Year 2, week 10: Hocus Pocus

This week's book:
Hocus Pocus and the All New Sequel
By A. W. Jantha

I think all girls want to be Sarah Sanderson, but most of us look like Mary. Hocus Pocus has been one of my favorite Halloween movies of all time (or at least the last twenty-five years). I am not one of those basic witches that joined the bandwagon when the film became a cult classic and everyone said they loved it. No Sir, I saw the film at the Muncie Mall movie theater and loved it from day one. I pretended I was married to Billy Butcherson and told Doug Jones (the actor who played Billy) that I dreamt of our wedding when I met him in college. To Mr. Jones credit, he giggled and called me Mrs. Butcherson. I knew when I grew up I would own the house that the Dennison's live in, or Allison maybe. I love Bette Miller and agree it's her best role EVER!!! I was only a little heartbroken that when we showed our eldest child this movie, he had nightmares for weeks. He sadly didn't share my love for the heartbroken zombie who happens to lose his head randomly throughout the film. Even when asked this year if he would like to try to watch the movie again he just shook his head and in not so many words declined the offer.

So when I was at the bookstore a few months ago I saw that there was a book adaptation sequel thing I was interested. Of course I didn't buy it because it was brand new and the price of an over priced Faberge egg, but about a month later I found it at Wally world for a fraction of the price and vowed to read it for Halloween this year. I'm not going to lie to you about this. Holy smokes I was disappointed in this money grab. The first two hundred pages is a scene for scene retelling of the film, with very little added. I could have just watched the film and skipped reading the first part. The second part is a story about Max and Allison's lesbian daughter and her friends fighting the Sanderson sisters again. It's a fun little story but it was trying way too hard to be something it wasn't. The writing wasn't all that great as well. It’s definitely a young adult book, which just isn't my genre. I will be honest I finished it to see where the plot was going to take me, but unless you are a die hard Hocus Pocus fan, you can skip this book.

Year 2, week 9: The Night Circus

This week's book:
The Night Circus
By Erin Morgenstern

This week's book I started forever ago. It was in our bathroom and I would read it in the bath or when I was doing my business. I read it on the stationary bike every once and a while, but mostly I read a few pages at at time. The fact that I only read a few pages at a time may have caused me to not connect with the plot as well as I should have. I had a really hard time connecting to the characters and the plot throughout the entire time.

The story is about about two men of magic having a competition where they pick a younger magic filled child and compete to see which is a better illusionist until one of them dies. The two older men have done this test of strength but this book only shows this last development. The young competitors fall in love and the circus that they are both somehow connected to for some reason can't run without them. Also there is some clock that also has to be there or all the people that work in the circus will die maybe? Oh and once you join the circus you don't age, except these twins that were born the first year that the circus came about, because they age for some reason. And don't forget the circus only is at night and never advertised in advance when or where they are going to be next.

Apparently they are making a movie out of this book at some point (I didn't know that until today). Maybe the film could explain the plot better, or show that razzle dazzle of how “cool” the circus can be. I thought the book would be like the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series, but it wasn't AT ALL! I didn't enjoy the book and I only finished it because I wanted to know if one or both of them were going to die to end the challenge. I wouldn't recommend this book.

Year 2 week 8: A Spark of Light

This week's book:
A Spark of Light
By Jodi Picoult

September 30th could have been our third child's due date. It's crazy to me to think I could be the mother of three at this moment. Our oldest would have been a big brother again and our little princess, a big sister for the first time. It would have been another opportunity for my hubby to wear a Darth Vader related father themed shirt and be excited to have our child share his birth month. Maybe there would have been another little crazy man or a little lady that joined our family. But there wasn't. I lost the pregnancy early and was told it's insanely common to miscarry. We never heard a heartbeat, we never saw anything on the monitor, it had only been a few weeks of knowing. We picked up the pieces and moved on hoping that the next time we would be successful (we weren't). I have to take a second to reflect and think what could have been. I'm not the only one who has been filled with sadness when learning they are going to meet their future child and, sadly, I will not be the last.

I had pre-ordered Picoult newest novel the second I heard that she was coming out with a new book all the way back in March. I was so excited I stalked the mail truck and dove into the book the second it came to my doorstep. After having a hard time with the due date and everything going on with the new Supreme Court I was ready to enjoy a book by one of my favorite authors.

I finished it last night and I was disappointed in it. Of course, Picoult does something creative, the whole book is written backwards with the first chapter being the end of the day and last chapter being the beginning of the day. Her books are always so well researched and a page turner. The story revolves around a shooter in an abortion clinic and all the people involved. It just seemed like I could see where the plot was going a mile away, and there were just too many characters. With all these different people telling their points a view of the story, the reader doesn't get as in depth with each character as she normally does with her novels. Of course I am glad I read the book, and if you are a big Jodi Picoult fan definitely read this book. But it might just not be her best. Now to wait until 2020 for her next book, it's about Egypt I have heard.

Year 2 week 7, Misery

This week's book:
Misery
By Stephen King

Since it's the beginning of the best month of the year (October) I thought I would kick off with some scary stuff. Halloween, aka the best holiday of the year, will be here before we know it. It's that time of year where the weather gets colder and the drinks get warm. Everything turns to pumpkin spice something or crisp apple, what have you. My children already have their Halloween costumes and have had them for weeks. They have been counting down the days until they can trick or treat for a while now. As always I am pleased as punch that it's my birthday month and the season of football, beautiful leaves, and hoodies (or Sarah's if you are into Lularoe). Forget Christmas, this is the best time of year.

I read one of Mr. King's most famous books. The film adaptation even earned Kathy Bates an Academy Award for her portrayal of the story's villain. If you have been living under a rock and don't know know the plot, it's simply the story of an author who gets “saved” by his number one fan that ends up torturing him until he writes her another book in the series that she loves.

All right, there are a few reasons I didn't love this book. I don't know if it's the fact that I knew how the story was going to end or if it was the fact that my copy of the book was a used copy from eBay and smelled like an ashtray, but it wasn't my favorite of his books. I think a major factor could be that I read Gerald's Game last year and absolutely loved it. I'm not going to rehash why I loved it so much, you can just go back and read that entry. Both of these books are about a person being stuck in a bed and they are trying to get out of a scary situation. If I'm going to be honest with you I would say to just rent the adaptation to Misery and enjoy Kathy Bate's academy award winning portrayal of this crazy woman.