It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week?

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Jenn

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being reading, and the books to be finish this week. It is hosted by Sheila from One Person’s Journey Through a World of  Books so stop by and join in!

Books Completed Last Week

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan (review)
Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror by Jason Zinoman (review)
Close Your Eyes by Amanda Eyre Ward

Currently Reading

The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (audio)
We All Fall Down by Michael Harvey

Books to Complete This Week

The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
Flashback by Dan Simmons

What are you reading this week?

Posted in It's Monday What Are you Reading This Week | 9 Comments

Frightful Friday: Shock Value by Jason Zinoman

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Jenn

Frightful Friday is a weekly meme in which I feature a particularly scary or chilling book that I’ve read that week. Feel free to grab the button & join in!

The featured book this week is:Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror

  • Hardcover:272 pages
  • Publisher:Penguin Press HC, The (July 7, 2011)
  • ISBN-10: 1594203024
  • Source: Publisher

In the 1960’s, horror films were the red-headed step children of the movie industry. Movies of this genre were relegated to drive-in theaters or, even worse, small, dank theaters that only showed sex and snuff films. 

In the 1960s, going to see a horror movie was barely more respectable than visiting a porn theater.  You watched scary movies in cars or in dirty rooms with sticky floors.

Movie houses refused to admit their existence, critics hated them.

It wasn’t until directors like Wes Craven, Roman Polanski, John Carpenter, and Brian De Palma took a chance, risking their careers and, in many cases, their livelihood, to produce “New Horror,” movies that showcased serial killers and the dark side of society rather than the “monster movies” of “Old horror.”  Out of this horror evolution, such movie greats as Rosemary’s Baby, Carrie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Halloween.

This new wave of horror wasn’t accepted immediately.  Viewers and critics of Rosemary’s Baby shunned the movie as an attack against Catholicism. Several theaters banned the movie.  When The Exorcist was released in late 1973, “audience members were fainting and vomiting, screaming at the screen.”  Religious leaders, like Reverend Billy Graham, shunned it, calling it a “dangerous and strange situation.” But critics didn’t know how to react; how could they describe what they were watching?  Studio executives, who had once shunned the horror film,  were forced to take a step back and reevaluate their opinion of horror. 

Gradually, the perceptions of horror changed; The Exorcist was ultimately nominated for an Oscar in the best picture category. The movie earned ten Academy Award nominations, winning two (Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay). It became one of the highest earning movies of all time, grossing $441 million worldwide.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) showed that horror movies can also serve as social commentary. It was one of the few movies of the time with an African American hero.

New Horror provides an outlet to indulge anxieties in the anonymity of a dark theater before laughing at your fear on the way home….they reflected on the grievances of their time: paranoia about government power and mocking nihilism about the power of the American dream.  They invited audiences to distrust authority adn, most of all, to steer clear of the outside world. (p 75)

 

Shock Value gives the reader a rare, inside look at the men behind the most influential horror movies of our time.  We learn about the childhoods of the horror movie greats, how their upbringing influenced their work.  Despite what many may think, they weren’t all social outcasts, dreaming of madness in the basements of their homes.

Bottom line, Shock Value is the book to read for fans of horror (both fiction and film) as well as those interested in the evolution of the film industry. Going in, I thought I was pretty knowledgable about the history of the horror film.  I was sorely mistaken!  Shock Value is a book I will keep on my shelves, referring to it often.  It has me wanting to go back and watch some of the horror greats and celebrate their awesomeness. Highly recommended.

About the Author:

Jason Zinoman is a critic and reporter covering theater for The New York Times. He has also regularly written about movies, television, books and sports for publications such as Vanity Fair, The Guardian and Slate. He was the chief theater critic for Time Out New York before leaving to write the On Stage and Off column in the Weekend section of the Times. He grew up in Washington D.C. and now lives in Brooklyn.

