The Call by Peadar O Guilin- Book Review

Sometimes I am a sucker for advertising. I heard about The Call by Peadar O'Guilin advertised on several Book Riot podcasts and it sounded so interesting. Killer fairies, teens attempting to murder other teens, and a whole other variety of items, what else does one need. While it isn't going to break any literary boundaries, the book was an incredibly fun ride.

The premise was fun. In Ireland, teens are taken at random moments during their teen life. Their clothes are left and they find themselves nude in the Grey Land. A trumpet sounds and they have 3 minutes to survive the hunt from killer fairies. 

One touch and the fairies can mold skin, muscle, and bone to any shape they wish. They can be killed, but their sheer number will overwhelm you. The catch is, if you make it or if they take pity on you, a promise is given and they always keep their word. If you don't make it, you either come back dead or disfigured in some way. Vets are treated with respect and can choose how to live out their lives.

Nessa is the protagonist and she has polio. No one really expects her to survive if she is called, but she trains anyway. She has incredible upper body strength and has won a few battles. Due to this, a group called the Round Table has targeted her. Not only does she have to look out for the call, but also this group in the real world who have decided she must die.

I cannot stress how fun a read this way. It is filled with teen angst and YA tropes, but the added layer of the call is what makes this book. This is not a light book in that sense in that the fairies love to punish and torture their victims. They are not nice either. In that sense, this is a true horror book.

In other places I put a mini review, I compared the book to a horror movie like Leprechaun or something along those lines. You know the acting and graphics will be pretty bad, but it will be great escapism for a time. While the writing wasn't bad on this one, the HS stuff was pretty standard in the good girl is targeted by bullies who fit every literary bully stereotype, but who also want to kill her. Even Nessa's friends fit the HS literary stereotypes, but you know what you are getting. There is a scene that will not leave my brain after reading it, which involves horses that aren't horses. Just wait and see.

I gave this one 3.5 stars. Very creative and fun, but not fiction breaking.

Here is your Amazon link- The Call by Peadar O' Guilin

Book of the Month Club

“This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links”.

Hello everyone. Thank you again for reading my blog. I really do appreciate it.

I just wanted to share some deals going on with Book of the Month Club, of which I am an affiliate. I would like to share some of my favorites from the year that are available on the site.

Here are three opportunities for subscriptions:

• A 3 Month Gift Subscription for $44.97
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• A 6 Month Subscription for $83.94
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• A 12 Month Subscription for $143.88

These books were available at the time of this post:

I cannot say enough good things about this book. Scandal, secrets, and lies. It spans time as these two kids grow up to be adults. This was great!

The Mothers

This was one of those books that grabbed me and then blew me away! I did not see the end coming and every single person I recommended this to said the same thing. This was such a fun mystery that will keep you guessing.

No One Knows

This is an older selection that may just disappear, but it is still worth the read. I read the whole thing on a train because it was so engrossing. In this world, priests are also police investigators. The great thing is also no one lies because they never had a major murder. These two priest are great!

Smaller and Smaller Circles

I had another site for about a month and this was the first book I blogged about on it this year. Lindy West doesn't hide anything at all. She is open about her weight, trolls on the internet, and feminism. This is a great and funny read.

Shrill

Bright Air Black by David Vann- Book Review

I was introduced to the Medea story through a mythology class I took in college. Since that time, the Medea narrative has stuck with me and I always thought there should be more to her story. When I was granted access to David Vann's Bright Air Black and I saw it was a first person narrative about the Medea story, I got a little excited. When I started it, I also got excited because the writing was hypnotic and it drew me in like crazy. By the end of the book, I couldn't wait for the experience to be over, so what happened?

Rather than retell the Medea story, I would rather get right into what happened. One hundred and sixty pages of being at sea out of about a two hundred and fifty page ebook is what happened. A chapter devoted to catching fish is what happened. A few chapters devoted to an island orgy without any major payoff is what happened.

I don't want to totally slam this book as I thought overall, it was a pretty great book in certain parts. When Medea and Jason finally hit land and Medea is enslaved rather than lifted up as a hero is a pretty great scene and it has an especially evil payoff.

