If you were here a couple of weeks ago for the Great Author Tantrum of ’24 when apparently I should have been drawn and quartered for faili
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If you were here a couple of weeks ago for the Great Author Tantrum of ’24 when apparently I should have been drawn and quartered for failing to read/review an advanced copy within a week of receiving it, then maybe I should be burned at the stake for this one since it was released in 2021, I received it as an ARC and three years later I just now finally got around to it. And to be 100% honest, I probably wouldn’t have even then if I had not been looking for a murder show to binge on the television and saw this title pop up which led to “hmmmmm, don’t I have a book by that name????” Also? I didn’t even read it. This was my latest “walk ‘n talk” that I finished during my lunch hour just now that I checked out via audio from the library.
But I digress . . . .
I REALLY appreciated the way this was delivered. I’m not a big true crime reader, but this approach to tell the VICTIM’S story with the perpetrator only coming in at the end to wrap up how he was caught and for him to get his comeuppance was such a change of pace.
This story of a serial killer literally didn’t even have a Wikipedia page before the book was written was one that had already been mishandled for eternity, so I appreciated the sensitivity with which it was told. I also “enjoyed” (wrong term, but I’m no tortured poet so you get what you get) the history of the hole-in-the-wall sort of gay bar scene in NYC during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s instead of only ever hearing about the Stonewall Riots, the terror of the AIDS epidemic, and how newfound technology so often cracks the cold case (like the new way of lifting fingerprints here or “23andMe” with the Golden State Killer).
If you are looking for a gory detailed sort of bloodbath serial killer book, this won’t be for you, but I thought it was so well done and the narration was great. Orrrrrrrrr, if you have Max you can simply watch the docuseries.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
Generally when a movie I am interested in gets released I immediately Google it to see if it was a book (because, duh, the book is nearly a
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Generally when a movie I am interested in gets released I immediately Google it to see if it was a book (because, duh, the book is nearly always better – except Forrest Gump - I will eternally shame that book for being turrrrrible). This time around, however, I bitched and moaned about why American Fiction was not being released to one of the twelve thousand streaming services I subscribed to and then only after it won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay did I think “ADAPTED?!?!?!?! WTF ADAPTED!” because . . . .
And then! And then I effing DID finally Google it and discovered it was by my recently discovered best friend Percival Everett who totally blew my mind with The Trees and whose books I have been picking up every few months or so because he’s just brilliant.
After being on the library waiting list for what felt like a billion years my turn finally came around and I got to crawl around in Thelonious (Monk) Ellison’s head for a while. I will stand behind my gif above and say I truly am not smart enough to understand all of the fishing and woodworking interludes that were thrown in here, but the gist of the main story was well worth the price of admission and I’m whining even more that the film went to some bullshit MGM+ or whatever crap that I DON’T pay for monthly.
As I said, the story here is about Monk – an author of previously published (but don’t really sell) smarty smarts who has been receiving rejection after rejection from publishing houses for his newest novel. After seeing the praise and glory, hundreds of thousands of books sold, million dollar movie rights and a knockoff “Oprah’s Book Club” singing the praises of a new release entitled We's Lives in Da Ghetto Monk takes to the keyboard and pens his own “true plight” *cough satire cough* of the “Authentic Black Experience” under a pen name – only to receive even MORE praise than the aforementioned “Ghetto” (including a National Book Award nomination – for which he is on the judging panel). Then you add in a “maybe you can go home again” subplot featuring a brother, sister, aging mother and a box full of dearly departed dad’s secrets and you have nearly a home run of a novel.
And talk about life imitating art. Erasure originally was released over 20 years ago, got nominated for the Pulitzer and yet most people probably never even heard of it until it was finally made into a film. If you haven’t taken time to read Everett yet, you are truly missing out and should add him to your TBR post haste.
