Feed Your TBR - Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

\

January 28, 2025

FROM GOODREADS: In this explosive horror novel, a woman is haunted by inner trauma, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer as she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the pandemic.

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. But none of that seems so terrible when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister, Delilah, being pushed in front of a train.

Before fleeing the scene, the murderer shouted two words: bat eater.

So, the bloody messes don’t really bother Cora—she’s more bothered by the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of a stranger, the hidden viruses in every corner, and the bites marks on her coffee table. Of course, ever since Delilah was killed in front of her, Cora can’t be sure what's real and what’s in her head.

She pushes away all feelings and ignores the advice of her aunt to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open. But she can't ignore the dread in her stomach as she keeps finding bat carcasses at crime scenes, or the scary fact that all her recent cleanups have been the bodies of East Asian women.

As Cora will soon learn, you can’t just ignore hungry ghosts.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT: I will admit I am a bit tired of pandemic tales, but for some reason, this one still speaks to me.  I love the cover and I love the East Asian aspect.  

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK???

2 Bloggers 1 Book - Nightwing

 

Last month Stormi was participating in an Old School April Readathon on Booktube.  She asked if I would be interested in reading an older horror classic with her.  I agreed right away and thought it was a creature feature.  It wasn't quite what I expected though.  So read on for my thoughts and then hop over to Stormi's @ StormReads and see what she thought. 

 

TITLE: Nightwing

AUTHOR: Martin Cruz Smith

PUBLISHER: Simon and Schuster

PUBLISHING DATE: January 1, 1977

PAGES: 257   

SOURCE: Own

FROM GOODREADS: As darkness gathers, the sky is filled with frantic motion and maddening murmurs. In an effort to end the world, an unhappy, aging Native American shaman invokes the Hopi god of death. Those around him remain skeptical, dismissing him as crazy old man. Then they discover his mutilated, bloody body and soon other similarly disfigured bodies begin to appear. Horses, sheep, cattle—no living thing is safe. But what is causing the horrible deaths? Deputy Sheriff Duran is called back to the reservation to investigate. Immediately, Duran recognizes the significance of the shaman’s spell and, with the help of two scientists, he works to combat the supernatural scourge—before there’s nothing left to save.

MY THOUGHTS: I went into this book thinking horror and I am sure that kind of set my expectations up to high.  Sure, there are some gruesome scenes but there is just as much, if not more, reservation politics between the Hopi and the Navajo with a side of revenge thrown in.

Youngman Duran is the MC of the book. He was in the service for a while and then returned to the reservation.  He now works in law enforcement and is not sure exactly where he fits in.  He is semi-dating a humanitarian nurse who has been there for two years to help improve the medical services the natives are able to access.  One day Duran's good friend, 90 some year-old Abner, creates a mysterious ritual and is found dead the next day, appearing to be savaged by some animal.  You also have Chee, who wants the Hopi land to make it "whiter" and mine the minerals located beneath the land. And finally, you have Paine, a scientist.  His father was killed in a cave while trying to exterminate some bats and since he has become a loner obsessed with eradicating them.  And then finally, last (and actually least) you have the bats themselves.

This book didn't actually create a reading slump, but it did contribute to me starting four other books.  I think I was doing what I could to avoid finishing it. The few scenes which featured the bats were very gruesome, but there weren't enough of them for my tastes.  I did enjoy reading a lot about the indigenous customs and history, but the writing style was very heavy-handed, if that makes sense.

I finally forced myself to finish this book on Saturday and was I ever glad to be done.  It wasn't a total bust, but if you ever decide to pick it up for whatever reason, just know it's more of a suspense thriller than an actual horror or creature feature.

MY RATING: 3 PAWS

Farm News - May 12, 2024

 

Well, I survived my training, but it took me almost all of last week to feel normal again.  And now I have to wait three weeks to see if I pass. If so, then I can move onto the next part of it which is all online - thank Heavens!  

The boys enjoyed spending the week with Daddy all day, but it really threw off their schedules.  I think Apollo missed Mommy more that Zeke did.  Daddy is a little laxer with them than Mommy so needless to say, some evenings when I got home things were super chaotic.  

I managed to catch up some on blog posts last week but still have two buddy reads with Stormi to review this week.  One took me FOREVER to read and it the reason I have three other books on the go right now.  I was looking for any excuse not to finish it but did buckle down yesterday and knocked out the last 120 pages or so.  I ended up grabbing some Kindle books from Amazon this past week.  They were either books that were on sale which I had borrowed from the library several times without getting to them, so I decided to just go ahead and grab them, or books I had my eyes on for quite some time.  

Faebound: Saraa El-Arifi

Patricia Wants to Cuddle: Samantha Allen

The Manor House: Gilly Macmillan

Undead Folk: Katherine Silva

Buster: A Dog: George Pelecanos

White Trash Zombie Gone Wild: Diana Rowland

We've also streamed some really good movies lately.  First up was Dogman.  It was so sad, and I can assure you no dogs died but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to explore the bond between an abused young man and his connection with his canine family.  Next was the new Ghostbusters Frozen Empire.  It was great but I feel like I did enjoy the previous one a tad more.  And finally, last night we watched Abigail, the new vampire movie.  Definitely a hit and one I would recommend to horror and vampire lovers everywhere.  I also started watching Under the Bridge on Hulu but am not that far in yet. So far, so good.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Mother's Day, especially those celebrating with their fur-children.  It's kind of a low-key one here since Mr. Barb recently lost his mother, and that loss is still fresh, but I will be grabbing extra doggy cuddles for sure.

