Friday, October 30, 2015

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Publication Date:  August 2, 2011
Publisher:  Hyperion Books
Pages:  282
Series:  Stand Alone
Genre:  Paranormal
Synopsis:  The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. 

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. 

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. 

But when an actual stranger-a boy who seems to fade like smoke-appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know-about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Books and Halloween Candy


Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and today is Halloween themed!!!  I love Halloween, even though I no longer get all dressed up and go trick or treating--and that doesn't stop me from consuming an exorbitant amount of candy every year.  And what's more Halloween themed than candy?

Friday, October 23, 2015

The Shining by Stephen King

Publication Date:  January 28, 1977
Publisher:  Anchor
Pages:  512
Series:  The Shining #1
Genre:  Horror
Synopsis:  Danny was only five years old but in the words of old Mr Halloran he was a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father became caretaker of the Overlook Hotel his visions grew frighteningly out of control. 

As winter closed in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seemed to develop a life of its own. It was meant to be empty, but who was the lady in Room 217, and who were the masked guests going up and down in the elevator? And why did the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive? 

Somewhere, somehow there was an evil force in the hotel - and that too had begun to shine... 

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Wishes I'd Ask The Book Genie To Grant Me


Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.  Who doesn't occasionally wish they had a book genie to grant all their ludicrous and potentially dangerous desires (all I want is a glitter-breathing dragon, okay)?  From my peculiar mind I have procured a list of wishes that I would just die for.  Voila!

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Behind the Blog: I've Moved!


Surprise--I'm talking about something non-bookish today!  Scarily, I'm addressing that real life exists outside of book pages.  As the title of this says, I've moved houses recently.  Recently meaning just a few days ago.  It has been a hectic experience--one I am not eager to go through again anytime in the foreseeable future.

Story time:  my house, the house I lived in for nearly a decade and the one I grew up in has been on the market for a short forever. About a month or so ago, it finally sold, and on October 9, 2015, I left it forever.  It was bittersweet--there's no other word for it.  I have been ready to move from the town I lived in for years now, but actually leaving is an entirely different thing.  Goodbyes are never any fun.  I still cannot quite believe that I won't wake up in my old bedroom tomorrow, go to my old high school, and say hello to my friends in class again.  It all feels like a terribly realistic dream.   

All this means the start of an entirely new life.  A new beginning. New school, new house, new library. Luckily enough, I have not one, but two libraries and two bookstores in my new town.  The first chance I get, I am getting a library card and checking out as many books as I can carry.  Let's just hope that my new high school isn't situated on top of an opening to hell (Buffy reference for the win).


Here is the part where this turns into a horror story:  I haven't been able to read a book for about two weeks.  I haven't been able to post or comment for a good week at least now.  If you've noticed my severe lack of activity, blame the insanity that comes with major change.  Hopefully, the situation will soon be rectified and I can start writing and reading much more frequently.

The town that I now inhabit (which I will not name, for obvious safety reasons) is a living fairy tale. Okay, I admit--that may be a bit of an exaggeration.  However, it is extremely post card worthy. While I am sad to have left my home behind, I am eager to see what opportunities this place has to offer and hopefully catch up on everything book related. Wish me luck! 



Friday, October 2, 2015

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Publication Date:  May 6, 2014
Publisher:  Scribner
Pages:  530
Series:  Stand Alone
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Synopsis:  Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.