 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me the opportunity to participate in this tour. Please be sure to check out the other stops:

Tuesday, July 5th: Fascination With Fear
Wednesday, July 6th: Freddy in Space
Thursday, July 7th: Cinema Suicide
Friday, July 8th: Day of the Woman
Monday, July 11th: Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies
Tuesday, July 12th: Monster Land
Wednesday, July 13th: The Deadly Doll’s House of Horror Nonsense
Monday, July 18th: The Girl Who Loves Horror
Tuesday, July 19th: From Midnight, With Love
Wednesday, July 20th: The Horror Section
Thursday, July 21st: Drunken Severed Head
Monday, July 25th: Chuck Norris Ate My Baby
Tuesday, July 26th: Frankensteinia
Date TBD: I Like Horror Movies

Posted in Frightful Friday, Horror, Non-Fiction, Penguin, Review | 2 Comments

Review: Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Jenn

 

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf (June 14, 2011)
  • ISBN-10: 0307595129
  • Source: Personal Copy

The Kelleher women are an extremely strong-minded set of women.  Alice is the matriarch; she spends all her time at Mass or enjoying a cigarette and a manhattan on her sun porch.  Kathleen, Alice’s daughter, now resides in California where she runs a worm farm.  She won’t admit it, but she moved clear across the country to avoid her family, namely her mother.  Kathleen’s daughter is Maggie, a young New Yorker, a writer, and pregnant.  Her trip to Maine is supposed to serve as a place for her to write and contemplate her future. Ann Marie, Alice’s daughter-in-law, is an avid (obsessive?) doll house designer & collector.  Her soul purpose in life seems to be to keep the tumultuous Kelleher family in order.

Each summer, the family enjoys making the trek to their summer home in Maine. Oh, they don’t enjoy it together, each branch of the family is allowed a month to visit the home. They do not realize it, but this is their last summer in their beautiful, memory-ridden oasis. 

The three generations of women wind up at the family home simultaneously.  Normally, this would be the recipe for chaos, and in a sense it was. The women, both jointly and individually, face their worst fears: Alice must come to terms with a horrible family tragedy; Maggie must decide which direction her future will take, and who she will be sharing it with; Kathleen has to finally confront her mother; and Ann Marie must face the fact that her perfect family facade is fading. Each of the characters tells the story from their own point of view, allowing the reader to get a unique, and perhaps more honest, view of the family dynamics. When the family learns that their cherished Maine home might not in fact be theirs any longer, a battle begins to simmer.

Never before have I read a book that captures my soul like Maine has.  Frankly, I read so many glowing reviews of this book I was skeptical; could it really be THAT good? In short, YES!

The characters in Maine remind the reader of everyday people in their lives, or perhaps in a sense, themselves.  These women were genuine, full of flaws therefore one can’t help but love them. Despite these flaws, there wasn’t a single character I didn’t enjoy or appreciate.  I wanted to drop everything, hop in my car, and join them, spending my summer alongside them.

What really drew me to this book is the fact the author touches on topics faced by many families: unwed mothers, alcoholism, depression.  She does it in an honest way, nothing is shielded or guarded.  I appreciate authors who aren’t afraid to do this; I don’t want a sugar-coated life, I want the real thing. That said, despite other reviews, I did not find this book to be dark or depressing, but rather uplifting.  It reminded me to keep in sight what is important in life, never to abandon my dreams, to cherish my family and friends around me.

I’ve been recommending this book as the perfect beach read; you won’t want to get up from your spot under the warm sun after reading this terrifically engaging tale.  So be sure to put on a lot of sun screen before starting this book for I guarantee you won’t be able to put it down. Highly, highly, recommended, one of my favorite books of the summer!

Posted in Knopf, Literary Fiction, Review, Women's Fiction | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Literary Road Trip: June/July Link Round Up!

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Jenn

The Literary Road Trip is a project in which bloggers are volunteering to showcase local authors. This showcase can be anything you want to make of it – book reviews, author interviews, giveaways – as long as you’re working with an author local to you.

For those of you who did a blog post on a local author, be it a review, interview, guest post, etc., please link it up here!  June flew by so quickly & here we are nearly through July! Therefore, this month’s link round up will contain links from both June and July.

I’ll tabulate all the posts & post a compilation of all the “road stops” in early August.

Please follow the following format Blog Name (Author Name/State) & the direct link to your post.

