Kristie
This was amazing. I'm not sure how much I connected with the Earthseed side of it, and I'm not sure how much most of the characters in the book connect with it either, but as a survival novel it is kick-ass. In a world that very uncomfortably resembles our current one, only a decade or two in the future if we continue on the path we are on, Lauren and her family face dangers of epic proportions. Then, once away from the gated community, she enters a Mad Max style of world that is even more terrifying. Somehow, in this setting, Butler still manages to ask the BIG questions:
-Safety in a community?
-Climate change
-Country-wide unemployment
-water shortages and police fees
-the danger of bringing new life into the world that is so very messed up
and so much more
I already uploaded Talents to continue the series.
Once again, the right book has come along at just the right moment. I am personally struggling with work life balance. Shelter in Place gave me, for the first time since I started working at the age of 12 with babysitting jobs, a few uninterrupted days off. I never even really got maternity leave. So, now that I am back to work (40 hours) on site, I'm struggling a bit with some major, major life questions.
Headlee attempts to shed some light on some of these same questions I have been pondering. The first bit, which I loved was a kind of history of work and how the 40 hour work week has come about. Then she dissects the mental and physical effects this is having on us personally and culturally. Finally she gives us some goals to shoot for if (like me) you are over it. There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. It's up to the reader to absorb what she is saying and to use it or not. I'm closing this book with a better understanding of what I have been picking up on-and perhaps lacked to words to name or describe in detail.
It's important to note, and Headlee states it over and over again, that a person's life can be completely changed UP TO A CERTAIN INCOME LEVEL by money, after that money cannot bring happiness. I too lived paycheck to paycheck for many years and the stress over not having enough to pay the bills far outweighed any stress I was sweating about my true purpose in life. This book will not lay out a system of how to reach that level. Headlee credits the sheer luck that one of her TED talks went viral as to why she is still not in that spiral. This is not a how-to book, it is more of a here is why book.
Yo, I don't know how I missed this one when I was a kid (I could have sworn that I read all of his books- maybe 5th to 6th grade?). This one must have been released sometime after I had moved onto reading adult horror.
Remember Me will always be my favorite but this one is batshit crazy. Cra-zy!!! When I heard about the new Pikecast Podcast I had to read Whisper of Death and then give it a listen.
First of all, Roxanne is a bit of a badass, so the story is as blunt and outspoken as she is. It also sets women's lib back about 10 years, but that's me reading this with my 2020 lenses on.
It starts with a road trip to get an abortion and levels up to everyone in the world having disappeared except for 5 high school students (who all know each other). That's all I'm saying because I want to stay spoiler-free but it gets crazier.
I appreciated that it didn't take itself too seriously and cannot believe it was marketed to kids. Wait, yes I can. I can totally believe it. It just wouldn't be marketed to today's kids.
Thank goodness for Hoopla, for bringing out some super hard to find horror novels and letting me read them (for free). Now if they could only release [b:Somebody Come and Play 3231317 Somebody Come and Play Clare McNally https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348515552l/3231317.SY75.jpg 1731586].I appreciate this novel. To begin, I have read tons and tons of haunted house books and they are very often.....not good. This one is not good for many reasons, but it is not because of what's happening in this house. What is happening here is truly terrifying: people pushed down stairs, kids trapped on flaming beds, ghostly lovers, and don't even think about wandering around the property at night!I told a friend I was reading this and I described it as “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir if the sea captain was a homicidal maniac”. I stand by that assessment. What is not good is laughable and kind of added to the fun of the read. There is a librarian who leaves a family in peril in order to go for help and then decides to go straight to a disco, a strained marriage that leads to no one reporting ghostly behavior to anyone else, and two parents who constantly forget they have a 3rd child. I kept checking the copyright on this bad boy because my edition said 1994 and there is NO WAY that is correct. Google Books says 1979 and that seems more realistic. It was a fun, fast read that had it's moments. I'd really love to read more of her stuff, although I think I'll skip [b:Ghost House Revenge 702524 Ghost House Revenge Clare McNally https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328470621l/702524.SY75.jpg 688816].
