Well At Least the Cover Makes Sense

TITLE: The Bus on Thursday
AUTHOR: Shirley Barrett
PUBLISHER: MCD x FSG Originals
PUBLISHING DATE: September 18, 2018

FROM GOODREADS: It wasn’t just the bad breakup that turned Eleanor Mellett’s life upside down. It was the cancer. And all the demons that came with it.

One day she felt a bit of a bump when she was scratching her armpit at work. The next thing she knew, her breast was being dissected and removed by an inappropriately attractive doctor, and she was suddenly deluged with cupcakes, judgy support groups, and her mum knitting sweaters.

Luckily, Eleanor discovers Talbingo, a remote little town looking for a primary-school teacher. Their Miss Barker up and vanished in the night, despite being the most caring teacher ever, according to everyone. Unfortunately, Talbingo is a bit creepy. It’s not just the communion-wine-guzzling friar prone to mad rants about how cancer is caused by demons. Or the unstable, overly sensitive kids, always going on about Miss Barker and her amazing sticker system. It’s living alone in a remote cabin, with no cell or Internet service, wondering why there are so many locks on the front door and who is knocking on it late at night.

Riotously funny, deeply unsettling, and surprisingly poignant, Shirley Barrett’s The Bus on Thursday is a wickedly weird, wild ride for fans of Helen Fielding, Maria Semple, and Stephen King.

MY THOUGHTS:  I will be honest and admit that this is a hard book for me to review.  On one hand, I loved it.  The main character, Eleanor, is snarky and sarcastic and since the book is told from first-person blog form, the reader gets plenty of her attitude.  On the other hand though, it kind of has am ambiguous tone to it.  Is all the crazy stuff really happening or is Eleanor slowly falling off her rocker?

Shortly after being dumped by her boyfriend of four years, Eleanor learns she has breast cancer.  After over a year of treatment, she is ready to move on and lands the job of a lifetime as a teacher in the small community of Talbingo.  However, things quickly become very weird and before long, Eleanor is having late night sexual encounters with one of her student's brothers and the local friar is trying to exorcise her of the demon which caused her cancer. 

As I mentioned, I really liked Eleanor but let's be honest, there's a whole lot of crazy going on in this book.  I can see where some might become easily irritated with Eleanor and her foul mouth and moods, but I didn't and I was really cheering her on.  There is a small mystery as to what happened to the original teacher Eleanor replaced and I would like to say I now know what happened, but I don't.

I'd say this book is pretty light on horror but deep down, it may have deeper horror roots than originally thought.  So am I confusing you?  Welcome to the bus.  However, even with all this, I really enjoyed the book and had a hard time putting it down.

I do feel if people like their books tied up in neat little packages (even if those packages contain a severed head or are dripping blood), then "The Bus on Thursday" might not be the best book to pick up this Halloween season.  But if you are even remotely interested, hop in, strap on your seatbelt and prepare for a bumpy ride.

MY RATING: 4 PAWS

A Surprise Freak Out

TITLE: Coraline
AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman
PUBLISHER: Harper Collins
PUBLISHING DATE: August 4, 2002

FROM GOODREADS: Coraline lives with her preoccupied parents in part of a huge old house--a house so huge that other people live in it, too... round, old former actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible and their aging Highland terriers ("We trod the boards, luvvy") and the mustachioed old man under the roof ("'The reason you cannot see the mouse circus,' said the man upstairs, 'is that the mice are not yet ready and rehearsed.'") Coraline contents herself for weeks with exploring the vast garden and grounds. But with a little rain she becomes bored--so bored that she begins to count everything blue (153), the windows (21), and the doors (14). And it is the 14th door that--sometimes blocked with a wall of bricks--opens up for Coraline into an entirely alternate universe. Now, if you're thinking fondly of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, you're on the wrong track. Neil Gaiman's Coraline is far darker, far stranger, playing on our deepest fears. And, like Roald Dahl's work, it is delicious.

What's on the other side of the door? A distorted-mirror world, containing presumably everything Coraline has ever dreamed of... people who pronounce her name correctly (not "Caroline"), delicious meals (not like her father's overblown "recipes"), an unusually pink and green bedroom (not like her dull one), and plenty of horrible (very un-boring) marvels, like a man made out of live rats. The creepiest part, however, is her mirrored parents, her "other mother" and her "other father"--people who look just like her own parents, but with big, shiny, black button eyes, paper-white skin... and a keen desire to keep her on their side of the door. 

MY THOUGHTS: So I don't scare easily.  And no, this book didn't really scare me, but it did take me back to a time where the movie terrified me.  When the movie first came out on DVD, I rented it one evening when my husband was away working late.  I knew he wouldn't be home until about 2am so I started watching it around midnight...with the lights out, and a storm outside.  That creepy other mother with the button eyes and the blob in the basement really freaked me out. I know it was the atmosphere but still...  So when one of the challenges for the #booksinthefreezer readathon was to read an adaptation, I knew this was the one.

"Coraline" is the kind of tale I'd have eaten up as a child.  It's a quick-paced fun creepy read.  Gaiman's writing almost has a magic about it.  The book just flows.  So we meet Coraline, an inquisitive young girl with preoccupied parents.  She loves to explore their new home and interact with her new neighbors.  However, one day her love for exploration gets the best of her and she encounters a door that leads to an alternative dimension of her home and her family - the "other" mother.  Coraline's newfound mother wants nothing more than to keep Coraline with her forever, but Coraline realizes what she is really missing and the world that initially seemed fun, quickly turns terrifying.

I really loved Coraline.  She loved to explore and was basically me as a child in that she is quite often always bored.  The tale was pretty much as I remembered it and the book was an creepy little read.  I wasn't lucky enough to score the copy I showed, but I did have the original which had some great eerie artwork.  

Overall, I'm glad I gave "Coraline" a chance. It was a perfect October read and I would highly recommend it.  I'm even hoping to give the movie another go this month... without the storm and preferably with someone else home.

RATING: 4 PAWS

Books in the Freezer Readathon

So Books in the Freezer is a wonderful horror podcast hosted by two Booktubers - Shades of Orange and That's What She Read.  To celebrate their year anniversary, they are hosting a readathon.  Lots of Booktubers are participating and I love horror and I love Halloween so I decided I wanted to do so as well.  It runs Monday, October 1st through Sunday, October 14th.  So here's what I wanna read!

So there you have it.  It's not the only readathon I'm participating in this month but it's one I definitely think I'll have fun with. Let me know if you are joining in as well!