What are you currently reading?
Hannibal by Thomas Harris (Reread since it is Fannibal Season!)
For Study: The Ramayana by Ramesh Menon
What did you just finish reading?
Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding (Review Tomorrow!)
Fanchon the Cricket by George Sand
The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
What do you think you’ll read next?
Airplane Rides by Jake Alexander
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Desperation by Stephen King
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.
I LOVE Thrillers.
They are the books that keep me up at night, not just because they are scary, but because they keep me turning the pages until I get to the end. I have to know what is next. I think, “Just one more chapter.” But at the end of every one, a cliffhanger.
The characters are always fascinating, brilliantly written, and often bat shit crazy.
These are just the few that I’ve read that I own. We have so many more Kings that I haven’t gotten through yet, and that needs to change soon. I totally plan on reading IT this month.
Series are becoming more and more popular these days, both with publishers and readers. We get to see our beloved characters continue on, and the publishers make boukou bucks from returning fans. It’s the same reason movie houses try to stretch one book into a trilogy (cough cough Hobbit cough cough).
Not that I am not completely onboard with book series…I love most of them! Unfortunately I just don’t OWN many of them! Sigh…
So, for this picture challenge, while my favorite series is probably Harry Potter or Kingkiller. I went with what I own.
Thomas Harris gets left out of the series list often these days…probably because his books are older, and they definitely aren’t for everyone. But man are they sooooooo good. Brilliant, really. I’m probably due for a reread of at least Red Dragon before Hannibal starts back up again this fall, since the show is catching up to the start of that book. Hmmmmm…need to fit that in somewhere soon.
If you like thrillers, freaky deaky stuff, or interesting people with fascinating brains–you really need to check these books out. I’ve never read anything like them.
I never did a bookhaul picture for July because we were so busy, and not buying a ton of books. We did, however, visit a few bookstores while we were traveling. Come on, I can’t help it.
The most notable one was Haslam’s in St. Pete, FL. If you are ever in that area, you must go. It’s largest New & Used bookstore in Florida…I think the oldest too. It’s fantastic. We got stuck there during a rainstorm (flashing lights and everything!) and I was not sad about it.
It was there that I picked up the hardback copy of The Thorn Birds that you see in the stack below. If you’ve been following the blog for long, you know that is one of my absolute favorite books, and my paperback copy is in tattered shreds. I’ve been wanting to buy a hardback copy for awhile, but the thought of replacing it with a NEW book was heartwrenching…it just wouldn’t have the same smell. A used book! Problem solved! My bff and husband were befuddled by my choice completely. She even brought me a new paperback copy…”Look! They have a fresh one!” Nope. I want it to smell like my old one, otherwise it’s just not the same.
I know. It’s ok, Mon. I know I’m insane.
Just roll with it.
And look! I FINALLY got The Great Gatsby! FINALLLLLYYYYYYYYYY. Hannibal Rising rounds out the Quartet, we already had the other three. And Gargoyle I read in college and loved, so when I saw that beautiful hardcover I couldn’t resist.
Nothing new that I haven’t read yet. That’s usually the case when I’m buying hardbacks. I don’t like paying a lot of money for things I am unsure of.
Have you bought anything interesting lately?
I have always been more of a book person than a movie person. My husband, on the flipside, is a HUGE movie buff. Because he is also 8 years older than I am, it is a common thing between us for him to mention a movie that came out before I was old enough to be exposed to it, and not get the reference. He gives me this horrified look like “Oh My God, you poor child. We must expose you.”
I’ve had many friends like this, who have made it their mission to expose me to movies that I JUST HAVE TO SEE. *Meh* I’d rather read the book, more often than not.
Don’t get me wrong, I love movies. But I generally don’t go out of my way to see them, especially with theater prices so completely gouged. I do agree with my husband that it is very sad to see Blockbuster and other movie “stores” go out of business, because it is much harder to rent old movies now. Netflix just doesn’t cut it most of the time.
And when it comes to watching a movie…please douse my popcorn in butter. The more the better. That bag better be greasy. That’s why God made napkins, right?
Here’s a few of the big hit movie books we had on our shelves. Interestingly enough, there seems to be a theme in the color scheme. Also…these are all Hubster’s books, no surprise there. He told me this year that I absolutely HAD to read HFRO, and while I liked it, it wasn’t totally my thing. The movie was definitely better.
What’s your favorite book to movie adaptation?
It was really good to spend some time with my book collection on Saturday. And yes, I really did go through every single one to find my favorite First Line, Dedication, and Last Line. I even reorganized my shelves to make room for the new ones I’ve recently acquired. I pulled out the books I haven’t read yet and gave those a shelf of their own. I did leave the multitudes of John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Stephen King, along with several sports and political books, that belong to my husband. Those may get read eventually, but they are not high on my To Read list for now. OK…I do want to read the Stephen Kings. But those pretty much have a shelf of their own as it is!
I had a few contenders to this category at first. And then I got to Thomas Harris. And he just wins everything. When it comes to shock factor, creep factor, and just down right leaving an impression, you really just can’t beat Thomas Harris.
And that’s really the whole point of a last line, right? Especially when there’s going to be another book. Look at this. *shudder*
After I read that, all the other pictures I had taken of last lines got deleted. If watching Hannibal hadn’t made me want to go back and reread the trilogy…that last line did. Man, oh, Man, Mr. Harris. You give me nightmares, in the absolute best way possible. (Is that weird? That might be a bit weird…)
There was a very close second to my Favorite Character to Actor Depiction post the other day, and that is this guy:
(Source: lecterings)
I had seen Silence of the Lambs a long time ago, but after my husband and I watched the first episode of NBC’s Hannibal last year, I immediately grabbed his copies of Thomas Harris’s trilogy of the shelf and dove in. And I was not disappointed. These books are brilliant. I’m not sure any other book compares to the mastering of pure mania and psychological thrill. The way he just twists every character is just perfection. I have always been fascinated by the madness of the brain, so Hannibal and his “friends” are a wonderful group of people for me to read about. I love that Hannibal isn’t even the villain, he’s just kind of the puppet master in all of this. Dohlerhyde, Mason, Bill. Those guys are just incredibly written.
And of course, I told you I was always intrigued by the bad guys…this series is no exception.
I’m so glad they are continuing with the show. They just renewed it for a third season, and I cannot wait to see where Bryan Fuller takes it.
As I Lay Reading 