Recently Read: February and March

Sure look, I know, it's almost the end of April but better late than never, as always! I'm on track with my 60 books for the year goal and for the most part, I'm loving everything I've read so far. There are some truly excellent psychological thrillers out this year and over the last couple of years and some beautiful historical fiction. Here's what I read over February and March, not including A Man With One of Those Faces, which I reviewed HERE. 

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

This received a whole lot of hype when it was released at the start of the year. Its PR campaign used the hashtag #WTFThatEnding and so as you can imagine, I was pretty keen to see how it ends. Louise is a single mum and a secretary in a doctors clinic, generally bored with life with only her (extremely annoying) five year old son to give her life meaning. And so, she inadvertently starts an affair with one of the doctors she works with and also inadvertently becomes best friends with his wife, who obviously doesn't know about the affair…or does she? As the book progresses, the perfect marriage of her friend and lover appears less and less ideal as David seems to be controlling and brooding, while Adele seems fragile and weak. Bizarrely, Louise discovers that both she and Adele can astro-project, for Louise this often happens when she sleeps and she can't go very far but Adele seems to have mastered this supernatural skill. The plot thickens! OK, so there's a few red herrings in this one and most of the characters are terrible people who I found it hard to sympathise with. Louise is a bit of an eejit, truth be told and her child..I can't even explain how irritating he was and yes, I know he's a fictional five year old, I don't care. And that ending. Well, I know it annoyed a lot of people but I can honestly say that it completely floored me. There is literally NO way that you can guess this one so if you're looking for an unpredictable psychological thriller- this is it! #WTFThatEnding indeed!

The Trespasser by Tana French

I love Tana French, I've mentioned that several times before but her Dublin murder squad books have for the most part, all been excellent. This is number 6 in that series, I think? You don't need to read them in order but the previous book will feature the detective that's the main character in the next book in the series. If that makes sense. Here, Antoinette Conway is battling to stay on the Dublin murder squad- it's where she's always wanted to be and since she made detective, she does not want to go back to Vice or Undercover or anywhere else. Her partner Stephen is the same. They both have a hunger for it. Unfortunately, Antoinette is not well liked- partly because she's a woman in an all male environment but also because she takes none of her team's misogynistic bullshit. She's a tough cookie. Because of their persona non-grata status, they get the cases that go nowhere, including the murder of Aislinn Murray, a young, pretty blonde, found murdered by a single blow to the head in her own home. There's a distinct lack of DNA evidence at the scene and no obvious suspects, other than a fella Aislinn was seeing. All is going reasonably well until Antoinette and Stephen realise the rest of the squad are not so subtly pushing them into arresting the boyfriend, fast. What they have to figure out is if this is more of the bullying Antoinette has been on the receiving end of or if there's a more sinister reason why they are being coerced into solving the case in a certain way. This is a good thriller/crime/whodunnit. As always, what makes French's books that bit more interesting is the innate Irishness to them, which often translates quite darkly in her stories. While I enjoyed this, I can't say that it immediately hooked me, the way some of her other novels have but I did enjoy it and was keen to see how it would end. 

Final Girls by Riley Sager

I had seen this reviewed on someone else's blog and the name and concept made me want to read it immediately. I was kind of horrified to find out that it's not released til July so I went and asked for it on NetGalley and they very kindly complied. Thanks NetGalley, you completely put me out of my misery! 

The name "Final Girls" derives from horror movies where there's always one girl left. She's faced the slasher/serial killer and has somehow escaped where all of her friends have been brutally murdered. Quincy has been given the nickname of a Final Girl by the media, after surviving a horrific attack in Pine Cottage, a cabin in the woods that left all of her college friends viciously murdered. There are other Final Girls too, each the victims in their own private but conversely, extremely public horror movies- Lisa, who narrowly avoided being one of nine sorority girls murdered by a serial killer and Sam, who was tortured by the "Sack Man" at a motel she used to work in, where all the guests were left for dead. It's ten years later and Quincy now writes a baking blog and lives as quiet a life as she can with her boyfriend. That is until fellow Final Girl Lisa is found dead and Sam shows up on Quincy's doorstep. Did Lisa really kill herself and is Sam a friend or a foe? It looks like someone is after the Final Girls and is trying to drag Quincy back to that forest where she will eventually find out what really happened in Pine Cottage. I am definitely the right market for this- I love horrors, especially 80's slashers so this was right up my street. I was completely addicted to this book. I took a brief break in reading it (I read it in one day) to go to the cinema but spent the time on the way there and on the way back going "I wonder what's going to happen next in my book…and what the hell happened in Pine Cottage?!!!" etc. Sorry, Cilian and Ailbhe for my poor company that evening. I also held my kindle and continued to read whilst simultaneously making tea. Boiling hot water and a lack of attention do not mix, kids. Some of the plot points are a little bit stretched if I'm honest and it was a bit trashy in places, but that's kind of what I liked about it, it made it feel more like an authentic horror movie but in book form. Awesome! 

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I'd been aware of Kate Atkinson as an author for quite a while now but this is the first of hers that I've read. This is an unusual book to try and describe but sure, I'll have a go. The story begins on a cold snowy night in 1910 where a baby girl, Ursula is born. Neither the midwife nor the doctor get there on time and she dies. On an alternative version of that night, she lives and continues her life. This is basically a series of sliding doors universes where Ursula lives but is murdered later in life or lives but someone she loves dies or lives but she in turn kills Hitler. I know. Very cool. It's ultimately about the many possibilities that life gives us and the many possibilities that fate takes away from us. I listened to this on Audible and it did take me a while to get into it. I'm not sure that this particular book lends itself well to audio but after a while I really enjoyed it and I loved Ursula. I rejoiced when she re-lived her life and avoided a decision that had been catastrophic for her in a different life and in turn, felt dejected when all the many awful men she met along the way destroyed her. I felt both sad and triumphant at the end, that it was over but also, that I had survived the saga that was the many lives of Ursula Todd! Still, she felt like a friend and I missed the characters so much that I'm now reading the sequel, A God In Ruins. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet- I will report back of course, but I can definitely recommend Life After Life.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

This was for our book club but both my sister and Himself had also bought me super fancy hardback editions for Christmas, both of which are very swoon-worthy. It's also nicely fitting for the story itself, which is dark and twisty but also full of descriptions of nature. This was a really pleasant book to read, I loved the use of language and the imagery that it conjured in my mind. Parts of it floored me. 

This whole paragraph for instance: "One day he said: 'In Japan they'll mend a broken pot with drops of molten gold. What a thing it would be: to have me break you and mend your wounds with gold.' But she'd been seventeen, and armour clad with youth, and never felt the blade go in". 

Anyway, the "she" in that paragraph grows up and becomes a widow with a slightly unusual son and a devoted ladies maid. Cora is a complacent widow as her marriage was an unhappy one but she is an intelligent and inquisitive woman and wishes to see more of the world, which was unusual for 1893. With that, all three move to Essex, hoping for fresh air and a fresh start but Cora becomes obsessed with a rumour about a large serpent living in the waters of Essex and killing its inhabitants. She also becomes close at this time to the local vicar and his family. He is a sceptic about the serpent but finds himself more and more drawn to Cora, especially as his wife becomes more and more unwell…so you can see where that's headed, but lots of other weird things happen in the meantime and overall, it's a strange book. At times enjoyable but often slow and convoluted. There's plenty of competing story lines, that I haven't even mentioned here because we actually don't have the space. I'm not sure I'd recommend this one unless you were very specifically looking for a book like this, which is not to say I didn't enjoy it…I still haven't quite made my mind up about this yet!

