The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

 

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Living in two worlds is exhausting, and no one knows this better than sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston. His working-class, diverse neighborhood is a far cry from the world of St. Clair Prep where he is one of the only Black students, constantly at the mercy of racist teachers and peers who don't understand him. But when his neighbor—a survivor of a grisly school shooting—is murdered and the bloody initials of the now-dead shooter, Sawyer Doom, are left on the entryway wall of Jake's home. Jake is forced to confront another world he wishes he could escape—the world of the dead.

As a medium, Jake sees ghosts around him all the time. Most are harmless. Stuck in their death loops as they relive their deaths over and over again, they rarely interact with people. And while for most of his life Jake has avoided them, this time there is no running away. Sawyer was a troubled teen who shot and killed six kids at a local high school before taking his own life. Now he's a powerful, vengeful ghost, and he has plans for his afterlife—plans thay include Jake. When Sawyer begins stalking him, high school becomes a different kind of survival game—one Jake is not sure he can win. 

I’ve hemmed and hawed for far longer than I should have — I’m talking months — over how I wanted to start this review. Even now, as I’m typing, I feel like someone flipping through every streaming app they own, unable to settle on something to watch. I guess I’m just going to start typing and see what comes out. If I need to clean it up later, I will. It’s not like y’all will be able to tell the difference.

I absolutely love this book and think everyone who is even a little into YA should read it — if you’re comfortable with the themes it explores. The Taking of Jake Livingston ventures into very dark territory, and I’m not exaggerating when I say certain aspects of the narrative have stayed with me far longer than usual. That lingering weight is part of the reason I’ve had such a damned hard time writing this review. I think it’s impossible to talk about this book without discussing the gut punch that is Sawyer Doom, so I hope you’ll stick with me.

When I reviewed Come Knocking by Mike Bockoven, I discussed how the author had to strike a balance between showing us why the killer felt justified in doing something so barbaric and horrifying, without actually excusing or agreeing with him. That same balance had to be struck in The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass, and I think he handled it brilliantly — though perhaps with a bit more detail than I was expecting.

Instead of giving us a “manifesto” at the end of the book, Douglass lets us into Sawyer’s head throughout the story, as he relives the relentless abuse and bullying he endured for years. Those sections are not comfortable to read. I felt for this young man — no one should have to live through what he did. I can’t imagine the pain and anger that must have flowed through that boy’s veins. Where Douglass surpasses Bockoven, in my opinion, is that by allowing us into Sawyer’s head — the head of an evil, vengeful ghost — he removes any ambiguity. Whatever sympathy we might begin with hardens into horror and hatred as Sawyer torments Jake. Douglass does not shy away from making him as hate-filled and monstrous as any character I’ve read in a long time. By the end of this book, you will loathe Sawyer as much as you adore Jake.

I dare anyone to read this novel and not take an instant liking to Jake. He faces his own bullying, and while it makes him withdrawn and awkward at times, he never turns that pain outward onto others. He’s too busy trying to survive his day-to-day life. How anyone could cope with that — on top of the ability to see dead people — is beyond me. The inner strength that would require is admirable, and I’m not sure I could handle it half as well as Jake does.

Though he’s forced to confront Sawyer, Jake — with the emotional support of his family and friends, including a possible new boyfriend — faces it head-on. He doesn’t come out unscathed, but he may have just found a new version of himself in the process.

At its heart, this is a story built on contrast — two young men faced with unimaginable pain. Both are bullied. Both are isolated. Both are shaped by cruelty. But only one chooses to rise above it. Only one chooses to protect rather than harm.

And it’s in that contrast that this story has stayed with me, lingering far longer than I ever expected.

The Handsel Witches by Ryan J Hamshaw

 

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Four months after the defeat of the Dark Friars, Liam O'Connor is finally finding some balance in life. He's juggling college, his friends, and his role as a Keeper of the Crossing. But that balance is about to break, and his friends’ safety is on the line.

Tariq Ashar is trying to make his new relationship with Liam work while dealing with old secrets tied to Lucas Martindale, the obnoxious and unpredictable grandson of the Head of the Guild. When Lucas’ troubled past comes back to haunt him, it pulls Tariq and Liam into danger, putting everything at risk.

Meanwhile, a new enemy is rising in Sarumbourne, driven by anger and revenge. As darkness spreads through the city, the Keepers must fight to protect it - or lose what they’ve sworn to defend.

Do you have those books that, no matter the genre, become comfort reads almost immediately? The kind where, a paragraph or two in, you know you’re safe. You can set the rest of the world aside and just sink into the story as the words unfold on the page. I have far too many of those to list, but to give you an idea, they include The Last Herald Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and the A Matter of Time series by Mary Calmes—along with, honestly, most of her books. I’m also pretty sure the Keepers of the Crossing series by Ryan J Hamshaw has officially joined that group.

I’m not ready to say I’m a full-on YA reader yet, but I might be getting there. Or at least I’m becoming a fan of a very specific flavor of YA: a little dark, a little queer, and a whole lot of fun. I don’t know why it still surprises me how good some YA authors are at building immersive worlds and filling them with characters I don’t just enjoy reading about, but actually come to care about. That happened to me years ago with Rotters by Daniel Kraus, and again earlier this year with The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass (a review I swear I’ll write eventually). Both pulled me into worlds I never wanted to leave. The world Ryan J. Hamshaw has created in the Keepers of the Crossing series fits right in with those.

What really surprised me was how The Dark Friars pulled me in… and then The Handsel Witches went and did it all over again. I honestly think I enjoyed this second book even more than the first. The stakes are higher this time around, especially when it comes to the people Liam loves most. The action is more intense, and the vampire fight alone is worth every moment spent in this version of Sarumbourne. 

But as much as I enjoyed the story itself, that’s not the reason I know I’ll be rereading this series for years. That credit goes to Liam, Tariq, Jack, Lily, and the rest of the cast (including Lucas). These are characters the author clearly loves, and that affection comes through on the page. There’s an intentionality to how they’re written that makes this series feel like a comfort read, even when things get dark. They’re flawed, insecure, hopeful, and constantly growing into themselves—and I’m more than happy to keep spending time with them as they do.

