Archive for May, 2010
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
In about three weeks, my family and I are moving to be closer to the kids’ school and my husband’s work. I’m really excited. But in the meantime, our new house sits empty except for a couch and two chairs. Yesterday I decided instead of sitting at the park and reading in my car, I’d take start taking advantage of our new home. We have the keys and all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch – which is exactly what I did. I curled up on the couch and happily cracked open Joe Hill’s “Heart Shaped Box”.
Now I’m a little late to the game on this book and Joe Hill for that matter. But I’ve always liked a good horror book so I was happy to indulge. Unfortunately, I didn’t consider my environment.
Just a few chapters in, I became acutely aware of my surroundings: a cool, older, empty house. An older house where random creaks now sounded intentional. Doorways leered at me. Empty rooms loomed. I tried to laugh at myself and the shaky sound echoed back at me with what I imagined to be another voice now quietly intertwined. Shadows shifted around the corner.
I shook my head, hard, determined to finish the chapter and I swear I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.
I didn’t finish the chapter. In fact I almost couldn’t get the front door open with my shaking, frozen hands. (The heat has been off. It was REALLY cold in there.)
I’m not sure if this is a testament to Mr. Hill’s writing or my scaredy cat ways. Maybe it’s a little of both. I have to say it’s a REALLY good book so far – even if I wouldn’t get out of bed to go to the bathroom last night. I can’t wait to finish it…sitting in the sunniest, warmest spot I can find.
So what about you? Have you ever read a book that completely freaked you out or am I the only adult currently scared of the dark?
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
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!
My teaser is from “The Lonely Polygamist” by Brady Udall. I’m not very far in but this has been nothing like I expected so far.
Golden eased himself delicately out of the pickup and took a shovel out of its bed. Right away he ran into trouble.
Monday, May 10th, 2010
Hardback fiction new releases:
05/11/2010
Heart of the Matter (Emily Griffin)
Dragon Haven (Rain Wilds Series #2) (Robin Hobb)
Falcon Seven (James Huston)
Five Odd Honors (Jane Lindskold)
Raiders from the North: Empire of the Moghul (Alex Rutherford)
Fade (Wake Trilogy Series #2) (Lisa McMann)
The Marrowbone Marble Company (Glenn Taylor)
The Pregnant Widow (Martin Amis)
Die Twice (Andrew Grant)
The Cardturner (Louis Sachar)
The Poacher’s Son (Paul Doiron)
A Curtain Falls (Stefanie Pintoff)
Executive Intent (Dale Brown)
Dead in the Water (Meredith Cole)
The Nearest Exit (Olen Steinhauer)
Climate of Change (Piers Anthony)
The Other Side of the Door (Nicci French)
Through the Cracks (Barbara Fister)
Wanna Get Lucky? (Deborah Coonts)
The Rise of Renegade X (Chelsea Campbell)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jump (Elisa Carbone) (Releases 05/13/2010)
Fear of Mirrors (Tarig Ali) (Releases 05/15/2010)
Sword of Fire (William R. McGrath) (Releases 05/16/2010)
Monday, May 10th, 2010
Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback. Both lists have quite a three books debuting in the top 5, The 9th Judgment (#2 on WJS and #1 on NYT), Lover Mine (#3 on WSJ and #3 on NYT), Burned (#1 on WSJ) and Hannah’s List (#5 on NYT, is #8 on WSJ)). On both lists Deliver Us From Evil dropped from #1 to #4. The Help dropped from #3 to #5 on WSJ and from #2 to #3 on NYT.
| Wall Street Journal Top 5 |
New York Times Top 5 |
| Burned P.C Cast, Kristin Cast |
The 9th Judgment James Patterson |
| The 9th Judgment James Patterson |
Lover Mine J.R. Ward |
| Lover Mine J.R. Ward |
The Help Kathryn Stockett |
| Deliver Us From Evil David Baldacci |
Deliver Us From Evil David Baldacci |
| The Help Kathryn Stockett |
Hannah’s List Debbie Macomber |
Friday, May 7th, 2010
When I included “The Creation of Eve” by Lynn Cullen on my To-Be-Read list, it was a low priority addition. The synopsis sounded like a decent diversion but hardly something I’d be rushing out to find. If you’ve been reading here for a bit, you know my tastes generally lean towards fantasy/sci-fi/horror. “The Creation of Eve” is historical fiction based on the life of Sofonisba Anguissola, the first renowned female artist of the Renaissance era – not exactly my usual fare. I truly expected a story that centered mostly on the main character and her artistic pursuits. And though the narrative is told from the perspective of Sofi the focus shifts between several characters and situations, keeping the story from getting bogged down. There are enough art & history references to keep those enthusiasts enticed and yet, enough intrigue to keep the rest of us (ahem…me) from slipping an unintentional nap into the day.