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

I saw the film of this a few years ago and thought it was somewhat enjoyable and then I spotted this on the Library ebook section, which I of course then downloaded. I love the Library. Anyway, in case you don't remember, Andy has just graduated and needs a job. She somehow ends up interviewing for a PA position in Runway (a not very well disguised version of Vogue), which she thinks will help her get ahead- she has lofty ambitions to be a serious journalist for the New York Times. Her boss is Miranda Priestly (again, a not super well disguised version of Anna Wintour), the most hated woman in the fashion magazine industry. It turns out that she is the "devil" of the title and treats everyone who works for her with utter contempt using a good old dose of what we now call 'gas lighting' to destroy in particular, Andy's spirit. Meanwhile, Andy is also trying to juggle relationships with her boyfriend and her best friend as she slowly but surely gets sucked into the world of Runway. But can she get out before it consumes who she is? To be honest, by the end of this you probably won't care either way. None of these people are super likeable characters but it passes the time nicely. Having said that, there are plenty of other, better books in this kind of genre, if you're looking for some lighter reading. 

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood

This was the second Alex Marwood I've read, having previously enjoyed The Darkest Secret, another psychological thriller that read like a "what really really happen to Madeline McCann" expose. The Killer Next Door is set in a dingy house in London, divided into bedsits and filled with a group of very different people, all with something to hide. Their landlord is an out and out creep and spies on and sexually harasses the female renters. One of them is Collette, she's on the run from her gangster ex-boss who she's stolen from, while Cher is hiding from the social services. Vesta, an elderly woman is trying to cling on to what's left of her home, while the male tenants are all loners, asylum seekers and generally outsiders, trying to keep to themselves. Tension builds up in the house as the Summer heat increases until it comes to a head one night when a crime takes place in the house that they all in turn, become embroiled in. None of that is helped by the fact that separate to that there is also a serial killer living and operating in one of the apartments…but who is it?! This was an absolute gripper of a book, I could not put it down and had finished it in about two days. One thing I would say though is that it can be quite gory and at times even my stomach turned at some of the descriptions, which is saying something- it takes a lot to make me squeamish. Having said that, if you like a good thriller and you enjoy trying to figure out who the killer is, you'll definitely like this. 

Paper Girls, Vol 1 by Brian K Vaughan

I bought this in a comic book shop in Galway on a bit of a whim. I'm a fan of graphic novels anyway and had heard this was a good'un but it wasn't 'til I saw it in real life that I knew I had to have it- it practically jumped at me from the shelf and I can't even explain how much I love it. The guy who sold it to me said if I liked Stranger Things then I'd like this too but it goes way beyond that. I adore the colours, the drawings, the pop culture references and the story itself. Four girls who deliver newspapers in an American suburb in the 80's, cross paths on Halloween night and end up joining forces when the apocalypse hits them. This encompasses time travel, other worlds, monsters, feminism and four kick-ass girls taking all of that on. When a twist was revealed I actually went 'OMG!!!' and tried to tell Himself and ruin it for him, just so I could tell someone (I didn't), so you know it's good. I've already bought Vol 2. Very excited for that! 

The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood

This is actually Marwood's first book, so of course I have read it last in the sequence of her releases. Way behind there. I probably have enjoyed this one the least. Three little girls meet on a hot Summers day, but only two of them get home that evening. Jade is from a deprived background, she wanders the streets looking for food and gets up to mischief wherever possible. She meets and befriends Annabel, from the big mansion in the town but also from an abusive home. They somehow end up being lumbered with a four year old to look after for the day, even though they're only kids themselves and don't have the capacity or ability to look after themselves properly. Through what eventually turns out to be a horror of a day, little Chloe is killed and Jade and Annabel are not only found to be to blame but they are vilified and become the most hated girls in Britain. Fast forward several years and both girls are now grown up, using different names and trying to move on with their lives. Annabel is now Amber, a cleaning supervisor in a funfair, in an unhappy relationship with sleazy ladies man Victor, while Jade is now Kirsty, a happily married journalist with two children. They're under strict instructions never to meet or speak to each other again but they have no choice in breaking that promise when Kirsty travels to Amber's seaside town to investigate a series of grizzly murders. The book is peppered with flashbacks to the day of Chloe's death, so we don't find out until almost at the end of the book what actually happened. Add to that the fact that there seems to be two modern day serial killers added to the storyline, who are nothing to do with each other and this one ends up being a bit convoluted. I think the concept of this book was better than it's execution but it was still a good read, it just didn't quite grip me as much as her others have. 

And that's that! Have you read any of these?

What are you reading right now?

To the comments!

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Summer Reads 2017

So. You may as we speak be planning a holiday, some relaxation by a pool or the sea somewhere gloriously warm and exotic and you may be imagining yourself doing that with a book in one hand and a cocktail in the other.

In order to do that, you're gonna need some book suggestions and I as always, have your back.

Most of these are being released soon, which automatically makes them "Summer reads" and others have a storyline that is basically just all Summer, all the time. So you have options, is what I'm saying!

Personally, I love a good thriller when I'm on holidays, because I find if they're really good, they'll keep me gripped for the whole trip. 

To start then there's:

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

This is the second novel from successful domestic noir author, B.A. Paris, after last year's hugely successful, Behind Closed Doors, which apparently everyone but me has read (it's on my kindle, I have yet to actually read it). Cass is driving home from a work party when she passes a woman sat in her car in a dark rural road in the middle of the woods, in a storm. None of that sounds good, right? Right. Cass drives on after her instincts tell her the same thing and she puts it out of her mind until she finds out the next day that the woman she saw was murdered. She's horrified by this news and continues to blame herself, while at the same time, she begins to have memory loss issues to accompany her guilt. Is it all in her mind or is someone watching her, who knows what she did?

I'm reading this one at the minute and it's flying along nicely; it pulled me in from the first paragraph and I'm really eager to see how the story develops. 

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

Another second novel, this time from the author of Girl On The Train (find my review of that HERE. Spoiler alert, I was underwhelmed). At the start of the Summer, a vulnerable teenage girl is found dead at the bottom of a lake. A few months later, a single mother is found in the same dark waters. Their deaths dredge up secrets that have been hidden for a long time. I haven't read this one yet but it's ready to go on my Audible account and I'm willing to give it a try, in spite of my feelings for its predecessor!

Final Girls by Riley Sager

I read an advanced reader copy (ARC) of this a few months ago (full review HERE) and although it's not out 'til July, I'd advise you to keep an eye out for it. It's not the best written book of all time but I was utterly glued to it and could not put it down! A great thriller for a beach read, especially if you're a fan of thrillers/horrors. 

If thrillers aren't your thing but you still want a cracking good read, then try:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Described as "a smart, warm, uplifting story of an out of the ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey, as she realises the only way to survive is to open her heart", this sounds like a fabulous book full of wonderful characters. I have this reserved in my local library and I can't wait to start it!

