Year 4, week 11: Halloween Double Feature

I am part of a group on Facebook that is a monthly reading challenge, which two teams compete to see how many points they can get by reading books and playing games online. I definitely don't have time to play games with people online, but in the month of October, I did try to read as many of the prompts as I could. The following two books are two of the prompts.  

The Halloween Tree

By Ray Bradbury

One of the prompts was a book that had to do with a fall holiday. When I googled books about fall holidays, The Halloween Tree was one of the top picks. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is my favorite of the post-apocalyptic novels so this book jumped out to me. One of the online libraries had the audiobook of the short novel, so the kids and I listened to it mostly in the van while driving around town. It's a fun little story about a pack of boys trying to save their friend's life on Halloween night while learning about the history of Halloween. I'd recommend the book if you are looking for a shorter Halloween tale. 

Since the kids also listened to the book, I had the kids give their reviews as well. 

Mikey- "I liked the Halloween tree. It was about eight little boys and they were looking for their friend Pipkin. Pipkin was sick. I really liked it so much. Also there's a lot of things to learn. We listened to it in the van while Mommy was driving us to go on walks or go pick up my prescription."

Lily- "Okay I liked the witches in it. There was a man that led the eight boys around called Moundshroud. And there's one guy that is a ghost. Okay and there was a little boy named Tom Skeleton. They learned all about Halloween and went to all the different places. The boy did find Pipkin so they saved him. They went to Mexico and learned about Día de los Muertos. That was my favorite part. There's lots of things you have to learn about and see. We listen to it when Mom was driving the van when we're going to walk in the big woods and the little woods. I liked it."

Coraline
By Neil Gaiman

This was another prompt for the reading challenge. A book with a Clue weapon on it. I have only ever read a few of Gaiman's stories, and this was a short one so I thought I would give it a whirl. The cover also had a Clue weapon on it, which was one of the criteria for a book challenge I am doing, so double score (Coraline is holding a candlestick on the cover). 

I have never been able to get all the way through the film adaptation that came out a while back. The first and only time I ever tried I was either really tired from one of the kids, just being bored, or something that made it impossible to pay attention. The graphics or the way it was animated makes everyone seem extra scary when they aren't. I listened to this book in one sitting, working out and then putting away laundry. I think listening to it made it more creepy, it was sing-songy and the way it was produced had extra weird sound effects. 

I would recommend it as a creepy story. 

Year 4, week 10: The Last Time I Lied

This week's book:
The Last Time I Lied
By Riley Sager

I'll start adding pictures of the books from here on out.

This week's book was the last of Sager's books that I hadn't read before. One of my fellow book lovers is a huge fan of this author and this is her favorite of their books. It was also listed on a Facebook reading group I'm on as one of a lot of members favorite books as well. So to say the expectations were high! 

The novel is the story of a woman who as a young girl goes to summer camp and all her bunkmates go missing one night. Since the disappearance, she has been obsessed with the three girls and paints portraits of  them constantly. When she is asked back to the camp years later, she tries to discover where the girls have gone. 

It wasn't very Halloween-ish, but a good thriller. I don't know if it was my favorite of Sager's books, but it was a good little mystery if you are into that type of thing. I would recommend it if you want a mystery for this time of year. 

Year 4, week 9: Full Throttle

This week's book:
Full Throttle
By Joe Hill Collection

This week's book is a collection of short stories by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son). Last October, I read two of Hill's other books and so I thought I would give this book a try. I listened to it as an audiobook and each story is narrated by a different person. I really enjoyed the introduction that was read by Hill himself. The catalyst of some of the stories is his father and the fun/super messed up things that they did together. What's funny is that he makes these weird things that good old dad and I are doing, just sound normal. He is talking about the king of horror as if he is just a normal guy, which I guess to his son he is. It was fun to hear some stories about Stephen King and his family. It was also fun to hear Hill experience of becoming an author and such. 

1 Throttle

A story of a semi trucker running a motorcycle gang off the highway. It's a bit yucky at parts, but scary enough.

2. Dark Carousel

A story of revenge, maybe? There are horses from a carousel and it's just depressing/weird, not that scary. 

3. Wolverton Station

Werewolves riding a train, I think. I was nursing my daughter and falling asleep while listening to this one.

