A little horror is good for the soul (most of the time)

If you haven’t read any of my previous entries, here’s a little known fact about me.  I LOVE a good horror story.  I’m not talking about gore and violence, but a well done horror with a solid plot, and things that will make me gasp, want to sleep with the lights on, and question if I’m ready for the zombie apocalypse.  I love it when they make me think late into the night, keeping me from sleeping because I’m wondering what I would do in such a situation or keep replaying a scene over and over in my head.  And criteria number one for a horror story that I will love is it has to be fantasy or supernatural.  I don’t know if those are even the right terms for it, but it pretty much has to be about something that doesn’t really exist (or at least in my opinion doesn’t exist).  In my job I spend all day dealing with heart-breakingly depressing and frustrating situations (and no, I’m not talking about my job as a mom, but that of a juvenile probation officer) so I find when I read I want to escape reality, not depress myself even more by reading a story about someone’s entire family being violently murdered.  So basically I love a good zombie story or ghost story.

I was very excited this week because I was getting around to reading Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake.  It’s been on my to-read list for quite some time and it was finally available at the library.  Well, I found myself disappointed, and not for the reasons you are expecting.  Prepare yourself, here comes the mom in me…except I was always this way, even before becoming a mom.  I really liked the story and I wanted to like the book so bad, but the author used a lot of foul language and it just turned me off.  I’m not saying that foul language is ever necessary, but it REALLY wasn’t even necessary in the way she was using it.  It was just used randomly in the dialogue.  The story did NOT need it.  Now I can handle an occasional swear word in books and it doesn’t bother me, but I abhor the F word.  And when it was used more than once within the first 30 pages of the book, along with a few other swear words, my excitement over the book quickly deflated.  The book has such an interesting premise too.  It follows Cas, who in the legacy of his father, slays ghosts.  Wait, what?  Ghosts are already dead!!  I know.  He hunts down ghosts that are dangerous and kill or harm humans and kills them with his magic athame he inherited from his father.  Sounds cheesy?  Well, it doesn’t come across that way in the book, I promise.  So Cas has come to a small town to take care of Anna Dressed in Blood, who is a ghost who kills anyone who enters her house…except him.  His whole world is turned upside down as he finds himself helping her, and even protecting her and dare I say…falling for her?  Once again, sounds cheesy, but didn’t come across that way at all.  I wanted to like it all, but I’m turned off by the language.  I don’t know if I will be reading the sequel which comes out this fall.  Probably not.  So in this case, a little horror was not good for my soul.  And there are no other good horror stories coming out any time soon.  I can’t even satisfy my appetite for horror on television since the Walking Dead doesn’t come back until October!!  What’s a girl to do?


If you’ve read Anna Dressed in Blood, did you feel the same way?  I want to hear what you think and if swearing ruins or changes your opinion of a book.  Is there anything else in a book that ruins it for you?

The Calling

I almost thought I wouldn't have time to write this week!  The whole family came down with the plague, which led to ear infections and other fun doctor's visits.  I feel like I live there.  And then we took the kids to Disney World while we were all sick (what on earth were we thinking???) and I learned that sometimes Disney World is the place where dreams go to die instead of come true.  I felt extra bad because our dear friends who are currently expecting their first child were with us and I think that my children at Disney may have made them go home and cry.  I know it made me want to.  My 18 month old was on a medication for his lungs that makes him go crazy and I'm pretty sure he tried to rip my face off at one point.  I was about to scream "It's got sharp teeth!! Run away!"  Bad Monty Python joke...I know.  I had one of those moments where I'm pretty sure everyone at Disney thought I was the worst parent ever...oh well.  There are good days and bad days, right?  That good day has got to be coming soon!  On the up side of being sick, once the kids go to bed I don't feel like doing anything but laying down and reading, so in a matter of 48 hours I re-read The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong, and then the sequel, The Calling, which just came out last week.

Best picture of them the entire day!

This pretty much sums up their attitudes for the day!

Have you read The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong?  And have you read her Darkest Powers series as well?  If so, you need to read The Calling, because it came out last week and it was another classic Armstrong book (which is a good thing).  The Calling is the second book in Armstrong's Darkness Rising series.  You don't have to have read her Darkest Powers series to understand this series, but I feel like it definitely helps you have a little more insight into what is going on.  In the Darkest Powers, there were a series of youth who we learn have supernatural abilities, and were also experimented on to strengthen their abilities, sometimes to a dangerous level.  I really enjoyed this series and wish that Derek could be the awesome big brother I never had!  Okay, so I had a big brother, but he definitely was NOT like Derek....sorry Christian.  There is mention in the Darkest Powers series of other groups of kids that were experimented on.  Enter the characters in Darkness Rising!  We met the characters in The Gathering, and in classic Armstrong style, we were given a lot of info, but no answers.  Have no fear, because The Calling gave more answers than I expected...but still leaves lots of things for the third book to come out next year!  I find that her trilogies are amazing when you look at each trilogy as one long story.  If I try to judge each book individually, I just get angry because she raises a bunch of questions without giving answers and doesn't necessarily give a specific challenge that is overcome, ending with a satisfying resolution in each story, which is what makes us readers feel good inside when we finish a book.  So getting back to The Calling, we pick back up with Maya, Rafe, Daniel and their friends as they try to decide who to trust as they are lost in the wilderness, fighting for their lives and trying to figure out what is "special" about each of them.  I still don't know who they should trust and it has me all sorts of excited for the next book.  But what I'm most excited about is that they hinted that we may get to see the characters from the Darkest Powers series in the next book!  Yes, I'm a nerd, but as I said, I want Derek to be my brother.  I would highly recommend this book and all her young adult series to anyone who enjoys a good supernatural fiction.  I do NOT recommend Kelley Armstrong's several other series that she's written that are set in the same world and include many of the same characters.  Her other series are considered adult fiction...and they are definitely adult.  I tried to read one once, and got about a fourth of the way into the book before I returned it to the library.  This is one of the reasons I enjoy young adult fiction.  I want to read entertaining and uplifting stories...not pornography.  Anyways, I'll get off my soap box now and say that her young adult series are great and I will continue to read them as long as she writes them!!