This is a book that I have put on hold at the library/removed from hold at the library umpteen times for no real reason aside from the size of the waiThis is a book that I have put on hold at the library/removed from hold at the library umpteen times for no real reason aside from the size of the waiting list. Once the hub-bub had finally died down I noticed it was going to be turned into a series and I figured I better finally take my turn when it was offered to me in case some jackhole at work watched it and decided to spoil everything at the coffee station one morning.
At its heart, Black Cake is the story of . . . .
You children need to know about your family, about where we come from, about how I really met your father. You two need to know about your sister.
Siblings Byron and Benny are reunited for their mother’s funeral and reading of her will – where they are presented with a recording detailing their family history . . . including a sister neither knew existed.
The problem here is with the telling – not the tale. The story was intricately woven and you know I’m always down for some family secrets. However, the MULTITUDE of timelines and timehops and narrators would have made this extremely difficult for me to follow if I weren’t such a fast reader. It also fell victim to the “everything but the kitchen sink” when it came to including every single hot button topic that could possibly be included. Those things are very important to talk/write about, but this was a family drama so it felt disconnected and thrown in just to make sure the author wasn’t accused of NOT throwing it in.
Oh, I love Alfred Molina!!!! But I only have eyes for horrible reality television so I went to the ol’ Google to see if this series was a book – AND IT WAS! I did the second thing I do best which was to forego all of the advanced copies I have been lucky to receive along with my giant stack of already checked out library books and downloaded this one in order to bump it to the top of Mt. TBR.
I’m so glad I did. This was a good old fashioned murder mystery. Senior citizen Jane was a lifelong resident of Three Pines that no one had anything bad to say about. So how did she end up dead in the forest after being shot with an arrow? Was it simply a hunting accident with a shooter who is scared to come forth and admit to his deadly case of mistaken identity? Or is it worse and it was a murder? Only Chief Inspector Gamache and his crew will be able to tell us the answer.
So like I said, this was a solid murder mystery with some olde timey Hercule Poirot vibes. I had no idea who could have done it and meeting everyone in the community firmly held my interest at a time when my brain has been pretty easy to distract. I’m not a series reader, as you probably know, so I don’t know if I will continue on, but this was a quality stand-alone. ...more
Nothing like having an “advanced” copy of a book that you don’t read until a year after publication! I was lucky enough to get this from Berkley but nNothing like having an “advanced” copy of a book that you don’t read until a year after publication! I was lucky enough to get this from Berkley but never read it and then it was announced back in January my newest obsession Phoebe Waller-Bridge had come to an agreement with Amazon to adapt it into a series and I still didn’t read it. What can I say? I’m a mood reader and never quite found myself in the mood. But now it’s spoooooky season and I figured a book about Hell had to at least sort of fit in with Halloween so I decided to give it a whirl.
Boy was I surprised with what this ended up being! I knew the bare bones before going in: Peyote Trip (horrible new name assignments are one of Hell’s never ending punishments – just like only the FIFTH pen you try to write with will actually produce ink, Jägermeister is the only alcoholic beverage that can be relied on being served at the local watering hole and there’s ALWAYS a car alarm going off somewhere on the street, but you can’t ever seem to locate it just to name a few others) works on the 5th Floor of Hell (a pretty decent gig, compared to the lower levels) and has set his sights on a “hat trick” of sorts where he’ll get the entire Harrison family to agree to sell their souls. He believes if he can pull this off, he just might get himself out of hell.
But then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But then you have ANOTHER narrative. This one is with the aforementioned Harrison family themselves back on Earth and oh it is juuuuuuuuuuuicy family drama with a twist I did not see coming.
What a genre bender and an unexpected surprise. Highly recommended.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review....more
The husband was out of town last week so I was perusing the 50,000,000 streaming services we subscribe to for something brainless and fun and cutesie The husband was out of town last week so I was perusing the 50,000,000 streaming services we subscribe to for something brainless and fun and cutesie to maybe watch. I ran across this title and was almost positive it was a book first and turns out I was right. So then I do what I do and I didn’t watch the movie, but instead immediately went to the library to download a copy to read instead.
Now that I’m finished I’m seeing the Goodreads’ rating sits at 2.85?!?!?!?