Posted in Literary Road Trip | 1 Comment

Review: The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Jenn

 

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Other Press (June 21, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1590514440
Source: Publisher

One spring morning in 1885, the body of a young pregnant woman is found floating in Richmond’s city reservoir. At first glance, her death appears to be a suicide, but evidence points toward murder.

The young woman identified as Lillie, a young woman with a troubled family history.  The prime suspect in her murder is her own cousin, Tommie.

Tommie is a young lawyer, the source of pride for his family.  His brother, Willie, was his polar opposite.  A quiet farmer, he was initially the one who was courting Lillie. But Tommie & Lillie were drawn to one another, their love could not be stopped.

Despite the fact that Tommie took his love from him, and is now on trial for her murder, Willie remains by his side, doing whatever he can to make his brother’s time in prison comfortable.  This becomes more and more difficult as the evidence against his brother mounts.

The Reservoir is southern Gothic fiction at its finest; John Milliken Thompson does an outstanding job of portraying the society of Richmond post-Civil War. The setting, much as the scene of Lillie’s death, is dark, cold & dreary.

It’s more than just a murder mystery, adding compelling scenes of courtroom drama as well as psychological suspense to the mix.

Through the majority of the novel, the reader is left questioning Tommie’s guilt, or innocence.  Tommie’s own behavior doesn’t help the situation: one minute he’s proclaiming his innocence, the next he admits his guilt. It isn’t until the reader is able to remove the veil Tommie uses to shield himself from the world that they can truly see inside the mind of this seemingly perfect young man.

Thompson based The Reservoir on a true case in Richmond’s history, “T.J. Cluverius v. the Commonwealth.”  While Thompson added most of the pre-and post-courtroom drama, the actual court scenes are taken directly from the trial transcripts.  The fact that the author was able to add these details so seamlessly really indicates the talent in his writing.

The Reservoir is a book unlike any I have read in some time.  The mystery, the drama, and yes, even the love-triangle, held my attention from page one.  Fans of Southern Gothic or historical fiction will find a real winner in this one!  Highly recommended!

For more information on the author, and the story behind The Reservoir, be sure to check out his Web site.

For more reviews of The Reservoir, check out:

The Book Lady’s Blog

 

Posted in Historical Fiction, Mystery/Suspense, Other Press, Review | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week?

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Jenn

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being reading, and the books to be finish this week. It was created by J.Kaye’s Book Blog, but is now being hosted by Sheila from One Person’s Journey Through a World of  Books so stop by and join in!

Books Completed Last Week

So…being on a mini-vacation doesn’t mean you get a lot of reading done, apparently. We had quite the busy weekend; I only finished one book!

The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson

Currently Reading

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

Books to Complete This Week

Flashback by Dan Simmons
Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror by Jason Zinoman

What are you reading this week?

Posted in It's Monday What Are you Reading This Week | 14 Comments

Guest Post: John Milliken Thompson, Author of The Reservoir

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Jenn

Today I’m excited to welcome John Milliken Thompson, author of The Reservoir! Since learning about this book at BEA (Book Expo America) I’ve been shouting about it from the rooftops.  It has everything I love in a thriller, plus it’s set in Virginia. How could I not love it? Anyway, I digress! Without further ado, please welcome John!

 Thanks for inviting me to write a guest post. I’ve noticed that you have a lot of horror fans reading your blog. While my new novel, THE RESERVOIR, couldn’t be called horror, there are elements of the gothic and the creepy about it. The story starts with the discovery of the body in Richmond’s old reservoir in 1885; the body is that of a pregnant young woman. And so a mystery begins, a chase ensues, and the story builds to a sensational trial—it’s all based a true case. The novel crosses several genres—historical, Southern, literary, mystery. Not horror, but I bring it up because I have to admit a weakness for the genre and for being influenced by that early master of the macabre and inventor of the modern detective story, Edgar Allan Poe.

