When The Third Policeman Tells You About a Bicycle
The Third Policeman: A Novel by Flann O’Brien
There are books that exist to confuse and bemuse and I find it a treat whenever I encounter just such a book. The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien was not at all what I had expected and I mean that in a good way…I think.
The Sandman My Old Friend, Darkness Comes Again
The Sandman Vol 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, Illustrated by Sam Keith & Mike Dringenberg
There is an endless love in my soul for Neil Gaiman. He is everything I would love to be as a writer. Even still, I have never once picked up a copy of The Sandman – until now. Though I’ll admit picking up a graphic novel is covered in the shadow of bad graphic novels of the past. What I love about Gaiman is his ability to make a dark story seem light. There is always an element of darkness, but never fear and I appreciate that this is a feeling unique to his stories. Vol 1 of The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes did not differ from this.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
As a book reader there are times that I wish the world I was reading was the world I was living in. The vast differences in characters, ambitions, dreams, abilities, and above all magic that they have makes the real world seem dull in comparison. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is one of those books.
The Year the Swans Came by Barbara Spencer
***Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review***
I’m going to make this clear from the beginning. This is not a fantasy book. It is a surrealistic story at best and a jumbled mess at worst. I say this as someone who remained hopeful until the bitter end. Despite the characters just being down right horrible and the “fantasy” elements coming so late in the book that I completely forgot that was supposed to be a thing, I somehow managed to continue with a small shred of hope that I would get the answers I was so desperately seeking from this book. However, The Year the Swans Came by Barbara Spencer left me feeling upset and unfulfilled.
February BoTM & Gallifrey One Haul (Book Mail #4)
It is such a cliche to say that it’s been a rough two weeks, but for me it has been a rough two weeks.
Two weeks ago I attended the Doctor Who convention Gallifrey One in Los Angeles and if you are a Doctor Who fan and have never been to this amazing experience I would suggest re-evaluating your priorities and try to attend next year. It truly is the place to be for all American fans of the beloved BBC show.
Following that terrific weekend I was put out with a hard case of Con Crud (the cold that proceeds a non-stop nerd convention). To be honest I am still not completely over it, coughs linger. This is the main reason that the last two weeks have been rough, that and other personal reasons that I won’t go into here.
The point I am trying to make is that during this two week time period I have acquired a stack of books and I now have the energy to post and share them with you.
Remember Me by D.E. White
***A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review***
WARNING: Book contains sexual imagery involving both adults and children as well as murder.
It has been quite a while since I have delved into a mystery novel. Though Remember Me by D.E. White didn’t seem to have the hard core murder vibe that I used to love ah-la Mary Higgins Clark, I figured it would possess enough intrigue to make for a fast paced mind binder mystery. I was wrong on all fronts, but wasn’t fully aware how wrong I was until I was deep into the story.
January Book of the Month! (Book mail #3)
It was at the end of the Month of December that I finally decided that I was going to join a book subscription service, just to see what I would get out of it besides a pile of books. This was of course before the Marie Kondo “30 books” controversy, but I don’t think I’ll let this get too out of hand…I hope.
The premise of Book of the Month is, each month they give you a selection of books and each month you get 1 credit towards any of the books you want. You then can add on additional books either from the current month’s selection or from previous months. They then pack those beauties in a box and ship them to you! It’s like my dream service to be honest.
One of the best things though is that they give you a selection of books that are about to be released. It’s like you get dibs on books before everyone else (though I think the difference in receiving them is roughly a couple of days).
I had been going to their website for a while, but never was quite ready to take that next step and sign up for the service. That changed in January when I had to announce my GoodReads reading goal and decided in order to meet and potentially surpass that goal, I needed many books to choose from. (This is a straight up excuse, I have unread books currently on my shelf, just waiting for me).
Into the Wilds of 2019
We are quickly rounding the corner on the last lap of 2018 and boy was it a dozy of a year. Though I can’t be too critical as there were some grand moments. Namely the list of books I set out to read and did in fact finish. The plan is to keep that momentum going into the new year along with some added flourishes!
The Colour of Magic (The First Discworld Novel) by Terry Pratchett
Part of my 2019 resolutions will be to read in totality the complete Discworld series. I decided to get a jump on things and read the first novel and I think this is going to be a fantastic experience all around. A few years ago I had read another Discworld Novel, but having zero context as to the world and characters within I felt that I wasn’t able to give it the adequate adoration it deserved. Now, having read The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett I think I can push forward and enjoy each subsequent novel in the series.
To put it simply, it was an adventurous delight.
Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones
There isn’t much to the formula of a decently read biography or autobiography. For me, the main thing is to not take yourself or the person so seriously and please please please do not gloss over the dramatic or possibly not so great things they have done, if you do you won’t have a very interesting story left. We all know no one is perfect and to try to write a story about a person like they are can drag very quickly regardless of who the person was. I grew up with all things Jim Henson and up until I picked up The Biography by Brian Jay Jones there was a lot I didn’t realize about his career and his personal life.
I should have enjoyed this book more than I did and all I can say is, the author should have simply let Jim Henson be human.
