1. Slice of Cherry, by Dia Reeves (***1/2)
2. Two Mini-Chapooks: 8th Grade Hippie Chic by Marisa Crawford (*****) and No Experiences: Poems by Erin J. Watson (****)
3. Fables, Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (***)
4. Fables, Vol. 14: Witches, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (****)
5. Fables, Vol. 15: Rose Red, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (****1/2)
6. Fables, Vol. 16: Super Team, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (***1/2)
7. Fables, Vol. 17: Inherit the Wind, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (***1/2)
8. A Handful of Dust, by Evelyn Waugh (****)
9. Trustee from the Toolroom (audio book), by Nevil Shute (****)
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chboski (****)
11. Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe (****)
12. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (****)
13. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams (***1/2)
14. Life, the Universe and Everything, by Douglas Adams (****)
15. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, by Douglas Adams (****)
16. Mostly Harmless, by Douglas Adams (**)
17. The Illustrated Man (audio book), by Ray Bradbury (****)
18. Currency of Souls, by Kealan Patrick Burke (***1/2)
19. How to Kill a Vampire: Fangs in Folklore, Film and Fiction, by Liisa Ladouceur (***)
20. Lucky Bastard, by S.G. Browne (****)
21. In the Night Room, by Peter Straub (***)
22. Bleeding Violet, by Dia Reeves (****)
REVIEWS (behind the cut):
1. Slice of Cherry, by Dia Reeves (***1/2)
As the Bonesaw Killer’s daughters and with their daddy on deathrow, sisters Kit and Fancy Cordelle are shunned by the people of their small town Portero, Texas and that’s the way they like it. When a young man breaks into their home, they capture him and tie him up in their father’s basement. What begins as a game of cutting the young man open and stitching back together, soon becomes a satisfying killing spree as the girls take out their desire for bloodshed on those they think deserve it. Things get really interesting when Fancy finds a door into a doorway into another world, opening onto her happy place, where anything is possible and the girls can kill without getting caught.
I was looking for a YA novel with strong horror themes, something unsettling and frightening but with kids in high school or younger. Fantasy romances, like Twilight or Shiver, though they contain vampires and werewolves, creatures born from horror, don’t count as their point is the love story, not to frighten. My searching lead me to Dia Reeves and her Portero novels, and when I saw Slice of Cherry on the library bookshelf, I couldn’t resist picking it up.
Bloody and unsettling from page one, it seemed like just the book for me, one clearly comfortable in the realm of horror. This love of gore and splatter was combined with the story of two sisters, learning to have lives of their own after having only each other, also firmly settling the story in YA. I read through this book quickly, and at some points had trouble putting it down to eat or sleep.
Portero is a fascinating little town with all its invisible doorways for people to stumble through and never return, not to mention the monsters that make it through into the town and tend to leave a string of corpses and pools of blood in the downtown center. The cacklers in the woods are a particularly creepy creature, which laugh as they hunt and have large smiling mouths with lots and lots of teeth.
I’d say this biggest flaw is that I had a hard time connecting with the characters. Perhaps it’s because it’s from the point of view of two killers, who see other human beings as worthless and just waiting to be victims. It’s hard to pull off sympathy for the ruthless and I’m not sure Reeves entirely managed it.
Also, it seemed that almost everyone in the story was far too accepting of the murders. Yes, the girls were getting rid of bad people (mostly), but it was still a kind of slaughter and everyone in town seemed to be okay with it, even cheering them on (of course, these are Porterenes and it’s a very strange town and the people are kind of used to seeing blood and body parts). It seems a little variation in the reactions would have been better, so that it didn’t come off as one note personalities. I may be grateful to someone who got rid of someone beating on me, but I’d also be wary and frightened, too, especially if they came back splattered with blood. So, I don’t think sending the message that murder is hunky-dory as long as you’re killing bad people is a good thing.
That said, it was an entertaining story and I’m curious to read more by Reeves. So I’ll probably go ahead and pick up the first book in the series (Slice of Cherry is book two).