The Cows by Dawn O' Porter

I previously read and liked DOP's YA books so I was really excited to see she's released a book for adults! I've been listening to this for a few days now on Audible and I'm really liking it. The story follows three different women, leading three very different lives and how each finds their own, unique voice. Topics are explored that feel quite relatable for modern women; internet dating, being a single mum, trying to succeed in a male dominated industry, choosing not to have children, grief and loss. 

Leopard at the Door by Jennifer McVeigh

This is sitting in my to-be-read pile, staring at me and I really want to get started on it as it sounds just like my cup of tea! Set in 1950's colonial Kenya, young British woman Rachel returns to her fathers Kenyan farm, where she spent her childhood, to find all has changed. Her father has remarried a strange and intolerant woman, while the political climate in the country has grown strained and approaches boiling point. Throughout this, Rachel begins a covert relationship that society would not approve of and may cost her more than she bargained for. This sounds like the perfect historical fiction to while away a lazy Summer's afternoon with.

If that all sounds great but you want to read a book that involves very little mental expenditure on your part, then check out these YA novels that have caught my eye:

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

I read this in the space of a five hour flight last month- I could not and would not put it down. I didn't even stop to look at the in-air shopping magazine and that's saying something! 

This isn't actually YA but the author has previously only written YA and this felt like that style to me, so I'm including it here, even if that is cheating. Ahem. 

Lane Roanoke is fifteen and her mother has just killed herself. Her wealthy grandparents, whom she's never met, take her in and so she goes to live on their sprawling Kansas country estate, where her cousin Allegra also lives. Allegra informs her that the Roanoke girls "never last long around here. We either run or we die". Creepy, right?

It is! And a great Summer read as it's permanently sweaty and boiling hot in the book, so you'll feel like you're right there with them!

One Italian Summer by Keris Stainton

It's been a year since Milly, Elyse and Leonie's dad died and a year since their family trip to Rome. Even though their grief is still raw, the sisters decide to  return to Rome for the Summer for gelato, sun and new love interests. Of course, life is not that easy and Milly in particular must find her way back to the person she used to be. This is again, waiting for me on my Kindle. I requested an ARC of this because Italy, obviously but it also sounds like an ideal Summer read!

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

This is another ARC that I just read a couple of weeks ago and again, I could not put it down. It's The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars; a jock, a straight A student, a homecoming queen, a delinquent and a weirdo are in detention. One of them dies while there, but who did it? As the book goes on, it appears they all had a motive. I partly guessed the ending to this one but if you like to read something a little trashy and haven't gotten over a love of teen TV drama (raises hand), then this is the one for you!

Other options that I don't know enough about I'm going to include anyway:

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan.

I have this on my kindle, I haven't read it yet but it's been described as "the feel good novel of the year" so if that's your thing, go forth and read!

David Sedaris Theft by Finding. Diaries 1977-2002

I LOVE Davis Sedaris. He could read his grocery list aloud and I'd buy it. I've pre-ordered this on Audible for its release- you have to listen to him read his own books, it's the best way!

The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey

This is the second novel from the author of the zombie-tastic, The Girl With All the Gifts. This is not a sequel to that but the author has said that it "exists within the same universe". And that's all I know about that, except that I will of course, be reading this. 

I will be reviewing all of these in full (if I haven't already) right here but feel free to follow my progress over on Goodreads also! 

And that's all for now. 

Have any of these made your Summer reading list?

To the comments!

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Recently Read | August

My back is still banjaxed so I'm still on my reading roll. Last month I read this lot plus weekend book reviews HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE, in case you missed them. These were all either library finds, were in the Amazon Kindle sales (seriously, I'm talking a euro!), or were from NetGalley so it's been a frugal month book-wise! Here's everything else I read (bar a pre release of the new Marian Keyes, which I'm waiting a while to pop up the review for as it isn't out until November!):

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes

This is my third JoJo Moyes novel and I liked this more than The One Plus One although I liked it slightly less than Me Before You...I hope that's a helpful barometer! In this one we're told two stories; that of Sophie in France in 1916, trying to keep her family safe against the invasion of German officers while her artist husband fights at the front and the story of Liv, in modern times, still mourning the loss of her husband while she struggles with finances and being alone. What connects them both is a painting by Sophie's husband, depicting Sophie herself. The painting causes series troubles for Sophie with the German soldiers and again for Liv when she is faced with having to return it (it's now hers, given to her by her deceased husband) to the ancestors of Sophie who claim it was stolen and is a war crime. For Liv, the painting is all she really has left of her husband and so she fights this tooth and nail, although in doing so she may also lose everything else that she has. Depicting two beautiful love stories, spanning a century apart, this is a well told story that ties everything together nicely and overall is just a good, solid read that you may have trouble putting down. Definitely worth checking out. 

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Set in post first world war London, we follow around socialite Clarissa Dalloway for "a day in the life", where she makes the final plans for a party she's throwing that night. Throughout the day, we meet several different characters including Peter Walsh, an old former love interest. Through Peter we also meet a war veteran suffering from PTSD, hallucinations and suicidal ideations. The book culminates with Clarissa's party where most of the characters we've so far met are in attendance with an unfortunate outcome for the soldier. Like I said in my Goodreads review, I struggled a fair bit with this book, which I mostly put down to the actual style of writing used by Woolf. Anything written using a stream of consciousness and I lose the ability to concentrate, so much so that it took me forever to finish this because I had to keep putting it down to read something else instead. I just can't get along with all of that flitting in between the different characters thoughts, direct and indirect speech and actions at the rate that it does. This is similar in style to Ulysses in that respect, although somehow I still prefer Ulysses…I found it hard to like the character of Clarissa all that much and so I also struggled with listening to her many thoughts.

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

Yeah I know, it's quite the disparity, having the YA version of Sex and The City next to Virginia Woolf but I needed something trashy to read and as I'm still loving all things Carrie related, I said I'd give this a go. It's actually fairly different to the TV series of the same name; it still follows Carrie when she's a teenager growing up in small town Castlebury, grappling with the loss of her mother and her rebellious teen sister but her love interest Sebastian is a scumbag in the book and nothing really major even happens in this- in the TV show there's a whole thing about her getting an internship in a magazine in New York. The most that happens in the book is that she's betrayed by her best friend, although all of her friends seem horrible at the best of times anyway. It ends with her arriving in the Big Apple and meeting a well known future character which makes me vaguely interested in reading the next one…but only if I get that for 99p also. Otherwise, I won't bother.

