Introverted Reader

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted:Character Connection featuring The Lilim from Stardust by Neil Gaiman Review: The Ruins by Scott Smith--Irritating, cardboard characters but nevertheless a page turner Read:The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey--I think I liked The Monstrumologist a little more, but I still liked this one The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw--I really liked this The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, read by David Warner--I didn't care for the narrator and I expected a little more from the story. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King--Stephen King. What more should I say? I'm a fan. Currently Reading:Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford--I literally just grabbed this from the stacks, but I have high hopes The Valleys of the Assassins and Other Persian Travels by Freya Stark--I've barely gotten started, so no real opinion on this yet either The Wayside School Collection by Louis Sachar, read by the author--These are some of the last books I remember a teacher reading aloud to my class. I'm having a lot of fun revisiting them. Up Next:Possibly The Killing Tree by Rachel Keener or The Painted Boy by Charles de Lint. What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

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October 31, 2011

The Ruins by Scott Smith: Book Review

Two American couples, fresh out of college, decide to go to Cancún for a little R&R before starting grad school in the fall. They end up venturing into the jungle, looking for some Mayan ruins and a fellow traveler's brother. They're completely unprepared for what they find there. I really, really want to give this two stars. That doesn't seem to be quite fair though, when I seriously read most of the book in one sitting, in bed, without even thinking about getting sleepy. The short sections instead of chapters, rotating through the characters' POVs, and the desire to see what happens next all combined to keep me rapidly turning pages. But the characters! Oh, the characters. They shouldn't have even had names. We could have called them Mr. Boy Scout, Miss Moody, Mr. Comedian, Miss Spacy, Outsider #1 and Outsider #2. That's about all the personality they got. What little they got beyond that was just enough to make me dislike them. I'm not sure if I was supposed to be happy when the first character died, but I was. "Yes! No more of THAT one, anyway!" is what I was thinking. Mr. Boy Scout was okay, but I don't think I was supposed to like him. It didn't seem like anyone else did. And the women! Useless, mindless, hand-wringing, complaining, argumentative, and just plain stupid. The guys were bad enough, but the girls were offensive to women everywhere. This next complaint might not make a lot of sense without spoilers, but I'll give it a try. There were some things that had to happen for the plot to play out the way it did, but they were frustrating. I was sitting there (well, lying there) railing, "If you don't want this to happen, why are you doing things…

Introverted Reader Features

Character Connection: The Lilim

It's no secret that I love Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I came to it late, but I especially love the version illustrated by Charles Vess. But then, I love Gaiman and I love Vess, so that should be a no-brainer, right? There are lots of not-very-nice people running throughout Faerie in Gaiman's version of the fabled realm, but probably the real villains of the piece are the Lilim, especially the oldest one. When the three Lilim are first introduced, they are ancient hags stumbling around a filthy, disgusting hovel they share. But there's an odd thing. There's a mirror within their home that doesn't reflect, but, rather, shows three beautiful women in a beautiful castle looking out at them and approving and disapproving of their actions. "The three women in the mirror were also the Lilim: but whether they were the successors to the old women, or their shadow-selves, or whether only the peasant cottage in the woods was real, or if, somewhere, the Lilim lived in a black hall, with a fountain in the shape of a mermaid playing in the courtyard of stars, none knew for certain, and none but the Lilim could say." As the book gets going, a shooting star falls to Earth and sets off a whole chain of events. The eldest Lilim (Lilith?) is one pursuer. She is the lucky crone chosen to go fetch the star for its powerful magic. She gets to eat their last little bit of star heart (you read that right) and so regains her lost youth, beauty, and full power to enable her to effectively capture the fallen star. With her powers fully restored, the eldest Lilim goes on a rampage. She is merciless in pursuit of what she desires. I think part of what makes her so…