The Dark Friars by Ryan J Hamshaw

 

Synopsis From Goodreads:

For Seventeen-year-old Liam O’Connor, nightmares become reality when he dreams of a fellow student's murder. Eager to uncover the truth, Liam and his friends investigate, revealing hidden secrets about his identity.

Targeted by the menacing Dark Friars, Liam is saved by the enigmatic Tariq, who introduces him to a supernatural world where good and evil battle in the shadows.

Can Liam juggle college, family, friendships, and desires while bearing the heavy responsibilities of his newfound destiny?

Against the picturesque cathedral city of Sarumbourne, the looming threat of the Dark Friars intensifies, and Liam's normal life shatters amid the chaos.

To be perfectly honest, this synopsis bores me to tears and gives the reader absolutely no clue how fantastic this book actually is. At least, it was for me. Not a single second was wasted. I was hooked from the first few sentences as we get dropped right into Liam’s nightmarishly violent dream. I was so sucked in that the second I finished, I bought a copy—even though it’s on Kindle Unlimited—and then bought the second book a few minutes later. I had zero self-control.

I don’t read a ton of YA. I think I read one or two last year, maybe the same this year. I’m only mentioning this because I don’t have a huge backlog to compare The Dark Friars to, but I can say I enjoyed it as much as my favorite YA of all time, Rotters by Daniel Kraus—just for completely different reasons. Liam, his friends Lily and Jack, Tariq, and the rest of the Keepers and Guild members pulled me straight into a world of immensee magic and the fight between those trying to protect it and those who want to twist it for their own nefarious means.

In a not-small way, The Dark Friars reminds me of my favorite TV show of all time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So much so that I’m giving in and breaking out the bullet points, though I still wish I could get away with using a giant Venn diagram.

• Like Buffy, Liam gets hit with immense power after the violent death of his predecessor. Unlike Buffy, Liam was forced to dream about that violent death for days.

• Buffy becomes the Slayer. Liam becomes the newest Keeper—one of six guardians protecting Sarumbourne from every manner of magical nightmare: shapeshifters, vampires, demons, and, of course, the Dark Friars.

• Buffy has the Watchers Council. Liam and the other Keepers have The Guild.

• Buffy has Willow and Xander. Liam has Lily and Jack—and honestly, I’d trade Xander for Jack in half a heartbeat. Jack is sooooo much better.

• Buffy has Angel. Liam has Tariq, and I’m already confident that Liam and Tariq are going to have a far healthier go of things.

That’s not to say the world the author has created feels derivative, because it absolutely doesn’t. This world stands entirely on its own and feels fully realized—a feat that can be difficult to pull off in the first book of a series. I could follow the paths of Craythorn Forest and Grovely Wood. The campus of Sarumbourne College is as real to me as my own. And I desperately want to wander the halls and rooms of The Seven Angels for myself. I think I would like it there.

All I know is that there better be a third, fourth, fifth, and twelfth book soon. Especially if they all have these gorgeous covers.

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

 

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

When Quinn and her father move to a tiny town with a weird clown for a mascot, they're looking for a fresh start. But ever since the town's only factory shut down, Kettle Springs has been cracked in half.

Most of the town believes that the kids are to blame. After all, the juniors and seniors at Kettle Springs High are the ones who threw the party where Arthur Hill's daughter died. They're the ones who set the abandoned factory on fire and who spend all their time posting pranks on YouTube. They have no respect and no idea what it means to work hard.

For the kids, it's the other way around And now Kettle Springs is caught in a constant battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It's a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until one homicidal clown with a porkpie hat and a red nose decides to end it for good.

Because if your opponents all die, you win the debate by default.

I’ve only been to Albuquerque, New Mexico once in my life—and that was more than enough. I don’t remember the exact year, but it was sometime around seventh or eighth grade, back when my family was traveling with a carnival. I hated that stop from the moment we pulled in. Within a day, my left eye had swollen shut, and I was forced to wear an eye patch. Spoiler alert: it’s not nearly as fun as pirates make it look.

The third night we were there, after the midway had shut down, my younger brother and I got hungry and decided to walk three blocks to what I think was a Whataburger. We were passing what looked like a car lot when a dog rushed the fence. We bolted across the street—and that’s when I saw what was in the window of the building we’d just reached. I immediately turned around and ran right back across. I’d rather take my chances with a guard dog than face a creepy-ass mechanical clown moving in a store window in the middle of the night.

I don’t like clowns. I never have. They’re wrong in a way that gets under your skin. There’s something about those painted faces—those fixed smiles—that hides whatever’s really underneath. Look at John Wayne Gacy. That’s reason enough. I hate them so much that a friend once bought me a shirt that said, Can’t sleep. Clowns will eat me. They thought it was funny. I thought it was prophetic. 

Once, at a Hometown Buffet, a clown came in to make balloon animals. I left mid-meal, plate still full. I wasn’t about to sit there while that greasepainted demon floated toward my table. Clowns are my boogeyman.

Now, I do better when the clowns are fictional—on a page or a screen. Since they’re not physically in my space, I can manage. In a perverse way, I even enjoy testing the limits of what I can handle when it comes to dealing with them. Naturally, since I don’t have to look at them, I prefer reading about those murderous fiends from hell. Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare is chock-full of them.

I won’t go into too many details because I don’t want to spoil the blood-soaked fun, but I will say this: the body count is massive—at least 33 people die, many by crossbow. The book is bloody without being gory, something I’m eternally thankful for. I love horror, but I’ve never been a fan of gore for gore’s sake. The humor is dark (which is probably why I loved it so much), and the queer representation is surprisingly good—without falling into the “bury your gays” trope that annoys the hell out of me.

It’s a lot of fun for a teen slasher novel. The author clearly loves the genre and plays with its tropes in a way that feels fresh instead of tired. I had an absolute blast reading it, and while the movie version was enjoyable, I—unsurprisingly—prefer the book. Now I just need to read the sequels.