I'm going to go back and forth between 3 and 4 stars here. I loved what this novel did: it showed how power is used against young black females. Enchanted (17) is lured into a romantic relationship with an almost 30 year-old man under the guise of starting her recording career. Jackson lays it out in such a way that everything happens in small bits, easy to swallow and then when it become obvious that Enchanted is trapped by a predator, everyone is shocked that it happened.
To begin, to the average person it seems as if celebrities live in a different universe, with different rules. Secondly, Enchanted is a 17 year old who has stars in her eyes. I don't believe she was in any way emotionally mature. I believe she was sheltered and her obsession with Disney movies was symbolic of her limited exposure to reality and the dangers that are out there.
Third, her predator had YEARS of experience doing this- Enchanted was not his first, or even 20th victim. This whole system was a well-oiled abuse machine. And he kept her drugged most days.
Here is why is loses a star or two:
The whole Gabriella subplot confused the hell out of me. At first I thought maybe Gab was in the US illegally and had to stay hidden for fear of being discovered and deported? It took something out of the story for me, I get that Jackson was trying to show how the police and the authorities discredited everything Enchanted said, but this was...extra?And I am not in any way a crime or thriller lover. I don't watch any CSI's but even I know that breaking into a crime scene and removing evidence (even evidence that could exonerate you) is illegal and should have resulted in the nanny cam being thrown out of court). It was just over the top nutty behavior.Also the big reveal at the end is unclear. Did she kill him or not?
In the end, I think this is an important read because we live in a “blame the victim” society and it needs to change. It needs to change now. I appreciate what this story had to say.
I loved the Over the Woodward Wall excerpts in [b:Middlegame 35965482 Middlegame (Middlegame, #1) Seanan McGuire https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537297437l/35965482.SX50.jpg 57524946]Middlegame, but I'm not sure I knew what to expect when I picked up Over the Woodward Wall to read in its entirety. It reads like a middle grade adventure novel. It reminded me, several times, of The Wizard of Oz. That said, I think I kept reading for clues or hints about the science of Middlegame and then feeling a bit lost because they either are not there or I missed them. To be fair, it's been over a year since I read Middlegame. At the same time, I sat in my back yard on a beautiful October day, with my coffee and my feet up and just enjoyed this sweet tale of two kids on a very dangerous mission to find The Impossible Road. I even laughed a few times. I should have taken notes so I can remember what's going on for the sequel.
Wow. Having read [b:Convenience Store Woman 36739755 Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528893875l/36739755.SX50.jpg 51852264] did not prepare me for this. Earthlings is a wild ride. There was a scene so intense, I had to put the book down for awhile, but my curiosity to see where it went next made me pick it back up. It's really out there. There were times when I was reminded of [b:The Vegetarian 25489025 The Vegetarian Han Kang https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478196580l/25489025.SY75.jpg 18449744]. Natsuki is a woman, firm in her convictions, standing up against a flood of societal and peer pressure. The fact that she finds two kindred spirits...anyway, to say this is about nonconformity is kind of obvious. To experience this, well, buckle up. It gets weird, Jerry.
Ah, this one just didn't do it for me. I'm not sure if it was the writing, or the length of these stories or what. Most of them fell very flat. I did change my mind- I do see why this shows up on horror lists, there is a ton of body horror here.
I maintain that “Inventory” is one of the best things I have read in years. It read like an episode of Black Mirror. That one is worth the price of admission. The rest...eh. Glad to finally get it off my TBR list, where it has been for a long time.
This dreamy little tale is a bit of a gem. I loved the conversational tone, as if your friend from school and you were catching up over a cup of coffee and she says, oh, and THIS happened. I kind of feel like I just read a Studio Ghibli movie. I'm sure it would reveal even more on multiple rereadings but I'm going to walk away with this with the fun experience of one reading (for now). Totally enjoyable.