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October 27, 2011

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted: Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff--Creepier than I expected. That's a good thing. Review: Horns by Joe Hill--Loving this guy Character Connection: The Morrigan Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley--I really, really dislike Victor Frankenstein. Read: The Everafter by Amy Huntley--The main character irritated me Currently Reading: The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey--I've just gotten started. I just hope my expectations aren't too high. The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw--Still enjoying this one The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, read by David Warner--I'm not loving the narrator, but I do like the story Tales of H.P. Lovecraft is on the back burner for a bit. I got bogged down with one long story I just didn't care for. I'll get back to it soon though. Up Next: I really don't know. I don't expect to finish anything up this week. What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

10 Comments

October 24, 2011

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: Book Review

Forget the big, green, shuffling, moaning monster with bolts in his neck that we've all come to associate with Frankenstein. He does not appear in these pages. I wonder what book those old horror movie writers read? It wasn't this one. Frankenstein's monster is big, but the only other physical descriptions I really remember are flowing black hair, watery yellow eyes, and uncanny speed, agility, and tolerance for cold. Oh, and he's more eloquent than I could ever hope to be. Seriously. As for Frankenstein himself--a more self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-explicatory character I hope to never meet. He was terrible! This was his story: "Oh no! Something bad happened!" *clunk* He falls over in nervous delirium and is bed-ridden for months. He wakes. He moans and groans and just generally doesn't deal. Then one day: "Oh no! Something bad happened! But it wasn't my fault!" *clunk* He falls over in nervous delirium, bed-ridden for months, blah, blah, blah, blah. That really is Frankenstein's story in a nutshell. I do realize that this story was supposed to be more of a warning about our science getting ahead of our morals, pride coming before a fall and all that. On that level, it completely worked. As I read this, the word hubris kept coming to mind, and I haven't thought that word since studying the Greek myths for months on end my sophomore year of high school. That was more years ago than I honestly want to think about. Anyway, Shelley absolutely did what she meant to do and her work is always going to be relevant. But as a reader, I need a character that I can like. I don't think it necessarily has to be the main character, just give me someone, somewhere, to root for. There wasn't one here. Clerval…

Introverted Reader Features

Character Connection: The Morrigan

I have something a little different this week. I've come across references to The Morrigan in three very different books, so I wanted to take a look at the "traditional" Morrigan and the way that these three authors chose to portray her (or them, as the case may be). So, let's start with the Morrigan as depicted in Irish mythology, according to Wikipedia (I know. But you work with what you have easy access to). "The Morrigan is a goddess of battle, strife, and fertility....She is generally considered a war deity comparable with the Germanic Valkyries, although her association with cattle also suggests a role connected with fertility, wealth, and the land....The Morrigan is often considered a triple goddess, but her supposed triple nature is ambiguous and inconsistent." Christopher Moore stayed closest to this traditional figure in A Dirty Job. He has three "sewer harpies," as the main character calls them, pursuing Death Merchants (the good guys) through the storm drains of San Francisco. He even gives them three of the traditional names, Babd, Nemain, and Macha. In Moore's novel, the Morrigan have diminished in power and they are feeding upon souls to return "Above." One character researches them and comes up with this: "The Morrigan consists of three distinct entities: Macha, who haunts the battlefield, and takes heads of warriors as tribute in battle--she is said to be able to heal a warrior from mortal wounds in the field, if his men have offered enough heads to her. The Celtic warriors called the severed heads Macha's acorns. She is considered the mother goddess of the three. Babd is rage, the passion of battle and killing--she was said to collect the seed of fallen warriors, and use its power to inspire a sexual frenzy for battle, a literal bloodlust. And…

