked very much, so I wanted to see what this new story was about.

The Hall family is just your average family going through lifes ups and downs. George Hall recently retired and to keep himself busy he is building a studio next to his house. His wife Jean works part time as a teacher and at a bookstore. They have 1 daughter who has a small child and 1 son who is dating a man named Tony.

When their daughter tells them she is marrying her live-in boyfriend, the entire family is shocked. None of them like Ray. At the same time, George is having a bit of a personal break down. He discovers a sore near his hip and thinks he has cancer. He doesn’t even believe when the Doctor tells his its Exzema. George also has moments that he blacks out and, for example, has no idea why is crawling on the floor on all fours.

When he discovers his wife is having an affair, his episodes get worse. When he decides to cut off his “cancer” in the bathtub with a pair of scissors, he ends up in the hospital. The family still bicker at one another in the hospital and George regrets having failed the psychiatrist discharge test. He wants to be committed to get away from it all. Fortunately, for Ray, his soon-to-be father-in-law’s hospital stay allows the family to see a different side of Ray and now they all like him.

The wedding gets off with a lot of hitches, including George attacking the man his wife is having an affair with. In the end, everything turns right side up for the family and they are stronger then ever.

Watercolored Pearls by Stacy Hawkins Adams

This was an easy-to-read, well-written story about 3 friends dealing with life’s issues and trying to hold into their faith and beliefs.

I liked the analogy given by one of the characters about how a pearl is formed inside of an oyster and we are being formed by God with the same hardness that we need in order to stand when life throws us curve balls. That hardness during those times helps build our character and faith to keep on keeping on and become the beautiful being that God created us to be. It’s the same way that a pearl is formed inside an oyster.

Light reading that I would recommend to anyone.