I'm not sure what to say, I was unprepared for this novel. It has come up a lot lately as it has been reissued and it has a cult following and I totally understand why. This was so tense! And it's so easy to be outside of it thinking, oh, I would do this or I would do that but, in the end, you are just as trapped as the main characters. It's a slow burn of terror. I think I would have be satisfied with a more violent ending but the one we got was pretty damned creepy.
The novel raises so many questions, specifically about outside forces and how stable our lives really are.
I have a feeling I, like many readers, will be thinking about this novel for decades to come.
I loved this. The little kid in me who was obsessed with survival novels (my Side of the Mountain, etc) was jumping for joy at reading about life on the run in a world that has gone mad. In the future, most races of humans stop dreaming, which leads to depression and violence on a major scale. It is discovered that the bone marrow of Indigenous people can be used as a cure, and as a result, they are hunted, rounded up, and placed in “schools” where they are harvested. One only needs to think of concentration camps to realize how this could become reality and quickly.
We are with one band of survivors on their way North, where it is rumored that there is safety. The group is made of up of members of every age.
The absolute best part of this novel is that each character gets to tell their story and we are given insight into who they are and where they are from.
Fantastic, and should appeal to older teens and adults. The content is a little rough for younger kids. But it would really depend on the reader and how well they could grasp the concepts presented here.
Four hunting buddies make a mistake that comes back to haunt them, and so much more. I plowed through this novel. Is it horrifying? Yes! From the opening chapter to Lewis and his Elk Woman...it just goes and goes. There is a lot to unpack here, and much of it is about tradition and loyalty. This is my second SGJ read and both times I have been really impressed. He underlies all of this tense storytelling with a sense of humor, alleviating the tension. I appreciate that. His characters are so real, I think I was even a notch more terrified than I should have been by how realistic these characters are. Such a good read.
More like 4 and 1/2. I don't know why it took me so long to read this! My daughter highly recommended it to me and I've loved Lukavics' other books. It's been on the TBR list for ages.
Anyhoo. It's awesome and it's awesome on a grand scale.
Imagine having zero control over your own future and, if you were not able to be kind about it or fake smile enough, you could be committed to a mental hospital against your will. This is not science fiction, this was reality for women for centuries.
Now, add some science fiction (in fact, let's pepper in some cosmic horror as well) and we get Nightingale. It's fabulous.
My only gripe was that I think it could have been a pinch shorter and I would have liked to have gotten to know some of the other patients better. My other gripe (and this has no effect on star rating) is the title. I have the worst time finding it in databases (including Goodreads) AND there are already so many books with this title. Luckily I have memorized how to spell the author's last name. I'm always recommending her books to readers anyway.
I went into this cold and that I how I recommend every reader approach it. If you loved Clarke's earlier work, pick this up. If you love science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, pick it up. If you are that reader who has read EVERYTHING- the one who can no longer be shocked or impressed as you have read it all, pick this up.
Now, I'm not going to say a darn thing EXCEPT the book begins by throwing you into a world that you do not know. I know Me, and there are times in my reading year when I could not allow myself to trust the author knows what she's doing and I would put it down. If that is you, give it a second to get going. Things will reveal themselves in time. If not, put it down and try it again later when you have patience.
It's a sort of puzzle that needs to be unpacked. I loved it.
I took my time with this as each chapter feels like its own story. Overall the book is a tale of three generations of women in one family and the many, almost apocalyptic things that happen to them. The great strength the women in this novel have, it astounded me and made me think of the women in my own family. There is, under the surface in each of these chapters, a great current of hope- hope that things will get better and/or the right partner has been chosen. The only thing the reader is left knowing with absolute certainty is that this mother and daughter love each other so very much and that was refreshing to read about.
This was epic. I loved every character in this book and even though I KNEW what was coming, I was unprepared for it emotionally. Whoo. Going to have to take a reading break for a minute. That said, I did find it slowed down for a bit for me (especially in the story of Abelard) and I found myself getting impatient to get back to Oscar and Lola. I'm coming away with the idea that maybe everyone's family is the victim of some sort of Fuku.