How did I just come to realize I love a book I read a year ago?

It’s been an insane week and I finally found a moment to write! The week was filled with crying children who wouldn’t sleep because of all types of infections (including ones we had already treated and thought were gone), catscans for my 4 year old, our water accidentally being shut off, and Easter parties in which my child was given way too much candy and he got sick!  That's life, right?  Despite our apparent bad genetics when it comes to health issues, I have to say that I have come to the realization that my husband and I must have some awesome genes, because our kids rock.  My oldest son, “the actor”, is currently obsessed with all things Star Wars.  He glances down at his arm before his catscan, as he has just been given an IV and has tubes running to a machine, and says with excitement, “Mom!! Mom!! I have a robot arm!!  Just like Darth Vader!!”  I hate when people use this word…but it was totally EPIC.  Okay, back to talking about books!!

About a year ago, an author I follow recommended that I read Ship Breaker by Paulo Bacigalupi.  Which I did, because I’m always on the look out for something new to read.  I remember reading it, and I remember liking it, but not much else.  I am a compulsive re-reader (that’s my term for it, okay) and I often read things at least two or three times.  Usually, when I finish a book I love, I can’t wait to read it again.  I don’t remember feeling that with this book and it got put on the shelf and forgotten about until a few days ago.  I decided I had better read it again since I didn’t remember much about it and the next book in this series comes out May 1st.  In case you are wondering, that book is called The Drowned Cities.  But getting back to the point, as I was reading Ship Breaker this week I was astonished at how awesome it is and how much I love it.  It sucks you into this other world, which I guess you could call dystopian, but it’s not at all like the other dystopian novels out there.  Nailer is a ship breaker, a young boy who works breaking apart old ships to scavenge any valuable parts.  He’s grown up in poverty, with an extremely abusive, drug-addicted father and knows no other kind of life.  Nailer and a friend discover a wrecked ship and find a girl inside who has survived.  She’s a “swank”, or a rich girl, and Nailer’s life becomes increasingly complicated as he must make difficult and life altering decisions regarding what should be done with her.  The book has barely started when the action begins and the author packs an amazingly complex and detailed story into a not too long book (326 pages).  It turns into a book of adventure, danger, piracy, and even a touch of romance.  It was a page turner for me, and I read this one in about a day and a half.  With the crazy week I’ve had, that’s a strong testament to how addicting the book can be.  I highly recommend you read this one!  I can’t wait to read The Drowned Cities, although I have to say I’m a little disappointed that it’s not about the same characters!  I’m sure it will be great, and hopefully the new characters will come across our old beloved characters from Ship Breaker!

The Dark Divine

I’m in a bad spot right now.  I don’t know if other book nerds experience this or not, but I’m in a dry spell.  A bunch of new books came out in January, February and March…and now I’m waiting for the books that are coming out in May and June.  So for now, I’ve got nothing.  I find myself depressed and re-reading things in preparation for sequels, which is slightly pathetic.  I imagine myself looking something like this picture of my youngest son:

Okay...so hopefully it's not that bad.  Last night after work, I thought to myself that instead wallowing in a state of depression, why not backtrack a little bit and spotlight a book that recently came out?  If you’re looking for a fun and light read and you enjoy the whole YA supernatural genre, you might enjoy the Dark Divine trilogy by Bree Despain.

 It includes three books, including The Dark Divine, The Lost Saint, and The Savage Grace, which just came out in March of this year.  Warning, this is a little bit of a spoiler…no major plot points, but I don’t see how I can get around saying it.  If you don’t want to hear it, then stop reading!  It’s basically another werewolf book, but with a completely different take on the whole idea.  The change of pace was refreshing.  Grace Divine, a pastor’s daughter, comes to find out about Daniel’s little secret and can’t seem to stay away from him despite her brother and father’s desperate pleas to stay away from their old childhood friend.  There’s something terrorizing their small town and of course Daniel is suspect.  It’s got a twist at the end that I did not see coming, which makes the rest of the series much more interesting for Grace.  It’s got a touch of mystery and danger, a touch more of a superhero complex, and a little bit more romance.  It’s an easy, light read when you just want to have fun, but it still has deep issues of faith, forgiveness, and redemption.  I loved the way the author brought in the strong religious themes without making it a “religious” book.  The newest installment, The Savage Grace, was really long, but didn’t seem like it while I was reading it.  It had a resolute ending, but still had some things left unresolved, leaving the possibility for more books in this series.  The series is always referred to as a trilogy, so I don’t believe there will be any more, but who knows.  Hopefully that will keep you satisfied if you are as pathetic as I am this month.

FYI, there are two books on my radar that are coming out this month.  There’s the second installment in the Darkness Rising series by Kelley Armstrong, which is called The Rising, and the third installment in the Body Finder series, which is called The Last Echo.

Release of chapter one for City of Lost Souls!

I'm going to do another post this week that is hopefully much more awesome than this one...but just wanted to let fans of The Mortal Instruments know that Cassandra Clare is releasing bits of the first chapter of the City of Lost Souls on her tumbler.  She's released four parts so far, and you can click on the links to each of them from her page, found here.  She's also already released the prologue to the City of Lost Souls, which you can also find there.  You can call me a nerd all you want, but I'm counting the days until this one is released!  Which is May 8, 2012...in case you were wondering.