The Nightingale Girls & The Nightingale Sisters by Donna Douglas
The Nightingale Girls was actually sent to me by NetGalley to read in exchange for my honest review and the good news is that I loved it. I have a not so secret love for these sort of old school nursing stories; think Call the Midwife and you're on a similar track here. This is the first book in a five part series that follows three young student nurses from their first year of training in the prestigious Nightingale hospital in London in 1936. The three girls share a room together and they couldn't be any more different- Dora is a tough eastender from a poor background with an abusive stepfather who is determined to get away from that and make a success of herself. Helen is quiet and studious and avoids friendship with the rest of her class as she's under pressure from her overbearing mother to be a model student while Millie is from an aristocratic background and wants something more from her life other than parties and being dependant on a husband. All three struggle in their own ways with the pressures of being a student nurse in pre-war England but also with their own personal lives, their families and trying to find love. The characters are really well developed in this and I was so sucked in, I downloaded the second book- The Nightingale Sisters straight away and devoured that really quickly too! In the second book, the girl are in their second year of training and although they're becoming better at their jobs they still have a lot of the same personal struggles as well as the hardships they face on the wards; unpleasant duties, working long arduous hours and exams but mostly being treated poorly by the ward sisters who we learn more about in this book. Turns out they're not all bad; like most human beings they're multi dimensional and again, their characters are really well developed. While it touches on some serious topics it's also quite heartwarming; to me these are the ultimate comfort reads. Number three is coming up next..can't wait!

Summer's Child by Diane Chamberlain
Again, this was a 99p purchase on amazon and I thought it'd be a good Summer read what with the title and all. The story here is that 11 year old Daria finds an abandoned baby on the beach beside her house one morning. Amazingly, the newborn is still alive and because her family falls in love with her, they adopt her. Fast forward to 22 years later and the baby, Shelly, is now grown up and living with her two adoptive sisters Daria and Chloe, still in the beach house near where she was found. Shelly has grown into a sweet young woman who appears to have suffered some level of brain damage from the trauma of her birth and is incapable of leaving her hometown. She's determined though to find out who her birth mother was and so contacts TV presenter Rory Taylor, who used to live in her small seaside town but now presents a programme solving old mysteries in California. He agrees to help and returns to his old home with his son for the summer. From there we get treated to more than a few fairly drawn out red herrings, loads of secrets, a big mad storm and an accident, a bit of romance and a lot of nonsense. Nothing really happens in this for most of the book which became fairly frustrating after a while but even with that, this was just a grand easy read. If you're looking for a book that involves no concentration whatsoever (sometimes we all need one of those!) then this is for you!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8, Volume 3 by Joss Whedon et al
Ah Buffy, my one true TV love. If you read my book review posts then you'll know I'm trying to read more graphic novels this year and I'm loving the Buffy series. This is volume three and the last available to me in any of my nearby libraries. Boo. This one sees the return of lots of old Buffy characters; Harmony is back and is now a Vampire reality TV star, Riley shows up and Warren and Amy are still hanging around, trying to bring down the Buffster and the rest of the operation. Again, the drawings are perfect and the writing is as sharp and quick witted as ever. Must get my hands on more!!

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
I've wanted to read Maus for ages and am shamefully only getting around to it now. Art Spiegelman is an American cartoonist who interviewed his father in order to tell his story of his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. Spiegelman, using his fathers narration, paired it with his drawings depicting Jews as mice, Nazis as cats and pigs as non-Jewish Poles. Given the subject matter it is pretty heavy going in parts but the fact that it's broken up by flitting between times, i.e the Holocaust and 1970's New York (when the interviews are taking place) definitely helps to break up the story somewhat. The drawings are skilfully done and although it's both heartbreaking and deeply unsettling, it's also a brilliant piece of work. Plus it won the Pulitzer prize in 1992 so it's well worth a read.

Wolverine & Gambit: Victims by Jeff Loeb & Tim Sale
Himself picked this one up for me in the library as I'm a fan of anything X-Men and again, graphic novels. In this one, Wolverine and Gambit both find themselves mysteriously in London trying to solve a modern day Jack the Ripper, which they both find themselves being blamed for..but are they being set up? Well, yes. Obviously. And that's where this one falls down for me. It was an interesting premise but was predictable and not enough happened. Overall I felt they could have done a lot more with what they had.

And that's the lot for August! What have you read lately?
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Recently Read: February & March

I've been away from the blog for a little while due to personal reasons and so I've accumulated quite the collection of books to be reviewed. Here's what I read throughout February and March:

Only Ever Yours by Louise O' Neill

Set in a not-too-distant future where women are genetically engineered to be as close to perfection as possible (not quite perfect as there is "always room for improvement"), girls are raised as "Eves" and are there for one purpose only; to please men. They live in a school where they learn how to be a "Companion" to the males who will one day be in charge when they too are old enough. Not everyone can be a Companion however, some will be Concubines (prostitutes, basically) while others will be Chastities and confined to educating Eves for the rest of their lives. Women are designed to produce sons and once they are over the age of thirty five are removed from circulation as they can no longer procreate and therefore, are no longer useful to society. For the Eves, especially the two main characters, freida and isabel (female names all appear with a lower case in the book, highlighting their insignificance), they face all of the pressures you'd imagine including body dysmorphia, eating disorders, jealousy, self hate and a constant desire to be the best. The entire book is geared around the idea that women are not just the lesser sex, they are inferior to men in every possible way and are of importance only for the few ways men can use them. This is some bleak stuff right here and like the best comedy, I think that's because of how close to reality it is. Sure, our society isn't at the stage it is in this book (yet) but there's huge similarities in how our media views women and in turn, how men and women then view and treat women also. It's a disturbing plot which at times seems to have taken inspiration from the similarly terrifying Handmaids Tale. I feel like this is an important read for both women and men as it introduces feminist concepts in a subtle way- you could be forgiven for thinking this is fiction only but at its heart is a chilling message for the future.

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

Billed as this years big thriller and touted by many to be the new "Gone Girl" (it's not), the girl in the title is Rachel, a rather pitiful character with a drinking problem that gets the same train every day to work, which passes the same house and a couple therein that Rachel has built a mental fantasy about. She's decided their names are Jess and Jason and that they lead perfect lives, far removed from her own sad, solitary existence. Of course, reality can be very different to what we see on the outside and when "Jess" goes missing (real name Megan), Rachel has to piece together what happened to her from what she's seen and work out what her own involvement was from her hazy, drunken memories. Told from the perspective of three fairly unreliable narrators; Rachel, Megan/Jess and Rachel's ex-husband's new wife, this is a decent thriller that kept me captivated until the disappointing Scooby-Doo style ending. It is very bleak- Rachel is a full on alcoholic with bouts of amnesia following blackouts and I spent most of the book going "ah no, don't do that!". If you're looking for something light and fluffy, this isn't it but it's not a bad thriller if that's your thing.

Goose by Dawn O' Porter

Goose is the sequel to Dawn O' Porter's first novel, Paper Aeroplanes and follows the two main characters, Flo and Renee into their final year of school where they are faced with making plans for the future. The girls live on Guernsey, are best friends and have enough emotional problems between the two of them to keep Dr Phil busy for quite some time. These are YA books but the first in the series was well written and quite captivating. I didn't feel like that when I read Goose though. It lacked something and overall fell a bit flat for me. I would be interested in reading more form Dawn in the future but I may leave this series after this one. 