2. Two Mini-Chapooks: 8th Grade Hippie Chic by Marisa Crawford (*****) and No Experiences: Poems by Erin J. Watson (****)
Discussed elsewhere.
3. Fables, Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (***)
Jack Horner was exiled from the Fables community ages ago and soon began appearing in his own spin off series Jack of Fables (which I haven’t read). This volume shows the crossover of the Fables series and the Jack of Fables and I was kind of meh about it. The story was too wacky to me (though seeing Bigby as a cute, pissed off little girl was priceless) and I wasn’t in love with much of the art. Also, Jack is such an epic douche that I had a hard time reading any scene in which he appeared. If this is what the Jack of Fables series is like, then I have no interest in it.
4. Fables, Vol. 14: Witches, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (****)
Much more to my taste! The Dark Man continues to wreak havoc and the witches of Fabletown begin to plot a way to defeat him with Frau Totenkinder disappearing on a mysterious mission. Meanwhile, political turmoil on the Farm, where the Fables of Fabletown have escaped as refugees, continues to grow more chaotic.
5. Fables, Vol. 15: Rose Red, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (****1/2)
Rose Red has to find her way out of her depression in order to regain control of the Farm and the fantastic awesome that is the witch Frau Totenkinder enacts a plan to defeat the Dark Man. I really, really love Rose Red and I loved learning more about why her relationship with her sister Snow White is so screwed up. Fantastic continuation of the story, and I liked most of the art in this one.
6. Fables, Vol. 16: Super Team, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (***1/2)
The Fables make plans for a desperate mission to defeat the Dark Man. On the whole this was a good installment, though the ending felt a bit like a deus ex machina. It wasn’t really, but it seemed a lot of build up for how it turned out.
7. Fables, Vol. 17: Inherit the Wind, by Bill Willingham and multiple illustrators (***1/2)
In the aftermath of the last adventures, the story turns to several dissimilar storylines with Bufkin, Rose Red, and the Bigby Wolf family each having their own adventures. Because it’s a bunch of stories, it comes off as a bit disjointed. Still great reading and it left me with a few cliff hangers that have me wanting to read more.
8. A Handful of Dust, by Evelyn Waugh (****)
A story of selfishness and cruelty, as Mrs Last begins to have an affair with a financially broke young man. She thinks of nothing of having the affair and then of funding the relationship by asking for alimony from a hoped for divorce, even if it means demanding her husband, Tony Last, to sell his beloved house to pay for it. In response, Tony decides to take an ill-fated trip to the Amazon.
After reading, I put down the book and thought, “Wow. I don’t even know how to respond to this.” I still don’t really, beyond a general sense of enjoyment. The story unfolds in crisp straightforward prose that doesn’t linger on emotional reasoning. It’s never really clear why characters make the decisions they make (except maybe in the case of Tony); they just simply announce they want to do something and then do it. I wouldn’t say that I liked any of the characters, but the scenes were often funny and the book was an easy read. Also, Tony Last’s fate was so terrifying as to actually give me chills. It was totally unexpected and really made the book something more than just a wryly humorous story about marriage and divorce. I’m still thinking about it.
9. Trustee from the Toolroom (audio book), by Nevil Shute (****)
Keith Stewart is a simple man, who has retired to follow his passion of making miniature functioning engines and machinery. He makes a small sum of money writing about these engineering projects for a magazine called the Miniature Mechanic. Living with his wife, who works in a local shop to help support them, he couldn’t be happier.
Things become complicated, however, when Keith’s sister and husband die in a ship wreck on a small island off Tahiti, leaving their young daughter in his care. Now as trustee for the girl, he finds himself making a journey across the world by plane and boat to ensure her inheritance.
This is a fairly simple and straightforward adventure/travel story in which the difficulties of money and distance put Keith into a position of stepping out of his comfortable home and into the big world. He approaches these adventures with an honest manner and a continued fascination for how things work, drawing interest and sympathy from those he meets. One of the wonderful things about this story is how unaware Keith was of his affect in the world. As a small man making small machines in his basement and writing about it, he never knew how far his articles traveled or the impact they had on his readers. It’s this far reaching impact on others that ultimately saves him in the end and it’s wonderful to read.
