June Down For the Count - Just a TAD Late

So this is going up just a TAD late right?  I mean, come on, we're already more than a week into July.  It seems like the further into the year we get, the faster it goes.  I'm not going to make any excuses and just say I put off this post  because I didn't feel like doing it.  Guess that's finally changed so on with the books!

Once again I read eight books in June.  Seems like eight is now the magic number.  I did have a run of great books which was nice because last month I wasn't so lucky.

Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniels 5.5) - Ilona Andrews 3/5

(What An Animal, Library Lovers, Dancing With Fantasy)

Herding Cats (Sarah's Squibbles #3) - Sarah Andersen 3/5

(Library Lovers)

Something Borrowed, Something Mewed (Lucky Paws Petsitting Mystery #5) - Bethany Blake 5/5

(What an Animal, Cloak & Dagger)

Dust Devils - Jonathan Janz 5/5

The Devil's Equinox - John Everson 3/3

I Hate Fairyland Vol. 3 - Skottie Young 4/5

(Library Lovers, Dancing With Fantasy)

A Discovery of Witches (All Soul's Trilogy #1) - Deborah Harkness 4/5

(Dancing With Fantasy)

Chop Shop - Andrew Post 5/5

So there were a few 5 paw reads and I think my favorite has to be "Something Borrowed, Something Mewed."  I was a tad disappointed with "Gunmetal Magic" and am excited to get back to Kate and Curran. I don't really have a book that sticks out as least favorite this month and the closest would have to be "Herding Cats." 

I'm still working on my challenges and all of the above books count for Summer COYER.  

TOTAL PAGE COUNT: 2297

So how was your June?

L

TTT - Characters I'd Like to Shake!

The top 10 weekly meme used to be hosted by The Broke and the Bookish they  handed over the reins to ThatArtsyReaderGirl who can be found HERE.  Each week she will focus on lists which cover various topics related to books and reading.

This week's topic is sort of a freebie one having to do with book characters.  I originally was going to call this "Characters I'd Like to Smack" but figured I didn't want to encourage violence so I went with shake - but you guys get my drift.

STOKER - While I enjoy the sexual tension the author has created between Veronica and Stoker, there have been times he drove me nuts!  Especially in the most recent book, A Dangerous Collaboration.

KATE DANIELS - Well, to be honest, CURRAN too!  Both are so hard-headed and could have used a good shaking, especially in the beginning of their relationship.

LOUIS McDONALD JR. -  I usually like grumpy elderly characters but Louis bordered on racist and perverted so he definitely needed shaken!

DETECTIVE BLACK - Although I definitely like the direction he is now headed in, in the beginning of the series, he wouldn't have known a good thing if it hit him in the head.

JONATHAN and CASS - I think my review says it best... "These two idiots, with more baggage than someone their ages should have, should never reconcile and Puddles the pup needs new owners!"

SHELLY "MAMA SHELL" HANSEN - Overbearing mother who needs to cut the cord.  She was REALLY annoying.

ROBBIE VINE - Thank heavens for character growth because I really like Robbie now but in the beginning...don't even get me started!

GRETCHEN - After her scene with her dog, I'll admit it, I wanted to STAB her.  I don't care if she WAS possessed.

So there, you're technically only getting 8 because my head hurts from trying to remember all the characters throughout my reading history who drove me mad.  I'm sure I'll think of more after this post is long gone :)

It Sucked the Energy Right Out of Me!

TITLE: NOS4A2
AUTHOR: Joe Hill
PUBLISHER: William Morrow
PUBLISHING DATE: April 30, 2013

FROM GOODREADS: Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country. 

Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.” 

Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son. 

MY THOUGHTS: I'm pretty sure everyone has either heard about this book or read it, especially since AMC has recently released the tv series.  I have wanted to read it forever and even preordered a hardback when it was first announced.  However, I grabbed a mass market paperback a few months ago knowing I could lug it around better and hoping it would motivate me to finally read it.  And I guess it did.  Even though it took me 2 months to finish, it wasn't because I didn't enjoy the book.  I just had other reading commitments get in the way. 

As a child Vic McQueen found a way to travel within space to find lost things - a bracelet, a cat, and in the end, her sanity.  Along the path, she runs into Charlie Manx.  Manx also uses these endscapes to travel around in his Rolls Royce Wraith, but in order to do so, he needs children.  They can provide energy for him and in return, he takes the little monsters to a place called "Christmasland" where they can experience Christmas every day.

This is not the first Hill book I read and like the others, I really enjoyed it.  However, I found "NOS4A2" to read much like a Stephen King book and was actually surprised at all of the King references.  Especially since Hill has made it a point not to write under the King name.  The book spans quite a timeline and we see Vic as a child and also as a messed up adult with a family of her own.  I really liked Wayne, her son, and Lou his father - almost more than Vic herself.  Their parts in the book were some of my favorites.

My main issue with the book is that as a reader, we really don't get a big taste of Christmasland.  It isn't until the end that we arrive at the magical/terrifying destination and while Hill paints a wonderfully disturbing picture, I would have liked to see more of it.  Also, for an extremely long book, I think the ending was a tad rushed.  For those who have read it, you might understand the part I am referencing.  But overall  I am pleased with how the ending played out and am glad I to finally put Charlie Manx to rest.