I spent quite a bit time in Richmond researching THE RESERVOIR, and I discovered that Poe lived about a third of his life there, more time than anywhere else. Though he died 36 years before the events of my novel took place, I knew I was going to have to work him into the story. I’ve long felt a spiritual kinship with the great writer, having been born on his birthday—his sesquicentennial to be exact. And who doesn’t love those weird, intense, hypnotic poems and stories—“The Raven,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado.” I started digging into Poe’s life and work, and ended up writing an article about the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond for the Washington Post.

Poe’s strange relationship with his cousin, whom he married when she was 13 and he 27, was especially fascinating, and I thought I might try to write a novel from her point of view. She died at age 24, two years before his own mysterious death. But that was no problem; in fact, it seemed perfect—I’d have her haunting his consciousness, a ghostly Annabel Lee, and so the story could remain first person all the way up to and even beyond Poe’s death. Yes, I was already thinking of my next novel while writing THE RESERVOIR—most writers have lists of books they probably won’t ever get to. The book I’d more or less envisioned came out not long ago: The Raven’s Bride, by Lenore Hart. It happens. Ideas aren’t your own unless you get there first.

But I did work Poe into THE RESERVOIR. Tommie, the young suspect—who, by the way, was in love his cousin, the victim—reads Poe and is even haunted by a line of his poetry. Poe wrote that the death of a young woman is the most fit subject for poetry, and you can certainly see how he was evermore using that subject in his writing. In his words (from his essay “The Philosophy of Composition” analyzing “The Raven”): “The death, then, of a beautiful woman, is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world—and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.”

Poe was known as a harsh critic, but I would love to take my novel back in time for a review from the master.

John Milliken Thompson is the author of America’s Historic Trails and Wildlands of the Upper South, and coauthor of The National Geographic Almanac of American History. His articles have appeared in Smithsonian, Washington Post, Islands,and other publications, and his short stories have been published in Louisiana Literature, South Dakota Review, and many other literary journals. He has lived in the South all his life. This is his first novel.

Be still my heart!  It’s not enough that I love this man’s work, but he shares an appreciation for Poe? *fans self* Be sure to check back tomorrow for my review of THE RESERVOIR!
Posted in Author Guest Post | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Review: Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Jenn

  • Hardcover:352 pages
  • Publisher:Algonquin Books (May 24, 2011)
  • ISBN-10: 1565129903
  • Source: Publisher

Dana Lynn Yarboro and Bunny Chaurisse Witherspoon are both teen girls, growing up in 1980s Atlanta.  They are also half-sisters, both daughters of a bigamist, James Witherspoon.  Only Dana and her mother, Gwen, are aware of James’ double life.

Dana and Bunny live vastly different lives: Dana & Gwen struggle to get by, only receiving minimal financial support from James. Dana has memories of her father sitting her down, ordering her not to reveal the truth behind their “secret family.” To all concerned, Raleigh, James’ close friend, is Dana’s father. To prevent being referred to as “illegitimate,” Raleigh goes as far as to sign Dana’s birth certificate.  In Dana’s mind, however, she will always be illegitimate:

In my mind, Chaurisse is his real daughter.  With wives, it only matters who gets there first.  With daughters, the situation is a bit more complicated.

Chaurisse and her mother, Laverne, on the other hand, appreciate all the comforts of a “normal” family. James and Laverne married quite young; Laverne was unable to complete high school due to her pregnancy. Her only existence is that which she shares with James; she never had the opportunity to experience the milestones typical teen girls do.

James and Raleigh do their best to keep the girls apart, to prevent their meeting.  However, 1980s Atlanta, according to James “ain’t nothing but a country town, and everyone knows everybody.” 

I read Silver Sparrow in one sitting, unable to tear myself away from the story of these two girls. The first line: “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.” This sentence prepares the reader for the drama that is about to ensue.

Silver Sparrow is told by the viewpoints of both girls; the first half in Dana’s voice and the second in Chaurisse’s. The reader can’t help but feel sympathy for Dana; she knows of her father’s “deception,” realizes there is another family who she’s forced to share him with.  the lack of a male role model forces her to make poor decisions, all due to desperation for male attention and love.

On the opposite side, Chaurisse and Laverne are completely clueless; they live years believing their family is a secure and normal one.

