2 Bloggers 1 Book - Stephen King ALMOST Made Me Cry!

Stormi and I chose a fairly recent book by a famous author for this month's pick.  Stormi read the audiobook and I grabbed a physical copy.   So read on for my thoughts and then go check out Stormi's at Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My!

TITLE: The Institute

AUTHOR: Stephen King

PUBLISHER: Scribner

PUBLISHING DATE: September 10, 2019

FROM GOODREADS: 

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.” 

In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.

MY THOUGHTS: Considering I'm pretty sure I preordered the copy, I would say it's about time I picked it up.  And I can honestly say, it redeemed the reading experience I had last month with The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

In The Institute, a bunch of kids with special talents are kidnapped and taken to a facility in Maine to hone their skills.  While there, they are often subjected to cruel tests, a huge lack of compassion and moved to different levels with the final one being, well final.  Alex is not as talented as the other kids, but he does have an extremely high IQ and he isn't ready to go down without a fight.

I have to say in the beginning I wasn't sure where this story was headed.  In true King fashion, he took some time character building and introducing the reader to some people that seemed they didn't belong, just to tie them all together in dramatic fashion in the end.  And in my opinion, The Institute is full of some great characters.  I really loved Tim, the night knocker, as well as Alex and another little boy being held at the facility named Avery.  Annie was a lot of fun and played a big role in the end and also had a pretty happy ending when she thought she might never get one.  But don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of "monsters" to hate.

The best thing about this book was probably how the kids banded together and looked out for each other. They became an extremely likable group of misfits and all I will say is that rarely has a King book temped me to cry but there was one scene in this one that about did me in!

I think this is a perfect book to read if you are new to King and especially if horror isn't your favorite genre.  It's really more suspenseful than scary and I'm pretty sure it's only categorized as horror because of the famous author and his past works.  I'm so glad I loved this book and I can't wait to pick up another King tale soon!

RATING: 4 PAWS

Can't Wait Wednesday (280)

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: An eerie, old Scottish manor in the middle of nowhere that’s now hers.

Ailsa Calder has inherited half of a house. The other half belongs to a man who disappeared without a trace twenty-seven years ago—her father.

Leaving London behind to settle the inheritance from her mother’s estate, Ailsa returns to her childhood home, nestled amongst the craggy peaks of the Scottish Highlands, joined by the half-sister who’s almost a stranger to her.

Ailsa can’t escape the claustrophobic feeling that the house itself is watching her—as if her past hungers to consume her. She also can’t ignore how the neighbourhood animals refuse to set one foot within the gates of the garden.

When the first nighttime intruder shows up, Ailsa fears that the manor’s careless rugged beauty could cost her everything.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  So upon inspection, this is actually the trade paperback release of a book that's already out.  One I didn't give a second glance to until I saw this cover.  That just goes to show what a great cover will do for you.  It does sound like something I might enjoy though.

CASSIUS'S PICK:  

FROM GOODREADS: When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She’s alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned.

With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten.

As months pass, she escapes natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie’s most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie’s stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life? 

WHY CASSIUS CAN'T WAIT:  Mom says this book is in verse form which means nothing to me - I'm a dog!  But she says it's kind of like a song lyric.  Now that I understand because I love music.  I want to hear all about Maddie's adventure and see how cool George is.  I'm sure he's a good boy!

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK?

Presenting the Ladies of Horror Fiction Award Nominees

Ladies of Horror Fiction Award Nominees

Over the past two weeks, the Ladies of Horror Fiction team has been unveiling the nominees for the 2019 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards. Please join us in celebrating these amazing women and their outstanding works of horror fiction.

We are honored to present to you the entire list of nominees and honorable mentions:

Nominees

Best Collection

Collision: Stories, J.S. Breukelaar
Ghosts of You, Cathy Ulrich
Little Paranoias, Sonora Taylor
Out of Water, Sarah Read

Best Debut

The Bone Weaver’s Orchard, Sarah Read
Little Darlings, Melanie Golding
The Luminous Dead, Caitlin Starling
Theme Music, T. Marie Vandelly

Best Poetry Collection

Mary Shelley Makes a Monster, Octavia Cade
Choking Back the Devil, Donna Lynch
The Apocalyptic Mannequin, Stephanie M. Wytovich

Best Novel

Bunny, Mona Awad
Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo
River of Souls, T.L. Bodine
The Twisted Ones, T. Kingfisher
Without Condition, Sonora Taylor

Best Novella

Dear Laura, Gemma Amor
The Ladderman, Angela Archer
The Festering Ones, S.H. Cooper
Halloween Fiend, C.V. Hunt
To Be Devoured, Sara Tantlinger

Best Young Adult

Five Midnights, Ann Dávila Cardinal
House of Salt and Sorrows, Erin A. Craig
Rules for Vanishing, Kate Alice Marshall
Wilder Girls, Rory Power

Honorable Mentions

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team read a lot of fantastic short fiction throughout 2019 and wanted to give honorable mentions to the top 9.

