Tag: book lover

Book Review: Night Film

Posted on by Shawshank

First let me start off by thanking Crystal for making this awesome new graphic for my book reviews. It looks simply amazing.

I got away from reviewing the books that were sent to me when I was away. And looking at my list, i only had two left. So I figured, let’s get em done.

This is my review of Night Film by Marisha Pessl. (Who by the way, seems to have disappeared. She hasn’t posted anything in about 2 years. Just dropped off the radar.)

First off, this book is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. There’s multimedia in the pages of this book. It’s hard to explain. One moment you’re simply reading a book, the next, you’re reading a magazine or even a webpage. It’s incredible.

It’s a massive book, over 600 pages. The storyline is this; Ashley Cordova, daughter of famous horror filmmaker, Stanislas Cordova, commits suicide. Believing that he was involved in her death, Scott McGrath teams up with Nora and Hopper to figure out what happened, and who was actually involved.

I really enjoyed this book. I started reading it inside, but then suddenly, Canada! I think I finished it one night while in quarantine in Montreal. I really have to revisit this book sometime in the future, because I really wanted to enjoy the ending, but it felt a little long.

All in all, I really liked this book, and would recommend it to others that enjoy mystery/thrillers.

Book Club: Full Dark, No Stars

Posted on by Shawshank

So here is where our chat about the third short story in the book Full Dark, No Stars – Fair Extension would be, had I read it.

And I feel very terrible and guilty about not reading it. This past week has been totally busy and insane. It was my first full week at work, I’d get home from working and just be so mentally tired, I couldn’t read. I planned on reading part, if not most of it yesterday; but it was my first day solo on the shop, I couldn’t even concentrate on a cooking show.

I know, excuses, excuses. I don’t know how y’all other bloggers can manage to balance everything.

So hopefully you guys forgive me. I’ll do better in the coming week to get it read.

Please, stick around. I’m not usually this useless!

5 books I’m glad I read in 2020

Posted on by Shawshank

2020 was a year to be sure. I had a lot of time to read. A lot. Let’s just leave it at that. I wished that I had written down all the books I read this year, but sadly I didn’t. There’s so many books that affected me, and I just can’t remember them.

But here’s the top 5 books I’m glad I read in 2020. And only one made me cry. I’m so damned emotional sometimes. I guess that means I really got into the book, huh?

1. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

This was the first book that Crystal sent me. It was a complete surprise when I got it. I didn’t know a lot about the book before I read it, but I recognized the cover – she had the same copy.

I didn’t want the book to end. I started it over 5 times. I like to say I read it 5 times the first time. I didn’t want it to end. I actually got anxiety when I got to the mid point, so I’d start it over again. My motto for this book, and every book I read after was;

You can only read a book once, for the first time.

This book seriously saved my life. And even now I’ll take it off my book shelf, and. Just hold it and flip through the pages. I gotta move on the the next book, I’m getting a little emotional. This is my favourite book.

2. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Laugh all you want, about the book, but this book (and the rest of the series) really helped me get through a tough time. It holds a special place in my heart.

3. Going Somewhere by Brian Benson

I resisted the whole let’s travel someplace and grow as a person book for a while, and then read 3 pretty much back to back. This one was cool, because yes the main character (real life people) grew, it was and it wasn’t a happy ending. I cried at the end of this. It wasn’t the ending that I expected – books like this have the happy ending. This one didn’t.

4. Honour Among Thieves by Jeffery Archer

This one like literally watching a big screen blockbuster in my mind. I blew through it in about 4 hours. Then read it again. I keep on the look out for this book when I’m at the second hand stores.

5. Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco

This book is dense. So much information about secret societies. I had to read it twice, just to figure out what was going on. I loved every second of it!

So what’re your top 5 books of 2020? I can’t wait to read about them!

First Line Friday

Posted on by Shawshank

This one is simple. I post the first couple lines from a random book on my shelf, and you try and figure out which book it is. The answer will be posted the next Friday, with another first line! Sounds like fun.

And away we go!

I still get nightmares. In fact I get them so often I should be used to them by now. I’m not. No one ever really gets used to nightmares. For a while I tried every pill imaginable. Anything to curb the fear.

Got a guess? Post it in the comments, and may the odds ever be in your favour!

Anonymous Bookaholics tag

Posted on by Shawshank

Here’s another fun little bookish thing. 5 questions, and the first couple don’t count for me, but I’ll answer them as if they did count.

I know, I know I should be tagging back to the original poster, and then tagging people I want to hear from. I’m just answering these for fun.

1. What’s your favourite bookshop?

My favourite books shop would have to be the Barnes and Noble in Warwick, RI. I just wish that they’d concentrate more on books, and not toys and junk like that.

2. Do you preorder books?

I don’t. Well, that’s a fib. I’ve preordered once. I preordered Written in My Own Hearts Blood. It was ok, it was delivered to my kindle on release morning.

3. Do you have a monthly buying limit?

Lol I buy exclusively at second hand stores, where the books are .50c-$1 each. The selection sucks most of the time, but sometimes I get lucky and find some pretty awesome books.

4. Is your book wishlist big?

I don’t know how to answer that. Size is relative. I have about 25 books in my wishlist. I’m sure others out there have 100s in the lists. So, 25 would be small.

5. What 3 books from your wishlist do you wish you had now?

Wow, now that you put me in the spot, this is a really hard question to answer. There’s so many good books on my list that I want to read this is actually giving me some anxiety. I mean what if I choose wrong? What if y’all think I’m just choosing books to look cool, and I’ll never read them? What if my choices are stupid?

  1. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E Schwab
  2. The Troop by Nick Cutter
  3. The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

I’m gonna have to hit post, because I’m second guessing all my choices. Would it be easier if it were 5 books? Probably. It’d give me some padding at least!