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chboski (****)
One day Charlie begins to write semi-anonymous letters a person he’s never met in the hopes of connecting with someone. He leaves no return address and leaves out most names, but begins to relate his story as he begins his first year of high school.
The writing style isn’t particularly poetic, but expresses the honest tone of voice of a teenage boy, who rambles in his letters about his home, family and new friends. The story explores a variety of situations and issues, from trust and first love to the darker realms of homophobia, rape, abortion, suicide. It sounds like a dark book when you list them all out like that, but the story also has humor and joy as well.
Some of these issues are mentioned quickly, then the characters move on or change the subject. It means that every issue isn’t delved into, but I think that’s okay in the sense that this is how people will often relate to problems, even intense ones, in that they try to change the subject or to forget (especially if it didn’t happen to them personally).
I love Sam and Patrick, but sweet friends who accept Charlie despite the fact that he’s a bit odd. And I like that relationships are imperfect and messy and that the story isn’t all about true love. But it is about moment of friendship and coming together and reaching that youthful place of feeling infinite. All in all, I feel it’s a very emotionally honest book.
11. Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe (****)
When the Monroe family brings home a new rabbit as a pet, but with its suspicious sleep and eating habits, is this rabbit perhaps more than he seems?
I bought this today as a gift for a young family member. She’s into RL Stine books and I remembered reading this as a kid. I loved it at the time, so I couldn’t resist buying it for her (I just hope she likes it, even though it’s not as scary as Stine). After bringing the book home, I also couldn’t resist rereading it while it was in front of me.
Being a middle grade book, it took no time at all to read. I remember it being creepier when I read it and the story definitely stuck with me over the years. It wasn’t overly scary and tends more toward the humorous, as it’s told by a good hearted dog. Very cute and funny. It stood up surprisingly well after all these years.
12. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (****)
Arthur Dent is just an ordinary guy whose house is going to be torn down to make room for a bypass to be built. This upsets him very much, even though he doesn’t realize this is the least of his problems, because the Earth is about to be torn down to make room for a hyperspatial express.
Lucky for him, his good friend Ford Prefect is an alien from a planet near Betelgeuse, who is also in possession of the most amazing book every written, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and manages to get them both the planet just in time for Arthur to meet all sorts of other oddities, like two headed Galactic Presidents and really depressed robots an ships that are powered by Improbability Drives.
I have to say I enjoyed this book far more on my second reading. It’s wacky and fun and I didn’t care about the fact that there is virtually now development of the characters or deep emotional impact about anything. The entire point of this thing is to be wacky and fun and slightly (or a lot) nonsensical and Douglas achieves just that with the dry, witty flair that only Douglas Adams (or maybe Terry Pratchet) can manage.
13. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams (***1/2)
The (not so) intrepid space travelers Arthur Dent, Ford Perfect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, and Marvin the Depressed Robot find them selves quite hungry after their recent adventures and go looking the perfect place to eat in space. Along the way, they get distracted by Zaphod’s erased memories, which are driving him to complete a mission so secret even he doesn’t remember it.
Much more of the same gags and pseudo-dangers with our characters stumbling about the wacky galaxy, not really sure what they’re doing or why they’re there have the time. Still quite entertaining.
14. Life, the Universe and Everything, by Douglas Adams (****)
The people of Krikkit have been sheltered from the knowledge of the existence of the universe all their lives. When a spaceship crash lands on their planet and alerts them to it’s existence, they decide the universe will have to go. The only thing that can stop the destruction of the universe are Slartibartfast and once again Arthur Dent, Ford Perfect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, and Marvin the Depressed Robot.
I really like that Arthur is a stronger character in this one. He doesn’t do nearly as much standing around with his mouth hanging open, shocked at the wacky, strange, odd, bizarre universe with which he’s presented (which isn’t to say that he doesn’t do any shocked jaw flapping, just not as much). He also learns how to fly and stands up for himself on a couple of occasions.