The writing is also really well done. It is very hypnotic and there doesn't seem to be a break. Medea is the narrator the entire time and you stick with her. There was also my personal pet peeve- no quote marks around the dialog, so knowing who is talking gets a bit confusing as there is very little talking in the first place. The writing carries the story as does the Medea story itself. We know how it will end eventually and that payoff is great.

The length of time at sea though is mind numbing. I wondered why the author chose to keep all the characters on the ocean that long, especially when he chose to start painting Medea as this powerful woman who has the crew under her control. By the time they land that power disappears completely. 

That was what was ultimately disappointing. One has a great story and a great premise to work with. The female lead is a strong lead and lots could have been done with it, but ultimately Vann just lets Medea fade.

I gave this one 3 stars.

*I would like to thank NetGalley for the ability to read this book for review. I received it for free in exchange for an honest review.

News of the World by Paulette Jiles- Book Review

This was a first for me. I recently received a subscription to Scribd as a gift. I used to be a member when it was an unlimited service, but they have since changed their pricing system to a 3 books and 1 audio out at a time system. Not wanting to waste the audio part, I have recently started listening to audio books in the car. News of the World by Paulette Jiles was my first half and half. I started the book on audio, but after not enjoying the reader's interpretation, I switched to reading the book instead.

News of the World is the story about Captain Kidd, who is a news reader. He goes into town, reads a few select articles from the newspaper to the town and leaves. He is selective about what he reads, knows the towns, and even adds a few fluff pieces to get the crowd.

One day Kidd is offered money to bring an orphaned child back to her relatives. After a Kiowa attack, Johanna is raised as a Kiowa, but is now being forced back into the white society. The journey is 400 miles long and Kidd only has a few bullets. The story is not only about the journey, but also about the relationship between the two.

The first thing to note is this is a small book. I was surprised how small and how short the book was, as it is filled with a world that is vast and seems never ending. If someone wanted to, one could read this in less than a day and still fell like he/she read a bulky book. A lot happens in these few pages.

I noted that first because it says something about the author. There isn't much filler in this book and very little dragging parts, especially for a book about a 400 mile trek. The relationship between Kidd and Johanna as Johanna starts learning English and starts coming out of her shell is really what drives this book. Kidd starts treating Johanna as his own, even in the face of mortal danger and there will be lots of danger.

I wouldn't be honest if I didn't write that the whole idea of the uncivilized Indian, who must reclaim her whiteness in order to be civilized bothered me a bit, but I also recognized it was a period piece where this was the thought. 

Overall, this is a well written, fun adventure for an afternoon. While I do question the name choice of Captain Kidd as when I listened to it on audio as I kept thinking about pirates and wondering if the protagonist was supposed to be connected to the pirate. I found the journey worth it.

I gave this one 4 stars.

Here is your Amazon link- News of the World by Paulette Jiles

The Book of Joy- Book Review

Here we are following the election and I have been busy sitting with people as they share their worries and sitting with people as they share their joy. Election season is always an interesting time for a pastor. This season, there are far more worries than in previous seasons and with good reason.

Due to the heaviness of the conversations, I have been a bit distracted with my reading and have been finding it a bit difficult to concentrate on fiction. Also due to the heaviness of conversations, I needed a book that would give a little self care. When I went to the bookstore, I saw this book sitting in the new releases and knew this was the book that I needed.

This book is a conversation between two very influential spiritual leaders in his holiness the Dali Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu about joy. The two leaders spent some time together intentionally to have this conversation and to share worship practices together. Tutu meditated and then the two shared communion together, for example.

This isn't only about joy though. This is also about a very loving relationship. These two men pick on each other endlessly as two friends would. They make fun of each other's holiness, they one up one another, and they simply love one another. If I am being honest, I got more from their friendship story than their advice about joy.

For example, on the first night, the Dali Lama sneaks up behind Tutu and pretends to choke him. As they are laughing, Tutu turns to the Dali Lama and says "Remember we are on camera now, pretend to be holy." There are all sorts of stories like this. I loved these stories and really needed them.

The only qualm I had was Douglas Abrams is the narrator in the book. At times he either repeated himself by reminding us how holy these two men were or explained a joke to the reader when it was pretty obvious and occasionally waxes poetic a bit to fill in gaps. At times it was a bit distracting, while I was talking to my book saying- get back to the good stuff! Otherwise this is an incredible book. The pictures alone are worth the price of the book. I have had the back cover turned so I could see it daily- it is the two men mid dance. It has just brought a smile to my face each time I look at it.

