Book Review: Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King

My Valentine's Day gift this year was a rose bush for my garden and a copy of Stephen King's Bazaar of Bad Dreams. I read the book over the course of a week. The stories were quick, just eerie enough and played to his earlier works in the short story genre. In some ways, a few read like a Tales from the Crypt episode, but as a big fan of those as well, I really can't complain.

Some stories dealt with the ideas of alternate realities, similar to the recently finished Hulu series, 11-22-63. However, the most rattling story in this book is Afterlife that chronicles the experiences of a man who dies a slow, painful death from cancer who then gets to experience all of his mistakes again and again as he moves through similar experiences in his after life. It gave me the chills reading it. As I turn 30 this year, well at this point, it's only 4 months away, I have become obsessed with the idea of my own mortality. This really hit home for me.

Outside of that, some references and things did go over my head, revealing that King is an older writer now and unless you are over the age of 40, you might miss out on some of King's nuisances. 

Final Score: 3.5/5
Book Information: Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King with ISBN 1501111671 published by Scribner on November 3, 2015.

Book Review: Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Lush and dream-like, Bless Me, Ultima takes us to New Mexico in the 1940s where six-year-old Antonio Marez tests the bonds that tie him to his people and to his past. When a famous curandra, a healer, moves in with Tony's family, he becomes emmersed in a world of the old ways, the pagan ways. For a boy that is on the cusp of making his First Holy Communion, this troubles Tony and often makes him question which God is the right God. Is it the God found in church? Or is it the old Gods, the ones that he finds all around him?

To guide him on this journey of self and of truth, the curandra or la grande, Ultima takes the boy under her wing, bringing him with her to help cure the townspeople of the curses that have plagued them. For such a young boy, Tony is exposed to many things including deep, earthly magic and even murder. He remains strong and resilient in his quest to find the truth and his rightful path.

Told with such language, description and emotion, Bless Me, Ultima is almost written magically, plunging the reader into the mystical world of New Mexico and the culture of its people.

Score: 5/5
Book Information: Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya was published originally published in 1972. This review refers to the 1994 edition published by Grand Central Publishing with ISBN 978-0446600255.

And, the book was made into a movie to be released in 2013:

Book Review: The Parish and the Hill by Mary Doyle Curran

Written in 1948, The Parish and the Hill became an instant classic. Chronicling the trials and struggles of Irish Americans in 1920's New England, The Parish and the Hill offers a clear view into three generations of the O'Connor family as they fight, drink and work to preserve themselves, their family and their Irish heritage.

Told from the viewpoint of the youngest child, Mary, The Parish and the Hill is a quick read with a strong female at the heart. What keeps the family together even when apart is the mother, who more often than not puts her children and her relatives before herself. With near-saintly behavior, Mrs. O'Connor sticks up for her brothers, her husband and fights to keep her children safe even when they treat her like a doormat. Her strength and love is admirable and is at the heart of this tale of culture clash, immigration and ultimately fighting to survive in a new world while trying to not lose your footing in the old one.

After all, just because one moves to the Hill from the Parish, doesn't mean that you're any less Irish. only a drop in your blood means that you are of Ireland.

Score: 4/5
Book Information: The Parish and the Hill by Mary Doyle Curran was originally published in 1948 by Houghton Mifflin. This review corresponds with the 1986 reprinting by Feminist Press with ISBN 1-55861-396-X. 

Book Review: Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

I have not read a lot of literature involving Native Americans and culture, but I did find Love Medicine and decided to read it. Published in 1984, Love Medicine tells the story of a group of Chippewa living on a reservation in North Dakota. Erdrich chronicles 60 years of the lives of these people.

She opens her novel with the passing of June Morrissey who freezes to death in a snow storm trying to get back to her family. The novel continues in a very conversational way, introducing us to various members of the family and reservation which is reminiscent of Native American culture wherein stories were spoken, not written. Erdrich richly paints the trials and difficulties of living on a reservation, revealing the alcoholism and abusive relationships that plague many of the people that live there.

With younger generations, Erdrich explores what it's like to be an Euro-Indian, wherein the unfairness and often clear resentment of the US government is evident and explored.

What I found difficult of the book was keeping the relationships of the characters in order. There are many affairs and surprises of paternity that occur throughout the book, often times the characters themselves not even being aware of their true parental lineage. I had difficulty keeping it all straight, especially when trying to understand where alliances stood and why.

Score: 3/5
Book Information: Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich was originally published in 1984 with a revised edition having been released in May of 2009 by Harper Perennial with ISBN 978-0061787423.

Book Review: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

In the last installment of the Sookie Stackhouse Series, Charlaine Harris wraps up her story of the sexy telepath from Bon Temps. Readers get a lot of their questions from Deadlocked answered while still creating new ones that will hopefully be explored in a later supplement to the series.

Out of all the Sookie books, this one was probably the calmest. There is very little action and when compared to the other books, not as much murder and bloodshed, though this book does have its fair share of that too. Most importantly, readers finally get an answer to the question that began all the back to the first book-- who does Sookie choose, Eric or Bill?

That answer is somewhat surprising, but at the same time not completely alarming because true fans of the series and even of the show, could see that answer coming for a long time. Overall, Harris leaves Sookie in probably the best place she could find herself in considering everything that happened to her since the Vamps came out of the coffin. Loose ends are tied up and enemies finally banished (for now), leaving our heroine at peace for the time being.