Trillian is also given an opportunity to prove she’s awesome, which we normally don’t get to see because she tends to stand in the background being quiet most of the time.
The potential risks of the entire universe being destroyed also made this one more interesting for me. So, despite the continuation of the same gags, I rather enjoyed it.
15. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, by Douglas Adams (****)
Adams begins this fourth book in the series by contradicting events in the previous books. The Earth, which was destroyed in book one, has for an unexplained reason reappeared in the universe, and in fact, it is as though it was never destroyed at all. Arthur Dent is eager to return to Earth and the life he had, and along the way he meets Fenchurch, a woman who remembers the destruction of the world while she was on it. She is sure it took place, even though everyone else on the planet is convinced it was mass hysteria.
This book was a lot quieter than all the other books with less wackiness cropping up all the time, and I think the story was better for it. The story of Arthur and Fenchurch was rather wonderful and when moments of the strange came in it fitted nicely. And it’s the only one that had a satisfactory ending, as far as I’m concerned. This is my favorite in the series.
16. Mostly Harmless, by Douglas Adams (**)
More varying and extreme contradictions here in regards to previous books. Only Arthurt Dent and Ford Prefect remain themselves in the story, and with the exception of Ford’s mad escape from The Hitchhiker’s Guide offices, I was rather bored with the story. Most of what I loved about the rest of the books is gone. Combine that with the ending, and I just about hated it.
17. The Illustrated Man (audio book), by Ray Bradbury (****)
The Illustrated Man is a collection if short science fiction stories (very) loosely connected by a frame story, involving an illustrated man, whose tattoos tell stories of the future. Each of the stories in the book is one of the tales painted on this man’s body. Like many collections of stories, there are hits and misses. Here are a few that stood out for me.
“Kaleidoscope” is the kind of story that makes me fall in love with Bradbury. This story of a rocket exploding sending the astronauts scattered through space and the final words they share with each other is beautifully written and so, so haunting.
“The Other Foot” is interesting. In this tale, Mars is first populated by black people. The memory of all the horrors they left behind are brought to the surface when a white man is about to arrive in a rocket for the first time after 20 years. It’s particularly interesting in the fact that is was written before the civil rights movement, and was one of the few (or only) scifi stories in which black characters were center stage. Being are product of its era, the story is still problematic, as well explained in this blog post. Still Bradbury was trying to consider a different point of view in a time when most writers wouldn’t have bothered.
“The Long Rain,” in which a group of astronauts crash land on Venus with it’s never ceasing rains, really showcases Bradbury’s abilities in description. He makes the constant pounding incessant rain come alive, so much so you can almost feel it on your own skin.
“The Rocket Man” is lovely in how earth-bound it is, focusing on the wife and son who have to wait while the father of the house travels the stars. It has all the longing and loss and loneliness of any family story, especially when one member is always away traveling and how each family member makes up for lost time when he returns.
“The Exiles” calls on one of Bradbury’s favorite gripes — censorship. In this tale, the ghosts of literary figures, such as Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare, have been called up by their own book, the tales and stories burned and destroyed by humanity, and they are surviving on mars. A strange story, but one I can’t help but have an affection for.
In the “The Fox and the Forrest,” a couple living in a future totalitarian state attempt to escape via time travel into the past. Great story that really has you routing for the couple.
“The City” was terrifying. Literally gave me chills. A team lands on a planet in which the sleeping city that has waited a millennia begins to wake with terrible purpose.
As a frame story, “The Illustrated Man” is rather weak and isn’t necessary. Though as the final tale in the collection, about a man seeking to save his livelihood and marriage by becoming a tattooed man for the carnivale is excellent and has a perfect ending.
18. Currency of Souls, by Kealan Patrick Burke (***1/2)
Currency of Souls puts its own unique spin on the idea of making deals with the devil. A motley group of people living in a near-dead town meet every week at Eddie’s Tavern, where a preacher gives them instructions by the local preacher to drive and kill sinners in order to make up for their own sins. But when the usual plan goes wrong, and the group tries to break free of their burden, events quickly spiral out of control.