I’m wondering if maybe Grant Ginder was simply ahead of his time because stories about dysfunction junction starring not the nicest people in the world have become sort of the rage. And these people weren’t even that bad once you got to know them a little. (Except for Mark. He was a real twat.) After being trolled incessantly for daring to not love all the things about Remarkably Bright Creatures - Cameron in particular – it was nice to read a story where the attitudes/behaviors/choices of each character were explained and everyone ended up with a believable redemption arc.
I liked this one enough for several of you who didn’t ; ) I hope the film version is just as good. ...more
I didn’t want to review this book until I had finally watched the Prime Movie version – which I finally got around to this weekend. You see, the premiI didn’t want to review this book until I had finally watched the Prime Movie version – which I finally got around to this weekend. You see, the premise of the print version was sure to be an absolutely adorable romcom: two different fellas are shopping at . . . .
One for a generic Christmas present for his girlfriend, the other for the Queen Mary of all Tiffany’s gifts for his. They find their bags doing the ol’ swippy swappy during an accident. Then it’s all about how to correct that epic boo-boo while realizing maybe who they thought was “the one” actually wasn’t until the end when . . . .
Like I said, super cute premise, but the book left a lot to be desired. Mainly it was the pacing. The story moved at a snail’s slog only to really ramp up to 100MPH at the very end. The book version also had me feeling super sorry for the intended recipient of the ring for most of the story as well. She really needed to be presented as a bad choice right from the beginning in order for this idea to work. Good news is, the movie version was just as cute as I hoped it would be and while Reese Witherspoon’s book club selections often leave me shaking my head, she (and her production company) are real good at the screen versions of romcoms. Maybe skip the book and just watch this one instead....more
I picked up Cherry after seeing the extremely stylized and eye-catching trailer for the Apple + film starring Spiderman and brought to life by the gentlemen who also introduced me to some of my best fictional friends via Community and Arrested Development . . .
The movie looked intriguing, but at some point I have to put my foot down when it comes to all of these subscription streaming services, so Apple got the ixnay and I went to the library.
And yeah, I’m clearly not the target demographic for this. The writing was simply turrrrrrrible and talk about a slog when it came to story (or lack thereof). I’m being super generous in giving this 2 Stars, but the part in Iraq had promise and called to mind movies of the past like Platoon or Full Metal Jacket. The rest could line the cat box. Jesus' Son meets Reservoir Dogs? In Nico Walker's dreams maybe. ...more
Yep, I really sucked a turtle on this cult classic. Trainspotting popped up because the film was showing on one of the twelve billion channels we overpay for and rarely watch which led me to do what I do best – not watch the movie and instead check out the book.
Be forewarned before beginning that this undertaking is not for the faint of heart. And I’m not talking about the content. I’m not a reader who complains about stories written using accents, but boy oh boy does this one require your undivided attention for a bit before you settle in to the flow. As far as the subject matter goes? I seriously channeled my inner Captain Murtaugh here. The only thing I recall from the movie 100 years ago was the dead baby scene, but even that didn’t have the emotional impact on paper for me. I’m all about uncomfortable subject matter and unlikeable characters, but this one just left me feeling “meh.” Nearly 30 years ago I’m sure this was as fresh and innovative as declared on the bookjacket. Reading it today where opioid addiction has touched nearly everyone in some way, shape or form - these very unconnected vignettes embracing the addict/criminal/rapey/uggo lifestyle was more like reading some sort of shockporn . . . .
