First finish of 2021

First finish of 2021. A super quick read with a really interesting story.

Part of my reading routine is to read through a newsfeed from my favorite sources each evening after dinner. That means I can't remember the exact source where I read about Mitch Albom's latest book, Human Touch. What I read described the novel as being about  COVID-19. I think I've mentioned in previous posts since I keep running a story about a pandemic through my head, and that it frustrates me to no end to not  know how it's going to end. That me me really curious to see how Mitch Albom could end his story about the pandemic - while we are going through the pandemic!

I went to see if I could get this novel at a library. Not only did none of my libraries own the book, none of the libraries showed it on order. Which seemed strange. Did a little bit of googling and learned that I could read the book. For free. Online. Interesting. As coronavirus started to devestate Detroit, Albom felt he needed to do something to assist his city. He wrote this serialized story which was available to read online, download, download as an audio book. Lots  of choices. Readers are encouraged to donate to his charity, Detroit Say It Beats Covid-19. I haven't done that yet, but I plan to do so.

I think that this was published in June or July of last year. I believe that a chapter was released once a week for eight weeks. I could be wrong. By the time I discovered the book, all 8 chapters were published so I was able to tear through this in two nights. The illustrations were a lovely bonus.

The story is about 4 families who live across from each other starting last winter and running through the summer. They socialize regularly even though they don't seem particularly close. There's a Chinese-American couple with a live-in Haitian housekeeper and her son. There's a doctor and his family. There's a couple that owns a small business and is raising their grandchildren. There's a pastor and his family. With these characters, Albom is able to tell lots of stories which are relevant to what we hear in the news about the impact of the virus on different parts of society. There was one subplot that had a dose of miracle to it. But considering that one of Albom's novels was The Five People You Meet in Heaven, that wasn't too surprising. Nor was it off-putting.

It's interesting to me that my final read of 2020 was about the importance of human connection. And now, so is the first book that I finished in 2021. It's vital to feel a connection to others.

As for how Albom ended the story... well, I can't tell you that due to my resolve to never include spoilers here. But I can tell you that it just kind of ends. Which is okay. Because it was only eight chapters. It was more like a "fly on the wall" view of what was going on in this particular Michigan neighborhood rather than... life... pandemic...life after pandemic. In a longer book, I would have needed - and expected - a more complete resolution. But for Human Touch, Albom provided just enough of what was necessary without going too far.