64 Deaths

Normally, I save short stories to read one at a time, rather than all at once. And had I known 64 Deaths was an anthology of short stories, that’s probably what I would have done. So, I am REALLY glad I did not realize it was a book of short stories until I was a few “chapters” in.

Christina Escamilla’s anthology is WONDROUS. I’m not going to say it’s necessarily happy. Because with a title like 64 Deaths, you can probably figure out that this is not a joy-filled grouping. And it’s not. I didn’t count the deaths in the story, to see if there were exactly 64–that’s not the number of stories, so I’m not sure what that number is meant to represent. There is a story in the collection that is called “64 Deaths,” so that may be all it is.

The stories are extremely varied:  some are horror, some are suspense. Some are hopeful, some are devastating. There are different kinds of deaths too, some are suicide, some are murder. There are metaphorical deaths, there are supernatural deaths. There are even one or two non-human deaths.

All of the stories are extremely well written, and definitely have a beauty of their own. I will tell you to proceed with caution, as there are a few here that could trigger some people, but, there is a moral at the end that I think everyone should read.

I think fans of Stephen King, Joe Hill, and especially Neil Gaiman are really going to like this anthology. Just make sure that you have a happy book picked out to read next on your list.

 

This fulfills PopSugar #12:  A book of short stories.

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Something Wicked This Way Comes

I’ve touted my love of horror on this blog before:  Stephen King, Joe Hill, Thomas Harris. I did not expect to find it when I picked up Ray Bradbury, but I sure did. Something Wicked This Way Comes is old school horror at it’s finest.

Set in quiet, classic little town, Bradbury’s novel is creepy from the very beginning. We have two young best friends, with birthdays at midnight on Halloween. A storm is coming quick, so says the lightning rod salesman, got to prepare!

Except that storm isn’t thunder and lightening. It’s a circus that comes in the middle of the night–which made me want to don my black and scarlet. Unfortunately, this isn’t Morgenstern’s circus, but something much more sinister.

There is a lot of philosophy in Bradbury’s book–most of it surrounding the concept of Death. The moral of this story is all about how you live your life, saving each moment in time. Death is nothing, an idealistic myth we’ve created so we don’t have to think about now.

It was interesting to read this immediately after reading Blackford’s book, because they were so closely related. I unintentionally gave myself a course in mortality philosophy. Funny how that works out sometimes, huh? And now I’m going to go play a little more George RR Martin’s game.

Read This Month

I did a number on the list I had created for myself, and that was a doozy! It was mostly ebooks, so unfortunately, it’s not much of a picture…more of a list.

 

 

Here’s the complete list, with authors and links to any reviews I did:

1. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
2. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling
3. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
4. Aaron’s Rod by DH Lawrence
5. Dorothy Must Die Danielle Paige
6. Rump by Liesl Shurtliff
7. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
8. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
9. The Witch Sea by Sarah Diemer
10. IT by Stephen King
11. Greyhound by Steffan Piper
12. Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
13. It Happened on Broadway by Myrna Katz Frommer

WWW Wednesday 10/22/2014

 

 

I’m just going to address the elephant in the room and just say that I am REALLY bad at remembering to do Teaser Tuesdays until it’s Wednesday and too late….OOPS! Tuesdays are always really busy days for me…sorry for the slacking off!

 

What are you currently reading?

Greyhound by Steffan Piper

 

 

What did you just finish reading?

IT by Stephen King…I totally had to give up on this after 450 pages, so I didn’t review it. It was so lackluster and underwhelming. Ugh.

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Rump by Liesl Shurtliff

 

 

What do you think you’ll read next?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

It Happened on Broadway by Myrna Katz Frommer

NOS4A2

HO-HO-HOoooooooooooooly shit!

NOS4A2 is basically a Christmas Story from hell, that should only be read in October.