If this film hasn’t been canceled yet I’m sure it’s simply an oversight due to a lack of awareness of its existence. Now that the actual –
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If this film hasn’t been canceled yet I’m sure it’s simply an oversight due to a lack of awareness of its existence. Now that the actual – rather than only virtual – library is back open for business full time (and no longer even with a mask ordinance *gasp*!) I went and checked out fourteen books at once (and that’s in addition to all of the other library checkouts and ARCs already being neglected on my Kindle). Then I thought “how in the eff am I going to read all of these in just a few weeks???” So I started with the shortest and knocked three out in one day like the no-life having loser I am : )
So back to my original thought: There’s no way this puppy would ever pass the sniff test with generation butthurt as most likely the only thing that would ever be noted is that the story is about a sixteen year old who gets involved with a man twice her age. And I’ll admit having said relationship go pretty much unquestioned by everyone else in the story (parents especially) came as a bit of a shock to my soft sensibilities as well. But this story is not about shock and awe, or the taboo – it is simply about a decision to be made. Should Jenny follow her (father’s) dream and attend Oxford or should she simply resign herself to marriage and a middle-class lifestyle immediately upon graduation? What sacrifices will she make whichever choice she makes?
I’ve read everything Hornby has written – which was pretty much the only reason I grabbed this. I didn’t know anything about it before beginning and since I’m a book reader and not a screenplay reader I’m sure the film version would have been more satisfying for me since there is little depth in the page count allotted. That being said, the more I got to know David the more intrigued I became and the big reveal was certainly worth the price of admission. If I ever come across the movie I’ll give it a looky-look. ...more
Y’all remember when this movie came out???? I’m a geezer with a super sketch memory so it took me awhile to remember the details while I was reading tY’all remember when this movie came out???? I’m a geezer with a super sketch memory so it took me awhile to remember the details while I was reading this blast from the past, but when I did????
Turns out the book? Notsamuch. While the premise remains the same - there’s a VHS tape that if watched will wind up with the viewer dead in seven days - there’s really only one dude and his rapey buddy who are trying to get to the bottom of things. Said dude (Asakawa) is a journalist who ends up traveling the countryside in search of the origin of this tape after four teens (one his niece) all die of random heart failure and then he (and rapey pal, his wife and his daughter) all watch it too. The countdown is on. Seven days to solve the mystery or . . . .
This pales in comparison to the sheer terror provided by the film, buuuuuuuut it’s also the first in the series so maybe the chills and thrills ramp up in future volumes. And speaking of chills and thrills, you know this was a recommendation for the . . . .
“You are going to Missouri, then,” he said. “I guess so.”
This is Missouri’s bicentennial week so I figured it was kismet that Cutter and Bone pop“You are going to Missouri, then,” he said. “I guess so.”
This is Missouri’s bicentennial week so I figured it was kismet that Cutter and Bone popped up as a recommendation when I was searching out something gritty. Full disclosure: I was actually trying to track down some fictionalization à la David Joy style about Humboldt County, California after starting the Netflix documentary series Murder Mountain and got this instead. Also full disclosure: the lion’s share of this story takes place in the Santa Barbara area and not in Missouri.
The story here is about two fellas named Cutter and Bone (duh) and their attempt at either solving, avenging or simply shaking down the person they think may be responsible for killing a young woman and dumping her in a trash can.
There’s not a whole lot I have to say about this one. The last quarter was probably 5 Star worthy, but as a whole it was a bit of a mess. Starting with the catalyst behind the whole tracking down of business tycoon J.J. Wolfe. Not to mention I am not a fan of dialogue that tries too hard to be witty but comes off as page upon page of "dad jokes."
As I said above, I am a lover of grit lit or hick lit or whatever you want to call it. I am also a lover of unloveable characters and “buddy cop” tales and sometimes it’s perfectly fine for them to yuck it up whilst speaking like in Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard series. I’m always down for a good ol’ pull at the heartstrings like the aforementioned David Joy is so good at doing. I think this simply fell victim to a “been there done that bought the t-shirt” kind of experience. Good news is it has aged well, bad news is it wasn’t exactly sure what type of story it wanted to be.
The Mosquito Coast - otherwise known as my backyard in July *ba-dum ching*
I picked this up after seeing the preview for the new Apple TV series. (I aThe Mosquito Coast - otherwise known as my backyard in July *ba-dum ching*
I picked this up after seeing the preview for the new Apple TV series. (I also vaguely recall it being a film when I was a kid, but I don’t think I ever watched it.) “Inspired by” the book might have been a better way to describe the reality of what I read compared to my expectations regarding the story based on the commercial. Liberties were definitely taken in an attempt to turn this into a thriller rather than just being about a whackadoo who moves his entire family to the Honduran jungle to create his own utopia.
