Saturday, November 27, 2021

Sadness.


I'm sad. I'm discouraged. I'm disappointed. I'm struggling. Can ANYONE relate to that? No? Just me?

Typical. 

I'm also utterly alone in my struggle. Maybe the universe says, "No you're not. We're here boo." 

Crickets.

Obviously this isn't a book review. But hey, it's my blog. I can write about whatever flows from the depths of my dark soul. Does anyone have to listen? No. Will anyone listen? Probably not. I suppose I have to be okay with that so that I can do whatever it is I'm going to do with my life. 

Everyone struggles. I get it. Some people's struggles are much more intense and severe than what I'm dealing with currently. But getting a rejection letter from grad school is not the struggle that I wanted to embrace. 

But....embrace it I shall! 😎 

Now to work on plan B. 

I'm not quite over my disappointment. That will take some time. Grad school wasn't in the cards. Or was it? Should I apply to another grad school? Or should I just take the rejection as a sign that this isn't the path I'm supposed to take? If it isn't then what next? 

Any suggestions? Comments? 

Just my raw thoughts put out into the world for everyone's potential criticism. 

Now to go live my life. Clock's ticking. 





 

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

The Ultimate Struggle

 


Author: Clive Barker
Year Published: 2015
Pages: 361
Genre: Horror

The genius of Clive Barker needs no introduction to the horror novel crowd. I hadn't read Clive Barker - ever. Shame on me, I know. I DID watch the movie Hellraiser many, many years ago, which is based on the prequel to The Scarlet Gospels named The Hellbound Heart. When I discovered The Scarlet Gospels on the shelves at the library, I didn't realize that it was a sequel. Being familiar with the movie Hellraiser which creeped me out and gave me nightmares as a teen, I thought The Scarlet Gospels would make a good read, and I wouldn't be missing any details. I was correct. And VERY glad I picked up this book. 

Clive Barker could be described as none other than the master of horror. As a Stephen King fan, I think even he would agree that Clive Barker is the master. Making a comparison, Stephen King is the master of psychological horror, but when it comes to gore combined with capturing the most unimaginable terrors of the reader, Clive Barker outdoes himself. 

The book tells the tale of the Hell Priest aka Pinhead, who is on a mission to take over Hell. He murders the world's most powerful magicians in order to steal their knowledge so he can, of course, use it for none other than taking on the King of Hell himself - Lucifer. I won't spoil how that turns out for him - but it makes for rapid page turning and not being able to put the book down at the end of a chapter - even when I have laundry or dinner to attend to. 

The hero of the story is detective Harry D'Amour. When he happens upon the infamous puzzle box that opens the door to Hell, he goes to his friend Norma who is a psychic medium, for help. Long story short, Norma is dragged into Hell by the Hell Priest for ransom. Harry goes into Hell after them in an attempt to rescue his friend and hopefully stop the Hell Priest's plans to take over Hell - which would result in a war that both the human and inhuman world has never seen. 

Get the paperback here: 

Monday, November 15, 2021

More Fantasy, Even More Mythology



Author: Michael Scott
Year Published: 2007
Pages: 369
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

If you enjoy learning Greek, Egyptian and/or Celtic mythology, there are a myriad of characters in this book that will have you grabbing an index - or two. But probably the most fascinating thing about this book is that the other characters (aside from the werewolves and vampires), were real people. 

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a fast moving story mostly about the Codex which is the book also known as the Book of Abraham the Mage - which is also a REAL book allegedly written by THE Abraham. 😲 Yes. That one. 

Nicholas Flamel and his wife Perenelle are two of the main characters in the story. Nicholas Flamel was a real person, an alchemyst, who found the Book of Abraham the Mage and discovered the recipe for immortality. The catch? (There's always a catch.) Nicholas and his wife need to drink the magical elixir once a month in order to continue down the road of immortality. Without the magic, they begin to age at the rate of one year per day. Whew! I'm glad our rate of aging is a bit slower. 

Obviously, a book that contains the recipes for such power is wanted by the bad guys. Isn't it always?  Enter Dr. John Dee - who was also a real person. He wants the book in order to bring back the Dark Elders to rule the world - which means the end of life as we know it. 

The book not only contains magic, but a prophecy about twins who are able to stop the evil. Sophie and Josh are two seemingly normal twins living in California working summer jobs to save their money for a car. Completely unaware of a world outside their own, their lives quickly become entangled in a race to save the world. 

This is a great start to the six-book series. If you enjoy action, adventure, magic, fantasy and again, mythology, you're in for a treat. The author leaves the reader a note at the end of the book that provides a little more insight into the real lives of Dr. John Dee and Nicholas Flamel. For me, this was a little prod to further research the lives of these interesting people. Looks like there's more than one empty tomb in history - the tomb of Nicholas Flamel is empty. Hmmmm......truly immortal? Fascinating stuff. 






Friday, November 12, 2021

Nonfiction November


Although my first love is fiction, I have been reading a good bit of nonfiction lately on topics that interest me. I'm usually not an avid reader of biographies, but wow! All book nerds know that November marks the month of reading nonfiction. I've started reading this riveting account of Catherine the Great. So far, it is NOT boring.  Although not overly familiar with the Empress of Russia, the story of her life is fascinating. I'll post a review when I'm done reading it. 

Are you reading nonfiction this month? I'd love to hear what you're reading. 