And just in case you were wondering, the reason my eye swelled shut in Albuquerque was because of mountain cedar, which is everywhere there. I didn’t find that out until much later, when I had an allergy scratch test done where I now live—far from New Mexico. Apparently, the winds blow the pollen all the way here, which is why they test for it. That little test spot swelled to the size of a fifty-cent piece and stayed that way for a week. So yeah—Albuquerque will be a city I never visit again.

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker

Ten year old Harvey Swick is as bored as only a kid can get.  The dullness of February is eating at him, and he doesn't know what to do. Whether it's school or home, Harvey is bored beyond belief and nothing anyone can do, can make it better. Or so he though.

When a strange looking man, going by the name of Rictus, appears at his window, promising to fulfill his wish for fun, he jumps at the chance.  Rictus takes him to Holiday House, where all four seasons take place in a day; and Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all happen within 24 hours.  It's a place where dreams come true, every gift is available, and everyone is just a tad bit creepy.

If Harvey was just a little older, and wiser for that matter, he may have realized that if something is too good to be true, it probably isn't, and that everything has a price.  The question is, will Harvey be able to figure that out before it's too late. 

I've talked about this before, but one of the worst aspects of book blogging has been my inability to go back, and reread some of my favorite books. Preblogging days, there were books I would read at least once a year, never getting tired of them.  The characters were long term friends, and getting another chance to delve into their worlds, was like a homecoming for me.  The Thief of Always by Clive Barker has been one of those books for me for a very long time, and it's one that I've sadly neglected since I've started blogging.

Don't get me wrong, it's not one I've forgotten about.  It's actually appeared on the blog twice now. The first time was in 2012, when I chose to examine the main villain of the piece, Mr. Hood, as part of my Favorite Fictional Characters feature.  One day, young Harvey Swick will be joining him in that feature.  The second time was in a post I did last year, where I looked at how some of my ex-boyfriends have influenced my reading.

When I decided to come back to blogging, I made a promise to myself, that I was gong to start rereading some of my favorites.  And this was the first one I felt I needed to pick back up.  Being able to escape along with Harvey to Holiday House once gain, was so much fun.  I reveled in his playing, lazing in the hot summer sun, dressing up for Halloween, gorging on all his favorite foods, and opening his Christmas presents.  I felt his desire to get lost and embrace the culture that Holiday House seemed to offer.  I shared in his growing sense of distrust, as he realized that things weren't quite as good as they seemed.  My heart broke, along with his, when he realized the full price he has to pay for his freedom.  And I cheered for him as he fought back against Mr. Hood, to reclaim his life, and the lives of so many others.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Bastian Balthazar Bux

The 1984 film adaptation of Michael Ende's The Neverending Story was a huge deal to me the first time I saw it. It was a movie that changed my imagination for the rest of my life.  How cool was it  that there was a place, Fantasia, where every legend, every fictional creature ever dreamed up by man, had a place to live.  Who wouldn't want to live there?

Can you imagine a place where Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, Eeyore, Buffy Summers, Mame Dennis, Zeus, and Isis, all had a place to mingle and coexist?  They would all band together to fight against Trollocs, Orcs, Sauron, Ursulla, Michael Meyers, and others of their ilk.  And yes, I do still play this game in my head.  Every time I read a book, watch a movie, or get sucked into a TV show, every single character is sorted in this imaginary land in my head; the good guys on one side of the planet, the bad guys on the other.  At one point in time, I kept lists, had the characters divided into guilds, and had them forming governments and businesses.  I'm no longer that obsessed with the idea, but I can't totally let it go either.

As great as the idea of Fantasia was for me, the best part of the me, was who the real hero was.  It wasn't the obvious choice, the young warrior Atreyu.  In the end, the real hero was the nerdy, bullied kid, who just wanted to escape his feelings of  neglect and displacement.  Bastian Balthazar Bux just wants to escape his existence.  He has no real friends, he's not getting the attention he needs at home, and he's being bullied in school.  When he gets lost in the story of Fantasia, it's not long before he realizes that he's not just reading a book, that he is in fact witnesses to, and to a degree, participating in, something far greater than himself.

It's this young boy, this junior bibliophile, who has the key to saving Fantasia. Its on his tiny shoulders, and it's his imagination that must save the day.  This is a case where all it takes for the hero to save the day, is to use his mind.  For a nerdy, junior bibliophile watching this movie for the first time, it was life affirming.  It gave me hope that I didn't need to be some super strong athlete, to make a difference.

I own this movie, and I still watch it from time to time.  My heart still beats faster as Bastian struggles with the truth.  I still cheer, sometimes out loud, when he accepts the idea that he can make a difference.

Scavenger Hunt by Christopher Pike

Synopsis From Back Cover:

School was almost over.  A secretive club on campus had organized a scavenger hunt for the entire senior class.  In small groups, and with the help of cleverly planted clues, the kids are led throughout the city, and then deep into the nighttime desert.  The sponsoring club has promised a wonderful prize for the first group to reach the goal of the hunt.

But for Carl Timmons, a troubled young man who has recently lost his best friend, the hunt will become a nightmare. Led astray by his love for a strangely beautiful girl, he will wander far from the other, and back into a haunted past, where the line between the living and the dead is blurred and broken.

The other day I was wanting something easy, quick, and fun to read, but I didn't feel like hunting something down in a bookstore or browsing through the NOOK store.  So I went to the greatest resource every bibliophile has, my own bookcases.  To tell you the truth, I almost forgot I owned this book, especially since I was never a huge Christopher Pike fan.  I think this is the only book of his I've owned, let along kept all these years later.

It's probably been at least ten years since I've picked it up, and it was exactly what I was needing at the time.  It had been long enough that I forgot some of pertinent details of the plot and found myself engaged from the get go.  I still really enjoyed Carl and his friends, and the journey they were forced to undertake was suspenseful enough to keep me interested.

If you are familiar with Christopher Pike's books, and a lot of you should be, you know he was good at plotting, and was decent at character development.  I think Scavenger Hunt is one of his best, and I know I'll be picking it up again sometime in the far future.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Part Of The Synopsis From Back Cover:

A mysterious island.  An Abandoned orphanage.  A strange collection of peculiar photographs.  