Better Late Than Never

 

TITLE: Prince and Little Weird Black Boy Gods

AUTHOR: Scott Woodsy

PUBLISHER: Brick Cave Books

PUBLISHING DATE: August 4, 2017

PAGES: 141   

SOURCE: Own

FROM GOODREADS: This collection of essays, what-ifs and tidbits contains everything writer and critic Scott Woods has publicly written and published about Prince, as well as a stack of new material written specifically for this edition. A fun, sometimes biting history with Prince from a super-fan’s perspective, Prince and Little Weird Black Boy Gods is not so much a reference as a unique look at his career, the meaning of his music, and an official weighing in on numerous long-standing Prince debates, such as who was greater between Prince or Michael Jackson, how many times did Prince launch a successful comeback, and which song off of every album you should listen to.

MY THOUGHTS: Every year since Prince passed, I always try to read some book featuring him or his music in some way every April in memory of him.  This year I read two - one I refuse to even review and this one, which I absolutely loved.  It's hard for me to find books with info I haven't encountered in one way or another, but this book featured various essays from a huge fan, author and poet.  It was a wonderful way to see how much Prince met to someone else and I have to admit, Woods has an endearing quality and his love for the Purple One really shines through his words.

As I mentioned, this book contains 18 essays varying in length, subject matter and seriousness.  In fact, the first one, "Things I Am Reasonable Sure Prince Has Never Done" is simply a list of 100 things Prince probably never had to do for himself during his royal life such as pledged a frat or shushed someone at a library.  And the last entry was super sad as it was simply "grow old."  Another essay spends 20 pages explaining ten ways Kanye West is not Prince which the author wrote as a dare from friends and colleagues after L.A. Reid made a comment comparing the two artists.  

I enjoyed picking this book up throughout the month of April and it was a perfect reason to reflect on why Prince means so much to me.  I shocked many classmates in my smalltown when they learned the cowboy wearing, truck driving teen's favorite artist was Prince.  What can I say, I was breaking the stereotypes even back then.  I'm so glad I read this, and it will sit on a treasured shelf in my library for years to come. 

MY RATING: 5 Paws

Feed Your TBR - A Cruel Thirst

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

DECEMBER 31, 2024

FROM GOODREADS: Carolina Fuentes has always wanted to join her family in hunting down the bloodthirsty monsters that plague her pueblo. But these days, her father wants her out of town with a husband of his choosing. That’s not happening. Carolina plans to show everyone that she’d make a better vampire slayer than wife. But when she runs into a sediento that is not only handsome but kind, she questions everything.

Lalo Villalobos doesn’t act on impulses. As the eldest of two, his duties were to carry on the family business, marry, and have children. But then he is turned into a sediento and must flee the city, taking lives as he goes north, where he believes the first vampire was made. Surely, the pueblo there will have the answers to reverse this curse or end sedientos altogether. Another unexpected turn? Lalo runs right into a beautiful young woman who’d gladly stake him.

Fortunately, mostly for him, they share a common enemy. They can stop these evil beasts. Together. And if along the way, Lalo and Fernanda discover what it is to truly live and love, then they’ll have won anyway.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  Vampires!  Need I say more???

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK?

April 2024 Wrap Up

 April started out strong and then because of my work training, fell off at the end.  I still managed to finish ten books though and looking at my ratings, they were either really good or really bad.

Prince and Dirty Little Black Boy Gods

The Happiness Blueprint

Rats

One Of Us Knows

DNF

Their Hearses

How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back

Mistlefoe

Prince: An Analysis of Ten Most Played Songs

Bless Your Heart

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human

As you can see, I'm still loving the Mead Mishaps series by Kimberly Lemming, but I only have one short novella left and then I'm done.  I sure hope she plans to write more.  The Prince Analysis was just pathetic and took the songs apart line by line and interpreted as so literal.  Anyone could have done it and I know Prince was never that simplistic.  

How was your reading month?  Did you read anything I should add to the TBR.

So Sad It's Over Already!

 

TITLE: Funny Story

AUTHOR: Emily Henry

PUBLISHER: Berkley

PUBLISHING DATE: April 23, 2024

PAGES: 400   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills) and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak. 

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

MY THOUGHTS: When the notification came into my inbox that this had arrived on Libby, I immediately dropped everything else I was reading and started it.  I have read all of Henry's other adult books and have loved them all, so I was excited to see what this one was all about.  The only complainant I have is that I read it so fast and now it's over and I'm going to have to wait another year or so for her next new release.

Daphne gave up her job and friends to move to Michigan when she and Petr became engaged.  She got a new job she loved in the local library, and they bought the perfect house she could finally make her own.  However, the night of Peter's bachelor party, he comes home and tells her he is leaving her for his best friend Petra.  Daphne has always been accepting that Peter's best friend was someone he knew since childhood, had a huge connection to him and his family and was female.  Peter gives Daphne two weeks to move out so she decides to move in with Petra's ex who was also dumped, Miles.

When Miles and Daphne get a wedding invitation from Peter and Petra, they accidentally mention they are now a couple as well.  They start "fake dating" and before they know it, they are growing closer and closer as the days pass.  However, both of them have a lot of baggage from their childhoods and aren't too sure they are even relationship material anymore.  Can they continue the ruse until the wedding takes place or will they discover maybe there's a funny story in their future for how they both ended up together.

I loved the characters in this book, especially Miles.  Henry's books always contain some deeper subject matter and issues that most rom-coms I pick up and I love how she is not afraid to include some messiness within the pages.  I also loved Daphne and her friendship with her coworkers at the library and Miles and his relationship with his zany sister. 

I saw someone compare this book to an entire season of Gilmore Girls.  That didn't come to mind for me but after seeing it, I definitely agree.  If you love that kind of drama, then this might just be the book for you.  Now I just need to figure out how to convince Henry to write faster!

MY RATING: 5 Paws