Booknerd Boutique 7/2/13

Hey there! I'd like to introduce a new feature on the blog. Booknerd Boutique - these entries will be weekly (or so) collections of cool nerdy links that I have found through the week. Author stuff, news about new books, film adaptations, that kind of thing. Or, you know...whatever I feel like...because it's my blog (insert evil laugh here).

• First up: in series new: True Blood season 6 has started, the show based on Charlaine Harris's super successful Southern Vampire series. Also, the 13th and last Sookie book has come out recently: Dead Ever After I'll be picking that one up soon, so you can expect a review this month.
• Under the Dome - the CBS television adaptation of Stephen King's 2009 novel started up last week. After I watch a few more episodes I'll cook up a review/snarky comments for y'all regarding that. You can watch it: here.
• Enjoy two snippets of video clips of a lengthy Stephen King interview - one on his compulsion to write: here. And one calling him Walt Disney's evil twin: here.
• Three Neil Gaiman tidbits for you: New Sandman cover has been released, check it out: here. My review of Sandman: Dream Hunters: here. Gaiman's novel American God is going to be a 6 (!!) season show on HBO, that article: here. My American Gods review: here. And, even cooler: Neil Gaiman's 8 rules for writing. Enjoy those: here. 

Not sure what kind of photo to put, so yeah, I decided on a pig reading the newspaper. 

You enjoy that.

Enjoy! and Happy 4th of July everyone!

My name is bee, and I'm a Constant Reader

Kayso, when I was about 11 or so, I started stealing my sister's Stephen King books off of her shelf and reading them in frantic, stolen snatches. I didn't understand a lot of what I was reading, probably, and I think it began as me looking for another book like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Boy, did I find ever so much more than that. I don't know when I started to get it, when I became what King calls a "constant reader," but every summer from the time I was 13 til the time I was in my 20's I reread IT. I still vividly remember the first time reading a book gave me honest to Jesus, actual chills. I was laying around on a hot summer day reading instead of being outside making friends, and I was reading Pet Sematary. I think one of the best books about writing is King's On Writing. Speaking of his writing advice, please enjoy these 20 quotes (you know I love quotes too!).

True Story

Anyway, I'm telling you this because this summer there's a lot to look forward to as a King fan. Under the Dome is gonna be a tv show, which I sincerely hope doesn't suck.
Also, he's got a new book: Joyland. This one is from the Hard Case Crime publishers and is supposed to be a good pulpy old-school creeper - review coming some time this summer, I'm sure.

Oh, and by the freaking way - he has a musical!? (We'll talk about my need for an interobang key another time) Yeah... you heard that right, and yeah, it's making my 15 year old cast geek self all aflutter. Seriously, kids, I love some musically goodness. (I am like freaking Florence + Motley Crue + Idina Menzel in my car/shower.) Anyway, he cowrote this with John Cougar Mellencamp (yeah, I know he dropped the "Cougar" but a heart doesn't forget, John) And you can check it out/gleek out over it here.

Anywho - King was recently on the Today Show talking about the new book and musical and his general awesomeness. He also gives recommendations for summer - which include his sons' works. I haven't read any Owen King yet, but I am reading Nos4a2u right now and it will be my next review. (You can read my review of Hill's Heart Shaped Box here).
Enjoy the video here:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

So, that's all happening. Also, what the hell, here's a picture of me in my "MidWorld Lanes" t-shirt - a reference to the Dark Tower series.

Oh! And when you have a pal who's a photoshop god, you occasionally get things in your inbox like this, unbidden, and awesome (Thanks JK!):

So, yeah, I know I seem a little Annie Wilkes right now, but you know, I'm just an enthusiastic kinda gal.