4. By The Silver Water of Lake Champlain

Two kids think they find a dead dinosaur or something like the Loch Ness monster. It's just a bit of a depressing story. 

5.Faun

A young man goes hunting with his roommate. At first I thought of The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl, where the birds get back at the hunters for killing their families. As a non-hunter I thought that would be a great idea. Then when I learned that the hunters in the Hill story go through a portal where they hunt. I thought of the Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; regardless, it's kind of an interesting story.

6.Late Returns

A bookmobile and ghosts. I really liked this one. Not scary what so ever, just bittersweet, and this story was a good one. 

7.All I Care About Is You

This one is sort of a YA story about robots and a spoiled teenaged girl. This one is definitely Si-Fi and just not up my alley. 

8.Thumbprint

This story is about the way war can be very damaging to one's mental health. It's really a hard read and I didn't like this one. 

9. The Devil on the Staircase

No idea what this story is about. I was working out and I have no idea the story is about.

10. Twittering From The Circus of the Dead

This is listed as one of the stories, but apparently it doesn't work as an audiobook so I didn't get to hear/read it. Apparently it's about zombies and social media.

11. Mum's

This is a story about domestic terrorists. It reminded me of a book I read a few years ago called Brother by Ania Ahlborn, kinda. A young man is trying to find his path with this father that is really a scary person. Scary in a real way, not fantasy.

12.In the Tall Grass

This story is by Joe Hill and his dad Stephen King. It definitely can be seen that King had his twist in this one. I feel like it could be a sequel to Children of the Corn, or what people could be hearing if they are walking by the corn in that story. This is definitely a creepy story.

13. You Are Released

End of the world due to bombs, told from the point of view from people on an airplane. Not scary, but depressing. I have always HATED end of the world stories ever since I was little. 

At the end of the book, Hill goes through each of the stories (which who doesn't want to hear what the author was thinking while writing?). If you are interested in some scary short stories, I would definitely recommend it. The stories are a little uneven but not bad. 

Year 4, week 8: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

It's October! Time for some Halloween-themed books!

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
By Grady Hendrix

This week's book was suggested by another person on a Facebook group devoted to reading. She said she liked it quite a bit, while another lady said it was too scary/gory for her taste. I don't normally go for the overly gory horror films; I like my Halloween movies more on the cheesy/campy side. But I'm a sucker for a book involving a book group, and some reviews compared it to Steel Magnolias (it totally is nothing like Steel Magnolias and that was a terrible comparison). 

As you would assume, a group of ladies meet to discuss books once a month that are on the true crime side. When some shady stuff starts happening with one of their next door neighbors, one lady thinks he might be a monster of some sort. 

I'm not going to lie, there is definitely an ick factor, and if I had watched this as a film instead of reading it, I would have probably turned it off. I was also super annoyed with all of the husbands in the novel; admittedly this is based in the early 1990's south, so all of the ladies are a little too "stand by your man", but still. 

If you are in the mood for a scary book with some blood and guts, I would suggest it.

Year 4, week 7: One to Watch

This week's book:
One to Watch
By Kate Stayman-London

This week's book was a Book of the Month pick back in June. It is a silly romantic comedy about a plus size fashion blogger going on a Bachelorette type of show. I don't really care much about fashion or watch any reality television so I have no idea why I picked this book.

I do find it very funny that I was reading this book about a girl bringing positive body imaging for all of these plus size ladies, while I was riding the stationary bike trying like heck to lose all this weight. I've always been bigger then my friends and family. I was always the "fat" funny friend, or at least that's how I always felt. I was a competitive dancer for fifteen years, where every girl is stick thin and flat chested. The dance moms would pounce on me the second my mom would go to the audience to watch me dance at competitions, to tape down my chest or tell me that I looked too provocative in the costume that literally every other girl was wearing in my company. I was lucky enough to have a group of amazing friends in college, but they were drop dead gorgeous. Guys were constantly asking for their numbers or would walk right past me to get to my beautiful friends. To this day I still sometimes have a hard time thinking my husband could really think I'm attractive; he does and tells me daily, because he's amazing. 

The book is easy mind candy, much like trash reality television. It's the author's first book so I found it a little long, but not too bad. If you like those dating shows and fashion I would recommend the book.