RATING: 4 PAWS

Friday Face Off (4) - Historical

So I'm back with another round of Friday Face Off, hosted by Books by Proxy.

 “The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe… has been answered” –  a cover featuring something/somebody historic 

1. English - Grand Central Publishing hardback (2010)

2. English - Grand Central Publishing paperback (2012)

3. English - Corsair (2011)

4. French - J'ai lu (2012)

5. French - Eclipse (2011)

6. Chinese (2011)

So who's more historical than Abraham Lincoln?  I own this book but to be honest, gave up on ever reading it after seeing the film.  It wasn't that it was horrible, I just didn't care anymore.  I own #2 which I have to admit is my favorite but I have to be honest, there's something about that Chinese edition I like as well!

What is your favorite this week?

Furs-day Feature - A Little Bit of Everything All Rolled Into One

So my goal is to take part in the new feature Jo over at Jo's Book Blog has started at least once a month.  On Thursdays, she posts things related to our precious furbabies.  This week Cass is sharing "Books to Bark & Crow About" as he has discovered a series he thinks all pet lovers might like!

Hi guys, it's me Cass.  I sure hope you all are having a great summer.  Things here on The Farm are good, but hot.  Today, as you read this, we are celebrating July 4th with our family and we wish all of you that celebrate are having a safe and happy holiday.  And beware fireworks, too many pets and Vets don't like them so use sparingly please.

So here is a series that Mom has slowly been collecting and I thought I would share it with you guys.  I think the covers are super cool too!

Here's the synopsis for the first in the Pet Whisperer series.  I think the covers are great - especially the ones with the doggies,.  Hope I can convince Mom to read them soon.  I want to hear all about how great they are!

FROM GOODREADS: I was just your normal twenty-something with seven associate degrees and no idea what I wanted to do with my life. That is, until I died… Well, almost.

As if a near-death experience at the hands of an old coffeemaker wasn’t embarrassing enough, I woke up to find I could talk to animals. Or rather one animal in particular.

His full name is Octavius Maxwell Ricardo Edmund Frederick Fulton, but since that’s way too long for anyone to remember, I’ve taken to calling him Octo-Cat. He talks so fast he can be difficult to understand, but seems to be telling me that his late owner didn’t die of natural causes like everyone believes.

Well, now it looks like I no longer have a choice, apparently my life calling is to serve as Blueberry Bay’s first ever pet whisperer P.I while maintaining my façade as a paralegal at the offices of Fulton, Thompson & Associates.

I just have one question: How did Dr. Doolittle make this gig look so easy? 

HAPPY JULY 4th GUYS!

Can't Wait Wednesday (217)

Can't Wait Wednesday 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.

FROM GOODREADS: It's 1992 in Bleak Creek, North Carolina, a sleepy little place with all the trappings of an ordinary Southern town: two Baptist churches, friendly smiles coupled with silent judgments, and a seemingly unquenchable appetite for pork products. Beneath the town’s cheerful façade, however, Bleak Creek teens live in constant fear of being sent to The Whitewood School, a local reformatory with a record of putting unruly teens back on the straight and narrow—a record so impeccable that almost everyone is willing to ignore the mysterious deaths that have occurred there over the past decade.

At first, high school freshmen Rex McClendon and Leif Nelson believe what they’ve been told—that the students’ strange demises were all tragic accidents. But when the shoot for their low-budget horror masterpiece, PolterDog, goes horribly awry—and their best friend, Candice Boykins, is sent to Whitewood as punishment—Rex and Leif are forced to question everything they know about their unassuming hometown and its cherished school for delinquents.

Eager to rescue their friend, Rex and Leif pair up with recent NYU film school grad Janine Blitstein to begin piecing together the unsettling truth of the school and its mysterious founder, Wayne Whitewood. What they find, with Candice’s life hanging in the balance, will leave them battling an evil beyond their wildest teenage imaginations—one that will shake Bleak Creek to its core.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  I think this sounds like a pretty decent YA horror and I'll admit it, I'm curious about the concept of their low-budget movie PolterDog.

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

TTT - Middle Grade Books I Want to Read

The top 10 weekly meme used to be hosted by The Broke and the Bookish they  handed over the reins to ThatArtsyReaderGirl who can be found HERE.  Each week she will focus on lists which cover various topics related to books and reading.

This week's topic is Childhood Favorites and I feel like I'd just be sharing some of the same old books.  You know the ones - Winnie the Pooh, Black Beauty, Snoopy, etc.  And to be honest, I read a lot of adult books when I was ten or so which would make this topic a tad uncomfortable.  So I'm going to switch it up.  I like reading Middle Grade books from time and time and there are so many great ones out there that I want to share some I hope to read before the year is out!

The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1) - Jessica Townsend

A Small Zombie Problems - K.G. Campbell  #BlameStormi

The Haunting of Henry Davis - Kathryn Siebel #BlameStormi

The Storm: Dogs of the Drowned City - Dayna Lorentz

Survival Tales: The Titanic - Katrina Charman

Dragonwatch (Dragonwatch #1) - Brandon Mull

Katt vs. Dogg - James Patterson

The Night Gardener - Jonathan Auxier

The Last of the Spirits - Chris Priestley

The One and Only Ivan - Katherine Applegate

So there you have it.  Have you read any of these?  Let me know where you'd start!