The Finer Points of Fines

Holy crap, y'all. Okay, so I'm a cnn.com junkie. And today, I'm reading and I see an article titled "Police enforcement of library lending leaves 5 year-old in tears." I reluctantly click to read the article while thinking "Oh hell, ladies...really?"
So yeah - basically the public library in Charlton Massachusetts sent a "friendly" police reminder to 13 local residents to remind them that their library books were overdue. Understandably said delinquent patrons were not impressed. Then...to take matters further into crazy town the library spokesperson told the paper that they felt that the police visits would be "be a kinder way, a friendly reminder saying 'Hey can you bring this back,' rather than sending a summons," because she is high. Holy crap. If you want to see the local news report complete with little girl saying "I was scared" click here. I can only assume that each of her adorable dimples is a coffin nail in someone's career.
You know what? I get it, it sucks when people don't bring things back. The library I work for charges 5cents per day per overdue item with a cap at $5. To be honest, this does not really entice many of our worst offenders to bring back anything. In our school the fines are meant to be a deterrent to overdues, and we are usually willing to let kids slide if they are polite. We are almost always willing to make a deal. We make it very clear to them that we'd rather have our books back then take their money. I understand that these people in Massachusetts want their stuff back, but this is insane. And now it's national news.
Here's the thing, folks - we have been having the "Are Libraries Dead?!" debate since I started grad school. Librarians, when you do things like this: things that make us look like nervous old biddies, things that make us look naggy and mean, things that make us look like relics YOU ARE KILLING US. I mean really.
Not to mention for all of us Stephen King fans out there this is conjuring up uncomfortable memories of The Library Policeman.

Not how I want to be thought of...

So please, librarians, I'm begging you....help out the cause and don't do anything else that's going to get us put in the news for being nuts.

Duma Key by Stephen King

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; Export Ed. edition (January 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416552510
• ISBN-13: 978-1416552512
• List Price: $28.00
• I finished this book on July 14

Okay, so, we know I lurve me some Stephen King. But I've come to realize that just because you love something doesn't always mean it's good. There are times when I smother my beau in the night (mostly when he beats me in Spite & Malice) and there are times when I am less than in love with a specific King story. But let me tell you, lovelies, that shit did not go down here. I devoured Duma Key in a way I haven't read anything recently. Last night I skipped going to the gym because I was nearing the end and I had to finish it.
Plotacular: Edgar Freemantle (such a King name, really) was a loaded construction guy who had a severe accident that left him minus an arm, and plus a fake hip, a bad leg and anger issues. On top of that his wife of a bajilion years says: "See ya!" and gets a divorce. Bad news bears. Edgar's will to live is fading fast and his shrink suggests a move to a new place and a return to a hobby that will make Edgar happy. So he shuffles off to a big crazy pink house on one of the Florida Keys and takes off drawing again. Drawing soon turns to painting and Edgar discovers he's eerily talented. Could it be his phanton limb pain helping him? Or his head injuries? Could it be the mysterious island he's on or it's few other occupants.
The story is riveting from the first few pages and keeps building slowly but steadily to an ending that made me skip Pilates (and I am a gal who loves Pilates). There is so much classic SK here, too. It's like putting on that big comfy cardigan that you've had forever on a chilly night and finding it just as snuggly as ever. The thing I love about his books is not only is there always an amazing story going on, but there is also a multitude of likable or intriguing characters (including one who says Jesus Krispies, which I have already added to my repertoire). This book reminds me a bit of Bag of Bones, which is one of the first books I reviewed here.
For more, go over to Amazon and watch my b/f SK discuss cooking this tale up in a little video.
Also, please enjoy a new feature: I'm the kind of person who associates music with everything and reading a book usually reminds me of several different songs for a variety of reasons. So, this is just a little extra: the song the book reminds me of.
So, for the first ever Soundtrack: Wave of Mutilation by the Pixies. Cause he's an amputee. And it's on a beach. Stop giving me that look, I don't have to explain myself to you :)

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Listening Library (Audio); Unabridged edition (August 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307282279
• ISBN-13: 978-0307282279
• List Price: $50.00
• I finished listening to this audio book on Dec. 22