As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  As Jacob explores its decaying bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that Miss Peregrine's children were more than just peculiar.  They may have been dangerous.  They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason.  And somehow - impossible thought it seems - they may still be alive.

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it before, but I'm really good at ignoring those books that everyone else seems to be reading.  I will probably never read The Night Circus, Water for Elephants, or The Hunger Games books.  I'm the same when it comes to movies and even a lot of the music that comes out anymore.  I'm not sure it's something I've ever really done on purpose, but I tend to avoid them like the plague.  I think it helps that for the most part, they never sound like books I would want to read anyway.  I'm really bad when it comes to most YA titles that I see being reviewed all over the place.  I hate to say it, but I think I actually turn my nose up on most of it.  I'm not proud of that last fact, but it's an instant reaction anymore.

All that being said, when Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children first starting showing up, I'll admit that I was a bit intrigued by the cover and the premise of the book.  It does fit into my rather odd tastes, despite it being a YA book.  The last time a YA book knocked my socks off, was when I read Rotters by Daniel Kraus.  It blew me away, and while the two books have widely different concepts, they both explore some of the darker aspects of human behavior and the lengths we will all go through to find home.

I wish I could tell you that this book blew me away the way Rotters did, but I can't.  And honestly, I'm not really sure any YA book really stands a chance of matching the way I reacted towards that one.  That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book, because I had a lot of fun reading it.  It just won't be life changing or all that memorable to me.  I do want to say, that I enjoyed it enough to want to read the next book in the series once it comes out.  It was an interesting look at what it means to be human, and how appearances are rarely what they appear to be.

Now granted, all that exploration is done through some rather fanciful and contrived character exploration  The whole premise, of writing a book around a set of pictures, is a little too forced at times.  It stilts the action in places, and I'm not sure it really serves any sort of character development.  It seems as if some odd choices were made in order to fit the story around a certain pictures, instead of trying to find a picture to fit where the author wanted to take the story.  I think it hurt the way I felt about the characters, which never really allowed me to invest in any of the secondary children, and barely kept me interested in Jacob.  It's really the themes and undercurrents that saved the book for me, and allowed me to enjoy the book despite it's inherent flaws.

Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann (Plus Giveaway)

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

The tale of the Nutcracker, written by E.T.A. Hoffman in 1816, has fascinated and inspired artists, composers, and audiences for almost two hundred years.  It has retained it's freshness because it appeals to the sense of wonder we all share.

Maurice Sendak designed brilliant sets and costumes for the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Christmas production of Nutcracker and has created even more magnificent pictures especially for this book.  He has joined with the eminent translator Ralph Manheim to produce this illustrated edition of Hoffmann's wonderful tale, destined to become a classic for all ages.

The world of Nutcracker is a world of pleasures.  Maurice Sendak's art illuminates the delights of Hoffmann's story in this rich and tantalizing treasure.

Believe it or not, I have never read Nutcracker before, I've never seen the ballet, nor have I ever seen the various TV productions that have come out over the years.  Despite all of that, I still had a vague idea of what it was all about.  I knew it was about a young girl who loved her Nutcracker and how that Nutcracker battled the evil Mouse King.  

What I didn't know, was all the stuff that happened in between.  I didn't know that there was this rather creepy godfather who was a genius clockmaker and would make her and her brother magnificent Christmas present every year.  I also didn't know that on one particular Christmas, the young girl, despite her lovely dolls and pretty dresses, fell in love with a little Nutcracker, a gift for the entire family.  I didn't know the legend behind the Mouse King or why he was so bent on destruction.  I didn't know of the magnificent battles the toy soldiers, lead by the Nutcracker, fought against the hoards of mice.  I never would have guess the real identity of the Nutcracker and how he came to be cursed in such a way.  I didn't know how action packed, romantic, and plain fun this would be to read.  Having illustrations by Maurice Sendak, was icing on the cake.  

Thanks to the lovely people at Crown, I have a copy of this book to giveaway.  All you need to do to enter, is leave a comment telling me your favorite Christmas story.   You also need to leave a valid email address so I can contact you if you are the winner.  You must be a US resident, sorry guys.  The giveaway will run from now until 11:59 pm CST, on 12/5/12.  I'm cutting this one short in order for the winner to get it by Christmas.  I will use random.org to pick the winner.

Challenges: CS

These Things Happen by Richard Kramer

Part Of The Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Set in Manhattan and told through an ensemble of endearing voices, These Things Happen is not the quite coming of age story about a modern family.  Fifteen-year-old Wesley, a tenth grader, has moved from his mother and stepfather's home to live for a school term with his father and his father's partner, George, so that father and son might have a chance to bond again.  But when Wesley finds himself unexpectedly at the center of an act of violence, everyone around him must reexamine themselves, their assumptions and attitudes.

I went three whole years with only one review book that I could not finish, then 2012 happened.  With These Things Happen, I have now tripled that amount.  I feel horrible about it, I have no desire to even be sitting at the computer right now, typing these words.  I would rather be doing anything else, including building a replica of the Acropolis out of marshmallows.  I don't like having to admit I've given up on a book, it doesn't feel good.

So needless to say, this won't be a review, and I give you permission to exit out of this window,  and go about your day.  I do want to explain my reaction to the book, so if you are a bit curious but don't need a lot of details, then you may want to finish reading this post.

I think most of us have that one friend, who just tries to hard.  They want to be all things to everyone.  They strive to be funny, but normally fall flat.  They will spout of facts, normally incorrectly, in order to appear smart and worthy of deep conversations.  They wear clothes appropriate to someone 20 years younger than them.  They want to be cool, witty, and fun, but the harder they try, the worse the results.  Since they are your friend, you can forgive it.  I just wish I could have forgiven it with this book.

Now I'm not saying These Things Happen fit that mold perfectly, but it's the closet analogy I can come up with.  The entire time I was reading it, and granted I gave it less than 50 pages, I was grinding my teeth in frustration.  Nothing I read felt real or personal to the characters I was wanting to like.  The dialogue felt forced and unnatural, trying to hard to be witty and current.  And that's my hang up with the book, I hated the way the characters talked, I couldn't get over it, and because of that I closed the book and have no desire to pick it up again.