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October 20, 2011

Horns by Joe Hill: Book Review

Ignatius Perrish wakes up after a drunken night with honest-to-goodness horns growing out of his head. At first, he thinks he's just going crazy. But as he ventures out into the day, he finds that other people can see them too; they're just too busy telling him their deepest, darkest secrets to really comment on them. Oh, and if they know him, they're telling him exactly what they think of him. That would be bad enough for anyone, but when you've been (falsely) accused of raping and murdering your girlfriend and the whole town thinks your famous father got you off, what people have to say to you gets real vicious real fast. I hate the name Ignatius. Even shortened to Ig or, heaven forbid, Iggy, it's just awful. And then to pair it with Perrish. I couldn't help but think of Iggy Pop. That aside... This was scary but not in a horror-y way. Well, not for the most part. There's the thing with the horns, but the real scare here is how this kind of thing happens every day. Again, not the horns, but the rape/murder of an innocent girl. And we always think it's the significant other who did it. Sure, most of the time it is, but what living hell the innocent ones must go through. Not only have they lost a loved one but they've been accused of doing it as well. *Shudder* Ig shows us exactly how little it feels that life is worth living after that. What makes this so hard to read is that Ig was about to have it all. He and Merrin have a fantastic relationship. They're high school sweethearts who look like they're really going to live the happily ever after. They're both pursuing their career dreams and then…

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff: Book Review

Mackie Doyle doesn't quite fit in with his gloomy, outwardly perfect town. His eyes are just too dark. He has an allergic reaction to iron. And most people don't know this, but consecrated ground blisters his skin. See, the town of Gentry pays a price for its perfection; it pays with its children. And Mackie is just a replacement for one of them. This was actually creepier than I expected it to be. Let's face it, that cover is a lot to live up to. I love it, but it even caught my husband's attention. The book and the cover actually went well together in this case. We kind of learn things as Mackie does, which leaves us with questions that are answered in a way that feels right. This storytelling technique can sometimes backfire horribly for me as a reader and leave me feeling that the author cheated. Not the case here. There's a reason Mackie doesn't know things and there's a reason people don't talk about what's going on. Mackie was feeling a little too sorry for himself throughout the book, and that's the biggest thing that knocked this back a couple of stars. I kind of understand it now (he's really, really not feeling well, and who doesn't feel sorry for themselves then?), but I didn't realize that this was new for him and how bad it was until well into the book, when my opinions were pretty firmly set. If I could have seen him on some good days in some flashbacks or something, I would have had more empathy for him. Tate was a great character. I was confused by her at first, but as things are explained, I understood why she was acting like she did. I loved that she didn't take crap off…

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted: Review: Ruined by Paula Morris--A ghost story that was a little too young and tame for my personal taste Review: The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey--Scared me to death! Highly recommended if you're looking for a good Halloween read! Character Connection featuring Ebola. (Yes, you read that right) Review: Cujo by Stephen King--I read this in one very slow shift at work. Oh, those were the days.... Read: Nothing! I am really enjoying H. P. Lovecraft, but he is slow going! Currently Reading: Tales of H.P. Lovecraft--Some genuinely freaky stuff in here The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw--Really, really enjoying this The Everafter by Amy Huntley, read by Tavia Gilbert--The main character is irritating me, but luckily it's short. Up Next: I've already downloaded The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson on audio, so that will be next. What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

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October 17, 2011

Cujo by Stephen King: Book Review

Do we all know the basic story of Cujo? Big, lovable St. Bernard gets rabies and goes on a rampage. That's it. Sounds so simple, and it mostly is, but King can tell one heck of a story. I read this without once closing it, in one 12-hour night shift, without even thinking about getting tired. In fact, I found myself idly wandering around the office, doing things that needed to be done, holding this book in one hand and working with the other. I seriously couldn't put it down. But it was a little weak. There was this little subplot where he tried to make the story supernatural. I thought it was silly and unnecessary. It was scarier for being something that I (in my complete ignorance of rabies) think could maybe happen, at least for a little while. And can I go on record as saying that I hate the name Tadder? If Tad is too short for you, why not move on to Theo? Your kid will not thank you for Tadder when he's being beaten up on the playground. I'm just glad I had finished this before my husband said, "How do you know he didn't mean it to sound like tater?" But the fact that almost all the "horror" elements take place in such a confined space with just three characters, one of whom is a St. Bernard, earns King huge points. This really should not have been a page turner, and yet it was. There is a reason the man is so popular. Reviewed October 21, 2009 Malaprop’s | Better World Books Friday Flashback Reviews are a weekly feature here on The Introverted Reader. These are old reviews I wrote on GoodReads. Thanks to Angieville and her Retro Friday Reviews for the inspiration and…