Revival by Stephen King

Ah, Stephen. You lured me with this one, that's for sure. Billed as a "supernatural thriller", I was expecting to be thrilled, supernaturally, rather than horrified. Oh how wrong I was. This is the story of two men that meet when one is a boy (Jamie Morton) and one is a minister of a small American town (Charles Jacobs). Jacobs has an unhealthy interest in the power of electricity and uses it to apparently cure Jamie's brothers mutism. Jamie grows to love Jacobs and his wife until a terrible accident causes the minister to renounce God and disappear out of his life. We then follow Jamie as he grows up- this is some real Stephen King stuff right here; the man loves an epic struggle worthy of song. Long story short, he grows up, goes off the rails and incredibly, meets Jacobs again who is now a travelling "healer", using his "secret electricity" to cure illnesses, both physical and mental with mostly positive results. Unfortunately, those who Jacobs has "cured" start acting very strangely and Jamie is forced to try and derail his old friend from causing any further harm. I won't say anymore because I don't want to give away the TERRIFYINGLY HORRIFIC ENDING but I will say it involves the grimmest vision of the afterlife ever, GIANT ANT LEGS COMING OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF CORPSES and me retching in my sitting room as I read it. So yeah. Good luck with that.

Blue Eyeshadow by Paul WS Bowler

I had previously read and loved Irish author Paul WS Bowler's short story The Bucket (review HERE) and so I was really looking forward to his first (and self published) novel, Blue Eyeshadow. The story unfolds over the space of a week but is told in a non-linear, non-chronological fashion so if you're the sort of person that's normally desperate to get to the end of a book and find out what happens, this will be a challenge for you! The prologue is a brief look at the life and death of a teenage boy, forced to commit suicide after a campaign of abuse by school bullies. The body of the book occurs after his tragic death and follows Aaron, an American teenager who has been attending the same school as his bullied predecessor since his family moved to a religious and highly judgemental small town. Aaron expresses himself through his hairstyle, piercings and make up, something that is not tolerated by his homophobic tormentors and their abuse is in turn, ignored by the school guardians. I have to say, I was desperate to find out what would become of Aaron and I felt the author did an excellent job of building that suspense. I also really appreciated the way Aaron's sister's character was written; multi-faceted, non-stereotypical female characters are a genuine joy to behold in a book for me so I was really interested in her too. With primary themes of homophobia, religious intolerance, bullying and suicide, this isn't a light read but it's sensitively written with well developed characters and a gripping plot. 

Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming

I love actor Alan Cumming and was intrigued by the premise of his memoir. After being approached by the BBC to appear on "Who do you think you are" in 2010, Alan (I can call him that, we're friends in my head) readily agreed, hoping it would shed some light on a family mystery regarding his maternal grandfather's death in the far East before he was even born. Little did he know it would reveal upsetting secrets about not just his grandfather but also his own dad, destroying relationships in the process. I bought this on Audible as I do with any autobiography read by the author as I think it adds something extra to the telling of the story. I was particularly pleased I did so with this book as Alan has a wonderfully rich voice that added warmth, humour, emotion and greater insight to the story. As a warning; his brutal childhood at the hands of his father is discussed in detail so if you'd rather avoid reading about the physical and emotional abuse of a child, you should probably leave this one. If you can get through that though, this is well worth a read. I actually found the different stories that were woven together in the one book to be fascinating and overall this is very different from your average celebrity memoir- there's proper substance here that will keep you captivated until the end. 

Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes

Sali Hughes is a beauty columnist with a lifetime of experience in all things cosmetics, skincare and beauty. She's now compiled that knowledge in her first book, Pretty Honest, a "straight talking beauty companion". 

I've previously read pieces from Sali in The Guardian and enjoy her own particular brand of no-nonsense beauty talk with a feminist leaning, which is exactly what you'll get in this book. I would've loved this when I was a teenager and again when I was a bride and also when I was unwell (there's a section for everything!) and I know I'll go back to it again as get older. Lots of great advice in there for all ages and skin types. 

Not That Kind Of Girl by Lena Dunham

I'm still not sure how to feel about this book. I quite like the TV show Girls (which Dunham writes and stars in) and find her to be an intriguing person so I wanted to find out just what exactly she has "learned". To that, I think, not a huge amount. At times, I found myself completely agreeing with some of her words of wisdom and she's certainly experienced plenty of unpleasant situations but…she almost seems to relish those experiences, as if she's aware of how they make her more interesting by proxy and they give her a story to tell, rather than honestly wanting to impart what she's learned from them. She is without a doubt, one of a kind. However, with that, at several times throughout the book I found myself rolling my eyes at how obnoxiously pretentious she is but then, immediately smiling because of how self aware she is! It's a pickle really. If you are going to read it, skip the entire chapter about her calorie counting. It is literally just this:

cherries 30 calories

crackers 100 calories

etc.

I thought she was trolling us all for that chapter but then realised that in her mind it was probably the book equivalent of an art installation piece. 

This book was on one hand, exactly what I expected and on another, completely different. I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone but at the same time, I don't actively dislike her after finishing it..so, that's kind of breaking even I guess?

Unbearable Lightness by Portia De Rossi

This is the story of Australian actress Portia De Rossi's journey from ambitious schoolgirl to Hollywood star via Ally Mc Beal, her hidden homosexuality and an eating disorder. She's brutally honest in this memoir about her experiences, including the depths she plummeted to maintain her tiny 82 lb weight. This was at times a difficult read as Portia details the extremes her illness drove her to, which ironically left me feeling somewhat nauseated. While it was without doubt an interesting read, I found it slightly odd that so much of the book was devoted to the illness itself, with only about the last 10% of the book discussing her recovery. It almost read like a "how-to", which could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

That's my lot! I'm on to a whole new slew of books now but let me know in the comments what you're currently reading and what I should pick up next!

XX

Recently Read: November & December

The last of my book reviews from 2015 and this means that I've reached my Goodreads target of 50 books to read throughout the year. Yay! Technically, I'm just over that with 51 books…but that's just being persnickety. I read more than that the year before and have set more targets for myself for the year ahead too (HERE).
That sounds pretty stringent but if I don't set a goal, I won't read as many books as I'd like to, or as many different genres.
Anyway, for now here's what I've just read:

Woman In The Making: A Memoir by Rory O'Neill

This was the most recent book choice for my book club and as a long time admirer of Panti, I really enjoyed this look at the life of one of Ireland's biggest advocates for LGBTQ rights. 

Starting from Rory O' Neills idyllic childhood in the 1970's in Mayo through to his stay in Japan and the birth of Panti during club nights where he first learnt the art of drag, to being diagnosed with HIV, right up to his role in the fight for marriage equality last year. I really enjoyed this memoir, Rory has had a really interesting life so far and strikes me as an intelligent and humorous person. If you're looking for an absorbing autobiography, this is a good place to start.

Asking For It by Louise O'Neill

I'd class Louise O'Neill's second novel as the book of the year for 2015, even though it took me a while to get to it! Emma is the queen bee of her social circle; teen girls in a small suburb of Dublin. The somewhat-friends are in their final year of school and attend a house party one weekend where a lot of alcohol and some drugs are taken in large quantities. Before Emma passes out she's behaved pretty poorly and treated her friends quite badly- there's something under the surface of their friendships from the start of the book and it's this that's one of the most clever elements to Asking For It. Emma isn't a likeable character by any means; you're not rooting for her and you spend the first half of the book wishing she would treat people a little better. What works well about this is that O'Neill is making the point that you very much do not have to be the "perfect" victim; anyone can be a victim of sexual assault, regardless of how good or bad they are. 