Joe freaking Hill. Wow. This is another horror masterpiece. Guys, if you haven’t read his work yet, you NEED to get on it, right now. Especially during Halloween month. He does not mess around with his psychological thrillers. They blow my mind.

Imagine if Santa Claus and the Grim Reaper were essentially one and the same. This twisted, evil psychopath creature captures kids and kills their mothers, all for the “good of the children,” ushering them away to Christmasland. Combine this chilling world with tesseract bridges crossed by British motorbikes, a Rolls Royce Wraith, and stuttering Scrabble tiles.

There were so many geeky references in this book I was almost giddy. Nathan Fillion is somewhere wetting his pants over the Browncoat nods. Kudos Joe Hill. Kudos. It was like a bit of comic/geek relief spattered throughout the craziness of the book, and it was much appreciated. In a world where even Christmas music is sickening and Scrabble tiles are sinister…geeky things are heroic.

Am I maybe laying it on a bit thick? Perhaps. I’m totally typing this with the Movie Trailer guy in my head.

I’m pretty sure I said this when I read Horns, but READ THIS BOOK. At least, if you are in any way inclined to love freaky psychological scary thriller type horror. Do it.

And put on your favorite holiday playlist. You won’t regret it.

WWW Wednesday 10/15/2014

 

 

What are you currently reading?

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

 

 

What did you just finish reading?

Rump by Liesl Shurtliff

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling

 

What do you think you’ll read next?

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers

The Witch Sea by Sarah Diemer

IT by Stephen King

Gave Me Chills

BookClubFiction is reading Joe Hill’s NOS4A2 this month, which I was super excited about because of how much I loved Horns. And this book is JUST as freaky, if not more so.

I’m not going to give too much away, because I’m going to be doing the review in the next day or so, but holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.

This book is totally creepified.

Teaser Tuesday 10/14/2014

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

“She breathed deeply of the scent of decaying fiction, disintegrating history, and forgotten verse, and she observed for the first time that a room full of books smelled like dessert:  a sweet snack made of figs, vanilla, glue and cleverness.”

–Joe Hill, NOS4A2

Horns

There is a really fantastic movie theater here in Dallas, so even though we’ve only been here two weeks, we’ve seen that many movies already. I keep seeing the preview for Daniel Radcliffe’s new movie Horns, and I knew it was a book by Joe Hill, so I wanted to make sure and read it first, especially since he was Stephen King’s kid. Good writing has to run in the genes somewhere, right?

It must. Because this book was brilliant. You can see a little bit of King’s influence, in the fantastical plot style. The premise is that a man had his heart broken when his girlfriend dumps him, and the night she does–she is murdered in a horrific sexual strangulation. He is blamed, but not convicted, and his mind twists him into the devil incarnate.

This book is full of hellfire and brimstone, snakes and men’s sinful natures. There is quite a bit of violence, and some forced sexual acts, so if that triggers you, just be aware of that going in. The people in this book are written wonderfully. You absolutely hate the “good guys,” you love the Devil, and the women are just twisted enough to be my favorite kind of complicated.

I am really looking forward to seeing the movie and what they do with the cinematography on Daniel. Hopefully they don’t ruin the end scene, because that will prove to be difficult, I’m sure, but it could be powerful if done well.

I will definitely read more from Joe Hill. Good things should come from this author!

WWW Wednesday

 

 

Oh my gosh you guys, I’m back. Finally. I warned you, the last month has been absolutely insane, and for those of you who haven’t completely abandoned me, I thank you for sticking around. I fully plan on ramping back up to regular blog posts, challenges, etc going into September. We are unpacking our stuff this week, which means bookshelf organization! I always get really excited about my books about that time so who knows what I’ll post. Keep an eye on the Instagram…there’s bound to be some fun stuff there.

 

What are you currently reading?

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

 

What did you just finish reading?

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling

 

What do you think you’ll read next?

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling

Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas

Horns by Joe Hill

Winter’s Tale by Mark Hellprin

Justine by Lawrence Durell