Year 5, week 11: Darcy Coates books

A pair of Darcy Coates books this week!

The Carrow Haunt
By Darcy Coates 

This book was written by Darcy Coates and was a buddy read, but I would have read this book even if it wasn't picked to be discussed. I have read other books by this author. Coates and Stephan King both have issues closing their novels, but I enjoy the journeys to that point. This novel takes place at a very haunted house and a group of "ghost experts". There are some scary parts and silly parts, and they kept me excited to keep reading. The thing that made this book so enjoyable is that it's not gross. Sometimes horror books and films get yucky, and I'm not a big fan of that.  I would very much recommend it. 

The Haunting of Gillespie House
By Darcy Coates 

I actually read this book at the beginning of the month. I read this mostly on my phone while waiting for my kids at school pickup or for practice to end. I even read it on the stationary bike. This novel has another haunted house, but it didn't creep me out as much as other Coates' books. My copy of the book included a short story the author based this novel on. She originally wanted to write a short story and it turned out to be a whole book. This short story was way more creepy than the full length book. I would probably recommend the book, but it just wasn't my favorite of this author's books. 

Year 5, week 10: Grady Hendrix bundle

Halloween is fast approaching, so here are a handful of creepy stories from Grady Hendrix. I have posted a review of one of Grady Hendrix's books before for a Halloween themed post (The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires), so here are a few more stories from the same author.

The Final Girl Support Group
By Grady Hendrix

I loved this book. There is no way to beat around the bush, I loved this book. The premise is that all the final girls from all of your favorite slashers movies from the 1970-1990's are all in the same therapeutic support group. All of these ladies have been almost killed and their stories are made into films. Then someone wants to take out these final girls. There are some yucky parts, but if you are a fan of scary movies from that time period I think you should definitely try this book out!

We Sold Our Souls
By Grady Hendrix

My sweet hubby read this book with me for a scary Halloween type book. The plot is about a heavy metal band that, as the title leads you to know, sold their souls for fame. My favorite line in the book is "No one loves me! Boo hoo! Guess what? We play fucking metal! I don't want to sing about your sad feelings! I want dragons." I recommend this book if you want a fun heavy metal themed creepy story. 

Paperbacks from Hell
By Grady Hendrix

This book is literally a book report of a bunch of books from the past; books that are the equivalent of grindhouse films, that have trashy plots and even trashier covers. The book is super duper researched and well written, sadly those are not my favorite of books so I don't know why on earth I read this book. Actually I do know why I read it, I like Grady Hendrix and I wanted to hear what he would say about these books. If this subgenre of books are your jam, definitely definitely read it! 

Horrorstör
By Grady Hendrix

This is another book I read with the hubs a while back. Our copy of the book was a early release of the book so apparently it was missing a few parts that were tweaked before it was mass released, so take that in mind while reading this review. The plot is about a woman who works in essentially an Ikea that is on I'm gonna say Indian burial ground (I can't remember, it was a while back we read it and I'm just now getting around to writing about it). This book is gory and creepy and hilarious when it's making fun of all the weird names Ikea calls all their products. The book is actually really scary and would be perfect for a Halloween scare. 

My Best Friend's Exorcism

By Grady Hendrix

I actually read this book last year if I remember correctly. So this review might not be as in depth as is should be. This book as sold as a Beaches meets 1980's horror films. I was super disappointed in this book. It seems to drag on forever before anything scary or creepy happens. These two girlfriends are been friends since elementary school and then one of them starts acting different and her bestie thinks maybe she has a demon living in her. It seems like I either love or hate this author's books. This book was a miss for me, and I probably wouldn't recommend this for a good Halloween scare.  

Note from the Hubby: I read Horrorstör and We Sold Our Souls with my wife, they were both fun reads.  

Horrorstör was a bit ridiculous, but the Ikea catalog spin to introduce each chapter was great, and the story felt a bit like a horror version of that show Superstore.

 I had a lot of fun reading We Sold Our Souls. An interesting insight into the music industry, wrapped around a conspiracy theory, and might involve... demons? Not quite sure, and I can't reveal too much without spoiling the story, but it was a real page turner. 

