The weekend is over. And it flew by. I barely had a chance to savor it. But, let’s not dwell on that, otherwise I might start twirling around really fast in an effort to time travel and that definitely wouldn’t be pretty.

Sunday was supposed to be dedicated to a mini read-a-thon, but due to some improper planning on my part (and lack of sleep the night before), it was transformed into a micro read-a-thon—two books and four short stories in six hours. I just missed the mark…by about four miles.

I did manage to finish one book (Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt) and get three quarters of the way through another (The Devouring by Simon Holt)—keep reading for some book notes. I also learned that I read much slower when I’m tired.*

Reviews in Queue

There are so many books around here begging to be reviewed, but I’ve been putting it off. I’m not sure why. Maybe there’s a mental block. Maybe it has something to do with the changes to the review system.** In any event, here are a few waiting for their moment on the chopping block:

Topless Prophet by Alan Markovitz (with Thomas Stevens)

Before you read the title, see the cover image, and scoff, let me first explain the reason for requesting the book. I enjoy books on business and success—when they’re well done. If you can weave that valuable knowledge into an entertaining memoir, all the better. Plus, I enjoy a hint of risqué. And that’s precisely what Topless Prophet is.

It’s not as smut-filled as one might assume at first glance and deals more with Markovitz’s life growing up and entering the adult entertainment business, plus it dispenses some excellent advice (and inspiration) which could be applied in almost any situation. It’s also an interesting look behind the scenes of a high class strip club.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

When I finished this book, I wondered why I hadn’t read it much sooner. I was also left in awe at how quickly it floated by.

This book was a much faster read than I’d anticipated, but it has so much to offer. Words fail me.

It’s one book that I can squarely recommend for both children and adults. For the child, there’s an entertaining story about a girl who’s tired of the status quo and ends up on an adventure with a peculiar immortal family and learning about life in the process, and there’s a heavier message for the adults.

The question posed on the front cover is no joke: What if you could live forever?

The Devouring by Simon Holt

When I first read the description at Amazon, I thought it sounded sufficiently interesting. Then I read a few reviews and they all had something in common: they said the book was frightening. Still, I didn’t believe them. I’ve read (and watched) so much horror and thriller and blood-soaked thrasher stories that they rarely phase me anymore. Then I began reading…

…and it is frightening.

It’s not your traditional frightening. Nothing seems overtly out of place until you realize the cold air you feel blowing across your arms and legs is not natural or that the smell of carnival popcorn doesn’t belong in your bedroom or the woman sitting on the bed is not actually your long-gone mother. Or that your soul has been replaced by something dark and no one around you knows. It’s a slow chill that snakes through you until you’re numb. That’s the kind of frightening it is.

It’s not without its clichés, but I still can’t wait to finish this one.

The Week Ahead

I don’t often publish “week ahead” posts, but I figure: I’m here, I’m typing, so why not?

Since embarking on this little reading experiment, I had to put aside Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson—of which I’m halfway finished and it rocks—so I’ll probably finish that up this week, then move on to something weightier; Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh (which I snagged thanks to a recommendation by Sravana) or Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline perhaps.

After that, I’m sure I’ll want to move on to something light and carefree, or maybe some non-fiction. Goody Hall by Natalie Babbitt, Mister Monday by Garth Nix, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot are good candidates.

Since I tend to be a moody reader, we’ll have to wait and see to be certain.

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*I decided to use a track timer while reading. At the end of each chapter, I pressed the ‘Lap’ button. It was interesting to see bottlenecks or fluctuations based on my posture or overall alertness.

**After an unscientific survey performed a while back, I’ve decided to break my reviews up into two parts posted separately. One part will be the summary and vocab words (I originally planned to do vocab, but never actually did it) and the second part will be my thoughts on the book.

Happy Tuesday! It’s time again for another edition of Teaser Tuesdays…

Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• You also need to share the title of the book where you get your teaser from…that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given
• Please avoid spoilers

I’m smack dab in the middle of two books right now, but the one nearest to me is Fallen by Lauren Kate and so that will be from where the teaser is pulled.

This week’s teaser:

“Even from this distance, Luce could see black mold covering the face of the dorm. All the windows were obstructed by rows of thick steel bars.” pg. 17 Fallen by Lauren Kate

So far the writing is smooth, but there has only been one small bit of action that’s piqued my curiosity. In fact, I’ve already developed a few quibbles.

I don’t know what to make of Luce just yet, but she’s teetering perilously close to the edge of being a whiney heroine and I believe nearly nothing about her new “friend” Arriane; her actions are anything but consistent with what we’re told. But there’s still time for character development. I might be surprised.

At best I feel the book will redeem itself by the end, and at worst, it will just turn out to be another average read. (I’m hoping for the former.)

I’m lazing away this Sunday afternoon, about to dig into a patty and coco bread. The dark clouds outside are teasing me, but I still have hope they will open up and provide the perfect atmosphere to get my creative juices flowing. In the meantime, I figure now is the perfect time to offer the “where has Ann-Kat been?” update.

For a little while, I was sick (think delirious and semi-conscious) with the flu. It’s an experience I’d rather not repeat and luckily I’m all better now (yay!). The downside is that I’m racing to catch up with everything that’s fallen behind…

Writing

I’m now nearly 16,000 words behind on my NaNoWriMo project, but I hope to fill most of the gap by the end of the day—cloud inspiration permitting.

