Here we go again...I kinda wanna be more than friends...
"Animal" - Neon Trees
Monday, October 8, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Song I'm Digging This Week
I belong with you...you belong with me...you're my sweetheart...
"Ho Hey" - The Lumineers
"Ho Hey" - The Lumineers
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
September Reading Recap
1. Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon
Jennifer McMahon seems to specialize in the type of thriller that reminds me of yellow-tinted, spooky 70's movies, and I love them. This book starts with a kidnapping, witnessed by a troubled young woman, and spends the rest of the time on the subsequent search for the victim, which of course brings back tons of demons from the past for everyone involved. Even though I figured out (most of) the ending about halfway through, I still thought this book was well-written.
2. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
I really don't think there's anything Steve Martin can't do. He acts, sings, plays the banjo, writes, and is a completely competent art connoisseur, to boot. This book, which centers on the art world and the greed and dishonesty that takes over one girl's life, was so well-written. It wasn't an enthralling story so much as that it was so real. I didn't particularly like any of the main characters, but I don't think Martin wanted his readers to really like them. Really good stuff.
3. The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
This book reminded me of everything I love about Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, and every other great storyteller who ever wrote a book. Ren is a 12-year-old orphan who is missing a hand, and he has no idea how he lost it. He's been living in squalid conditions at a boys' orphanage when a stranger shows up, claiming to be his long-lost brother. They leave the orphanage together, and the adventure begins. There were so many great twists and unique characters, and I was just thoroughly enchanted.
4. C by Tom McCarthy
I honestly don't know how to classify this book. Obviously, the letter "c" is a common thread (the main character's last name starts with "c," and he seems to gravitate towards other "c" words, like "cocaine"), but as to a plot, I don't think I could really find one. I felt like it was maybe a study in what happens to a child who is given everything he wants, as far as material needs go, but is completely neglected when it comes to affection or parental concern. Some of the language was really beautiful, and I don't doubt that McCarthy is a great writer, but the book was so depressing and meandering that I was glad to finish it.
5. The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
This book looked so promising to me - based on real events, it's set at an insane asylum in England where Alfred Lord Tennyson's brother has just been committed. John Clare, another poet, is also an inmate. The book started with such beautiful prose (which continued - Foulds is a poet, and his writing makes that evident), and then...nothing. Literally, nothing happened. I was unbelievably bored for the duration of the story. The only slightly interesting character is the head doctor's daughter, who has a completely unrequited crush on Tennyson. Disappointing.
6. They're Watching by Gregg Hurwitz
I thought this was a so-so thriller about a guy who suddenly realizes that Big Brother has taken over his life - bugs in his house, people videoing his every move, etc. The problem for me is that I didn't feel like this thriller was all that thrilling. I kind of quit caring whether or not the guy was going to make it. Just too long and too drawn out for my taste.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Self Realization #10
image found here
Sometimes, the only reason I make sure my house is clean when I leave it is because if I'm murdered and the CSI team has to come back to my place to look into it, I want them to be impressed by my neat, cute house.
Because, of course, that's what they'll be thinking about after they find my dead body:
"Who could murder someone who was such a great housekeeper? She must have been so interesting."
Monday, September 17, 2012
August Reading Recap
Yeeeah. I'm pretty late with this, but better late than never.
1. The Book of the Living Dead edited by John Richard Stephens
This book of macabre short stories, all dealing with vampires, zombies, mummies, and/or a combination of all three, was supremely entertaining. I had read several of the stories before, but I enjoyed all of them. I think my favorite (which totally surprised me) was Mark Twain's tongue-in-cheek contribution, "A Curious Dream." The scariest story was definitely "Thurnley Abbey" by Perceval Landon.
2. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
I read a few of Henry James's ghost stories in high school, and I thought they were spooky. This book was scary, too, but more psychologically frightening than anything else.
1. The Book of the Living Dead edited by John Richard Stephens
This book of macabre short stories, all dealing with vampires, zombies, mummies, and/or a combination of all three, was supremely entertaining. I had read several of the stories before, but I enjoyed all of them. I think my favorite (which totally surprised me) was Mark Twain's tongue-in-cheek contribution, "A Curious Dream." The scariest story was definitely "Thurnley Abbey" by Perceval Landon.
2. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
I read a few of Henry James's ghost stories in high school, and I thought they were spooky. This book was scary, too, but more psychologically frightening than anything else.
The whole way through, I couldn't decide if the ghosts that the governess was seeing were actually real or if she was completely insane. Each time I would lean one way or the other, James would throw another wrench into my thought process.
Even after the last sentence, I'm still not sure.
3. Snakewoman of Little Egypt by Robert Hellenga
| Blah. The book synopsis sounded pretty interesting - a woman who has been in jail for six years because she shot her preacher husband after he forced her to put her hand in a box of rattlesnakes is released and moves in with an anthropologist who becomes fascinated with her snake handling past. I just couldn't get past the fact that I really didn't like any of the characters, and I felt like Hellenga pulled out every backwoods and religious typecasting cliche he could find. |
4. The Surrogate by Tania Carver
I'd gotten so used to reading less-than-great thrillers lately, that I'd forgotten what it was like to read a really, really good one. This book was fantastic.
Set in a small town in England, the police are desperately searching for a serial killer who is targeting pregnant women in order to steal their babies to create his own "family." There's a lot of fast paced action and unexpected plot twists -- I literally didn't see the final revelation coming.
I've already put Carver's next book on my "to read" list.
5. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
Oh, I liked this. Set in Quebec, it reminded me of a good old fashioned Agatha Christie-type mystery, and I've already fallen in love with the quirky characters. Looking forward to another installment.
6. The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan
This was a Kindle cheap buy, and I thought it was...ok.
The story begins with the death of the town recluse (thus the title), and of course, she's not at all what people thought she was. Fairly predictable, but I will hand it to Chan for making the character of the priest thoroughly delightful (he steals spoons). Nice lazy-day reading.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Song I'm Digging This Week
You're gonna make me wish for the time right before I was born, when every living breath was another new dawn...
"On Peak Hill" - Stars
"On Peak Hill" - Stars
Monday, September 3, 2012
Song I'm Digging This Week
I will try to know you, but you defy my grasp. Your beauty is static, but steady and fast...
"Unison Falling into Harmony" - Great Lake Swimmers
"Unison Falling into Harmony" - Great Lake Swimmers