Year 5, week 9: Wylding Hall

This week's book:
Wylding Hall
By Elizabeth Hand

I had never heard of this book until I saw it on a list for a Buddy Read for my online book challenge group. I am so glad they picked it because it was such a good, creepy Halloween book. 

The story is told as a series of interviews that gave the same feel as Daisy Jones and The Six (which I flipping LOVED)! This band based in England from the 1970's are being interviewed for a documentary. I listened to the audiobook and it was a cast read, which means it has a whole cast of narrators instead of the traditional one person reading it, which gave the book a real interview feel. The band is staying in this old mansion to record their second album and, surprise, the house is creepy and weird things start to happen. 

The book is less than two hundred pages (four and a half hours via audiobook), so it makes a perfect quick book if you are looking for a fun Halloween-time book. I would definitely recommend the novel.

Year 5, week 8: Her Body and Other Parties

This week's book:
Her Body and Other Parties
By Carmen Maria Machado

This book was for a Buddy Read, and I would have never heard of this book without this Buddy Read. The book is a collection of short stories by one author. The stories are all structured differently. Some I liked, while others I didn't love much. Since the stories don't go together, the only way I can review the book is to break down the book story by story. I probably will not go deep into each story because I don't want to ruin the plots. 

"The Husband Stitch"-- This story is an updated, very adult version of that story we all read in elementary school about the girl with the green ribbon. The whole story is full of urban legends and deals with how many men don't respect women's bodies or their wishes. I enjoyed this story.

"Inventory"-- This is the story of a woman chronically listing her sexual accounts during a pandemic. We don't learn much about the virus and this story is super short, but it's interesting.

"Mothers"-- This story is so flipping confusing and even the people in the chat couldn't agree with what it was about. I had to Google what the story meant, and it still didn't really answer my questions. 

"Especially Heinous"-- This story is essentially Law and Order SVU. The story is broken up into episodes and as an audiobook it was really confusing. It was probably one of my favorite of the stories in the whole book. The whole story is how the police officers are affected by the ones that they can't save. 

"Real Women Have Bodies"-- This story is about how women seem to try to make themselves smaller and smaller for the sake of fashion. In the story women start disappearing a little bit over time, until you can't see them anymore. I can't really go into too much without giving away the whole plot. 

"Eight Bites"-- A story about being overweight and eating disorders. Not scary, just depressing.

"The Resident"-- I actually have no idea about this story, other then there are major parts about being a girl scout and I found it funny because I literally just became my daughter's Daisy leader.

"Difficult At Parties"-- This story just seemed like a woman who has major mental health issues and seems hard to deal with. 

This whole novel is essentially about different ways that women are just not in control of their own bodies. Men or society or even their own mind is telling a woman how "wrong" and not in control they are. The author is a really good author and the stories are all written differently. The stories are written like art, not a story from point A to point B, but a story that takes you on a journey and really makes you think. 

I know there are people who really like this type of book but I just don't think this book was my cup of tea. 

Year 5, week 7: Stamped from the Beginning

This week's book:
Stamped from the Beginning
By Ibram X. Kendi

This week is National Banned Book Week, and I have been wanting to read this book for a while now. I had taken a break from reading books about race, with our move and trying to sell our house. The kids started in-person school for the first time since March of 2020, and at a new school at that. I know there should never be a break from educating yourself and bettering yourself to become more antiracist. 

This book is written by Ibram X. Kendi, which I think I have read every book he has written so far. His writing is just so dynamic and educates you without speaking down to you, or belittling you for your skin tone. This book is very educational and brought up many points that hasn't been touched on in other books that are about the history of racism in our country. It reminded me once again how we aren't learning all of our history when we are in school. The portion that was really eye opening and heartbreaking was the section about Thomas Jefferson. He spoke so much about the slaves at that time, and all the while he was raping and fathering children with Sally Hemings. He definitely wasn't the singing and dancing character from Hamilton. I knew a little bit about their relationship, but not deeply.  

I can't say I enjoyed this book, because learning about the horrible history of how black people have been and continue to be beat treated and how far we need to go to be a better country and people to be honest, is always a hard pill to swallow. I would definitely recommend this book.