I did, however, manage to get most of my NaNo board finished and discovered the face of my female lead along with a few secondary characters. Since I promised to bring this blog back to all things bookish, you can read all about the NaNo board (and my writing progress in general) at Today, I Wrote….

Reading

After finishing Wuthering Heights, from which my head is still reeling (Kidnapping and extortion? Really?!?), I’ve moved on to The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Fallen by Lauren Kate. I’m about a third of the way through both.

The former I remember from childhood; reading it as an adult brings some new perspectives. The latter is interesting so far, but I’ve already found a few items of contention—here’s hoping it will redeem itself by the end.

Reviews

My review queue is backlogged a bit, but I hope to have that sorted just after the holidays. Some of the books awaiting review include The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett, Dawn by Kevin Brooks, and Soulless by Christopher Golden.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much was enthralling. I thought I was in for a true crime read, but it was more a journalist’s memoir of the book collecting world and the misguided lengths to which one man would go for his passion.

I managed to get up a mini review of Dawn since I read it for the 24 Hr. Read-a-Thon, but I do need to get a proper review online. This book certainly deserves one.

I expected to like Soulless a bit more than I did. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it. Then again, I’ve always been fond of those B zombie movies with cheezy overacting and that’s the feeling I got from the book. Plus, it had an original premise in how the zombie apocalypse started. There are some book notes up (and a Sunday Sketch depicting a scene), but like the others, this deserves its own full review.

Arrivals

Thank goodness the book fairy didn’t forget about me while I was infirmed. A number of books made their way across my threshold and I’m excited to read all of them. The list includes:

• Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
• Defenders of the Scroll by Shiraz
• i sold Andy Warhol (too soon) by Richard Polsky
• Raiders’ Ransom by Emily Diamand
• Madapple by Christina Meldrum

Soon I’ll get a proper “recent arrivals” post up along with synopsis for each of the titles. But for now, that ends my Sunday Salon week end round-up. You have been updated.

It’s just into the 23rd hour of the read-a-thon and I gotta admit I’m starting to feel The Sleepies™ despite my best efforts involving chocolate ice cream, Cherry Coke Zero, and 5 Hr Energy. It doesn’t help that my reading partner was zoning out on me…until, that is, she finally threw in the towel. There she is waving me good night. Traitor.

As I mentioned in my last update post, I decided to move onto Soulless by Christopher Golden as my next read. It’s not a long novel, but doesn’t truly count as a short one either. And I wish I could say that it’s as engrossing as my previous read, but don’t get me wrong, it is a good read so far.

It started off with a mass seance. Basically, three mediums go on a morning news show to demonstrate their gifts and to allow the deceased, on a grand scale, to communicate with their loved ones. Unfortunately, something they didn’t plan for happened: all those ghosts wanting to communicate with their loved ones are technically soulless (hence the title) and therefore cannot control their rampant urges and the mediums, along with the two news hosts, are locked together (hand to hand) and no one can seem to wake them up or pry them apart.

Dead bodies are now animated by spirits (which are different from souls, by the way) all over the Northeast and it’s spreading fast. There’s chaos and carnage and people are panicking left and right. There’s all kinds of zombie goodness going on while the people trapped inside the news studio try to figure out how to separate the three mediums, and the two poor news hosts, and praying that doing so will fix everything. Exciting stuff I tell ya.

Now, why is it not as engrossing? There’s some character development going on admist the zombie uprising and some of it just seems wildly unnecessary and only serves to quell the awesomeness of people getting their cheeks eaten off and whatnot. But, it’s not enough to get me to set aside the read because sure enough, when I’m ready to throw in the towel, another zombie comes out of nowhere and I’m giddy with fear again.

On an almost related note, I just had a glance outside and at this time of the morning, it seems much darker than I’d expect it. I’m not scared or anything, but I was hearing a couple strange noises coming from the back patio and erm…uh…yeah.

Well, I’ve just finished reading Dawn by Kevin Brooks and I’m a bit numb right now. Figuratively and literally (my butt).

The story, for lack of a better cliche, was intense, and not entirely what I expected.

Sure, I expected some twisted bits (the allusion to something happening to her while quietly laying in bed one December night is like a flashing neon sign), but I never expected it to be that twisted and a bit heart-wrenching.

I swear I felt a tear pricking at my eye and trust me, it was not a moment when I should have been crying and certainly not for the person I nearly cried for.

Ultimately, this is a heavy novel, but much of it is written with a light touch. There are passages that had me cackling and packages that had me shaking my head with consternation.

And since Dawn likes to make lists, allow me to make a list of just a few of them:

• Dawn makes it her mission to kill God. (Although he doesn’t exist.)
• Painted snails. Yes, really. Painted snails.
• “Jesus licks his arse.” (Since I know your eyes may be bugging out, let me say that Jesus is the name of her dog. She also has another named Mary.)
• Born-again alcoholic.

I’m still trying to let the story digest for a bit before I come out with a full review. One thing is for certain though, it certainly had me glued to the pages.

In the meantime, I’ll be taking a fifteen minute break to grab some caffeine, make the rounds to see how everyone else is doing, and then start on Soulless by Christopher Golden.