Emma wakes up the next day, having been tossed from a car into her parents front garden and is horrified to find that a Facebook page has been created to showcase graphic photos of her sexual assault at the hands of male friends of hers, all well-respected in the area. She remembers none of what happened and it's from there that the real nightmare begins. O'Neill has managed to accurately capture how our society treats female rape victims, especially where young women are concerned and indeed, young male perpetrators who were deemed to be "upstanding citizens". It's probably one of the most devastating books I've ever read; when I finished it I cried angry tears and it took a while before I stopped thinking about Emma. I'd recommend everyone read this and furthermore, it should be required reading for all teenagers.

The Call of the Wild: Travels in American Subcultures by Louis Theroux

I've been a long time fan of BBC documentary maker, Louis Theroux. This book is a culmination of all of his "weird weekend" shows where he stayed with the likes of alien hunters, porn-film makers, neo-Nazis and the infamous Westboro Baptist Church. The idea behind this book is to see what has become of these people since, how they feel about Louis since the documentaries aired and what it is that attracts Louis to the weirder elements out there. 

I got this on Audible, which definitely added a lot to it. Louis reads it himself and bizarrely, does a whole range of American accents too. At times it is really interesting and funny but overall, I found it a little bit lacklustre. I'd probably have preferred to have just watched the documentaries again if I'm honest; I didn't learn a whole lot more about these people than I already knew and I found myself tuning out often, which is unusual for me when listening to audiobooks. 

The 13 Problems by Agatha Christie

I bought this for my kindle for when I was in hospital as I obviously wasn't feeling great and wanted to have a book on standby that wouldn't be super hard to get into. The 13 problems involves thirteen different short stories all involving Miss Marple and a group of friends, all of whom seem to have had at least one bizarre mystery in their lives, involving an unexplained death. Sure enough, Miss Marple solves each case where no one else can, cause she's great. Either that or she somehow killed all of those people, as I suspect she has in every other Marple book too. 

Herself and Jessica Fletcher, always up to no good. 

Anyway, this one was grand, not the best Marple but entertaining nonetheless. 

The Book of You by Claire Kendal

I had read loads of reviews of this last year that described it as a really gripping thriller. It's mostly a novel about stalking and is incredibly dark at times. Clarissa is relieved to be called for jury duty as it means she'll have potentially weeks away from Rafe, a work colleague who has insidiously wormed his way into her life. Everywhere she turns, he's there. He sends her unnerving 'gifts' and disturbing letters and won't take no for an answer. As the trial progresses and the details of what happened to the victim are revealed, Clarissa starts to see similarities between herself and this woman and realises she can't go on like she is but will she manage to stop Rafe before it's too late? 

As it turned out, this was a very gripping read but probably one I could have done without if I'm honest. It was very graphic at times and seemed to be unnecessarily salacious when it came to detailing sexual assaults. It's definitely a good thriller; I was on the edge of my seat for most of it but I don't know if I'd recommend this one.

The Summer of Secrets by Sarah Jasmon

I requested a copy of this on NetGalley and although it wasn't the most seasonally appropriate book to read, I still enjoyed it. The story starts with 30-something year old Helen, working in a book shop and living above it, she seems to have a solitary life that was blighted by something in her past. As she starts to reminisce, she takes us back to her sixteen year old self and the Summer the Dover family moved in next door to her and her recently separated father (her mother having left the family home). Up to this she had been lonely and alone but Victoria and her siblings bring a whole new world of colour and adventure into her life. There are ups and downs and secrets are revealed until finally a tragedy occurs that will change all of their lives forever. Back to the present day and Helen is still struggling with her memories of that Summer, she can't recall what actually happened to have caused such a grim turn in her life but she's determined to find out. I loved how atmospheric this book is- it transported me back to hazy Summer days from my youth where each day stretched out miles in front of you and it felt like anything was possible. That aside, I felt that in establishing the background of that Summer that it became almost too dragged out and took too long to get to the crux of the story. 

Nightingales at War and Nightingales Under the Mistletoe by Donna Douglas

These were numbers 6 and 7 in the series about nurses in England in the 1940's. It's now full on WW2 and the crew of the Nightingale keep calm and carry on for as long as possible until there's just one too many air raid attacks and they have to up sticks and move to a country hospital. There's all sorts of shenanigans now that most of the eastend is struggling to get used to country life, we meet new nurses and doctors and old ones are reintroduced too. As usual, these aren't going to be winning the Pulitzer any time soon but they're entertaining in a comfort-blanket kind of way. 

Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan

I wanted to read a couple of festive book this year and there's something very seasonally appropriate about a vintage style old country house murder mystery (especially if you saw And Then There Were None this year, am I right?) and so I snapped up this Agatha Christie inspired novel. Mordecai Tremaine (his name is mentioned about a million times throughout the book) is an amateur detective who has, along with a whole slew of people, been invited to spend Christmas at the home of Benedict Grame in the small sleepy village of Sherbroome. He doesn't really know why he's been asked to attend but he goes anyway, probably because he's a weirdo. Sure enough, someone is murdered; Santa is found dead under the tree, but who's in the suit and how and why were they killed? I found this intolerably slow moving, it felt like I was wading through the book version of treacle at times and when the killer was finally revealed it was less shocking and more of a major relief to be honest.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

I also finally completed the Harry Potter series. I had a goal to read them all in 2014 and for the most part, I did. I got stuck on the final book last Christmas and ended up having so much going on that I never finished it. Then I thought I'd read it last January but I had a mental block at that stage; Harry Potter was 2014 and it was now 2015. So I left the second half of this 'til December because Harry Potter is really more of a Christmas thing, for me anyway. 

Loads happens in the Deathly Hallows, but mostly, Harry, Ron and Hermione really grow up. They leave school and for most of the book, are separated from their family and friends, relying only on each other, leading at times to fractions within their tightly knit group. There are many deaths and many tears (cheers for that J.K. Nothing says 'Christmas' like weeping heavily) and a final throw down between Harry, Voldemort and, well, everyone that makes for very exciting reading. I loved this series and am so glad I finally read it, years and years after everyone else!

Have you read any of these?

What are you currently reading?

XX

10 Stephen King Books To Read This Halloween

I normally do a Halloween book list at the time of year; creepy and or downright terrifying books that I intend to read for the season that's in it, but I thought I'd do something a little different, considering all of the Stephen King love that's going around at the minute. I actually can't believe that I haven't done a blog post on this before, given my King super fan status but better late than never.

This is not an exhaustive list, King is a prolific writer; I'm trying but I don't think I'll ever get through his entire back catalogue. Nor is this in any particular order, all the books featured here are ones that I love, no more, no less than each other. I've also read plenty more of his books than what features here but I guess these are the ones that have stayed with me the longest. If you think you know the story because you've seen the film, and that you don't need to read the book, think again. As with all King adaptations, so much of the finer descriptive work and backstory goes missing when it's transformed onto the big screen. This is a timing issue- too much story to fit into an hour and a half/two hours. I'm gonna assume that you, the reader are a King novice for the purpose of this post and go right ahead and explain the storyline of each novel.