The insecurities each of the girls feel is quite compelling: Dana and her mother are attractive but this is not apparent in their feelings about themselves due to the lack of security they feel as a family.  Chaurisse and Laverne, on the other hand, are plain, typical women and have a sense, albeit false, of security in their lives. Each family is missing something, apparent or not.

Since Silver Sparrow is told through the eyes of Dana and Chaurisse; the reader doesn’t get to see the saga in the eyes of the two mothers, or James and Raleigh.  I believe this adds to these unique novel; had it been told by the two wives the reader would experience a completely different story.

Bottom line: Silver Sparrow is a stunning novel with several topics and themes worth discussing, making this the perfect book club choice. Highly recommended.

Posted in Algonquin Books, General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Review, Women's Fiction | 11 Comments

Review: The Summer We Came to Life by Deborah Cloyed

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Jenn

  • Paperback:320 pages
  • Publisher:Mira; Original edition (May 31, 2011)
  • ISBN-10: 0778312917
  • Source: Planned Television Arts

Childhood friends Samantha, Isabel, Kendra and Mina get together every summer at some luxurious vacation spot, joined by their parents. This year, however, the clan is not complete; Mina lost her battle with cancer six months ago.  They all join Sam at a beach house in the Honduras, struggling to fill the space missing since Mina’s death.

To Sam, it seems wrong not to have Mina around. In addition to dealing with her good friend’s death, she’s struggling with her own identity.  Her boyfriend, a weathly, attractive, French man, proposes marriage. She’s happy with him, but is that enough? She battles with how this big decision will influence her future?  She uses a journal Mina left behind as a sort of “Magic 8” ball; she asks Mina a question, opening to a random spot in the journal, hoping for some of Mina’s wisdom.

Mina’s not the only one missing from this year’s get together.  Kendra, one of the strongest women of the group, chooses not to join her friends (and parents) this year.  She’s struggling with her own decision. She’s always been the one to make the right decision, always the responsible one. This time, however, things are different.  She’s unable to admit to her closest friends that she’s made a huge mistake, forcing instead to deal with this on her own.

The parents, the older generation, share their insights with the girls, each revealing an elaborate past the girls were unfamiliar with.  This information, and the “messages” Mina appears to be leaving behind for the girls, reveal to each one of them the paths they must take in order to find true happiness.

The Summer We Came to Life is quite an emotional read; not only are the girls still healing from the loss of their best friend, they are all struggling to find their own identities.  Each one thinks rather rationally, not realizing it is their own heart they should follow, the only thing in life that is consistently honest. Cloyed does an outstanding job at building and revealing each of these characters.  One can’t help but feel for Samantha, the lead character.  She seems to be taking Mina’s death the hardest, she still has yet to return to the “real world” and deal with her future.  Life is difficult, meant to be challenged.  Nothing worth living for every comes easily, a stark reality Sam must face.

There is a great deal of discussion about physics in this book, the idea that objects can move between alternate universes.  At first, I thought this was just random filler information thrown in for effect, but ultimately it becomes an integral part of the story, adding a slightly paranormal/”otherworldly” feel to the book.

The book is told in alternating chapters, each character taking the role as the narrator. At first, this got a bit confusing but once I understood and became familiar with each voice, the shift in characters became almost natural.

A lot of deep topics are discussed in this book, including important events in history such as the Iranian Revolution , the Civil Rights movements, as well as topics like the possibility of an after-life, making this the perfect book club selection. Additionally, the gorgeous Honduras setting makes this the perfect beach read.  I hate to refer to this as women’s fiction or chick-lit, because it’s so much more. It’s a book that leaves a resounding message, a book that I highly recommended.

Posted in Mira Books, Review, Women's Fiction | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week?

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Jenn

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being reading, and the books to be finish this week. It was created by J.Kaye’s Book Blog, but is now being hosted by Sheila from One Person’s Journey Through a World of  Books so stop by and join in!

Books Completed Last Week

The End of Everythingby Megan Abbott (review)
Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel (review)
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

Currently Reading

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman
The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson

Books to Complete This Week

Flashback by Dan Simmons

What are you reading this week?

Posted in It's Monday What Are you Reading This Week | 12 Comments