I know that not giving you all that much detail, but that's all I have in me right now.  I wish I had the energy to  give you some examples of what I'm talking about, but that would require me to reopen the book and pick a few to share, which I just don't care enough to do.  I wish I had more to say, either positive or negative, but I don't.  So I'll leave you with this thought, I do think this book will appeal to readers who enjoy YA more than I do.  I think These Things Happen is marketed towards the adult market, but I think it would fit in better with YA readers who are used to unnatural dialogue coming out of the mouths of teenagers.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Mr. Hood

I can never put my finger on it, but there is something about the month of October that has had me in it's spell as long as I can remember.  It could be the cooler temps, which I wait all summer for.  It could be the leaves on the trees first turning color, then falling to the ground with the wind.  It could be the nights that get longer, the days that get shorter, and the sun that isn't so bright.  It could even be the fact that I somehow give myself to indulge in horror movies, ghost stories, and the general creepiness that Halloween brings to the mix.  I have a feeling it's a mixture of all that, plus a little something extra.  When I figure out how to describe that extra little bit that makes October my favorite month, second only to December, I'll let you know.  

What October means for Wordsmithonia, is the idea that I get to play a little more than usual.  I'll be posting some extra posts during the month, featuring some of my favorite Halloweenish topics, plus my Favorite Fictional Character posts will be presenting some of my favorite characters this month makes me think about.    Today's character, Mr. Hood was a villain I was introduced to in the first Clive Barker book I ever read, The Thief of Always.  

The Mr. Hood you see in this picture, is not the Mr. Hood we are introduced to in the beginning.  That Mr. Hood is the mysterious benefactor of the Holiday House, a retreat for kids to escape their boring lives at home.  He is the invisible presence that runs the house and allows it's magics to work.   I guess you could even call Mr. Hood a dream catcher.  He hears the daydreams of kids who want nothing else but to escape the day by day routine of their lives.  He sends out "recruiters" to introduce the idea of Holiday House to the kids, a place where all their dreams will come true.  It's with the arrival of Harvey Swick to the Holiday House, that the action of the book begins.

Harvey is a bright lad, one that Mr. Hood takes a close interest in.  Harvey, like the rest of the kids, quickly become enraptured in the house and all the delights it has to offer.  Every day, brings all four seasons to the house.  The mornings are taking up the spring.  The afternoons are full of the laziness that summer brings. The  early evenings bring the delights of fall, including Halloween every night.  The nights are taken up by winter, and all the joys that Christmas can bring.  Mr. Hood does everything he can to make sure the kids are happy every moment of day.  The get every toy they could ever dream of for Christmas.  They get to dress up, and sometimes turn into, any monster their fevered minds dream up for Halloween.  They are given everything they could ask for, but have no clue the price they are paying.

You see, Mr. Hood isn't doing this out of the goodness of his heart.  In actuality, those poor kids are having the lives sucked out of them to feed Mr. Hood.  It's not physical hunger that Mr. Hood is sating, since he has no real body.  It's time that this creature needs to feed upon, time stolen from the kids he lures to the house.  You see everyday that goes by in Holiday House, is a year in the real world.  Years are stolen from them before they even begin to realize something is wrong.  Once they do, it's almost always too late.  Before they know it, they are joining the others in the bottomless dark lake, no longer human.  

If you hadn't notice, I threw in that almost always for a reason.  You see, Harvey Swick is about to be Mr. Hood's downfall.  What started off as a unlimited feast for Mr. Hood, is about to test him in a way he never thought possible.  Harvey and friend, managed to escape from Holiday House, only to find out the horrible truth once they returned home.  Their parents were old and, years ago, had given their sons up for dead.  Harvey, the strong willed young man that he is, understands the only way to get back what was stolen, was to return to Holiday House and confront the man who stole it from them, Mr. Hood.

Mr. Hood, the greedy individual that he is, understands what he has in Harvey.  He is willing to do whatever it takes to make Harvey stay at Holiday House, even tempting him with an apprenticeship of sorts.  He wants to train that mind to be what he is, but Harvey had other plans.  He overwhelms Mr. Hood with wishes, straining the powers that hold Mr. Hood and his house together.  Once the pressure become to much, it shatters the house and leaves Mr. Hood an automaton made up of the remnants of his home.  Let's just say that taking a body, wasnt' the best idea Mr. Hood had.  It makes him easier to kill, which Harvey proceeds to do with only a limited amount of trouble.

I must admit that after reading this post, you may be wondering why I chose to focus on Mr. Hood and not Harvey.  It's simple really, even though Harvey is the hero of the tale and wins the day in the end, Mr. Hood is the ultimate villain.  He is the perfect predator that all parents should fear.  He is the man who can lure our kids away with the promise of fun and excitement.  Forget the stranger in the van offering a kid a piece of candy, this is the creature that can lure the kid away with the promise of their own unlimited supply of toys and candy.  He is the individual that stalks our kids and uses their own dreams against them.  Despite his defeat at the end, he causes untold damage and sucked the lives out of countless kids.  He robbed them of their youth to feed his own cravings.  He is the predator we will never see, the ultimate bogeyman.  And for that, he deserves our respect and our fear.

Lydia's Favorite Fictional Character --- Anne Shirley

One of the most pleasant aspects of the book blogging world is the sense of community and how quickly another blogger can feel like an old friend.  You may never talk about the latest love of your life or how much you just paid for that new pair of jeans, but you share something more than that, a love of books and everything that entails.  Lydia of The Lost Entwife is one of the bloggers for me.  She is one of those reviewers to whom I look to before I buy a new book.  If I see a book at the store I'm not familiar with, I go to her blog to see if she has read it.  If she has, and did not like it, I will probably not buy it.  I trust her taste and her ability to put her reaction down in words, in such a way as to make me understand what my own reaction to it would be.  She is a gifted blogger, writer, and she is someone I hope to have around for many years to come.  Bloggers like Lydia, make the all the work worth it.  So go on by her blog, say hi, and I know you will be sticking around for a long, long time.