I always think it's funny when you listen to a book on tape read by a woman and they do the voices. Lynn Redgrave read this and she was amazing, her voices and accents were outstanding. However, many times, when women try to do men they sound like old men because the woman does the voice gruffly to distinguish it from her own. The reason I'm telling you this is because I imaged Mo to be much older than Brendan Frasier who will play him in the movie. You can see the trailer here.
Okay, so, Mo is a bookbinder and he has a secret: he can read things out of books. This is fucking awesome except he can't necessarily control the things he reads out. For example: 9 years ago Mo was reading his wife a story and he accidentally read out two really bad guys, one sort of good guy and read his wife into the story. Balls. I hate it when that happens. Anyway, this is all news to Meggie, his daughter, until the sort of good guy, Dustfinger, shows up and starts a kerfuffle. Turns out, the big bad, Capricorn, has an even bigger bad he wants Mo to read out (not to mention treasure and wenches) of his story while Dustfinger desperately wants to be read back in.
Then, the good guys do lots of stupid things, like get themselves caught, get themselves put into nets and get all their books burned. Double balls. Eventually, they come up with some pretty lame plans to save the day. I don't mean to make fun, it's just this: if I were ever caught by the bad guy I would be very docile and agreeable. Seriously, I feel like things work better if you are not so obviously trying to escape. Maybe play along. People in books never do that, especially pre-teen girls. Give me a break, I would be baking Capricorn and his creepy mother cookies and offering to do their laundry so as not to get myself kilt.
Oh! Dustfinger has a marten with horns. That's this kind of marten, and not Marten Broadcloak, in case you were wondering. P.S. I want to snuggle with a marten. Additionally: my new puppy's middle name is Marten. His first name is Viggo (as in the Carpatian)
So, one of the things I liked about this book was the complete reverence the characters had for books. It was funny to read this and the Thirteenth Tale at the same time because they were both bibliophile books.
I am excited about this movie, but I am worried that it will be cheesy and I can tell from the trailer that lots of made up extra stuff goes down. Either way, I have a crush on Paul Bettany and I hope to see lots of him breathing fire. I also have a crush on Helen Mirren, so that should be good too.
Anywho: this is part of a trilogy, and you can read more about it here. I shall be reading the second book at some point, that's a promise. In case you were wondering, if I could read things out of books I would read out Oy from the Dark Tower series. I would want to read out Edward from the Twilight Saga, or Roarke, from the ...In Death series, but the truth is: they wouldn't be into me so that would be a bummer. I like to think that Oy and I could have fun though. Oy! Un!

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King

• Paperback: 684 pages
• Publisher: Albin Michel (April 9, 2003)
• ISBN-10: 2226131906
• ISBN-13: 978-2226131904
• List Price: $7.99
• I finished this book on Oct. 27

So, as you know, I lurve me some Stephen King. And oddly, I have never read this book before. However, I did watch the film version from 2003 when it came out in theaters. Now, the movie actually follows the book pretty closely but for two things: though Morgan Freeman is effin awesome, he's not Kurtz in my head. You know who is? Maybe a crazy Kevin Spacey, I dunno. The other thing is: was there some obsession with the song Blue Bayou in the movie? I seem to remember that, but it's totally not in the book. (and great, now I have it in my head mmm Linda Ronstadt is dreamy...)
Okay, back on task: shit weasels. That's right. This one is about creepy crawly skeeviati monsters. And evil foliage. Oh, I'm sorry, did you want a real synopsis? Here goes: a group of four friends go camping in the Maine woods and aliens slowly start to take over the world via red fuzz and creepy parasites that cause their hosts to cook up some super-funktastic farts. Also, the superfriends have a mysterious fifth pal, Duddits, whose powers have rubbed off a bit on the others. My friends did give me a Harry Potter Sorting Hat, but that's not quite as cool as goddamn telepathy. Just sayin...
So, this book was super gross and cool. One of the characters gets sort of taken over by an alien and lives for a while in an office in his own head. I loved those scenes, I got chills once or twice somewhere in there. Another example of the magic of my b/f SK. I read this book for the challenge and it gets extra points for allowing me to type the phrase 'shit-weasels' (there! I said it again. hee)