This is small story, a story about a little girl on her way to find someone to save her mistress, but all of the ideas here, the histories, are BIG, BIG, BIG. I loved it. It didn't work as an audio book for me, because I found myself wanting to reread sentences but I had a digital copy so I ended up reading (really savoring it).
Well, I made it through this slugfest and the experience was very much like eavesdropping on a rambling old man in the next room who expounds on everything and, every once in great while, says something mildly witty. I'm assuming that this is a highly regarded piece of literature because Mantel puts some pretty sentences together. As for the entertainment factor? I didn't find much.
Two things drove me crazy. First, a statement is made and followed by “Thomas thought” but then the OTHER character responds as if they heard him say it. Second, the bit I was most interested in, the memory theater (created by Guido Camillo)....well, not much happens there.
I also enjoyed the Cardinal for awhile and mourned his death when I realized all of the humor in this story just died with him.
I'm just hoping against hope that the 3rd book doesn't end up on the Tournament of Books list, because I have no intention of revisiting this.
I had to read this slowly over 3 days because it was so incredibly tense, I was getting my blood pressure all worked up! Every time Nina wandered away from her mother! Anyway, it would require multiple rereading to truly see the genius of this work, but it was fabulous. Kudos to the translator who must have nailed Schweblin's tone and voice!
I was fascinated, and terrified and I have never read anything quite like it.
Read this to offset the heaviness of Wolf Hall (which I am currently reading) and it is PAWSOME! In an adorable “odd couple” story we have two strangers living together as roommates and the underlying message here is to not judge someone before you get to know them (except sloats, sloats are terrible but speedy delivery messengers). I was charmed and delighted. I hope there will be further adventures.
Wow. So there is A LOT going on here. In fact, there was so much, I could no longer listen to the audio version of this and switched to the print (it was too hard to follow when characters that were not there a second ago pop up out of nowhere).
We have an actual haunted house, where memories of past residents are wandering around rooms. The house is constantly moving doors, too, a la the Winchester Mansion. And of course, there is a locked room that no one has the key too. I mean, of course.
We have an unreliable narrator, townsfolk who hate the weird Wakefield family, a swamp that never spits out the bones of those it swallows, a swamp witch, escaped slaves, and a wicked case of domestic abuse. I may have missed it, why is the mom no longer a nurse? Was she Nurse Ratched?
On top of this, the narrator's pregnant sister is home and may just be about to give birth to the second cousin to the anti-Christ.
Yup. Kaplan throws all of these balls in the air and manages to pull off a freaking awesome novel. I was hooked, literally could not turn the pages fast enough. THIS is want I want when I say I want a haunted house story. I can't believe more people are not talking about this book and I can't believe no one has compared it to We Have Always Lived in the Castle yet. Well, there. I just did.
It loses a star for a magical negro trope rescue that happens out in the swamp. The witch can't have her own face? It had to be Clementine to save Julian?
Also, I'm not crazy about the title. It doesn't fit the text, but I don't rate books on their titles or covers.
More like 4.5 stars.
I have been on the hunt, in 2020, to read stuff that will blow my mind. My loving nickname for the genre of books I am searching for lately is “batshit crazy”. This is very that. Not only did this story of 5 friends who set up an elaborate prank with a mannequin in a movie theater not go in any direction I could have predicted, but it was also so incredibly well written. Jones has a way of putting things that makes crazy things seem logical, almost fated. He uses horror tropes here to the story's advantage and creates patterns and imagery with words- the story plays out like a movie being shown in your head.
This second installment of the Greenhollow series is better than the first, in my humble opinion. We have the world-building and the character development out of the way so we can get right on with the adventure. I loved Maud. I love Mrs. Silver too, and her occupation. What I never do well with, it's me, is romance of any sort so once that yawn-factor was removed I could really enjoy this. Oh, and the imagery! As someone who grew up reading fairy tales, I love when I stumble upon stories that read like a fairy tale I have never read before, but comfortable enough to feel like an ancient tale. Tesh does this so very well.