We also get to see most of Sookie's ex-loves and flirtations, including were-tiger Quinn and the oh so dreamy, Alcide Herveaux which is never a difficult thing to have to read about.

Not to disappoint, Harris will be releasing a novel-length epilogue of sorts in October explaining what happened to her much beloved characters following the conclusion of the series.

For my reviews on all other Sookie Stackhouse books visit here.

Score: 4.5/5
Book Information: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris was released in May 2013 by Ace Books with ISBN 978-1937007881.

Book Review: The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Kostova's story is rich, layered and in so many ways its own literary painting. Plunged deep into the mystery of way famous painter, Robert Oliver, would attack a painting in the National Gallery, psychiatrist Robert Marlow quickly becomes obsessed with finding out why and unlocking the emotional and psychological torment that plagues his latest patient.

Fans of Kostova's first book, The Historian, will enjoy the long, languid way that she wrote her second book, filling it with detail and mystery taking the reader from the 20th century back to the 19th, from the United States to the coasts of Normandy through budding first love to last love while carefully and intricately weaving a web that interlaces past and present.

Overall, Kostova's second book is a heavy read with a lot of detail that at times can be too much to take in, but it is worth the read in the end.

Score: 4 out of 5
Book Information: The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova was originally published in April 2010 through Little, Brown and Company. It is available for purchase with ISBN 1847442404.

Book Review: Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

This was a super quick read. I finished it in about two days, but there was a lot to the book. I absolutely enjoyed it. I didn't feel terribly connected to the characters, but I did feel connected to the situations and tragedies that they all were going through.

Sarah Nickerson has it all - a great house, a loving husband, three beautiful children and a high-pressure job that she adores, but when a terrible car accident leaves her damaged, Sarah has to figure out how to survive and live in her new life.

It's easy to like Sarah, she's like so many of us - busy and working towards attaining that perfect life while not always taking the time we need to just sit back and enjoy where we're at when we have it. She has a contentious relationship with her mother and a pride streak so big that she finds it nearly impossible to rely on her mother even when she loses even the ability to see her left side. Left Neglect is a real condition that Genova documents throughly throughout the book. It occurs when a person suffers damage to the right side of the brain such as a stroke or in Sarah's case a car accident. It makes it nearly impossible for the person to realize that they do in fact, have a left side. It's like the left side of everything simply disappears.

What I liked most about the book is that Genova doesn't make it a scientific trip through Left Neglect, but rather shows us what that is by showing us Sarah and her life following the accident. Overall, it was a quick and very enjoyable read with a clear message: maybe, we all just need to slow down.

Score: 5 out of 5
Book Information: Left Neglected by Lisa Genova is available for purchase with ISBN 9781439164631 via Gallery Books. It was originally published in 2011. 

Book Review: Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux

I was really excited for Madeleine Roux's second book, Sadie Walker is Stranded. I thought it was going to be very similar to Allison Hewitt is Trapped which I had found to be funny, witty and fast-paced. Roux kept a lot coming at the reader in that book and that is probably because it was originally a daily blog so she wrote it differently. 

I was disappointed with Sadie Walker is Stranded. It was still funny and witty in parts, but I felt like there was something missing that the first novel had. There were large expanses where I just felt bored and like she was rushing through it entirely, but dragging me along with her as she went. 

She had a lot of good ideas for the novel, but I didn't feel very immersed in them nor did I feel like she really went into any great detail about them. I kept waiting for the big moment where she went into the big scenes with the villain of the story, but all I got was a little less than a chapter after an entire novel built up to it. It was a total let down. 

I was also interested in seeing how she would incorporate the Allison Hewitt blog into the story since so many of the people in her zombie-verse read that blog. I was disappointed in that it was mentioned, but never really explored beyond the friendship that one of Sadie's co-survivors once had with Allison and her now husband, Collin. 

Overall, I think she could have done more with the book then she did, there were so many great ideas that she had that she could have ran with. 

Score: 2 out of 5

Book Information: Sadie Walker is Stranded  by Madeleine Roux is available for purchase through amazon with ISBN 0312658915. It was originally published on Jabuary 31, 2012 through St. Martin's Griffin.

Book Review: Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good zombie book, movie or blog. I even write a fiction blog about a teacher trying to survive the zombie apocalypse (msburtonsclass.com).

So, I was pretty excited for when I found Allison Hewitt is Trapped. The book actually started out as a blog (there's hope for me yet!) that was eventually published. I didn't catch it in it's blog form, but it supposedly was a big deal because the way that she wrote it made it more of an interactive zombie experience.

There are some massive plot holes in the book, like the lap-top that will not die and the military internet (I went that route too :/) that never seems to go down, but overall that's easy to overlook.

Roux makes the zombie apocalypse funny because the heroine she creates is sarcastic and witty. We watch her work from the bookstore, across town battling the Undead and horrible people, into an encampment where she has to face ultimate crazies and the long-lost wife of the guy she falls for in the midst of survival. It's all fast-paced and quickly read, but enjoyable the whole way through.

Allison Hewitt is Trapped is a must-read for any zombie fan. Just you know, beware the zombified squirrels!

Score: 5 out of 5

Book Information: Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux is available for purchase through amazon with ISBN 0312658907 from St. Martin's Griffin. It was originally published on January 18, 2011.