 

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

House of Secrets

 


Authors: Chris Columbus & Ned Vizzini
Year Published: 2013
Pages: 490
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Chris Columbus delivers in this non-stop action thrilling adventure! It's no surprise that the author directed the Harry Potter movies and produced Night at the Museum. 

Set in modern day San Francisco, Chris Columbus' first book in the House of Secrets trilogy opens with the purchase of a house by the Walker children's parents. Money is tight for the family since their father lost his job as a medical doctor due to a very strange incident that occurred in the operating room. The children later learn that there is an eerie connection 

The three children, Cordelia, Brendan and Eleanor, soon discover that what they first thought was a run down old house, holds secrets beyond their wildest imaginations. Their first family movie night in the house is rudely interrupted by a very creepy lady who introduces herself as the next door neighbor. She tells the family that she grew up in the house. The book nerd 😊 of the family, Cordelia,  quickly puts two and two together, and realizes that the old lady is the daughter of Denver Kristoff - the man who wrote the books that inhabit the shelves of the library inside the house. But how could the next door neighbor lady possibly be his daughter? She would have to be well over one hundred years old - like Guinness Book of World Records over one hundred. 

Almost as soon as Cordelia solves the WHO, the WHAT happens. The creepy old lady shows up with a bang and identifies herself as the Wind Witch. The parents are injured and disappear, and the children are left trying to figure out where they are and how to find their parents. 

Trapped inside a mash of Denver Kristoff's stories, the children meet the characters from the books, some nice, some trying to kill them. Every page is filled with Jumanji-ish, Night at the Museum-ish adventure - from giants to giant dragonflies to pirates to sword wielding skeletons. The children have to find a way to get back to reality and stop the Wind Witch while resisting the overpowering urge to open the Book of Doom and Desire. The Book uses the selfish desires of each character in order to overcome them and enable the Wind Witch to become all powerful.

Do the children love each other and their parents more than they love themselves? Will they find their way back home to reality? Did their parents survive? Which one of them will give in and open the Book? Just once? Just a peek? 


                                Get it here: House of Secrets (House of Secrets series Book 1)

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood


 

 
Author: Margaret Atwood
Year Published: 1985
Pages: 311
Genre: Dystopian Novel

 Why did I never hear of this book in high school? Was it because I had my nose buried in the latest Stephen King horror? Probably. Not that there's ANYTHING wrong with that. I still love reading Stephen King. But speaking of horror, this tale offers plenty of it, especially if you're a woman.  A tinge of fear and a sense of nausea struck while reading this book. 

This is a first hand account told by the main character, Offred. We are drawn into her world in which she describes the physical and mental confines of where she lives so well that we can see and feel the horror of what she describes. We soon learn that she is one of the handmaids who lives in a fictional region of the United States named Gilead. This region of the country has been turned into a dystopian nightmare. The handmaids are kept as legal slaves who are forced to engage in a sexual ritual to produce children for the ruling men and their wives to whom they belong. And that's just part of the nightmare. No one who lives in Gilead is free. Every resident has a place, and the rules are broken  under pain of death by public execution which the residents are forced to attend, and at times take part in. 

If you haven't guessed by now, the Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian religious state, a military dictatorship. All words from signs have been removed and replaced with pictures. There are no books, no magazines, no tv (other than the programs that the handmaids are forced to watch with the purpose of brainwashing them). There is also a dress code. The handmaids all wear full-length red dresses and bonnets on their heads. Aside from not being permitted to read or write, they also are not permitted to speak with the exception of very few words. They're always afraid of being heard because there are wire taps and cameras everywhere, and there are also armed guards stationed at the door of every house and business. 

The Republic came to be by overthrowing the United States Government. The new Republic society uses Old Testament ideas and implements them for its citizens. The role of the handmaids is taken from the Old Testament story of Rachel, where she had a handmaid who bore children for her and her husband. Just as in the Old Testament story, Rachel says to her husband, "...Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her" Genesis 30:1-3, King James Bible. The handmaids in the Republic of Gilead are forced to participate in a ceremony by physically laying with their backs on top of the ruling men's wives, while the ruling men rape the handmaids in an effort to produce children. Nauseated yet? 

Other aspects of the Gileadean society are highly marked with Old Testament symbolism. Some of the women in Gilead who are not fertile, therefore not fit for producing children are Marthas, who are the housekeepers. Other women are Aunts, who I picture as Miss Trunchbull types, who indoctrinate the handmaids and also instruct them in how to be handmaids - or else. Women in Gilead have no rights, no freedom.

Throughout the story, Offred gives us flashbacks of her former life. She tells us about her child who was taken from her when she and her husband tried to escape from the regime. There are a few times when she contemplates suicide, but almost every possible means to do so have been removed.

The ending of the story leaves us with a mystery. I won't spoil the ending for you in case you haven't read it yet. 

I highly recommend reading this book, especially for women of at least 18 years of age. It is not for the faint of heart due to the rape scenes in the book and also scenes that describe violent acts such as fatal beatings. The story was captivating from the first page. This wasn't a book that made me want to put it down and walk away. Just the opposite. I wanted to keep reading, and I did. There is a sequel to the book titled The Testaments. It was published in 2019. I haven't read it yet, but I definitely plan to do that. Of course, I'll post a review when that happens. Happy reading! 

Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/3BFuBsk