Dissecting Stephen King by Heidi Strengell

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Popular Press 3; New Ed edition (March 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299209741
• ISBN-13: 978-0299209742
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• List Price: $26.95
• I finished this book on August 5

The subtitle to this book is From the Gothic to Literary Naturalism, but I swear that it's much more interesting than it would lead you to believe. Let take the cover, for example. I don't know if you can see from this image but in the picture instead of rib bones what you see inside this dissected chest are typebars from a typewriter. Cool.
Anwho, as you know I am a "constant reader" of (and often claim to be dating) Stephen King. And, because I am a turbo-nerd I am often compelled to read non-fiction books about things in which I am interested. Hence, the SK non-fiction book. I actually took out several from the library to peruse, but this one caught my attention the most.
Inside, author Heidi Strengell dissects the works of SK (did I basically just tell you what you already know from the title? You bet!). She talks about how his work is related to the Gothic tradition, including a drawn out comparison of King's Salem's Lot to popular gothic masterpiece, Dracula (for more info on Gothic books, click here). Then she talks about the myth/fairy tale tradition in King, discussing his "multiverse" and a cool part about how The Dark Tower series, is, among other things, a western, a gothic and an apocalyptic fable. Finally she ends up talking about King using literary naturalism, discussing things like: his use of free will, genetic determinism and the idea of fate.
Strengell herself is mysterious, not having published anything not about SK (more obsessed than me, perhaps?) but if you're interested in reading an essay of hers, then check it out here. So, because she clearly spends too much time thinking about SK she does point out some really interesting stuff and uses tons of examples from a variety of his books. After this I feel I need to go immediately and read Dracula and compare it with Salem's Lot. And eat Count Chocula. (mmm, marshmallow bats) so look forward to that in the near future.
When I was in undergrad I took a course called Philosophy in Literature for which we read several books I hated (who shall remain nameless). And my professor for that class (who shall also remain nameless, but I will note that he habitually wore Chuck Taylors) once went on a tirade about how Stephen King was awful and ruining literature etc. and that he had a magic computer that spit out his books at random according to a formula. Actually, that sounds more like a Stephen King novel premise than reality, doesn't it? Anyway, I remember at the time being very heated by these comments and wanting to make a rebuttal that King's work was popular for a reason. Perhaps I could give Mr. ChuckTaylors a copy of this book. Okay, maybe not. Really, I would only recommend this book to someone who was a big fan and has read a lot of King's work since it relies so heavily on examples. If you are interested, check out King's website.
Happily, even though I have read lots of King, there are still many more of his books out there waiting for me.

The Secretary of Dreams by Stephen King illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications (October 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587671409
• ISBN-13: 978-1587671401
• List Price: $75.00
• I finished this book July 7th

