pickA lovely story about asshole managers and how they can change, even if that involves death. (Ghost included for relevance!)
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Under the Whispering Door | 
pickA lovely story about asshole managers and how they can change, even if that involves death. (Ghost included for relevance!)
“Yes, he thought maybe he mattered after all, a lesson in the unexpected. Wasn‘t that the point? Wasn‘t that the great answer to the mystery of life? To make the most of what you have while you have it, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. In death, Wallace had never felt more alive.”
#July2025
pickAnother amazing Klune read! I absolutely bawled the last few chapters of this novel, but based on the synopsis, you can assume this novel touches on tough subjects. Despite that, even while crying, Klune made me laugh. I loved the characters and, listening to this on audio, the narrator instilled so much character into his voices. A tough but fun read.
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I‘ve lately been attempting to listen to my backlog tbr on Spotify… and it‘s been slightly unsuccessful. Six DNF‘s in a row and an ever increasing purge pile, I‘m going to a favorite audiobook author. I love Klune‘s stories but I also love listening to them. The narrators are always 👍👍 for voices. They lend so much character. I‘ve already 😢 and 🤣 with this book.
Thoroughly enjoying it.
Thanks to Pango books, I‘ve been able to fill my TJ Klune shelf ❤️
pickI see the resemblance to The House in the Cerulean Sea but it didn‘t quite give me the same feels. Would still recommend this, mostly because of the secondary characters.
Thank you so much, @TieDyeDude for this amazing #stockingstufferswap gift! My fave chocolate, two perfect book choices and that gnome book protector 😍😍😍 all the love!!! Cannot wait to light the candle, brew up some tea, and read! (And it‘s actually cold and gross in SC this week, so it‘s a perfect time for it! @Avanders
bailedI loved this book! So many subtle life lessons here.
pickThis was my 3rd Klune, and I continue to find his stories moving and his characters deeply endearing. I loved this beautiful story of redemption, love, and found family. I finally got it read for September #AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville
pickReread this one for #AuthorAMonth in September. Loved it even more the second time, such a lovely story about grief
@Soubhiville
pickI loved this one. A cosy fantasy exploring life after death, set in a tea shop.
Wallace died having lived a life focusing on his career and ambition, and having not being a nice person. But after death he is brought to a tea shop by a reaper (Mei) and meets Hugo, a ferryman whose job is to help him come to terms with death before crossing over.
Here Wallace has a chance to become a better person and find the family he never knew he was missing.
Although this has Klune‘s trademark quirk and poignancy it didn‘t hit quite the same for me as The House in the Cerulean Sea.
pickWallace was a hard working man. He had no friends-none at all. When he died his funeral was sparsely attended. Wallace was collected by a “Reaper” and taken to a tea shop where the dead pass through on their way to the next phase of eternity. The tea shop owner Hugo is filled with compassion and understanding. He is very kind. Finally, Wallace is given a week to cross over. In life he worked in death he found himself. Amazing novel! 5/5
pickA lush and bittersweet tale of "life" after death that ponders whether we can find our truest humanity after we pass.
A little fantasy, a little romance, and a lot of heart - I really enjoyed this book. I laughed, I cried... as a grieving person this one really hit hard.
Also, dog lovers take note - this story features a fabulous pup! ❤️?
pickBeautiful and unexpected. My husband and I were both pleasantly surprised by the story even if the characterization of Wallace as a lawyer was a little clunky. Highly recommend this one (and it is a very quick read!).
pickKlune‘s mind is fascinating! Everyone is talking about fantasy these days and they‘re referring to faeries or dragons, but this is a different kind of fantasy. An interesting take on death, afterlife, and in between. Full of emotions from grief and sadness to hilarity and love, all leading to people connecting to one another. Book #50 in 2024
Switching back and forth between book and audio, narrated by Kirt Graves.
Happy Pride month!
🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🤎🩶🖤🤍
pickWallace is an asshole.
And then he dies.
But he doesn‘t cross over right away. He is met by a reaper who escorts him to Charon‘s Crossing, a tea shop that doubles as a portal to the afterlife run by the enigmatic Hugo.
Wallace is given the opportunity to come to terms with the life he lead and the death nobody grieved and ended up finding a purpose, a family, and a home.
Sometimes you have to die for your life to begin.
pickWhat an empathetic book! How tender. How bittersweet. How deeply poignant. For a book so absorbed with death, it's strangely life affirming, and isn't that such a wonderful paradox? It emanates such fierce humanity that it's a palpable thing, an innate goodness that you get to hold in your hands with all the messy complications of this equally terrifying and wonderful business we call life and death. I can't resist returning again and again 🫖.
I love this journey more than anything, which is why I can't resist returning to this cosy world of ghosts and tea shops again and again 🫖.
#fantasyfiction #romance #tjklune #quotes #currentread #reread #lgbtqia #ghosts #cozyfantasy #charon #utwd #afterlife #bookish #booklover #bookquotes
This story never fails to warm my heart.
#fantasyfiction #romance #tjklune #quotes #currentread #reread #lgbtqia #ghosts #cozyfantasy #charon #utwd #afterlife #bookish #booklover #bookquotes
I'm of the mind that I'm family now, since this is my third time reading this book! 🫖
pick4.5 ⭐
Still fresh in the throws of grief, I wasn't certain if I'd be able to get through this. (I didn't know what it was about prior to the trigger warning at the beginning.) Decided I was going to try it anyway, and I'm so glad I did. It broke my heart several times and put me back in that initial loss mindset. I cried. I cried like a fool actually. At my desk. At work. But it was such a good story and so well written. A truly beautiful tale.
pickIn posing the question "What will you do with the time you have left?", TJ Klune gives us another funny and heartwarming story about life, loss, grief and tea.
I laughed, I cried....I appreciated life just a little bit more.
But not tea..it's like warm water with yard clippings...I'm more of a coffee kinda guy.
"It was enlightening to see that you were a proponent of manscaping when you were alive. I'd hate to think you'd neglect it only to spend your time here with a topiary garden in your pants." - Nelson
????Nelson ragging on Wallace does not get old. This guy is by far one of my favorite characters ever.????
Just started listening to this... the guy is an asshole. Is he supposed to be that way?
#BookishMonopoly
2023 favourite books, ranked from left to right, top left to bottom right. Some combination of emotionally resonant and a DAMN GOOD TIME. Pretty obvious that T. Kingfisher joined my list of favourite authors in 2023.
pickFirst read in March of this year, my December reread confirms, this is my favourite book read in 2023. Everything it makes me feel, how it talks about grief, loss, forgiveness, humanity, redemption, letting go, love, belief...the fully developed characters, the funny and poignant moments, casual queer rep, the unique fantasy elements. I was worried that it wouldn't hit me the same way the second time but I was laughing and crying all over again.
pickWow! This is a beautiful emotional book about death and grief. Not as fun and light hearted as The House in the Cerulean Sea, but amazing cozy thought take on mortality and the after.
pickI cried so hard my dog (dog! like Apollo! insert crying face emoji!) came to check on me.
pickIt's perhaps odd that I love TJ Klune's cosy fantasies so much. Generally, I steer away from the whimsical and the saccharine. Under the Whispering Door has that otherworldly, fairytale feel that I don't always connect with.
But who am I kidding? This was thoroughly charming. It brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. Charon's crossing felt like home, and the story tugged on my heartstrings in all the right ways.
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so-so