Mrs. Ram's Jams

Next October, I swear I’m going to read nothing but horror, thriller, and zombie novels.  I read quite the random mix, but I managed to squeeze in a few spooky-ish books for Halloween month.

Let the monthly mini book reviews commence.

(I swear, next month, I’ll write book reviews immediately after I finish reading books.****said with my fingers crossed behind my back****)

• Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight: This checks off all the right mystery/suspense/thriller boxes. I’ve been dying to read McCreight’s Reconstructing Amelia, but my library system doesn’t own a copy.
• Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson: Tyson takes a mind-boggling concept and makes it quasi-understandable for normal folks. I felt small and insignificant, in a good way, while reading this book.
• Seraphina (Seraphina, #1) by Rachel Hartman: I was in desperate need of a good dragon book when I picked up this. I wanted to love this YAL book about a half-human, half-dragon girl, but I just couldn’t.
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain:  As a person who needs her quiet time, I was immediately taken with the title of this book and was not disappointed with its content. Cain critiques the American societal ideal of extroversion and argues the value of introversion in society. While it highlighted points that I’d already logically deduced myself, the data that Cain used to back up her research was fascinating.
• How to Walk Away by Katherine Center: When am I going to learn that I really don’t enjoy contemporary, mainstream chick lit/romance and stop wasting my time?  However, if you do enjoy that genre, you might enjoy this book. Margaret has it all, until she gets in a plane crash that her new fiancé caused that leaves her paralyzed. Beware of cheesy narration.
• Shadow and Bone (Grisha Verse, #1) by Leigh Bardugo: Mehhhhhhh?  I rated it a 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads because I try to evaluate books based on how much I enjoyed reading a book with a consideration of the genre, in this case YAL, in mind, but read Bardugo’s Six of Crows series instead. Seriously. If you love YAL and haven’t read Six of Crows yet, you’re missing out.
• The Color of Magic (Discworld, #1; Rincewind #1) by Terry Pratchett: I wanted to love this novel because what’s not to love? It’s fantasy, sci-fi, and humor all rolled into one, but it’s ridiculously random and not my color of humor (But Twoflower’s luggage with legs is hilarious; I’ll give it that.). I prefer Kurt Vonnegut and Carl Hiaasen.
• In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) by Tana French: The cover of this book gives me the heebie jeebies. The protagonist, Detective Ryan, gets a murder case in his hometown that appears to have a connection with his own past. Is this a good book? Yes, but it is wordy.
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman—­­The Graveyard Book was a perfect middle grade read. As a young boy, Nobody Owens finds himself in a graveyard after his family is slaughtered. Over the years, the beings of the graveyard raise him and keep him safe from the murderer who is still on the loose. It’s creepy, supernatural, and delightful.
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel: This is a prettily written book about a future world that’s been devastated by a virus that wiped out most of the world’s population. It’s a great book, don’t get me wrong, but I prefer my post-apocalypse novels to be gritty and less romanticized. Give me Stephen King’s The Stand any day.
• The Girl With All the Gifts (The Girl With All the Gifts, #1) by M.R. Carey: If you can’t read a zombie book during Halloween month, when can you? In the not so far dystopian future, zombies have taken over the world, but Melanie and a group of children like her are anomalies. Melanie has the zombie virus, and instead of acting like all the other mindless, flesh-eating monsters, she is sapient and can control her hunger. It was a fun read, but it was full of gaps in the storyline.
• The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory. I. Need. To. Stop. Reading. Romance. Novels. I didn’t enjoy anything about this book, except the cover.
• All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood: Despite the terrible narrative technique (How many alternating narrators can you have in one novel? A bazillion, apparently.), a rushed ending, and a plot highlighting a pedophilic love affair, Greenwood’s novel is strangely addictive. I was eight different shades of uncomfortable reading it. It’s Sons of Anarchy meets The Thorn Birds.

As always, any discussion is welcome, and I’m always looking for recommendations.

All cover art taken from Goodreads.com.