I've got a weird love and fascination for his writing. It's often disturbing, scary and bizarre but it's also funny, emotive and extremely clever. I love the many pop culture references, the descriptions of small town Americana and the "Easter eggs" from his own work that are peppered throughout his books. "Easter eggs", in case you think I've gone mad, are the references that are hidden in a book, film, TV show etc. that are placed there specifically as a treat for fans. King does this with aplomb- mentions of killer clowns, "army experiments gone wrong, like that movie, The Mist", the Overlook Hotel, etc. are really enjoyable for utter book nerds like myself when spotted somewhere unexpected. The more of his books you read, the more you'll realise they're all connected and exist in their own little King Universe. Not a place you'd want to live in, sure, but it's the perfect location to get lost in a great story!

The Shining
I was obsessed with the film long before I read the book and for some reason, I chose the time I was very ill in hospital to work my way through this 500 long page-turner. Jack Torrance is a budding writer and part time teacher. He's struggling to make ends meet for him, his wife Wendy and son Danny and so he takes a job offer as a janitor in a hotel during the winter months when its doors will be closed. The family drive on up to the foreboding Overlook Hotel, where they're warned about the dangers of isolation, cold, dark weather and cabin fever. Jack thinks they can handle it and so they're left to their own devices to keep an eye on the boiler and general maintenance. Jack plans to write his novel now he has peace and quiet but the force of evil residing in the hotel has other ideas. Little Danny meanwhile, has "the shining', an unwanted ability to communicate with the dead. Unfortunately for Danny, there's lots of dead people in The Overlook Hotel and they all want to play with him. Let me tell you that this book scared the actual bejaysus out of me. I remember reading this in my hospital bed and debating about whether or not I should attempt to go asleep after a particularly terrifying passage. Forget everything you know about the film, this is where its at. I'd also recommend the sequel, Doctor Sleep.
Be prepared to be scared forevermore of; topiary animals, hotels, abusive fathers/husbands/men in general (to be fair) and boilers.

Carrie
King's first book and the one his wife Tabitha, fished out from the trash and told him to persevere with. G'wan Tabitha! Carrie is a marginalised teenage girl. She's bullied by her peers for being "weird". Her mother is extremely religious and so they both live in relative poverty- Carrie's clothes are old and unfashionable and because her mother thinks it's sinful, she has never explained to her what menstruation is. Carrie then thinks she is dying when she gets her first period in school and just to compound matters for her, all the mean girls are there to witness her breakdown and torment her even more. One of her schoolmates feels bad for bullying her so makes her boyfriend agree to take Carrie to the prom. All the other bullies have a different idea though, and plan to humiliate Carrie as much as they possibly can. Unfortunately for them, they don't realise that the onset of Carrie's period has given her telekinesis and she will get her revenge for how she's been mistreated her entire life. This is a tricky one cause you do feel very sorry for Carrie, she's a tragic figure, but King being King just pushes the boundaries that little bit to the point where you want her to stop. This is a pretty quick read so if you're a King newbie, it's a good one to start with.
Be prepared to be scared forever more of; teenage girls, religion and high school proms, I guess.

Misery
Another excellent film adaptation, but I felt the book put me right into the main characters shoes so I got double the terror! Paul Sheldon is a very successful writer. He's the author of a series of romance/drama novels whose main character, Misery Chastain, he is desperate to be rid of. She's haunted his career and so, with relief, he writes the final in the series, where he finally kills off Mercy. His tradition upon completing a book is to drive up to a cabin in Colorado where he enjoys a bottle of champagne and a cigar but the roads are snowed in and he gets into a terrible car accident. His biggest fan, Annie Wilkes saves him from the wreckage but instead of bringing him to the hospital, she takes him home where she tells him she'll nurse him back to health..he just has to write a new book the way she wants it where Misery lives. Annie isn't in any way mentally stable and becomes Paul's jailer and tormentor. Good sweet Jesus, the horrors poor Paul has to go through. Even the description of pain in this book is so very real that it can be difficult reading at times, but it is oh so brilliantly written. This was another one that I read into the long hours of the night, sat bolt upright, adrenaline pumping through my veins, hoping Paul would win.
Be prepared to be scared forevermore of; nurses, small animal figurines, being bed-bound, and hobbling (that's ankle bashing with a sledgehammer), if you already weren't, for some reason.

IT.
OK, deep breath for this one. I only read this book last year. I'd been putting it off because the TV mini series back in 1990/1991 scared the living daylights out of me and I didn't even really see it (my sisters were watching it, they made me sit with my back to it so I heard everything and peeked around in time to see goddamn Pennywise and his massive array of teeth). Himself and I re-watched it a few years back (lads, we rented a DVD version, so that should age us even further) and although it has aged incredibly badly, the concept was still scary. Fast forward to last October then and I thought it would be the ideal time to finally read IT, and so I got all 1,200 pages of it on Audible where some voice actor proceeded to scare the crap out of me for the following two months. I listened to this primarily walking to and from work and so many times I found myself stopped in my tracks, internally screaming at something absolutely horrifying that was taking place in my headphones. Pennywise is just a representation of an unspeakable evil that's lived in Derry since the beginning. It reappears every 27 years to feed by luring children and then eating them and It takes the shape of whatever your biggest fear is. That varies from child to child obviously, providing a rich and imaginative storyline that keeps you scared witless for the entire book. If you've seen the new movie, which was great, I'd recommend reading the book now as it combines all the lovely nostalgia from the first half, where the kids fight Pennywise, to the newer setting of the second half of the book, where the kids, now adults, must return to Derry and take on the evil yet again. Plus, you'll be ahead of everyone else before the next film comes out!
Be prepared to be scared forever more of; clowns (although you really should have been anyway, to be honest. What's wrong with you?), lepers, old women, sewers, syphilis, storm drains, balloons, abandoned houses, being a girl, bullies, small town Maine, birds, werewolves, libraries, Chinese food, perverts, abusive husbands/fathers/men in general, blood, bathrooms, being a small child.

11/22/63
This is a more recent book from King and one that I recommend the most to people who want to read King but don't like horror. This is a time travel novel that brings us back to the 1950's and poses the question, "would the world be a better place if John F. Kennedy had never been shot?".
Jake Epping is a high school teacher in a modern day setting and comes across an essay written by a mature student; a janitor who fifty years ago survived a violent assault by his father on Halloween night that killed his mother, his siblings and left Harry disabled. When Jake is approached by a friend and the local diner owner who tells him he can travel through time, he sceptically agrees to try to change history, firstly by helping Harry, and if that works he can work on saving J.F.K, as is his friend's goal. Jake doesn't realise it yet but every action he takes is changing something else, and not always for the better. I absolutely devoured this book. I loved it so much. That's a period of time I find fascinating anyway but the book deals with much more than just time travel; there's a love story, a whole host of perfectly drawn characters and even though it's not technically a horror, it has plenty of spine chilling moments. I laughed, I cried, I was shocked to my core but also thoroughly entertained. Oh and you best believe I sweated absolute buckets with the sheer tension of it when it gets to the part on the grassy knoll. I'm jealous of anyone who hasn't read it yet..go read, now!
Be prepared to be scared forever more of; sledge hammers, small town Maine, Russia, abusive husbands/fathers/men in general, the government, time travel.

