Spoonbenders: A hilarious and heartwarming family drama, a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick

Imagine Wes Anderson directing a cross-over of "The Royal Tenenbaums" with a touch of the "X-Men" and even "The Sopranos" thrown in. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Well, this book was just that: an incredible amount of fun. Irene, would you show the audience your talent and please confirm I'm not lying? I must confess, this book was not on my "to read" radar but after a bombardment of subtle nudges from my favorite book club sites, I went ahead and took the bait. So, I opened my e-reader on Friday morning... and didn't set it down until I finished later that day. Daryl Gregory has created a compelling story with amazingly well-rounded and sympathetic characters that over the years have been and are continuing to be squeezed through the ringers of life (sorry, hope that doesn't bring up any bad 'degloving' images). Seriously, even small actors on this stage - from a little old lady next door to a Ukranian waitress in Chicago's last Tiki Bar to random kids that only get a few sentences of attention - feel fully formed and oh so very real. If I would have any complaint about this story is that I found myself automatically casting various actors into the roles even though the timing, namely, the date when Gregory first published this book and the start of the careers of some of the players in my mind doesn't line up (Frankie is Walton Goggins, I don't care what you say... and damned if Teddy didn't sound exactly like Grunkle Stan Pines from Disney's "Gravity Falls"). Hm, maybe I'm just upset I never really found a role for Bill Murray among all these personalities....? A great plot with lots of twists and turns. If you're a late baby-boomer or even an early Xer, you'll especially love some of the references to real-life characters (or their ever-so-slightly tweaked alter-egos) that appeared on your TV sets throughout the 70s and even into the early 80s. Heck, if you're a Chicago Cubs fan (pre-Championship loyalists only please), you'll even get a kick out of some of the wiser words shared by the patriach of the family!