Okay, friends and neighbors, you all know I'm a Stephen King "constant reader". Also, you know I dig on the graphic novels and comics. So, imagine my happiness last fall when I heard I could purchase some of SK's short stories newly illustrated. I hinted that I wanted this gift for Christmas (by hint I mean I sent the link to the Amazon page and where to buy it to my boyfriend via e-mail. cause I'm stealthy like that.) and his parents bought it for me. However, it was on this crazy backorder or something and I only just got it now. Let me tell you this, my lovlies, it is sexy! It's big and hard bound and came with this faux leather case deal. Fancy.
So, the actual stories are all ones I've read before, of course. I was impressed that they were some of his lesser known ones. The first is called Home Delivery and is actually from a collection called Book of the Dead which is all zombie stories from different authors. There are 6 short stories in all, 3 are just illustrated about every other page and the others are written as though they are comic books. So, it's a really cool idea. However, I'm not in love with the illustrator's work, to be honest. It's gory, to be certain, but it's all black and white sort of scratchy pen lines to me, and I didn't love it. Apparently Glenn (with 2 n's, why?) is an illustrator from Maine (shock!) and you can read an interview with him here. He has already signed on for volume two and is hard at work. These are put out by Cemetery Dance who is also putting out the Dark Tower Series as comic books (which, you know, I want super bad too).
Honestly, I will probably get the second volume too, though I'm not a huge fan of the art. Mostly because Stephen King is my boyfriend (I think you should know that when I say that I'm saying it in the Frau Blücher voice from Young Frankenstein) Maybe the artwork will grow on me. I guess I was expecting some super creepy art like from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Let's not pretend that stuff didn't scare the crap out of you when you were little (or last night, you wuss!). See creepy images, here, here and here. Hell's bells, creepy stuff, people.

The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (July 22, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679879250
• ISBN-13: 978-0679879251
• List Price: $13.60
• I finished this book on June 3

Okay, so this one is the second in the His Dark Materials trilogy. I read the first book last spring when I was in my young adult books class. I have been waiting to read the others for a while now and I finally had time. Not to mention, they count towards the challenge.
The first book (soon to be a movie staring the hungry Nicole Kidman) centers mostly on Lyra, a little girl in a world that both different and similar than ours. In Lyra's world everyone has a Daemon, who is basically an animal version of their soul. The daemon's of children change to whatever animal shape they want but when a child becomes an adult the daemon takes on a fixed form. At the movie's website you can take a quiz and get your own daemon. Mine is a badass wolf, (fear him!) by clicking you can also see what yours might be (and if you do, tell me in the comments!)
In this book there is a lot more going on than just Lyra's exploits. We meet a boy named Will who is from our world, and many other characters. My favorite part of this book is all the different plots going on and the different motivations of all the different characters. Reading I was struck by how real and human so many of the characters felt to me. There is, however, an injury of a character that made me mighty angry and which reminded me of a similar injury in another book which also steamed me up. (hint: dad a chum, dad a chee, I can't help but bring up Stephen King all the time, I'm rubbish.)
This trilogy has a lot going on in the allegory department. Toward the end of this book many things became clear to me and I'm very excited to jump into the next one. The book focuses on, to name a few: sin, evolution, the Fall, and many other religious ideas. I'm expecting there to be an all out war with the heavens in the next book and I'm not thinking I'll be disappointed.
There's about a million sites online dedicated to this series, but here's what I suggest: for character and plot info as well as analysis check out spark notes and the wikipedia article. Also check out the Random House page and this page which has a whole chat community.

Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (January 2, 2002)
• ISBN-10: 0553714856
• ISBN-13: 978-0553714852
• List price: $25.00
• I finished listening to this audio book on April 17

So, I have been meaning to read something by Hiaasen, and I plucked this one up because it was read by him as well (also because I had to drive to Rochester and needed something fun). I've gotta say, for my first run I liked it, and someday I will read more by him.
Here's the scoop (please enjoy newspaper pun): Jack Tagger is a writer whose been sent to the bad boys corner to wear a dunce cap - otherwise known as a the obituary page. (Having gone to school for journalism I concur that this is a very lame assignment - mostly checking facts). One day Jack gets a death notice for a man he realizes is widely known as Jimmy Stoma, lead singer of the rock band Jimmy and the Slut Puppies (best band name ever? yes). He hopes that this obit will be the one to get him back on the front page. But, in investigating the death he discovers more than he bargained for. He's sure that Jimmy's death wasn't an accident, but he's not sure how to prove it. What's a newspaper man to do? In no particular order I recommend sleeping with your editor, hitting someone with a giant frozen lizard and wearing a cool disguise (hint: our hero does two out of those three things, you get to guess which). I think it's important for you to know that there is a character named Opossum Man. Let that marinade.
This is a great satire of the newspaper business, and I really enjoyed it. I liked the main character, and the good strong neurotic first person account he gave. I also liked Hiaasen's reading. His voice is thin and reedy at times, but also likable and calm. He even did voices, which I give him full marks for. While he is no Tim Curry ( and really, who is?) or Stephen King (with his oddly enticing accent) he did really well with the voice acting and his delivery was good.
Hiaasen's website is good, and there is a decent faq about each book. Also, there are several lyrics of Slut Puppies songs in the book. Apparently, Hiaasen commisioned Warren Zevon to write the song the title is named after. You can see lyrics here, and if you want, buy it at Itunes.

Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (February 13, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0061147931
• ISBN-13: 978-0061147937
• List Price: $24.95
• I finished this book on Mar. 13

So, okay, remember in my last post where I was groaning that I needed a good old ghost story to help me get over wasting 320 pages of my life reading about rich, snobby....zzzzzz. Oh! Sorry, fell asleep a little bit there. Anyway, this little beauty totally hit the spot for me. Thank you, Mr. Hill!
Judas Coyne (best rock star name ever?) is an aging rock star who specializes in gothy darkness in the vein of (my boyfriend) Trent Reznor. Mr Coyne keeps a collection of macarbe artifacts; so when the opportunity comes up to buy a ghost online (in the form of the dead man's would-be burial suit) he jumps at it. Long story short this is a real and terrifying ghost and there is more behind the ghost buying scheme than meets the eye. Crazy scribble eyed ghost man comes and menaces Jude and his girlfriend Georgia (yeah, that's right, they both have myspace pages. dig it.) Okay, so the dead people with black scribbles over their eyes really creep me out. Why is it always the eyes? Remember creepy button eyes? Cripes. So anywho, many personal demons as well as actual ghosts (I was tempted to call them flesh and blood ghosts there, but I thought better of it) are faced and the whole thing is really a good ride.
Now the truth: I read this book because someone left a review of it for me in the inbox at work (pays to be a vocal booknerd). We are both Stephen King fans, and guess what? Joe Hill happens to be Mr. King's son. Apparently, everyone in that family loves pseudonyms (right, Richard Bachman?) But I can't blame him for wanting to distance himself from his father's giganticized shadow. And the book really surpassed my expectations. The answer to the big question? Is it like his dad's books? A bit. Is it his own as well? I think so. There is only a faint sniff of SK in there, not an overpowering stench.
But I have to say this about that: he totally sounds like his father and shares the strange (Maine accent, I'm guessing) cadence to his speaking voice. Where did I hear it? On his super cool website where he talks about the new book. There is a cool song and cool graphics. There is also a trailer for the book, and I love that. It reminds me of book outtakes, which I also love. Well played, Mr. Hill.

The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf; Reissue edition (August 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440213460
• ISBN-13: 978-0440213468
• List Price: $5.99
• I finished this book on Feb. 3

