Tag Team Review - The Jersey Devil

I want to welcome everyone to my very first Tag Team Review.  When my friend Stormi realized we were both planning to read Hunter Shea's "The Jersey Devil" she suggested we create this new feature for our blogs.  Stormi got the idea from Laura from FUONLYKNEW and Sherry at Fundinmental who graciously allowed us to create out own tag as well.  Thanks guys!  So once you see what I thought of "The Jersey Devil" be sure to check out Stormi's post at Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! and see what she thought too.  It will be fun to see if we share some of the same thoughts or if we totally disagreed.

TITLE: The Jersey Devil
AUTHOR: Hunter Shea
PUBLISHER: Pinnacle
PUBLISHING DATE: August 30, 2016

FROM GOODREADS:
THE LEGEND LIVES
Everyone knows the legend of the Jersey Devil. Some believe it is an abomination of nature, a hybrid winged beast from hell that stalks the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey searching for prey. Others believe it is a hoax, a campfire story designed to scare children. But one man knows the truth...

THE DEVIL AWAKES
Sixty years ago, Boompa Willet came face to face with the Devil—and lived to tell the tale. Now, the creature’s stomping grounds are alive once again with strange sightings, disappearances, and worse. After all these years, Boompa must return to the Barrens, not to prove the legend is real but to wipe it off the face of the earth...

THE BEAST MUST DIE
It’ll take more than just courage to defeat the Devil. It will take four generations of the Willet clan, a lifetime of survivalist training, and all the firepower they can carry. But timing is critical. A summer music festival has attracted crowds of teenagers. The woods are filled with tender young prey. But this time, the Devil is not alone. The evil has grown into an unholy horde of mutant monstrosities. And hell has come home to New Jersey...

MY THOUGHTS: 
All the time I was reading "The Jersey Devil" I couldn't help but feel I was caught up in the middle of a B-horror film (only better) and it was a fun feeling. "The Jersey Devil" tells the story of the Willet family, who has been obsessed with the Devil for years and for good reason. The grandfather, Sam, also known as Boompa (awesome grandpa-nickname by the way) and his family run a rural farm. When individuals start reporting sightings of perhaps the Devil himself in and around the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, Sam and his family decide to head out in hopes of putting an end to the Jersey Devil once and for all. Also in tow is Norm, a famous monster hunter, who has known Sam for years and who is anxious to find out more about the Willet family's desire to track down and kill this elusive entity, while perhaps solidifying his name within the monster hunting community.

Shea has packed a lot of action into this book and it is pretty much non-stop from the start. He also does a great job of combing history with present time events while disclosing the reasons the Willet family has spent much of their spare time tracking down an urban legend. This is not a book for the faint at heart as there is lots of death, blood and gore but if you read a lot of horror, I doubt that will deter you. Even though on the outside this book appears to be a straight up gore-fest creature feature, what really makes it click for me is the characters. I LOVED Boompa! He was an sometimes-grumpy old man, but the love he has for his family is intense. I spent a lot of the book afraid he was going to have a heart attack, and EVERYONE kept asking him to slow down but Boompa is an extremely driven individual. I must admit, he reminds me a lot of my Grandpa, who is even older than Boompa, and you can't convince him to slow down either so I could definitely relate to the Willets. I also enjoyed April, Boompa's granddaughter, who sounds like someone I might enjoy hanging around with during my down time.

Shea's "The Jersey Devil" isn't perfect. I believe some people will and actually have found it to be in poor taste and extremely crude. And that's OK, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I respect them all. However, I didn't take read too seriously and if you love campy, action-packed creature books/movies, then you might what to give this quick fast-paced book a try. I see myself checking out more of Shea's works in the future.

RATING: 4 PAWS

 

Stacking the Shelves (81)

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves or TBR piles, may it be physical or virtual.  This means you can include books you buy in a physical store, online, books you borrow from the library or friends, review books, gifts and of course, ebooks! The original meme was started over at Tynga's Reviews.  Clicking on the book should take you to the Goodreads page.  