Hi folks!  My name is Lydia, and I blog over at The Lost Entwife, and about a year ago I discovered Ryan and his fantastic feature of Favorite Fictional Character and have loved reading each and every one of them.  So I was honored when Ryan asked me to contribute a guest post - and then the next day freaked out as I tried to pick one, JUST one, character I could talk about.  I mean - my latest favorite has definitively been Tyrion Lannister of Game of Thrones fame, but everyone loves that little dude, so I went to my bookshelves and looked and looked.  But then I realized there really is just one answer.

One of the first books I remember getting from my Aunt for Christmas is Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  I've read the book, and all its sequels, and watched the movies so many times that for every event, small or big, that happens in my life, I can give an Anne quote to bolster my spirits or get me settled back on solid ground.  This is the book I give my nieces to read, it's the book that comforts me when it's raining outside and I feel as if the world is a dark and dismal place.  Gilbert was my first crush and when I was younger, raspberry cordial sounded like it would be the thing to drink.

Anne taught me what it was to be patient, to be kind.  She is a character who struggles with her temper and with saying the wrong thing, but she also is able to swallow her pride and seek forgiveness for her brash actions.  She struggles with her red hair (and boy could I relate to having things about me I didn't like), but ultimately comes to accept that hair and how much it sets her apart and makes her Anne-with-an-E.

Through Anne I experienced loss the first time when Walter Cuthbert passes away.  I cried into my tissues, and still do to this day.  I learned what it means to be a "bosom friend" to someone, how to love Tennyson and the spoken word in the form of poetry, and how important imagination is.

I'm going to finish this post with a few of my favorite quotes from the various Anne books, and I hope that if you haven't experienced the story of Anne's life that you seek it out and introduce yourself.  Trust me, she's been a good friend to me all these years and I'm sure she will be the same to you.

“We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us.”

“Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one’s side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps . . . perhaps . . . love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.”

“I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”

“Dear old world', she murmured, 'you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”

Listen to Anne's Theme here.

The Secret Garden by Frances H. Burnett

When Mary Lennox is left an orphan, stranded in India, she is shipped off to a distant uncle who lives amongst the moors in Yorkshire.  For a girl who was used to getting her way in everything, servants to dress her and obey her every command, the lonely house is a great change.  She is a bratty child, though that's the result of neglect more than anything else.

When she learns of a secret garden, shut up since the death of her uncle's late wife, she seizes on the idea to discover it for herself.  With the help of an ancient gardener, the younger brother of a house maid, and her long hidden cousin, Mary brings the garden back to life and as a result discovers a new life for herself and her cousin.

Back in July of 2010 I bought a few classic books from Barnes & Noble for $1.79 per book.  I bought five of them, have read two of them, and the rest have been languishing on my shelves ever since.  One of those books, waiting to be read, was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I'm going to admit, right up front, that even though I bought it and planned on reading it someday, I was never in a hurry to do so.  If it hadn't been less than two dollars for a hardcover, I probably would not have purchased it that day.  I guess I could make some sort of unbiased excuse, but the real reason I didn't feel a fire to read it, I always thought of it as girl's book.  Now what that actually means in reality, I have no frickin clue.  I know that's not a valid reason to not read a book that many consider a classic, but it's the only one I got.  So when Sheila at Book Journey suggested a read-a-long when some of us mentioned on one of her posts hat we haven't read it, I figured I might as well get it over with.

I will even have to admit to finding my line of thinking validated about a third of the way through the book.  I even remember telling a friend of mine who loves this book that I felt like such a "girl" while I was reading it.  I will even have to go as far as saying, part of me was a little embarrassed to tell anyone I was reading it.  Then something a little strange happened.  I started to relax and allow myself to put all my preconceived notions behind me.  I wish I could tell you what triggered that change in my thinking, but I can't.  All I can say is that once I allowed myself to really take in what I was reading, I started to fall in love with Mary and her quest to discover the hidden garden.

I found myself utterly fascinated with the change in temperament and behavior that Mary was undergoing as she started to realize the life may actually be interesting if she gets out and does something about it.  With nobody around who was willing to coddle her and tolerate her bad behavior, Mary started to grow in ways that only her changed environment would ever allow.  Now granted, the book over simplifies the changes show goes through, giving a lot of the credit to physical exercise in the outdoors.  Don't get me wrong, I love being outside. As a kid, I was truly happy camping in the great outdoors, swimming in the lakes of Northern Minnesota, and climbing trees.  I understand the benefits of being outside, I just think Mary's behavioral changes are a little bit much for the catalyst that kicked started it.

The other aspect I truly loved was the discovery and transformation of her cousin.  Much like Mary, Colin starts off as a whiny brat.  His mother died during childbirth and ever since then, he has been coddled and babied in such a way that has left the household in terror of him.  He blames himself, but most importantly, thinks everyone else for the death of his mother.  He thinks he is going to to die young and has a bag that is deformed.  While everyone in the community knows about him, nobody really talks about it.  He is hidden in a separate wing of the house, a wing Mary is told to never visit.  Because of some mysterious crying, Mary discovers her cousin and sees in him, her past behavior.  Because of the friendship that develops between the two of them, they both awaken into the children they should have been given different circumstances.

Now while I really enjoyed and could even say I loved this story, I'm not going to be very good at getting across the way it made me feel.  This was a affirmation for me of the magic of childhood and what it means to be accepted by those around you and how important "home" is to your identity.  It's a celebration of nature and the benefits of being in sync with your environment.  I will also have to admit that had I read this as a kid, I would have loved it, and never admitted to reading it.  Now as an adult, I will proudly proclaim that not only have I read The Secret Garden, but I fell in love with it.

The copy I own is filled with wonderful full color illustrations by Tasha Tudor.  I wish I was able to share all of them with you, but I hope the ones I picked gave a good overall impression of the magical world she was able to capture.

