A Good Marriage by Stephen King

A Good Marriage by Stephen King

Darcy is home alone because her husband of twenty-seven years is on a business trip.  Her favorite show starts in mere minutes and the television remote stops working.  She heads into the garage in search of AA batteries and trips over a box.  In it are the catalogs she loves (darn her husband for not giving them to her!) and something disturbing.  She knows she should leave well enough alone but she looks around some more and finds so much more.  Turns out that even after twenty-seven years there are things you don’t know about your spouse, even if you have a good marriage.

A short listen (only three discs!) based on one of the novellas in his 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars which has been made into a movie.  Looks like the movie will be MUCH different than the book based on the one sentence synopsis I read: could be interesting to compare the two.  A fun but disturbing listen from Uncle Stevie.

The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins

The Gigantic BeardThat Was Evil by Stephen Collins

I heard about this graphic novel a few months ago at a conference and it kept popping up on various social media posts. I was intrigued by the title alone, the buzz just made me decide I had to check it out. I’m glad I did, and even if you aren’t a graphic novel reader, you should too.

David is a typical resident of Here that tries all he might not to think about There, the scary land beyond the sea that is not ordered like Here. But David’s thoughts keep drifting to There and what might be There and what exactly is so great about Here. What is the purpose of anything? Then David’s beard (facial hair is unheard of in Here due to its untidy nature) just starts growing. And growing. And growing. Nothing David or anyone else in Here can do will make it stop.

The art is all black and white pencil drawings using shading to create muted, but detailed and beautiful illustrations. The story is understated, but profound.

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

Literature professor Jason Fitger has a reputation as being the most prolific writer of Letters of Recommendation (LORs) at Payne College so, naturally, students, even those he has never actually had in class, ask him for assistance. Fitger also conducts his day to day griping in the written form penning some of the most classic passive-aggressive missives I have ever had the pleasure to read.  Not to worry, there is a plot (of sorts) behind all the letters.  Fitger desperately pleads the case of his most promising graduate student to every program he can write an LOR to and we learn about the professor’s personal life as he writes to his ex-girlfriend and ex-wife (also members of academia) for their advice, forgiveness and help.

Some of the phrasing in his LORs are laugh out loud funny and were a delight to read.  Interspersed with these gems are the “plot” letters where you learn more about Fitger and his goals and dreams.  It’s a really interesting way to write a book and in less talented hands it may not have worked.  If you need something completely different that can be read in short increments (great for all the running around we’re faced with this time of year!) pick this one up.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Molly Ayer is seventeen, a foster child living in Maine nearing the end of her time in the system.  She has to fulfill a community service requirement to avoid being sent to juvie for stealing a library book.  Molly’s boyfriend helps introduce Molly to Vivian, a ninety-one year old widow needing help to organize and sort the numerous items in her attic.  While working together on the project of sorting decades of memories Molly and Vivian realize that they have a lot in common.  Vivian is also an orphan.  She was sent on an orphan train out of New York City in the late 1920s into the Midwest where strangers chose a child to bring home to adopt, or to use a free labor.  As the two go through each box more of Vivian’s past is revealed and Molly becomes determined to help her new friend discover some of the secrets of her past.

The dual stories make the story come alive, more so than if it was a linear retelling of Vivian’s experiences.  By comparing the brutal hardships of Vivian’s young life and the current uncertainty of Molly’s the reader hopes that just Vivian’s life gets better there is also hope for Molly’s life getting better as well.  A quick engaging read – I read most of the book while waiting for an extremely delayed flight and if you can focus on a book while sitting in a busy noisy airport you know it must be a compelling read.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

It’s been a long while since Danny Torrance escaped the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.  The now middle-aged Dan is finally getting his life together after stumbling into a small New Hampshire town.  He is firmly on the wagon after being persuaded to join AA by some great friends he makes in town and has a job that he enjoys working at the local hospice where he gets the nickname Doctor Sleep.  Not all is idyllic.  Twelve years ago Dan started getting visited by a person with the shining.  A young girl named Abra with immense power he thinks may be in danger.  He and Abra must find each other and team up to defeat the evil coming their way.

While it helped that I just re-read The Shining a few weeks ago, it’s not necessary to completely enjoy this book.   While not nearly as creepy as its predecessor it is a quick read with interesting villains (the True Knot who are akin to vampires, after those with The Shining to eat what makes them shine).  The gore and the creepiness are minimal compared to some of his other works, but the storytelling is still wonderful.

Fear Nothing by Lisa Gardner

Fear Nothing by Lisa Gardner

Detective D.D. Warren is back in another crime thriller.  A horrific injury (trust me, it doesn’t seem like much but the descriptions of her pain will make you cringe) at a crime scene has her off the job, but that doesn’t mean she’s off the case.  Someone is killing women and staging their corpses to mimic a mostly forgotten serial killer from years ago.  There is no evidence left at the scenes but there are plenty of avenues to explore including the children of the long dead serial killer who appears to have a new fan.

 

I haven’t found a Gardner book on audio I haven’t enjoyed.  This one is a little slower paced than her other recent titles, but it is still an entertaining listen.  There are a lot of discussions about pain, so if you think it would make you cringe you may want to go for the print version.

Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle

Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle

Sean creates and administers paper based mail order games in a digital world, but his small income and solitary environment are well suited to him.  Years ago Sean suffered a disfiguring accident that makes interaction with the outside world uncomfortable, but the ordered pathways of running his games and the small conversations he has through the mail are all he needs now.  Until two game players take his directions to find the Italian Trace literally and journey into the borderlands of Kansas and Nebraska and face death and disfigurement at the hands of the elements.  Now Sean is on trial and forced to leave his protective environment.

I’ll admit it.  I must have missed something.  I enjoyed the book, nominated for a National Book Award, but I can’t say I got it.  I know how Sean’s accident occurred, but not why, and I think that was the central concept and point of the book.  Maybe I was reading too much on the surface, I’ll admit I read mostly for plot, but when the time of the accident was being explained I did read more closely and still must have missed something somewhere.  Or the not knowing was exactly the point.  For those that enjoy literary fiction and not having most of their questions directly answered.

The Montauk Monster by Hunter Shea

The Montauk Monster by Hunter Shea

The east end of the south fork of Long Island, some of the most expensive real estate in the country, is about to get crazy cheap.  Slavering, deadly, toothy, mutant creatures are coming ashore in Montauk and the Hamptons and wrecking havoc wherever they go.  And if they don’t kill you outright the infection they seem to be spreading is sure to get you in mere hours.  Will anyone survive?

The author did a great job bringing this creature feature to life.  The creatures are horrific and their origin story (everyone’s favorite birthplace of disease hatching conspiracies: Plum Island) is improbable (I hope!) but well constructed.  It’s a fun-filled ride of terror complete with a high body count (don’t get too attached to any of the characters), scary monsters, island references and government cover-ups.