This is a fast paced read and while each character might not be likeable, at least they are interesting. The sheriff, Tom, is the main focus and he’s troubled by his inability to handle much of anything and his general feeling of helplessness. But as he tries to fight his own way free, while also saving his son, he begins to take necessary action.
The devil character is interesting, because he is not really a devil and religiously speaking it’s hard to tell where he stands, though he does make deals and more often than not the deals are not to the benefit of those who come to him.
As I said, this was a fast read and I enjoyed it. Though there were aspects that I’m still not clear on and I’m uncomfortable with an aspect of the story that I can’t really talk about without giving anything away. Regardless, it’s worth a read.
19. How to Kill a Vampire: Fangs in Folklore, Film and Fiction, by Liisa Ladouceur (***)
Exploring the slaying of vampires in folklore, history, books, and movies, this book takes a pop culture tone to it’s discussion and tends to focus on the most popular and well known vampire tales, including Dracula, Nosferatu, Lost Boys, and other well known versions. While the book did teach me some new things, such as historical accounts of vampire killings (mostly just the mutilating of corpses) and the fact that sunlight was only introduced as a weapon in the movies, I feel this is an entry level book. I personally would have preferred a more in-depth look at vampire mythology and the weapons used to destroy the creatures.
20. Lucky Bastard, by S.G. Browne (****)
Nick Monday works as a private detective in order to cover his identity as a luck poacher. He can steal luck from the fortunate with just a shake of the hand and then sell it on the black market. But things get sticky and he quickly finds himself warding off heiresses and gangsters and federal agents in one mishap after the next.
Browne plays off the idea of the noir novel in a fun, fast-paced satire. Even though Nick describes himself as more “over easy than hard boiled”, he’s still an anti-hero, someone who doesn’t think twice about stripping someone of the good luck they were born with or screwing over some innocent bystander. There are also dangerous femme fatale and red herrings and twists and turns. A really enjoyable book.
21. In the Night Room, by Peter Straub (***)
I’ve generally enjoyed Peter Straub’s books, but In the Night Room was a strange read, and I’m not sure what I think about it. Apparently, it’s a sequel to the Bram Stoker winning novel lost boy lost girl, which I haven’t read and this book makes reference to the first on several occasions. I think I might have done better to read them in order, though the structure is so unusual that I’m not sure about that.
The story followed Tim Underhill, a writer of dark tales filled with murder and suspense, who begins to received strange messages from the dead, and Willey Patrick, a writer of young adult novels, who is about to wed a dark and dangerous man. The tale alternates back and forth between the two and then slowly brings them together in a rather strange way. I’m not sure what else to add without including spoilers.
I can see what people might love this book, and I can also see why others might hate it. The structure and the tone evoke both possibilities. I’m settled somewhere uncomfortably in the middle, and I’m not sure which way to lean.
22. Bleeding Violet, by Dia Reeves (****)
Hanna runs away from her aunt to find her mom in the small town of Portero, Texas. There she hopes to receive the love and affection she lost when her father died, but is met by anger and hostility from her mother. In addition, she finds herself in the strangest and deadliest towns, one in which everyone wears black and nobody balks at death, because in a town full of hidden doors to other realms that might release monsters at any minute, death is no big deal.
Hanna is an interesting character, who wears nothing but purple (in honor of her father). Troubled with a disorder that causes her to hallucinate, she takes in the strangeness far better than most outsiders. She’s also desperate for love and will almost anything to get her mother to accept and love her. She tries to gain acceptance from the few friends she makes in Portero, but nothing compares to her aching need for her mother’s affection.
I’m struck again (having also read the sequel, Slice of Cherry) with how interesting a town Portero is, where it seems anything can happen. The monsters that appear are frightening and unique — not a one of them a standard vampire or werewolf. It puts a fun spin on things with plenty of blood and gore.