I would like to thank Sheila for the excuse to read the book and share my experience with others who were reading it around the same time.  Please join us for the discussion.  So join us for the garden party over at Sheilas.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Frank & Joe Hardy

When I first decided that I was going to pick The Hardy Boys for this weeks feature, I wasn't sure what direction I was going to go in.  At first I thought I would be all intellectual about it.  I was going to delve into the hidden meanings and racial controversies that have sprung up over the years.  I was going to examine, in minute detail, the cultural significance they have come to symbolize.  Then I realized I have no frickin clue about any of that, most of which I think is dreamed up by people who have nothing better to do with their time.  So instead I'm just going to explain why I liked, and still do, them so much.

I don't quite remember in what grade I first discovered The Hardy Boys series.  I'm going to assume, for the sake of argument, that it was around the same time I first came across Nancy Drew.  And while I loved the Nancy Drew books, I fell in love with Frank and Joe Hardy.  You could probably say that as a little kid, I had my first literary crush on them.

Here were these two young men who not only had a great family life, but got to live out these amazing adventures that most of us could (and still do) dream about. They have a world famous detective for a father.  A father that encourages them in their capers, and always seems to need their help.  Because of that the boys kinda get the best of both worlds.  They get to show their father up a bit and earn his approval at the same time.  Their mother is that paragon of virtue, the content housewife and mother.  She stays home and makes sure that all three of the men in her life are taken care of and supported in whatever fashion they need.  She has no problem packing a picnic lunch for her boys to take out on a case and will even throw in extra food for their friends.  It would be impossible to not love a mother like that.

But it's those adventures, some of which take them far from home, that makes Frank and Joe Hardy childhood icons.  They get to do things that and visit places that I could only experience through their eyes.  Now of course, as I've gotten older, I've come to understand a few things about those adventures.  For starters, the boys never seemed to be in school, despite attending Bayport High School.  So I'm not sure if their principal was that understanding or that they were such excellent students, that they always made their work up.  The other aspect I've come to understand is that I can't imagine the money it would have taken for these two young men to do what they do.  So the only assumption you can come away with is that Fenton Hardy was such a world class detective, that he made killer money.  It's either that or they just got everything for free.

The major realization, the one I actually understood to an extent at the time, was that no matter what their adventures, the two boys were going to come out of it just find.  No matter how scary or unpredictable the situations they found themselves in, no real danger was going to land on their doorsteps.  They were never going to be shot through the end by the thief they were trying to expose.  They were never going to have their dead bodies dropped into the river because they got to close to solving a case.  It's that almost sterile sense of "danger" that made the books so hospitable to my young mind.  I don't think I would have enjoyed them as much if these adventures were really that dangerous.  Even in the world of fantasy, my young mind needed massive safety nets.

As an adult, I still value the cleanness of it all.  There are time, as a mystery lover, that I don't want to read something dark and somber.  I need that little bit of lightness to bring me out of that funk that a truly dark book can put you into.  As a father, I rejoice in the idea that there are still fun books out there for younger readers that don't explore the seedier sides of life.  I love the fact that I can turn these books over to my son and know that he will get just as much enjoyment out of them that I did, without his psyche being traumatized.

Odd And The Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

Synopsis From Back Cover:

In a village in ancient Norway lives a boy named Odd, and he's had some very bad luck:  His father perished in a Viking expedition; a tree fell on him and shattered his leg; the endless freezing winter is making villagers dangerously grumpy.

Out in the forest Odd encounters a bear, a fox, and an eagle -  three creatures with a strange story to tell.

Now Odd is forced on a stranger journey than he imagined - a journey to save Asgard, city of the gods, from the Frost Giants who have invaded it.

It's going to take a very special kind of twelve-year-old boy to outwit the Frost Giants, restore peace to the city of the gods, and end the long winter.

Someone cheerful and infuriating and clever...

Someone just like Odd....

When I first sat down to write this review, all I was going to say was "I loved it."  Then I was going to finish the post with "Everyone should read it."  That's all folks.  Though I doubt that would really excite you, or would it?  Well either way, I'll never know.  There is no way I could leave a review at two lines, though I'm sure some of you would prefer that over my longer, rambling ones.

Ever since I was a little kid, I have loved mythology.  It doesn't even matter what pantheon of gods we are talking about.  Greek, Roman, Norse, Celtic, Babylonian, Egyptian, even American Indian; they were all fair game to a young boy that could never get enough of those stories.  So when I saw this book reviewed last year (maybe the year before) by a blogger I know I trust, Tasha of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books, I knew this one would be for me.  I'm so glad that I listened to myself.

For such a short book, one that I ready pretty quickly, it packed one of the biggest escapism punches of the year for me.  For that brief amount of time, I was lost in another world.  A world that was ruled by gods who weren't really as powerful as they thought they were.  A world where a tricky Frost Giant can trick the trickster god himself into doing something really stupid.  A world where three of the most powerful gods to ever walk the Earth, can be turned into animals.  It's a world where those same animals get into trouble and have to have a crippled, twelve-year-old boy get them out of it.  It's a world that I really want to know for myself.

Odd, the young hero of the tale, is one of those boys that is way too clever for his own good, and he knows it.  He knows how smart he is.  From what I can tell, he has know problems letting everyone else know it too.  But he isn't that smarty pants kid that you couldn't stand in 5th grade.  You know the kid I'm talking about, we all had one in class.  Instead, Odd is the kid that you wanted to have as your best friend.  He is the resourceful one, the kid you can count on to get you out of trouble.  I figure if Odd can get Odin, Thor and Loki out of trouble, he should be able to do the same thing for the rest of us.

I really want Odd to make another appearance someday.  I would love to find out how he got along with the other Gods or how he settles into the lands of his mother.  He is one of those characters that deserved to have more than one book written about him.