Short Fiction

'Till Death Do Us Part, Peggy Christie (Dark Doorways)
A Song for Wounded Mouths, Kristi DeMeester (PseudoPod 641: Artemis Rising 5)
Jack-O-Lantern, Gabrielle Faust (#ScaryStories)
Sun Dogs, Laura Mauro (Sing Your Sadness Deep)
What Throat, Annie Neugebauer (PseudoPod 640: Artemis Rising 5)
Butterflies, Samanta Schweblin (Mouthful of Birds)
The Woman Next Door, Ha Seong-nan (Flowers of Mold)
Quadrapocalypse, Sonora Taylor (Little Paranoias)
Weary Bones, Sonora Taylor (Little Paranoias)

For more information regarding these authors and their work, please visit the Ladies of Horror Fiction website. The winners will be announced via the website beginning July 20th.

I absolutely love the Ladies of Horror Fiction site as well as the gals who run it. So when I was asked to help out, I readily agreed. I highly recommend you visit them and if you love horror, the above nominees is a wonderful resource!

Top Ten Tuesday - Books That Make Me Smile

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 books that make me smile.  Should be easy enough which means I'll probably struggle!

Laura so kindly dedicated this book to my very own Booker T.!  See:

"In memory of Booker T.  Always loved, never forgotten, and forever in our hearts."

Years and years ago I remember running around with Mr. Barb one Saturday morning and picking up a new copy of this book for a reread (not this edition).  Then we went and got some of our favorite booze.  On the way home, it started to snow and proceeded to do so all weekend.  So I read my book, drank my drinks and had a jolly old time!

Mr. Barb got this book for me for Christmas the year after Prince passed. At the time, I didn't even know it existed.  Imagine that, a Prince book I wasn't aware of.  Such a thoughtful gift and I'm sure I smiled, after I cried a bit.

I dare you to read this and NOT smile.

I still can't watch the movie because I know I'll sob through the entire thing.  But Enzo always makes me smile.

So there you go - I gave you five.  And that actually took a lot of brain cells.  Thanks for stopping by!

Not An Easy Read, But A Good One!

TITLE: My Dark Vanessa
AUTHOR: Kate Elizabeth Russell
PUBLISHER: William Morrow
PUBLISHING DATE: March 10, 2020

FROM GOODREADS: 

Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.  

2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher. 

2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past. But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed? 

Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, My Dark Vanessa juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield. Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood. Written with the haunting intimacy of The Girls and the creeping intensity of Room, My Dark Vanessa is an era-defining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself.

MY THOUGHTS: I've pretty much only heard good things about this book so I knew that sooner or later I'd be picking it up.  While I have to come right out and say I love this book and I think it's very deserving of a 5/5 rating, I also hated this book but strictly because the subject matter is so disturbing and all too prevalent.  I also need to explain that I investigated child abuse and neglect cases for 14 years so my personal experiences and training really led to me picking up on things and honing in on incidents that I could have easily have glossed over. 

The reader gets to see two different Vanessas.  The one in 2000 when she was a 15 year-old girl attending a private boarding school and one in 2017, where now an adult, she is still pretty much a 15 year-old girl.  As a child Vanessa is a pretty lonely girl.  She is an only child and has a supportive mother and father.  Her first year of boarding school, which she so desperately wanted to attend, went well.  But then she lost her best friend, making year too very hard and difficult.  She has always lost herself in her writing which makes her a perfect victim for Jacob Strane, the school's English teacher.

So starts the relationship which begins with grooming and manipulation and ends with much of the same.  Jacob clearly knows what he is doing when he befriends Vanessa and it doesn't take much effort to lure her into his bed.  Which is usually how things like that go.  As the "relationship" progresses, other students catch on and without giving a lot away, Vanessa ends up sacrificing everything for the man she loves.  Even when the reader is in the 2017 timeline, Strane still has a hold on Vanessa and has clearly made a permanent mark on her life.

I didn't really like Vanessa but that's okay.  She was easily manipulated and needy and did not have a good grasp on what was happening to her and you know what?  All of that is okay.  When the abuse started, which she did not view as abuse, she was a child.  She didn't know a thing about love and was lured in by promises and tenderness from a man who gives creep a whole new name.  I've met Vanessa and while I was always diligent in finding justice for her, I will be honest and admit a lot of times that Vanessa wasn't likable either.  It was so hard not to shake or slap her in the hopes she would open her eyes.  But in the end, Vanessa was a child and should never have had to play by adult rules.

I would highly recommend this book but beware, I think every trigger warning possible is represented (except animal abuse - thank Heaven).  Just know it's not going to be a light, easy read but you just may find it's one you can't put down.

RATING: 5 PAWS

Orenda Books Book Tour - The Waiting Rooms

TITLE: The Waiting Rooms
AUTHOR: Eve Smith
PUBLISHER: Orenda Books
PUBLISHING DATE: June 12, 2020

FROM GOODREADS: 

Decades of spiralling drug resistance have unleashed a global antibiotic crisis. Ordinary infections are untreatable, and a scratch from a pet can kill. A sacrifice is required to keep the majority safe: no one over seventy is allowed new antibiotics. The elderly are sent to hospitals nicknamed ‘The Waiting Rooms’ … hospitals where no one ever gets well. 