Under The Dome
Another more recently written work, I'm actually currently reading this one so I can't give my full verdict yet but I'm completely absorbed and the story has fully pulled me in. Another winner! Chester's Mill is a small town in Maine where on a crisp October day (congrats to me for starting a book in the month in which it's set- not planned at all) the town is suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible border. It takes the town's inhabitants a day to figure it out after several deaths and car crashes. Now the issue becomes how can the town generators survive? Will the patients in the hospital die? Who will take over the police force? Will there be enough food? All of that is aside from the very obvious; what is it, how did it get here and how will they get out? As with so many of King's books, the main threat is supernatural and obviously scary but the real worry becomes mankind itself. We're introduced to both good and very bad people living under the dome but who will survive? I'm loving this one, it's set in the modern day, so there's plenty of mentions of the internet, blackberries, iPods etc. but at the same time, it has that old school small town Stephen King vibe that's associated so clearly with his books. The perfect mix!
Be prepared to be scared forever more of (based on my reading so far); people but let's face it, mostly men, religion, terrifying invisible dome structures that effectively trap you with some undercover psychopaths, small town Maine, police brutality.

Pet Sematary
I still think about this one quite regularly. Another story that made my hairs stand on end. King calls this one his scariest book and I think he may be right. Louis Creed is a doctor, moving to small town Maine (guess what I'll be telling you to be scared of at the end of this? I've actually been to Maine and it's rather lovely but you should probably still be scared) for a job and bringing his wife Rachel, son Gage and daughter Ellen with him. They move into their new home and instantly become friends with the elderly couple living across the road. Their new neighbour, Judd, brings the family to see the local "pet sematary", so spelt as it was created by a group of children as a place to bury their pets when they died. The family are a little freaked out but think no more of it. In Louis' first day in his new job a young man is brought in following a road traffic accident with most of his head missing. Louis dreams he's visited by the young man that night and although the dream seemed very real, well it can't be cause he's dead, right? WRONG. You're in Maine now, buddy. Things go from bad to worse after that and I won't go into it cause if I had to be close to tears with fear and stress then you should too. Let me just say one name though. Zelda. *shudders intensely*
Be prepared to be scared forever more of; kindly old men that seem helpful, cats, pet cemeteries, actual people cemeteries, road traffic accidents, the dead, small town Maine, children (always creepy).

Salem's Lot
King's ode to Vampire movies and or Dracula, the novel. This might be one of my lesser favourites but it's still up there cause several parts of it terrified me good-o.  Guess where Salem's Lot is situated? You guessed it, Maine!! Ben Mears, a writer and former resident of Salem's Lot, returns to town, still haunted and fascinated by the old Marsten House, a forbidding and ghostly building overlooking the town. He plans to write a book about it and starts dating a local women, Susan, and all is going well except that the new owner of the house is so mysterious and then of course, people start to go missing. Including a local boy that is found almost entirely drained of his blood. He's buried but begins to make nightly visits to his little brothers window, knocking from the outside and begging to be let in *cue blood curdling scream*. The head vampire himself is not overly scary but the build up and the tension in this book is masterful.
Be prepared to be scared forever more of; Vampires (obvs), small town Maine, night-time, small children, windows.

Mr. Mercedes
Another relative newbie, this is the first part of a trilogy about retired detective, Bill Hodges. The book gives us a really shocking introduction to the killer, Mr. Mercedes and his first known crime, for which he is never caught. Bill is not enjoying his retirement; he's begun to put on weight, feels he has no purpose and is considering shooting himself with his service revolver. That is until Mr. Mercedes begins to send him taunting emails begging him to play the game and try and catch him, or more people will get hurt. This is a bit gory in places but is really more of a thriller, so it's another good one for those who don't love horror. It's also now a TV series starring Brendan Gleeson and from what I've seen, it's pretty good. This book was my favourite in the trilogy but when you read this one, you'll be hooked and will want to read the rest anyway!
Be prepared to be scared forevermore of; clowns (as always), psychopaths, cars, computers, computer nerds, inappropriate mother/son relationships, burgers, retirement, ice cream vans.

The Stand
I'm saving the longest for almost last. I think it took me most of a Summer to read this but it was so worth it. This is pure dystopia at its very best. A bio-engineered virus, produced in a U.S government lab is accidentally released, and within a couple of weeks almost all of humanity has succumbed to a super flu that kills within days. Those who are left, quickly fall into two categories; good and evil. The two groupings begin to have the same dreams every night about two mysterious figures; Mother Abigail, a kindly and wise old black woman, telling them to come to her in Colorado and Randall Flagg, a dark shadowy figure telling them to come to Vegas. Bad enough to have an apocalypse thanks to a virus but Flagg intends to destroy humanity altogether and this book feels quite biblical because of that. Flagg could definitely be seen as the Devil's representative on Earth and Mother Abigail, as God's representative but it's really more about the individual characters and what they bring to the storyline. This is an absolutely epic read and one of the very best from King- it's a mixture of fantasy and horror but will make you think on a deeper level about humankind and why we are here in the first place- not always what you would have expected from either of those genres.
Be prepared to be scared forevermore of; the flu/common cold/any randomer even barely coughing near you on the Luas, viruses in general, pyromaniacs, the Devil, the sort of people who can survive an apocalypse (I'll be gone first anyway- I have no survival skills and the people who don't have those but survive anyway, survive cause they kill everyone else), the government.

Bonus round: The Mist
The Mist is a novella so will be a super quick read if you're looking for just one of these to add to your Halloween reading list. You can read the others throughout the rest of the year!
It's actually the first King book I read and I became a lifelong fan based on this one alone. You might have seen the movie adaptation a few years ago that has the most depressing ending of all time (different to the book) but if you haven't and even if you have, I'd recommend giving it a read. I think about this book constantly. What I would do in a similar situation (I think I'd just stay in the grocery store, I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to face the giant spiders and all the winged things) and if I too would become a follower of local religious lunatic, Mrs Carmody. I'd like to think not, but you know, extreme circumstances and all.
Basic plot here; David sets off from his (say it with me folks) SMALL TOWN MAINE home, bringing his son to the grocery store after a violent storm that night. By the time they get to the parking lot a sudden mist has begun to creep across the town and with it comes gigantic, stomach churning creatures who only want to eat you and make you suffer while they do it. Gigantic spiders that shoot webs of acid, anyone? Nope, didn't think so. Oh god, the scuttling. And the flying ones. Vomit. Vomit all over my keyboard. Anyways, David and his son become trapped in the supermarket with a whole host of random people (again, who's more of a threat, the supernatural creatures or the people surrounding you?) who are under constant attack from the beasts living in the mist outside. They need medicines but the pharmacy is next door...oh and they may eventually need to escape but can they get to the car in one piece and how far does the mist even go?
Prepare to be scared forevermore of; Mist (obvs), the government, viruses, people but let's face it, mostly men, gigantic winged creatures that want to eat you, gigantic scuttling insects that want to eat you, gigantic acid spitting spiders that want to kill you and use you as a nest for their many evil spider babies, supermarkets, religion, small town Maine.

Before you start any of these, I obviously recommend clearing some space in your freezer, a la Joey Tribbiani.

And that's your lot. Give me a couple more years and I'll return with a part two! Speaking of which, any recommendations for what to read next? I hear the Dark Tower series is good, any thoughts? I'm definitely more old school King but I'm hoping to read them all at some stage so it's more of a matter of what to read first! 

To the comments!

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