You can definitely tell fall and Halloween are in the air as I grabbed some great horror books for review this week.

I think Bats and Cat's Cradle are new Kindle editions of some older horror books from the 1990's.  Dead's Man Curve is a novella which has pretty good reviews on Goodreads and has a character named Booker so how could I resist.  Also I own several Ania Ahlborn books so when I saw The Devil Crept In offered, I had to request it.

I also had to make a trip to the library to pick up a hold and grabbed a few others I have been eyeing. 

I want to give Smoke a chance and I've had Monstress on request since I learned my library had ordered a copy.  I saw The Outliers in Walmart but wasn't really interested in buying a copy so when I saw it on the new release shelf, I grabbed it.  

So what did you add to your shelves this week and have you read any of these?  Hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend!

Weekly Reads (09/16/16)

Well thank goodness things have slowed down a tad this week.  Also, Mother Nature is finally teasing us with a few fall temps here and there which I am loving!  We ended up watching a lot of football last weekend and I am happy to saw my Herd won their opening game, as did the Pittsburgh Steelers. GO TEAMS!

We also watched "The Conjuring 2" this week and I am thrilled to say I loved it as much as the first. I adore Vera Farmiga and the although I felt the evil spirit looked too much like Marilyn Manson, it was still extremely terrifying.  "American Horror Story" also started this week and I'm not sold on the story line this season yet.  One episode is simply not enough for me to tell if I'm going to like it.  I think last season will be hard to beat.

The pups are doing fine and I'm on a mission to take some pics of them this week as it's been a while since they visited the blog.  Here is what's up on the reading forecast this week! I am almost done with "...Liddy James" and am itching to start in on my next horror read.

I want to take a moment and thank all our readers and followers.  The boys and I are grateful you enjoy The Farm enough to keep visiting.  

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI Event

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI takes place from September 1st, 2016 through October 31st, 2016.

I took place in this reading event last year and even though I'm a tad late in signing up this year, I figure there is still plenty of time left so why not.  It's actually  good fit for me as I love reading all kinds of mysterious and horror-filled genres and I enjoy meeting new people also participating and it's a great place to find new books to read (like I need any more on my TBR but that's besides the point).

It's being hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings and you can find all the details there but there's basically different level challenges and you can read anything in the following genres: mystery, suspense, thriller, gothic, horror, dark fantasy.  So here are my goals this time around!

Read four books, any length, from very broad categories which are defined above. They can be in a series, by the same author or mixture.  Whatever you like!

Read one or many short stories throughout the 2-month event.

Participating by watching some of your favorite classic horror movies or give some new ones a try.  I love scary movies so this one is a automatic given.  

So there you have it!  If you are interested in joining, please visit the link and sign up.  I look forward to finding some new scares this Fall/Halloween season.

Waiting on Wednesday (73)

"Waiting on" Wednesday" is weekly meme hosted over at Breaking the Spine which spotlights upcoming anticipated releases. 

November 1, 2016

FROM GOODREADS:
In the latest Library Lover’s Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of A Likely Story, a decades overdue book puts library director Lindsey Norris hot on the trail of a cold case...
 
When the Briar Creek Public Library holds its first overdue book amnesty day—no fines for late returns—the volume of incoming materials is more than Lindsey and her staff can handle. In a bind, Lindsey drafts the crafternoon ladies to help check in and sort the stacks of books.

But one tardy tome catches her attention—a copy of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, twenty years past due. When Lindsey looks up the borrower, she’s shocked to discover it was a murdered school teacher named Candice Whitley, whose killer was never found.

Candice checked out the novel on the day she was murdered. Now Lindsey wonders if it could provide a clue to the decades-old cold case. No one noticed who brought the book back in, but could it be Candice’s killer? Lindsey is determined to catch the culprit one way or another, because justice for Candice Whitley is long overdue... 

