The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Macabre......ugh, I love that word.  It says so many things.  It smells sweet like dead leaves.  To say I was stoked to read this book.....so beautiful with a headstone on the cover, is an understatement.  Sadly, so sadly I ended up reading it in snippets.  That is a horrible, horrible way to read anything except a text book.  I like to devour my books.  I digress.......I read it in snippets while I struggled everyday not to hate the school system and the State social workers while I sat behind my desk furtively feeding a child that came to school hungry.  Sorry, I am flashing back and possibly sideways.  I did not saturate myself in the book in a way that the book was due.  So my take on it may not be very honest.

It turned out to be exceedingly witty and crafty.  Bod's (short for Nobody) family was murdered when he was yet an infant.  He was lucky enough to toddle from the house and into the nearest graveyard.  This is where the little tyke ended up living out his childhood, protected and raised by ghosts.  Could there be a better story?  There were times I felt the chill of the graveyard.  I was comforted by the ghostly relationships.  There were thought provoking moments.  I could clap!

Yet, I am not going to give this book a 5.  If I per chance had read this in a better state of mind....or in one sitting, I may have felt more immersed and connected.  This is possibly not Gaiman's fault....but this is the place where my opinion counts....so....

Rating 4
Rating PG  I didn't find it terrifying.  There was murder.  I don't recall any sexual aspects (it has been at least a month since I read this book) and there were some scary-ish happenings since it was about ghosts and partially living beings.

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3)

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead

Book three gets even darker for Rose.  She realizes that she might be taking some of the dark feelings that are conjured in Lissa when she uses magic.  It is nearing graduation and Rose is sent out to do her field test.  Instead of guarding Lissa, she ends up being Christian's guard (Lissa's social misfit boyfriend).  Rose's anger begins to get the best of her.  To make matters worse she starts seeing ghosts.  Having made her first Strigoi kills have only made her closer to the world of the dead.
When a huge group of Strigoi attack the Academy, Rose is faced with losing what she has waited so long for (or at least it felt like it) ....Dimitri.
I loved this book just as much as book two.  Rose has more depth and the psychological toll that it takes to put someone else's needs before your own.....always....is delved into.  Her friendships with other characters and her mother, play a larger role this time around.  And of course the romantic tension keeps building. Very bitter sweet.
Rating 4  Still not top notch lit. but I really did go for the wanting what you can't have aspect.
Rating R teen sex, alcoholism, violence, tense and scary.

Unhallowed Ground

Unhallowed Ground by Heather Graham

Sarah has recently returned to her home town and purchased the home she has coveted since her youth.  The historic home is in one of the oldest cities in Florida, and is ripe with ghost lore and history.  Sarah finds herself in the middle of a ghost story and possibly the target of a serial killer.  The walls of her beloved home are filled with dead bodies from ages past. Her nights are haunted by a historical ghost that just happens to look like the handsome detective Caleb Anderson (yum). Her days are filled helping Caleb search historical records that some how seem connected to the disappearance of young women in present time.

I had a fun time with this book.  It was a quick and easy read.  The setting was fantastic and made me want to head down to Florida (which I have never wanted to do before).  The historical aspect along with the thrill of the grisly and ghostly findings was the perfect mix.  Not to mention the heated romance between Sarah and Caleb.  Total sucker for a little cop love.

Rating 4  Certainly not top notch lit, but fun.
Rating R Things eventually heat up between Sarah and Caleb.  Definitely R rated love.  Danger, murder, ghosts, descriptions of dead bodies.

The Angel

The Angel by Carla Neggers

Keira has a deep Irish history. She is an American artist that illustrates Irish folklore. Keira decides to pursue one mysterious legend about an angel statue all of the way to Ireland. As she delves into the legend of fairies, three Irish brothers and a missing angel statue, a chain of events is set off in Boston and Ireland. Ultimately eerie murders and mysterious happenings are soon attributed to the devil himself. Keira's uncle a Boston detective and her new found love interest Simon try to unveil the murderer........

Loved the Irish setting. I've always found Ireland and its folklore intriguing. I also really liked the detectives. I always have a soft spot for the uniforms. It was a hair scary when you began to wonder if the devil really was the one killing everyone.

Rating 3.5 Great summer read. I liked the romantic parts and the mystery. Nothing breath taking or super unique.

Rating R Murder and sex but not overwhelming amounts.

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

In this edition of A Clockwork Orange, the last chapter is added, which was original to the British book, but taken out of the America version.

The language in this book is a mix of Russian, English and invented slang.

Alex is a teen (Nadsat ......or Russian numbers 11-19) hoodlum with a gang of other boys. Society is over run by the likes of these boys. They spend time in bars, getting high, street fighting and committing heinous crimes against society. Alex likes to shoot up and then listen to classical music. He hallucinates and gets all worked up.

Alex is the leader of his small gang. He at times feels threatened by the other members and beats them up.