I read this book in one day after finishing Twilight. I think I wanted more vampire goodness. This did not exactly do it for me, to be honest. Klause has another book out, which I liked called Blood and Chocolate (about werewolves and now a movie, also). So, I thought, I liked her other book, and I love vampires, so this is a sure thing. But...not so much.
The story is about a teen girl whose best friend is moving away (bummer) and whose mother is dying of cancer (super bummer). One night she sees a strange boy in the park. He scares her and though they lock eyes they do not speak. Then she meets him again on the street, and they talk. She seems to think he's nice, but nothing more. Then she sees him in an alley eating a bird (yikes) and runs away (good move). However, directly after this incident she proceeds to let him into her house where she is home alone and hang out with him. What? By this time I am annoyed. There is nothing smooth about this progression, their relationship is odd to me, off kilter somehow. He trusts her with his vampy secret and she lets him drink her blood and now I'm mad. It's a good scene, but meshed into the story in a weird way.
The characters are odd, and their dialog is not natural, nor compelling. I liked the idea of the story, but nothing really did it for me. The main villain, a child vamp, was not scary enough for me. Believe me, a child can be a scary foe (Stephen King did it, twice, not to mention Anne Rice's Claudia) but this evil child was not chilling. I also felt that the climax was rushed. The whole vanquishing of the bad guy part was not even exciting to me.
Also, there is a pretty preachy moral to this story. Something along the lines of accepting death, blah blah, living life to the fullest, blah blah.
Overall, I'm not mad I read it, but I wanted for it to be better. I had high hopes, and they were sadly unfulfilled. I can't hate on Mrs. Klause too much though, because she is a librarian, and I love the library ladies. (I wonder if she ever booktalks her own books? I totally would.) Anywho, I definitely suggest reading her werewolf book instead of her vampire book.

Blood and Smoke by Stephen King

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (November 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671046160
• ISBN-13: 978-0671046163
• List Price: $26.00 (cassette) $29.95 (CD)
• I finished listening to this audiobook on Jan. 16

So, yeah, you're wondering if books on tape count, and I say 'eff, yeah!' Of course they count my dearies. Why? Because they're still books.
Anywho, this book on tape (yeah, my car has a tape player, wanna fight about it?) is actually three tapes with three short stories read by the man himself. Since I am a constant reader of King's I have actually read these stories before, in the short story collection Everything's Eventual. Nonetheless, it was fun to hear SK read them. The stories included are: Lunch at the Gotham Cafe, In the Deathroom, and 1408.
King's voice has an interesting cadence to it. I eespecially enjoy how he says the L sound. I'm not sure if that's good old Maine accent, or unique to him. Either way, I totally dig it, and I'm a little sad it's over. He was also astonishingly convincing, reading the stories with flare and doing all the voices. I like the crazy maitre d' voice with the fake accent and the yelling "EEEEEEE!!" Good times, my friends. In researching this pre-blogging today, I found out that King also recorded Bag of Bones (which, you will remember, was the first book I blogged about here) and I sort of wish I didn't just read it, because I would have liked to have listened to that as well.
The moral of this story is, books on tape are good times.

Bag of Bones by Stephen King

Mass Market Paperback: 752 pages
Publisher: Pocket (June 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 067102423X
ISBN-13: 978-0671024239
List price: $7.99

I actually began this book before the new year, but I finished it after the 1st, so this is the book to kick off my blog.
The main character is Mike Noonan, a writer. Whenever Stephen King's main character is a writer (Bill from IT, Thad from The Dark Half , Ben Mears from 'Salem's Lot, or himself in The Dark Tower) I wonder how much of the character is really him. This writer is from Maine like King, but has lost his wife and is struggling from writer's block.
The story revolves around the haunting of Mike's lake house and his relationship with a young mother and her daughter. For most of the book Mike and the reader struggle with the attraction between the 21 year old widow Mattie and the 40 something writer Mike. Everyone except me. I want them to get together. I am rooting for them. *possible spoiler* But you know they aren't going to no matter how nice that kiss is. King even almost talks about how what happens in the end is a literary device to get him out of letting them have sex. Do I think it's cowardly? No. Do I think it sucks? Yes. I know they won't be together, but I romantic and foolish girl can dream, can't she?
Overall, I really liked the haunting in this book and the small town hysteria aspects were very creepy. I found myself getting very heated and angry with certain characters throughout. I never really want to get violent, but sometimes when you watch a movie or read a book you just see this one character that you know should be killed. You know that if they keep on living bad things are going to happen so you should just kill them. There is not one but two creepies like that in this book. Top notch crazies, really. So, the moral of this blog is that while I liked this book, it doesn't make it into my top ten of King books (because you know, he's written a thousand).