WHY I'M WAITING: This is one of the few cozy mysteries that I manage to keep current with and I'm thrilled the next installment is coming out soon.  I love this small town and really need to visit it again.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR THIS WEEK???

  

TTT - Top 10 ALL TIME Favorite Stephen King books

This top 10 weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and can be found HERE.  Each week they focus on lists which cover various topics related to books and reading. This week we are looking at our top 10 books from a certain genre.  Since I've featured similar lists in the past (horror, dog-related, cozy mystery) I kind of cheated and made Stephen King his own genre. 

 Oh well, my blog, my rules!  Anyway here they are in no particular order!

THE SHINING - I would have to go out on a limb and admit this is probably my favorite book of King's.  I love so much about it and especially the setting.

SALEM'S LOT - No sparkly, glittering vampires for King.  These vamps are terrifying!

NEEDFUL THINGS - I really appreciate how King's settings are actually a character all on their own and he does it well in this one.

CHRISTINE - King started my fascination with evil cars!

JOYLAND - If you haven't read this one, you are definitely missing out.

FROM A BUICK 8 - Another evil car.  And now that I've seen this cover, I have to find this edition.

IT - I'm sure Pennywise gave me nightmares as a child (and yes, I was THAT child who read Stephen King books).

REVIVAL - I know this one got mixed reviews, but I really liked it!

11/22/63 - It's not really horror and I honestly didn't think I'd like it much - boy, was I wrong!

PET SEMATARY - I won't ever discuss what a disappointment the movie was for me.  It was probably the beginning of my "the book is always better than the movie" crusade.

So...........what all made your lists this week?  Are you a King fan as well?

The Reader - A Little Something For Everyone (review)

TITLE: The Reader (Sea of Ink and Gold #1)
AUTHOR: Traci Chee
PUBLISHER: Putnam
PUBLISHING DATE: September 13, 2016

FROM GOODREADS: Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin’s been taken, or if she’s even alive. The only clue to both her aunt’s disappearance and her father’s murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book—a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed—and punish the people responsible.

MY THOUGHTS: 
I know this book is getting a lot of hype, which often scares me and to be brutally honest, usually turns me against reading a title until it has been out a while. However, when I learned this was a book about reading AND had the opportunity to read an advanced copy, I simply couldn't pass it up. I feel pretty safe in saying this book is well deserving of the hype it is given and I really enjoyed it for the most part.

I must start out by saying this book has a lot going on it it. When it starts out, we are introduced to Sefia and her aunt Nin, who have been on the run for several years following the murder of Sefia's father. Sefia is in possession of a magical square item she keeps hidden in the bottom of her pack and when Nin is kidnapped, Sefia slowly uncovers her past and learns the power of this item. She also learns how important this book is and as she teaches herself to read, starts to understand why it is such a coveted object. Along the way Sefia meets up with Archer, a mute boy whom she rescues from a life of fighting, and together they go on a heck of an adventure. This book has it all - books, a mystical library, assassins, pirates, fighting, family and a small amount of romance. And by small, I mean a minute, slow-build kind which I am TOTALLY accepting of in books.

Chee clearly has a mind for adventure. She weaves Sefia and Archer's tale in and out of various settings and worlds with ease. The book kept me engrossed and I found myself very invested in Sefia and Archer's characters and was truly interested in what happened to them. The only real problem I had with this book is that it jumps around a lot and it takes a while for the reader to to get a good grasp on the various characters. There are a lot of POV's and time shifts throughout the entire novel. While I found this annoying at first, there is definitely an "A-HA" moment in the book which makes it all worth while.

I think "The Reader" will be a very popular book and if you enjoy adventure and fantasy, this tale is probably for you. I also know a lot of readers absolutely have to pick up anything with pirates in it so this should definitely go on their TBR's. I'm glad I started the "Sea of Ink and Gold" series and will not eagerly anticipate the next installment.

I received this book from the Penguin First to Read program in exchange for an honest review.

RATING: 4 PAWS