The boys beat up an old man coming from the library. They go out into the country and break into a house. They knock around the husband and tear up the book he is writing (A Clockwork Orange) and rape his wife. The final act that puts Alex in prison; the boys go to an older, wealthy part of town where they plan a break in. They want to steal goods from the home. They are unable to gain access through the front door so Alex climbs into an upper story window. By now the old person living there has called the police. Alex comes downstairs and eventually knocks the elderly in the head with a statue. She later dies, solidifying Alex's time in prison. As the police arrive, Alex's buddies chain him up and leave him because he beat them up earlier.

Alex spends two years in prison. (He is committed to a fourteen year term.) He plays the music on a stereo in the prison chapel. He is housed with many other men in one cell. Finally he beats up one man for laying on the same bed. The man dies and the government decides they must do something about the over crowding. They use Alex as a guinea pig in their new treatment.

Alex is taken to some new buildings on the prison grounds. They tell him he will be cured of doing evil and returned to society within two weeks. He gets very excited. He is shown to a nice room that he doesn't have to share. He is given good food and what the doctors tell him are vitamin shots because he is malnourished. Then he is taken to watch movies. He is strapped to a chair and his eyelids are held open. Alex is made to watch graphic violence with classical music. The 'vitamin' shots make him ill. He is conditioned by the government to become ill at the mere thought of violence. When he is able to become ill without the medication and only violence, he is returned to society.

Alex goes home and finds his parent's have rented out his room to someone else. He wanders the streets, goes to a bar, gets high. When he comes down from the high he is suicidal. He can't even think of ending his own life without becoming sick from the violent images in his head. He decides to go to the library and find out a way to kill himself without violence. At the library he runs into the old man that he and his friends beat up on the streets years ago. The old man attacks him along with the other old men in the library. The police come. Alex sees that one of his old gang and one of his enemies have become policemen. They take him out to the county and beat the tar out of him and leave him there. Alex wanders until he just happens upon the house where he and his friends beat the husband and raped the wife. He stumbles to the door and is taken in by the man. The man recognizes Alex from the newspaper article about the government's experiment. He gives Alex food and a place to sleep. He does not realize Alex is the person that broke into his home over two years ago. Alex and his friends would wear masks when committing some of their crimes. The man also named Alexander tells Alex that he will call some of his friends and they will use him as an example that the government has gone too far in taking the will of a person away. The friends come and take Alex to an apartment where they lock him in. By now, because of some of the things Alex has said, Alexander has identified him as one of the people that raped his wife which lead to her death. Alex falls asleep on the bed and wakes to some of his favorite music playing in the next apartment. Unfortunately for Alex he is now conditioned to become violently ill at the sound of this music because it was used during the graphic scenes he was forced to watch. He cannot escape the sound and gets sicker and sicker. Finally he throws himself from the window. The fall is not enough to kill him. He ends up in the hospital.

The government sees that they have gone too far with their experiment and 'cure' Alex, or return him to his former state. His parents come and tell him he may come home. He goes back to his old life and forms a new gang.

The final chapter, formerly left out of the American version; Alex is out with his new gang and begins to feel depressed. They want to go out and cause harm and chaos but Alex doesn't feel like it. The other boys go about their business and Alex goes out for some tea and milk. He sees Pete a member of his old band of friends. Pete only nineteen but newly married to a lovely girl. Alex and Pete talk for a minute. Pete and his wife leave to go to a party. Alex begins to realize that he is not depressed, at the ripe old age of eighteen he is just maturing out of his violent stage. Now he thinks he should begin looking for a wife so they can have a baby.

I loved this book. At first the language threw me off, but you figure it out quickly. (There is a Nadsat Glossary if your book doesn't contain one.) The violence is terrible but strikes a chord. I liked the controversy that it put forth about how far to go to 'cure' society of its many ills. I truly thought about this because of the socialism that is ever creeping nearer under the guise of 'government help'. Honestly, even though I know it is wrong to take someones will away........I was really glad that they did it to Alex. He was a beast.

The book became a little far fetched for me towards the end. The fact that Alex just happens to show up at the same location he committed a crime years ago and the victim and he form some kind of relationship....felt a little contrived. Also the fact that he was repaid with violence by just about everyone he crossed was a bit over the top. And finally his turn towards good by growing out of violence? In some sense most people mature and grow out of some of their youthful mistakes but I'm not sure about growing out of violence to the degree.

Rating 5 I totally recommend this book, BUT...........

Rating R violence, rape, language, drug use, murder.