It was a fast enough read, but I can’t say I enjoyed much of the book. If you’re looking for a story about a holier than thou white dude who uproots his family believing he is going to make the world a better place I recommend skipping this and reading The Poisonwood Bible instead. ...more
Nothing like being a privileged white condescending jackass/total enabler who spends his kid’s formative years bragging about his own drug use and then remains in a constant state of denial about how fucked his kid is for eternity. And even better – the kid apparently needed fucking PSYCHIATRIC HELP HIS ENTIRE GODDAMN LIFE, but was never taken to anything but a therapist (who was another piece of shit and only offered “boys will be boys” or “all kids go through phases” type of advice) because Cool Dad is super cool and would never subject his perfect “beautiful boy” to something that could actually help him but might have the undesired side effect of besmirching the good family name with a diagnosis of multiple mental illnesses.
This book is crap. Parents who cash in on their children’s problems are crap. The now grown kid is a selfish piece of crap. The message to never give up is crap. If you know me you know I had a sister who died from a heroin overdose. Our family would have been so much better off if we all had cut ties with her years before her addiction finally won. It doesn’t make you a bad person to say enough is enough – it makes you a realist with a sense of self-preservation and it protects those who actually give a shit about their life and their loved ones from dealing with the aftermath of everything a garbage human can inflict on you for potentially the next 50 fucking years.
I read this with my kid because it was assigned to him at school and I wasn’t about to make him go it alone. Here’s an extra fuck you to teachers who don’t at least let students pick their own selection out of a list and assign 1 Star quality tragiporn as mandatory reading....more
The News of the World is the tale of an aged traveling news reader who takes on the burden of delivering an orphan who was kidnapped and held for the The News of the World is the tale of an aged traveling news reader who takes on the burden of delivering an orphan who was kidnapped and held for the past several years by the Kiowa tribe to her aunt and uncle. For a fifty dollar coin Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd agrees to navigate the rough terrain and even rougher fellow travelers on a 400 mile journey across Texas.
Truth be told, I am just not a big fan of Westerns. If I’m going to be completely honest, the only reason I bothered picking this one up is because . . . .
If America’s Dad says it’s a project worth pursuing, I’m likely to believe him.
At only a couple of hundred pages, the compact size of this story helps even non-fans of the genre like myself really dive in and not come up for air until the end. The developing grandfatherly relationship between the “Kep-dun” and Johanna is one that is sure to tug at the heartstrings and one epic shootout helps propel the rating. It’s just kind of impossible not to give this one 4 Stars. ...more
Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.
I remember watching this movie about a billion and a half years ago and not particularly loving it all that much. The book, however . . . . .
Why the hell didn’t I knock this off the TBR sooner? I even owned the damned thing!
This is the story of sisters (and aunts and daughters) who find themselves in a unique situation when one old flame just won’t stay in the ground where he belongs.
It has just come to my attention that there are additional books which create a series which runs in a reverse timeline. I’m hoping that means the aunts get a book and Maria Owens gets one as well. I’d love to read more about those gals : ) ...more
The Old Man isn’t my typical genre, but thanks to Archer returning to FX for another season I caught a commercial for the television series and, as you may have guessed, opted for the print version rather than pretending I could sit week after week watching an hour long program that didn’t involve heavily make-upped, big-haired housewives screeching at each other and flipping tables.
The premise here is that "Dan Chase" has lived a quiet life in Vermont for the past 35 years. Before that, however, he was a member of the special forces assigned the task of turning over millions of government dollars to some rebel forces. When it comes to his attention the money isn't making into the hands it was supposed to and instead has been kept by the middleman in the transaction, Chase pulls a double cross and steals it back. Unfortunately, the powers that be in the states weren't officially on board with that plan, making him a marked man and now . . . .
