Joyland by Stephen King

I received this book from my good friend, John, over at Rant n' Rave.  He's an excellent writer, who is working on many things at the moment, including a script that will change the 'inspirational disabled' troupe that he and I have gripe over since forever. He knew how much I enjoyed 11.22.63, so he recommended a book like it. 

I dutifully took it to jury duty, and with the slow day and no interruptions, I got through half of it. It was an easy read and King does what he does so well, which write a story where it's not full out horror, but a story based on suspense and creepiness.

You know that feeling you get when you see something move out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn to focus on it, it's no longer there? Or when the hair on the back of you neck stands up? Joyland gives me that same sensation, just like 11.22.63.

Joyland is about a young man named Devin, who takes a job at an independent amusement park for the summer after getting his heart broken by his college sweetheart. Devin is concerned about losing his virginity, replays what went wrong with his relationship, and befriends Tom and Erin, who become a couple by summer's end. He learns the ins and outs of an Amusement Park, makes a lot of friends, and slowly comes into his own with a few bumps along the way. 

Tom and Erin learns that Joyland was the setting of a murder years back, and those who work there state that some could see her ghost. As well, Devin is confronted by the park's fortune teller, who tells him that he'll meet a boy with a dog and a girl in the hat.

The reviews about this book are all over the place. Some loved it, and others hated it for various reasons. There was a rather long review about how King didn't do any research on the Amusement Park life and his lingo and set up were all wrong.

I personally enjoyed the novel simply because I don't know much about that Amusement Park life. King took me on a roller coaster (pun intended) where the end of the book had me weeping hysterically at 11pm on a Sunday night.

Josh woke up alarmed and wondered what the heck was wrong with me.  I blubbered that it was because of the ending of the book and he held me bewilderingly, not understanding a word I just said.
Even though the book was a supernatural mystery, the overarching theme was the importance of life, and that life is fleeting; take advantage of it now.

Also, be nice to sick kids, cause there is a chance they have the ability to talk to ghosts and help you out one day.

In all seriousness, I enjoyed the novel, even though I bawled my eyes out at the end. It's sad, but it's still a King creepy-mystery, which also makes it a good read.

So, thanks John. I liked the book and I cried a lot. 

Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

So, confession time. When I was growing up, I was terrified to watch Silence of the Lambs. I thought the poster looked terrifying, and I imagined that Hannibal Lector eating people in the most gruesome way. I had, (and still have) a very vivid imagination, especially when it comes to horror movies. Ghost movies? Haunted Houses movies? Totally out. Zombie movies? Dawn of the Dead terrified me for the longest time. The Ring? The Grudge? I can't even do it. Torture movies? SAW is seared into my brain forever.

Interestingly enough, my husband LOVES scary movies. He was a film major before switching to English (therefore, going into teaching) and took a class on scary movies. He enjoys watching them, but we never embarked on watching them together. 

Fast forward to this year. He and I both LOVE Halloween, and he has taken to call this month, "Shock-tober" (I know... you wonder how I snagged such a man). We also discussed what Halloween-y things we could do this month (that you know, don't cost a lot of money) and he suggested a few scary movies. 

And guys... I wasn't immediately, "Hell to the naw!" about it. I thought for a few seconds, and I realized that I should watch more scary movies. I'm older now, experienced more life and I'm not scared out of my mind so much anymore. So we discussed a few movies to watch, and the topic of Silence of the Lambs came up. Now, he and I watched the show together, and he stated that the movie wasn't completely scary and more of a thriller. He also suggested that I do a "Which is Better?" posts about all the movies and the books along with the show. That's what I'm going to do now! First I will review the books, and then the "Which is Better?" post will come out next for each book and each movie. 

After watching the movie, I went ahead and read the book. It's going to be really hard to not review the movie with the book, because well, the movie follows the book with a few minor absences that weren't really needed in the movie. It opens up to Clarice running through the FBI training grounds when she gets a notice to go see Jack Crawford. They begin discussing Buffalo Bill and Hannibal Lector, with Jack sending Clarice to go see Hannibal because he feels like she can get something out of him. Finally, Jack warns Clarice to not give up any personal information because Hannibal likes to amuse himself. A lesson that Jack learned with Will Graham. 