I gave this one 4.5 stars.

Here is your Amazon link- The Book of Joy

Cover Me In Darkness by Eileen Rendahl- Book Review

When I saw the cover and the description for Cover Me In Darkness by Eileen Rendahl, I was drawn in immediately.*

Amanda gets a call from a the local psychiatric ward where her mother is staying- her mother has committed suicide. Her mother is in the ward for killing Amanda's baby brother after being brainwashed by a religious cult that Amanda was a part of too.

It is now time for the cult's leader to be released from jail and that is when Amanda's mother kills herself. It turns out someone slipped her mother a sharpened comb, a picture of Amanda's brother, and news clippings of the murder. It is looking as if Amanda's mother was coerced to kill herself.

Then other things start happening, Amanda is poisoned, thrown in front of a car, and other odd things start to happen. Are these all connected to the cult?

In the meantime, there is a side story of Amanda working at her job on a product about to receive FDA approval. If approved, it will make her company rich, but the testing results seem too perfect. Is this connected too?

The premise of this book sounded incredible and it was what drew me to the book. The problem was the writing. I cannot put any quotes in my review as I received this as a galley, but the writing is very simplistic and at times have sentence fragments. I am not a grammar person by a long shot, but it was bad enough that I noticed.

Rendahl has a background in YA novels and romance novels and her writing style showed as she moved into this genre. As I was reading it, I even wondered if this was a murder mystery for a YA audience. I would not be so critical, but the writing is what really detracted from this book.

I don't enjoy panning books as I know how difficult it is to write and publish a book, but this one was not enjoyable by the end. Some of the conclusions just seemed too quick and some of the murders happen to easily. The end confrontation, for example, is about two pages long and then it is over.

Sadly, this is a 2 star for me due to the premise alone.

Here is your Amazon link- Cover Me in Darkness by Eileen Rendahl

*I received this book for review from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King- Book Review

First, let me thank my readers for sticking with me. I am having to teach 4 times a week, as well as work full time, so my reading has slowed a bit and much of my free time is devoted to getting the next class ready, so blogging has taken a small backseat. It will not be permanent though as one class will end in 3 weeks and it is a class taking the bulk of my time. So, thank you for sticking with my blog.

When I picked up this book, I didn't know what it was about. I half dreaded reading it because it is advertised as a YA novel and those are hit and miss with me. For example, I am reading Dumplin' which came highly recommended and I finding it pretty cliche with YA topics. Still Life with Tornado by AS King is not typical at all! In fact, it is extremely deep for an book book that wouldn't have the label YA. This is a great book and very powerful.

We walk with Sarah, who is told at age 16 that nothing in life is original by her art teacher, so she walks out of school looking for things that are real and original. She follows a homeless street artist, she goes to an abandoned school, and she just wanders the streets of Philadelphia (which is in itself a character in the book).

One might say she is having a midlife crisis, but she is only 16. As she wanders, her 10 year old self shows up and starts asking about her brother and a trip to Mexico. Chapters will be devoted to telling this story. Here 20 year old self also shows up. Her 20 year old self is sarcastic and pretty mean. She also meets her 40 year old self who is also going through a small crisis.

Throughout her journey and through her alternative selves, Sarah will learn about her life, come to know herself, and grow from her experiences. She will also learn what happened to her brother and figure out why she simply walks through life.

This is not a simple coming of age book. In many YA coming of age novels, a magical act or a wise person will help with the journey. In King's book, Sarah really struggles with herself- quite literally as her alternative selves are real- other people can see them and interact with them. Sarah's mother instantly recognizes 10 year old Sarah and desires to reconnect with this Sarah, while Sarah's dad cannot figure out who 10 year old Sarah is. Sarah's struggle is very real and she must go into deep places to find herself.

This book begins one way and by the end of journey one will be in a different place completely. That was a sign of the great writing that King offers. The story changes as Sarah grows and learns. The story takes hard sharp turns in a graceful way that stay true to Sarah's story. I loved this book. I read it so slowly because I wanted to savor it. This has to be one of my favorite books of the year.

I gave this one 4.5 stars.

Here is your Amazon link- Still Life with Tornado by AS King