Like I said, I can’t remember the last time I picked up one of these cat and mouse/manhunt/government conspiracy/whatever you want to call this type of book. I just figured if Jeff Bridges signed on, there’s a decent chance I would enjoy it. And I was right. This took about 12 seconds to read, the action was good, the story easy to follow, the dialogue solid with a delightful tinge of humor to it (the “Old Man” and the female lead had a great banter that reminded me of Robert B. Parker’s Spencer - and it really made me wish Burt Reynolds were still around to provide the narration on the audio version of this one).
Big Fish had been on my TBR for eternity after watching the film version eons ago and getting completely swept up in its magic. The basics regarding the story is a man returns home for his father’s last days and is told a series of what can only be tall tales that are presented as said father’s life story. Unfortunately this is one of the rare occasions where the movie actually surpasses the novel as far as quality. That being said, I thought it was a lovely tribute to the author’s father.
Thanks to the library for always pushing me to explore new worlds, or in this case . . . .
Lockdown mode has me all out of whack when it comes to posting reviews, but this was one of the recommended selections for this year’s challenge and eventually I’ll be able to go retrieve my major award for continually being a reader of many books : ) ...more
I had zero intention of ever picking this book up after having a real-not-so-grFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
3.5 Stars
I had zero intention of ever picking this book up after having a real-not-so-great-time with Everything I Never Told You. Even when it became a show with my decades-long girl crush Reese as the star and my years-but-not-quite-decades-long newer crush Kerry as the other star. And I even have Hulu thanks a package trio that began with the hubs’ obsession with Marvel (hence Disney+) and ESPN the Ocho (hence massive amounts of tears because everything sportsball related has been cancelled for 2020 and you have to watch old Tiger Woods victories on repeat if you want any Saturday action). But then my real-life reading pal Reggie told me it was good and we are of like minds when it comes to books and it was also available for instant checkout through the library so I figured what the hell.
In case you’re new here, allow me to sum up my personality in .gif format for you . . . . .
During lockdown I have been mixing up my reading as much as possible to keep things from blending into one another (especially thrillers – boy do I forget what those are about like 12 seconds after finishing the book), but I really dig a story full of unlikeable people. Generally I tend to root for the underdog (even when they are murderers or meth-heads), but everyone once in a while I really appreciate a book where I can just kind of hate on everyone. Thus was the case with Little Fires Everywhere. When my husband asked what it was like, my response was pretty much . . . .
I am just old enough to remember when surrogacy and foreign adoption and birth mother rights were new and the court battles that went on regarding change of mind or change of heart. Placing this firmly in that time (with subtle reminders in the form of television programs/songs/election campaigns, etc.) was a smart choice by the author. This would be a fun one for a book club to see just which characters people found sympathetic/which side of some of these hot button topics people choose. And then there would be me sitting in the corner by myself with my shitty attitude that found all three female leads to be atrocious . . . . .
Which I should have been smart enough to realize, but somehow never put two-and-two together. When threats of the library shutting down temporarily sprouted, I went ahead and added this oldie but goodie to my wheelbarrow of checkouts. There’s not a whole lot to say about it. Mr. and Mrs. Blandings are New Yorkers raising a couple of kids and find themselves quite comfortable financially after he strikes gold writing ad copy for a popular laxative so they decide to build a house in the country. Connecticut is where they find their money pit and it’s one disaster after another until their $10,000 dream house is complete – at the cost of approximately $55,000.
It probably goes without saying that this book is exhausting to read. While it is humorous (and was based on the author’s own nightmares of building), it will wear you out with its over-the-top-ed-ness (new word). The plus side is the weird almost affair between Muriel Blandings and the family attorney Bill Cole does not exist in the paper format. (And can we just talk about that? Who would even consider banging uggo Melvyn Douglas when Cary Grant’s delicious dimple was in bed next to you????)
Anywho, get the book or not. I’m sure the author won’t care since he’s been dead for 50 years. I highly recommend checking out both films, however. ...more
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