I have a reoccurring issue when reading historical fiction; situations that the characters consider scandalous generally trigger giggles from me (or an eye roll). For example, when the Queen rebelled by uncovering her hair outside, and order Sofi to do the same, I could not sympathize with Sofi’s dismay or shame at being discovered. I WANTED to sympathize but was too fascinated by the absurdity that uncovered hair was indecent. I’m simply unable to immerse myself into historical culture enough to identify with the characters’ angst. However, Cullen wrote these scenes brilliantly. She brought characters (and their reactions) beyond academic and injected them with a passion and genuineness that truly brought them to life. Her flair for subtly adding depth and color was especially impressive in her portrayal of King Felipe. His character could have easily become the stereotypical dangerous, powerful king rendering a very flat personality. Instead Cullen artfully reveals his many dimensions until I wasn’t sure whether to dislike him, admire him, or both.
In the end I was pleasantly surprised by “The Creation of Eve”. Cullen took a little known historical figure and cleverly filled in gaps in the facts with plausible scenarios. The end result was a delightful novel that I enjoyed, despite the inappropriate giggles.
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
CKY Books Top Ten Best Selling Authors of the Decade (2000-2009)
1. J.K. Rowling
2. Stephanie Meyer
3. Stephen King
4. Dr. Seuss
5. Spencer Johnson
6. Mary Pope Osborne
7. James Patterson
8. Dan Brown
9. Jim Collins
10. Nora Roberts/ J.D. Robb
The list isn’t surprising. These are all prolific and/or wildly popular authors. But I realized only one of these them would land on my personal top ten favorite authors list. It’s not that I don’t LIKE these writers. I do. In fact, I’ve read, and enjoyed, books by all of them. But that begs the question – who would I consider my top ten favorite authors? That was surprisingly easy to answer.
1. Anne Rice
2. Anne McCaffrey
3. Stephen King
4. RA Salvatore
5. Michael Crichton
6. Robert Jordan
7. Terry Brooks
8. David Eddings
9. C.S. Lewis
10. Sara Douglass
That list is in no particular order. But I see a definite trend there…
So what about you? Who would be on YOUR list?
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
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!
My teaser is from “The Wives of Henry Oades” by Johanna Moran. I haven’t actually started reading this one so it’s a teaser for me too!
The monster spun around without releasing Josephine. He caught Mim beneath the chin with the butt of his rifle
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Hardback fiction new releases:
05/04/2010
Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Series #10) (Charlaine Harris)
The Scent of Rain and Lightening (Nancy Pickard)*
Innocent (Scott Turow)
Blue Eyed Devil (Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch Series #4) (Robert B Parker)
Twelve Rooms with a View (Theresa Rebeck)
Spells (Aprilynne Pike)
The Invisible Bridge (Julie Orringer)*
The Prince of Mist (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)*
Something Like Fate (Susane Colasanti)
The Map of True Places (Brunonia Barry)
Tell All (Chuck Palahniuk)
Private Life (Jane Smiley)
*Added to my “to be read” list
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback. Both lists have quite a few books debuting in the top 5, Deliver Us from Evil (#1 on both), The Double Comfort Safari Club (#3 on NYT and #4 on WSJ), Lucid Intervals (#5 on both) and The Body of Death (#4 on NYT). On the Wall Street Journals’s list, The Shadow of Your Smile and The Help both dropped a spot to #2 and #3 respectively while The Help holds at #2 on NYT.
| Wall Street Journal Top 5 |
New York Times Top 5 |
| Deliver Us From Evil David Baldacci |
Deliver Us From Evil David Baldacci |
| The Shadow of Your Smile Mary Higgins Clark |
The Help Kathryn Stockett |
| The Help Kathryn Stockett |
The Double Comfort Safari Club Alexander Mcall Smith |
| The Double Comfort Safari Club Alexander Mcall Smith |
The Body of Death Elizabeth George |
| Lucid Intervals Stuart Woods |
Lucid Intervals Stuart Woods |