Staci's Favorite Fictional Character --- Charles "Pa" Ingalls

What can I say about Staci of Life In The Thumb.... Well I can start with the fact that she is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, though I still can't quite figure out why.  The vlog she did, calling me out on the subject, gave me a little inkling but it wasn't enough.  Maybe I need a little more, I dont' know, but I have to respect anyone who likes a character as much as she does him.  I can also say she is a fabulous blogger, writer, and all around class act.  She has made me feel welcome from day one, and I can never tell her how much I have appreciated it.  She has been encouraging, even when she didn't realize.  She is a truly special person and I'm glad I've gotten to know her, even if just a little bit.  She has also added to my wish list on more than one (WAY more occasions, so hers is a blog I go back to on an almost daily basis.  If any of you don't know her please stop on by and say hi.  I'm sure you will be made to feel at home.

When Ryan asked me to write up a post for his Favorite Fictional Character Wednesdays I immediately thought of Mr. Darcy! One, because Ryan just can't get enough of my love for Darcy and two, because I seriously do love Darcy. But then I really sat down and thought about a fictional character that made an impact on my life and came up with Pa Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie. 

When I was in first grade, Mrs. Wilson read Little House in the Big Woods to our class. It was then and there that I fell in love with Pa and Little House on the Prairie. I loved that Pa would get out his fiddle and play music to entertain the family at night. I was also drawn into how safe he made his family feel. 

Then when Little House on the Prairie came to television my little heart swelled to ten times it size! Here was Pa, bigger than life, and with such an infectious laugh. I adored Michael Landon as Pa and felt that he belonged to me. Every week my family gathered together to see what would happen next in the Ingall's little house. Without fail, Pa always treated his children with love, patience and tenderness. I felt safe and secure when I was lost in their world. It was nice to see that my Pa was so much like Laura's Pa. Boy, did I feel special. 

I remember when Michael Landon passed away ...I felt as if a piece of my childhood had died and I wept. I honestly don't believe any fictional character has had such an impact on my childhood as Pa Ingalls. 

Note: I do understand that Mr. Ingalls was a real person, but there is a part of fiction wrapped up in those books and TV shows!!

Cecelia's Favorite Fictional Character --- Suzy Turquoise Blue

Cecelia of Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia has a great taste in books.  She is one of those bloggers that always seems to be reviewing a book that I have never heard of before.  After reading her reviews though, I tend to find myself really, really wanting to read them.  I don't think I have picked up a book she recommended without liking it.  That and I can never get enough of her baking posts.  I'm not much of a baker myself, so seeing her handiwork makes my salivary glands go into overdrive.  It doesn't help that I would never be able to replicate her accomplishments.  If you don't believe me, go over and see for yourself.  I can guarantee that after saying hi, you will stay for a while reading all about the great books and food.

If Suzy Turquoise Blue’s name is familiar to you, we just became instant friends.  No, you don’t have any say in the matter (aren’t I charmingly forceful?  ha!)  Any fan of author Garth Nix is automatically a friend of mine.  And if Suzy Turquoise Blue sounds like the grownup child of hippies somewhere in New Mexico (and you really have no idea who she is) – then goodness, you’ve got a whole wonderful world to discover, and I envy you the fun you’ll have!

Suzy Turquoise Blue is an ink-filler, sixth class, when the reader meets her in Garth Nix’s middle grade fantasy Mister Monday, the first of seven Keys to the Kingdom books. And her first words are “Hey! Idiot! Up here!”  Anyone with that tone is liable to make me laugh uproariously, and Suzy DOES.  She can’t help it – she’s irrepressible and direct and curious and altogether too much fun.

Suzy helps the hero of the Keys books, Arthur, to get out of a scrape, and that’s just the first of many adventures that she and Arthur land in.  Suzy leaps over rooftops, flies with a pair of wings, jimmies anything locked, closed, or generally meant to be NOT open, open.  She’s also loyal to the point of death, a wonderful friend, and the first person to pick to guard your back.

I was reading along innocently, quietly enjoying Mister Monday, and then BOOM!  I was hijacked by the force that is Suzy.  She is the reason I loved these books – truly.  I don’t know that I’ve ever met a character with such verve.  Or if I have, it’s very likely that I forgot them because they didn’t have something that every great character needs – an unforgettable name.  And you have to admit, Suzy Turquoise Blue as a name is a mouthful, descriptive, AND straight-up awesome. 

Oh, and I should mention something else – Suzy speaks in vernacular when she’s not paying attention.  As far as I can tell, it’s Cockney/Aussie/something-or-other, but I could be wrong.  It’s not hard to figure out, but it makes her bits of dialogue utterly delightful when read aloud.

And now that I’ve completely fangirled about Ms. Blue, might I interest you in Garth Nix’s Keys to the Kingdom series?  That’s where you’ll find out more about Suzy and all of her (and Arthur’s) adventures in this and other assorted worlds.  Thanks for having me, Ryan!

Simcha's Favorite Fictional Character --- Tom Sawyer

I'm going to sound like a schmuck now, but today's Favorite Fictional Character is not one I've ever met for myself.  I know who he is of course, who doesn't, but I've never taken the time to read about him.  I'm sad to say that it's taken Simcha of SFF Chat to remind me of that oversight.  Simcha, who I think is an absolutely fabulous, is based in Israel.  Her blog is one that I visit on a daily basis and I can always count on her to let me know about the new fantasy/scifi releases and reviews.  So go on over and tell her hi, stay for a while, and I know you will never leave.

I first encountered Tom Sawyer when I was thirteen years old and I was immediately captivated by this mischievous boy with the wild imagination.  I was in awe of his clever tricks and easy ability to beguile others (the fence whitewashing trick was classic!)  and I loved to imagine myself by his side, participating in each of his adventures.

After finishing Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I got a hold of several other books featuring Tom and I read through them all again and again.  he became the best-friend that I always wanted and all my real-life friends pale in comparison.  I longed to transport myself into his stories so that we could run around together barefoot, getting into trouble by concocting new adventures.  though now and than I think about it, I probably had more in common with Tom Sawyer than I realized at the time (a particular recollection just floated into my head of the time I convinced my friend to put all her belongings into a shopping cart and sell them to passersby along a busy Boston street.)  Together we would have been a real terror.

It's been a while since I last visited Tom Sawyer, but he still remains one of my favorite book characters.  Thinking about him now reminds me of my own childhood and of the delight of being young, carefree and rich in imagination.