Breathe a Ghost Story

Breathe a Ghost Story by Cliff McNish

Jack (what an awesome name!) is a severely asthmatic boy living with his mum in an old haunted farm house. Jack is able to sense things from objects and has been touching things to gather the stories of the farm house he just moved into. Soon he realizes that he is not only able to sense things he can actually see things. He begins to see the Ghost Mother. A woman that had lived in the house long ago. She and her daughter lived there. The Ghost Mother did not go to the great beyond but has stayed in the house. There are also ghost children. The children have come into the house at different times and are different ages. The haunting gets pretty creepy. The Ghost Mother has evil intentions. The descriptions of the Nightmare Passage, where you go if you don't go to heaven, are frightening. The Ghost Mother steals the energy of the ghost children and this leaves you feeling semi violated. She also possess Jack's real mother at one point.
Rating 4 I did like the book quite a bit. I wasn't really scared, but I can see that it would be scary for the age group it is aimed at.....4-8 grade.
Rating PG Clean language but scary and the scenes of stealing energy seemed creepy and violating but not really violent

Bunnicula

Bunnicula by James Howe and Deborah Howe

This tale is told by the family dog Harold. The Monroe family find a suspicious little bunny. He is abandoned at the movie theater. After bringing him home and struggling over a name, they decide to keep him and name him Bunnicula.........since the movie they were watching was Dracula. Quickly enough strange happenings! The vegetables are turning white. Is it a blight? Mrs. Monroe thinks so. Or is Bunnicula a vampire? Chester the cat is convinced. He and Harold come up with a plan to rid the family of the blood sucking (veggie juice really) little bunny.

I have to admit that when I read this book when I was little...........I was the itty bitty bittest convinced that this was a real story written by the dog. I was also a little afraid. The book is cute and not at all scary these days. It has a little vampire lore but not enough to freak anyone out. The animals are funny and the family is a nice sweet family all functioning fairly well in society............well except for the mom is a lawyer.

Since we read this as a family I will let my eight year old be the one to rate it.
Rating 5 She liked the vegetables turning white, the antics of the cat (frequently freaked out), and the dog trying to save the bunny.

Rating G

Blood and Chocolate

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

Unfortunately for Blood and Chocolate, the title was the best part. It sounded intriguing and I wanted something to read for Halloween. The book is about a teen girl/ werewolf......Vivian. I kept getting the sense that there was a book before this one because there were a lot of references to things I felt like I should have already known. I still can't figure out if this is true or not, although this book has been made into a movie. Vivian falls in love with a human (meat boy) and wants to reveal herself to him in hopes that he will understand her. Her pack meanwhile is also having problems. They are trying to get a new leader, find a place to settle down, and control maverick werewolves that are endangering pack existence.

The descriptions of a werewolf changes were interesting and well articulated. I wanted to know what would happen between Vivian and Aiden (the meat boy). Besides that this book was basically trash. The family situation that Vivian comes from is disgusting to even have to ponder on.....although I feel like it might be common in some homes. Vivians' mother is only concerned about her own sex life and cares nothing for her daughter. Vivian is overtly sexualized for a teen. It's mostly all she thinks about......actually I think that is what the whole book is about. Strangely though she isn't actually having any.

Rating 2 ........I finished it because I wanted to know what happened in the end, but it was a waste of time when I could have been reading something better, or doing laundry.

Rating R swearing, murder, violence, sexual content, poor family relationships (the mother wants Vivian to drink and have sex as long as it doesn't interfere with her drinking and having sex).

Lost Boys

Wow, okay the book picture turned out bigger than I expected!!

This is Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card.

OSC is LDS. He is an author. I don't think that makes him an LDS author though. (He's better known for his Sci Fi series 'Ender's Game" which is also really good.) With that said............

I was absolutely shaken by this book. It is one of those things you read and then it sort of stirs about your brain for awhile after. Step and his wife DeAnne have 3 kids and one on the way. Step is a computer programer. He moves his family to a small southern town for his job. In the town, there have been a rash of disappearing boys. How the family ever overlooks this and doesn't know every single fact, including the missing children's favorite color is beyond me. I mean........ maybe I'm a nut, but I am a mother living in a small town. We obsess about these kinds of things. The Fletchers don't. Many crudy things befall this family. It seems for a bit that the book isn't addressing what you think it is supposed to be about. Then at some point I realized the whole story is what the book is about. How bad things happen to good people, even the ones that pray and go to church. (The family is LDS and that does play a part in their characters. I would say that it doesn't detract from the book, for anyone not wanting to read LDS fiction. This IS NOT LDS fiction.) The oldest son Stevie has an incredibly rough, even painful time at the new school. He begins haning out with what the family assumes are imaginary friends. The friends just happen to have the same names as the 'lost boys'. (Hello parents, get a clue.) Beyond the fact that the parents seems to be missing a screw and not worrying themselves into a good mouth foaming................I LOVE this book. I totally identify with Step's personality. He's a little mouthy and totally defends his child. Yeah Step, you're the man. Way to whoop some tail! DeAnne is okay too, very motherly. I like her. Great story line, not too many holes. Characters you can totally get into. Then you get freaked out. Then you bawl your eyes out. That is what I call a wicked good read. Make me FEEL something!
So I give this book a 5. I would rate it between PG and PG 13. Step has a mouth on him. Remember.............I have a high threshold for language. I really don't remember much of it, but I do know DeAnne gets mad at Step for his language, other wise I probably wouldn't remember anything. Sorry about any vagueness, I don't want to spoil any parts of the book. Go read something wicked good!