Harris' style of writing is very straightforward. He's a mystery and crime novelist and his mode of writing is very direct and to the point. At some points, especially during action scenes, I felt as if I was watching the fight happen, instead of experiencing it. When intense dialogue and conversations taking place, especially with Clarice and other characters, I felt like I wasn't experiencing her discovery and realizations. I was just sort of reading about it. Finally, I thought that some of Harris' descriptive language was a bit odd. There was one part of the story where he describes a female character who puts her hand on her vagina to hide while in the well. I can't speak for other women who are scared, but I felt as if Harris was sexualizing her? Why point out that she covered her vagina? I'm not sure what the purpose of that was. 

Harris also switches between perspectives jarringly and sometimes I would have to reread in order to figure out that the inner monologue of characters switched. I don't mind experiencing a shift in perspectives, but the transition wasn't smooth. 

Finally, even though I'm not a fan of crime novels, I thought it was an enjoyable read. After watching the show, I liked reading the novel that began it all. 

My husband's favorite book, which is my next book in the series (after I take a break from Hannibal Lector), is Red Dragon. He thinks that it's the best book of the series and even better than Silence of the Lambs. 

What do you all think? Stay tuned for Which is Better? Coming out in a few weeks! 

The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King

Alright, so I picked up this book at the book store in Ohio. I mostly got it because it was 6 dollars! I thought the title, "Language of Bees" was interesting, and the mention of Sherlock Holmes alternative universe seemed interesting too.

I'm normally not a Sherlock Holmes sort of person. I read a few of his books when I was studying abroad in London in college. I took a class on Victorian and Edwardian London, and it was a bonafide, legit, humanities course. I loved reading English literature and then actually going out and seeing the places where the books took place. Dickens was more notorious than Sherlock in setting the scene in London (and specific places at that), but it was still cool to see some of places Arthur Conan Doyle wrote and depicted his first Sherlock novel.

Anyway, I never got on the whole Sherlock Holmes TV series bandwagon. I think Benedict Cumberbatch is incredibly overhyped and the BBC show with Moffat is just... I don't know. I didn't find it amusing or interesting. I watched the first season and when I found out how they treated Irene Adler... well, I was done that show. Elementary seems a bit better, with a female cast as Watson and a more weekly villain vibe. I haven't seen much of Elementary to come to a well rounded conclusion.

ANYWAY, back to The Language of Bees. Not only am I not a huge, "Sherlock Holmes" variation head, I normally don't read straight mysteries. If they are mysteries, they are cross genre with science fiction or fantasy. But, it was 6 dollars, and I was Ohio, so why not?

It was not what I was expecting. It is told in first person perspective of Mary Russell, who is Sherlock Holmes' wife. They arrive home from India to find Sherlock Holmes' son, Damian Adler, in their house in Sussex. Damian states that his wife has gone missing, but due to their bohemian lifestyle, it wasn't such a big deal except for the fact that this time, Yolanda, his wife, also took his daughter with her. Though his relationship with his father is strained, he needs Holmes' help because going to the Scotland Yard with his priors would get him arrested for Yolanda's presumed death.

Sherlock runs off with Damian to find Yolanda and their daughter, Estelle. Mary is left at home in the beginning of the book and goes to investigate an empty bee hive. Apparently Sherlock Holmes is a beekeeper and there is a mystery with why his hive died. Mary Russell solves the mystery, and then goes to meet Holmes in London to figure out the rest of the case.

Ok... Mary Russell is 24 years old in the book. Not a big deal. Sherlock Holmes is in his 60s. Ok... still not a big deal, but kind of odd. Mary reveals how she came to Holmes when she was in her teens, around 15, helping him out on cases. She's an orphan and as she got older, became more of an apprentice... then suddenly became his wife?

When I did some research on Laurie R. King, I discovered that it's a series of books. I thought it was strange there was NO romance between the pair. On one website, Holmes and Russell brokered a marriage in one of the books. Gee, that doesn't sound romantic at all. They also refer to each other as 'Holmes' and 'Russell.' So, she kept her last name (respect) but they still call each other by their last names? BAE calls me by my last name to be funny, but never consistently.

I did more research on their relationship, and I need to read the beginning books to get some of the romance between the pair. The website also argued Holmes homosexuality... but ok. It was very strange. I'm not sure if King thought any sort of romance between the two would take away from Russell or the book, or the focus was on the mystery instead of the relationship between Holmes and Russell.

My original thought (I usually type of a googledoc with initial thoughts, ideas and introduction of the book immediately when I finish it) was that I was more than likely not going to revisit her books. However, The Hive convinced me to give The Beekeeper's Apprentice and A Monstrous Regiment of Women. I want to read about Holmes and Russell sexy times.