Category: Books

I am feeling kind of miserable this evening, so this review is going to be short and to the point. I just have a cold, but I'm tired and stuffed up and all I want to do is lay down and go to sleep. Happily the timekeepers must realize how much I need a little extra sleep, since tonight is the night we turn back our clocks, and an extra hour of NyQuil-aided sleep will be a good thing. The bad thing is that life doesn't stop when I'm not feeling well and right now my daughter is practicing her trumpet. I'm glad she is and that she enjoys playing it, but it's not exactly gentle and sleep inducing, especially since she's only been playing for 5 weeks. Hard to sleep through. I'm a bit of a fairy tale junkie and it might be an interest I'm passing on to my daughter, Amber (11). The Sister Grimm is a series we...

A rich setting and well-developed characters make A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny a good mystery. The beautiful language and thoughtfulness of the narrative make it stand out. “What happened here last night isn’t allowed,” said Madame Dubois. It was such an extraordinary thing to say it stopped the ravenous Inspector Beauvoir from taking another bite of his roast beef on baguette. “You have a rule against murder?” he asked. “I do.  When my husband and I bought the Bellechasse we made a pact....Everything that stepped foot on this land would be safe.” This fourth in the series steps away from the town of Three Pines. Happily, in my opinion, because really the village needs a break from murders occasionally. Inspector Gamache and his wife are celebrating their anniversary at Manoir Bellechasse, a luxurious inn isolated on the shore of Lac Massawippi. The other rooms are occupied by the Finney family, as unpleasant as they are wealthy. The Gamaches are surprised when Peter and Clara arrive for the Finney reunion...

With the end of October comes the end of the RIP VI challenge. I do love reading the mysteries, thrillers, and dark fantasies that go along with this season. Here is the list of reviews I posted for the challenge. Books The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny Between the Thames and the Tiber by Ted Riccardi The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths India Black and the Widow of Windsor by Carol K. Carr The After House by Mary Roberts Rinehart Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory The Sherlockian by Graham Moore Ding Dong the Diva's Dead by Cat Melodia Short stories "Last Cottage" by Christopher Merkner "Clean Slate" by Lawrence Block I also read or listened to several works that I haven't gotten reviews up for. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irvin "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny...

Isn't the cover of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory just gorgeous? I wanted to love this collection of stories about odd characters, talking TVs, an apartment dwelling octopus, houses who long for the sea, but it just didn't work for me. I enjoy short stories, so that wasn't it, and I liked the off-beat, rather dark fantasy feeling that pervaded the book, but none of the stories made me say, "Wow!" I even tried reading a couple out loud, but still they were just okay, interesting, but not compelling. Maybe I read them too quickly, maybe I should have slowed down and savored them, but I just didn't care enough to. I read each, said "oh" or "that's it?" or "okay," and moved onto the next one. Out of the 39 or so very short stories, I think I only remember about 5 and it's only been a little over a week since I...

I know I usually feature traditional fairy tales on Thursdays or re-tellings that still feature the well-known characters, but today's tale is a little different. Hallow's Eve by Sarah Deimer is an original, modern "Halloween fairy tale," but it is an adorable story. Laluna, our heroine, is a pretty witch with bright red hair who has no family after the recent death of her grandmother. Laluna is not a typical witch, in fact "she was a HORRIBLE witch and a FANTASTIC baker," but when an old school friend asks for a potion, Laluna can't say no, even though it is a love potion. Of course, it all backfires, and Laluna ends up missing the Witch's Ball on Halloween night to deal with a zombie in love. It's such a sweet little story, for being full of witches, ghosts, a vampire, a werewolf, a zombie, even Death himself. What's funny is the scariest person is actually the human, the woman who caused the...

I don't tend to read horror novels, or really any truly scary books, but there are some that are just perfect to read around Halloween. I included some kids books, too, just because I loved them when Amber was little. Top Ten Halloween Reads 1. The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain - Three terrified little bears explore the inside of a mysterious old tree and go into, up, through, over, down, and out. I love the illustrations in this one, too. 2. Dracula by Bram Stoker - The classic story of  the aristocratic vampire that haunts the Transylvanian countryside is a must-read and perfect for the season. 3. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irvin - Amber and I are reading this one together this year. It's a little old-fashioned, but a Halloween classic. I love the Disney version too. 4. Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe - Great story about a vampire bunny and some other...