Twenty years after the crisis takes hold, Kate begins a search for her birth mother, armed only with her name and her age. As Kate unearths disturbing facts about her mother’s past, she puts her family in danger and risks losing everything. Because Kate is not the only secret that her mother is hiding. Someone else is looking for her, too.

Sweeping from an all-too-real modern Britain to a pre-crisis South Africa, The Waiting Rooms is epic in scope, richly populated with unforgettable characters, and a tense, haunting vision of a future that is only a few mutations away.

MY THOUGHTS: Considering all that is going on in the world right now, it may not have been the best time to pick up this book.  However, Orenda Books hasn't disappointed me yet so I figured why not?  I'm glad I did because this thriller was a great way to immerse myself in other people's problems and ignore the reality of today - at least for a little while.

The book has multiple POVs  taking place in both Africa and Britain, with dual timelines.  Kate is a headstrong woman looking for her birth mother.  Lily is an elderly woman in a care faciity,  And finally, Mary is a scientist working in South Africa.  At the root of the tale is the premise that antibiotic resistance has finally become a reality and elderly individuals over the age of 70 are allowed new antibiotics in order to try to save the rest of the population.  Does this sound all too familiar?  Yes.  And have we been told for years that antibiotics are being over prescribed?  Yes again.

Smith has created an intense tale where people's rights, medical care and politics all play an important role.  I must admit that I always have a soft spot for the elderly and I found Lily to be a very endearing character.  Her life awaiting her 70th birthday and knowing what would then happen became on of my biggest concerns as I was reading.  I was also wanting the best for Kate and was terrified about where the search for her mother would finally lead her.

Overall, The Waiting Rooms is a great speculative, dystopian read which hits all too close to home here in 2020.  I am sure Smith did a vast amount of research to put this story together and in my opinion, her hard work paid off.  If reading something like this doesn't scare you, then you aren't paying attention!

RATING: 4 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Eve Smith’s debut novel The Waiting Rooms was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award and selected as a Book of the Month by Eric Brown at The Guardian just after launch. 

Eve writes speculative fiction, mainly about the things that scare her. She attributes her love of all things dark and dystopian to a childhood watching Tales of the Unexpected and black-and-white Edgar Allen Poe double bills. 

Eve’s flash fiction has been shortlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Award and highly commended for The Brighton Prize. In this world of questionable facts, stats and news, she believes storytelling is more important than ever to engage people in real life issues.

Eve recently contributed a piece of flash fiction, Belting Up, to an anthology of crime shorts called Noir From the Bar. The collection of stories has been launched to raise money for the NHS.
Eve’s previous job as COO of an environmental charity took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the Americas, and she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and far-flung places. A Modern Languages graduate from Oxford, she returned to Oxfordshire fifteen years ago to set up home with her husband.

When she’s not writing, she’s racing across fields after her dog, attempting to organise herself and her family or off exploring somewhere new.

Follow Eve: @evecsmith on Twitter & www.evesmithauthor.com
Instagram: evesmithauthor
Facebook: EveSmithAuthor

What's Happening (07-11-20)...

So I'm doing things a tad bit differently this year and will be combining all of my regular weekend posts.  This will enable me to add more content on Fridays and it is just starting to make more sense.  I'll still be linking up with Stacking the Shelves at Tynga's Reviews and Sunday Post at Caffeinated Reviewer.  Both blogs are awesome so make sure you check them out. 

Well the world is going to hell in a handbasket!  COVID-19 rates are going up, my state is considering shutting down again and I really can't blame them, and Stupid Uncle is being STUPID again.  Well, not technically, he's just not here.  He's in the middle of the Mississippi somewhere.  If any of you guys see him, smack him for me.

Gpa is in the hospital.  Wednesday night the neighbors found him hiding in his car and saying he was shot and someone shot his car up and they were coming back to burn his house down.  He went to the ER in my town and by 4am they called me to come get him because he was doing fine.  By 2pm yesterday afternoon he was in his local ER because he was having issues again.  He hasn't been sleeping well and I know that impacts his mental health but they believe it's dementia causing flashbacks.  Don't ask, there was a similar incident years ago but don't worry, no one was shot except Stupid Uncle's car.  So now they are saying he can't live alone.  They were going to send him to a psych facility for a further analysis but now they are saying he isn't unstable enough.  And he can't get Home Health because he isn't sick.  I'd say shoot me now but I realize it would be poor phrasing considering the cuircumstances.

Moving on, I've been reading the same darn book all week. But it is King's The Institute so it;s understandable.  Basically I hope to finish it this weekend.  

I haven't shared any arcs lately so here's some of the great books I got lately.

Tail for Two (Fur Have Dog Park #2): Mara Wells

Don't Look For Me: Wendy Walker

As An Old Memory: Vic Kerry

You Are Invited: A Ghost Story: Sarah A. Denzil

Five Total Strangers: Natalie D. Richards

The Hollow Places: T. Kingfisher

Will You Love Me: Barby Keel

We Hear Voices: Evie Green

The Ghost Tree: Christine Henry

So this is life in a nutshell.  Hope you all are staying safe and let me know if you've watched anything interesting because we are struggling to find new things!