Book Review: So Anyway..., By John Cleese

At this point, I should just make this blog into a book review one...

Book Review: The Paris Winter, by Imogen Robertson

I love me a good historical novel, and this was a good historical novel.  The Paris Winter, by Imogen Robertson, follows Maud, and English woman studying art in Paris, who takes a job as a companion for a sister and brother.  The story is set during the end of the Belle Époque, and does a particularly good job in differentiating between the wild optimism usually associated with the time period and the crippling poverty that was so pervasive and so often ignored.

Book Review: The Satanic Bridegroom, by Joe Gola

 

So many book reviews...

 

The Satanic Bridegroom (TSB), by Joe Gola, was a very, very well crafted book.  I am a big H.P. Lovecraft fan (in fact, I just finished reading his complete works earlier this year), and I was impressed with how well this novel fit into the weird fiction canon.  It really does have all the trappings of a traditional weird story: ancient civilizations, mysterious artifacts, old gods, etc.  Gola even manages to throw in the word “cyclopean,” which I’m pretty sure is some kind of requirement.  Clocking in at around 270 pages, and combined with mystery, action, and adventure, this was a very fast read.  270 pages would normally seem short to me, but the story had good pacing, and the shortness was very much in line with the old weird short stories and novellas of the past, so it worked.

Book Review: Nation to Nation

Nation to Nation was a fascinating read. Native American history is odd in that the one thing that everyone knows about it is how little everyone knows about it. Native American history is held up as the very epitome of white-washing and eurocentrism rampant in US history. And, while most history books will probably devote a chapter to Native Nations now, it’s still a gaping hole in our curriculum. I note this because, even knowing that I knew very little about Native American history, Nation to Nation shocked me by showing me that I essentially knew nothing. I tried to keep this review focused on the book itself, but I learned so many things that I just need to share, so there’s a fair bit of content below.

Book Review: A Vision of Fire, by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin

It's book review time!  I received a copy of A Vision of Fire, by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin, through the GoodReads First Reads program.  A Vision of Fire is a sci-fi thriller about a child psychologist named Caitlin O'Hara who has been called in to (discreetly) help a UN ambassador's daughter.  The daughter, Maanik, witnessed an assassination attempt on her father and broke down shortly afterwards.  The strange nature of Maanik's illness and the emergence of similar cases around the world, however, lead Caitlin to believe that this is more than just PTSD.  There are some spoilers ahead, although I try to stay away from anything too big.  Just to be on the safe side: Read at your own risk.  Also, I felt a free book deserved a detailed review (i.e. - it’s pretty lengthy), so...read at your own risk?

Book Review: Bird Box, by Josh Malerman

 

I really enjoyed Bird Box.  At first glance, this book has many of the traditional post-apocalyptic trappings: the havoc-inducing creatures, the mass hysteria, the scrappy band of survivors, that one guy who just has to fuck everyone over, etc.  But even with all this, the story kept my interest (I finished in a little over a day), and I was a little more nervous than usual when walking home from work (in the dark - thank you, Daylight Savings Time).

Scary Movie Night: The Recap (Part I)

*Will become important later*

We finally ended up having our Scary Movie Night.  Although it was still not particularly scary, it was a lot of fun, and I'm hoping to do it again.  Surprisingly, one of the most important things I learned from movie night was that it's always best to watch scary movies with other people (more about that in Part II).  This is especially true if you have access to a unicorn: the coward who is willing to watch them with you.  For me, this was my sister.  We watched a mixed of movies and "true" haunted house TV episodes, some of which I had already seen (but she hadn't) and some of which were new to both of us.  Since we watched three movies and two TV episodes, I'm going to split my recap into two parts.  So, without further ado, here is Part I.

Horror Movie Pre-Gaming: Any Suggestions?

Remember Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark?  No one remembers that actual stories, but they'll remember the illustrations (like the one above - one of the tamer ones at that) until the day they die.  I mention this because I'm trying to get my family to have a horror movie night with me.  I was going to update afterwards, with what movies we watched and how we liked them, but it keeps getting put off.  So, I decided to do a pre-movie night post.   I've been on a bit of a horror kick recently: books, movies, TV shows, you name it.  It's all been a little bit of a disappointment, though.  Take movies.  I have watched some good scary movies (horror, thriller, suspense, etc.), but none of them have actually scared me.  I'm looking for something that will give me that same sense of dread that I still get from those creepy-ass Scary Stories illustrations.  Since movie night got pushed back, I thought I would see if anyone has any suggestions for a really good scary movie (or stand-alone TV episode).

Introduction: Let's Explore Blogging with Owls

I recently discovered audiobooks.  Well, I was aware of their existence before, but I never really got into them.  I like regular books (although I am by no means a Kindle-hater - mine has been wonderfully useful), and audiobooks, needing a cassette player or CD player, always seemed more trouble than they were worth.  However, a friend at work told me that you could now download audiobooks from the local library in MP3 format, and you can then listen to them right on your phone/iPod.  I take public transit to and from work, and sometimes it is so crowded that I cannot even hold a book in front of me.  This new audiobook program seemed like the perfect fix.