Review: The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

Book: The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Genre: Literary Fiction/Fantasy-ish
Rating: A
For: Fun
From: Bought at Amazon

I was warned that this one might be a little weird, and yes, it is. But it's oh so good too.

I could tell it was going to be different when it started out with a very graphic description of a car accident, followed by a very graphic description of the guy in the car burning nearly to death. Wow, it was disturbing. But you know how you just can't look away? That's how it was!

So this guy, our main character who oddly is never named (right? If he was, I don't remember catching it!) ends up spending months in the hospital recovering and going through terrible burn trauma. More disturbing images. Then, this stranger shows up at his bedside, and they become friends. In fact, her presence there really helps him to get well and keeps him from suicidal thoughts.

This girl is full of some really fascinating stories. First, she claims to have known this guy before, WAY in the past, and so she tells him, segment by segment, their story. Secondly, she tells four separate heart wrenching love stories to prove her point about how love conquers all, or something. At first the guy rolls his eyes at these stories, but then he is completely drawn in.

Which brings us to the guy himself. He is one arrogant self-loving, amoral dude before this accident. Of course, the book is about how he changes, with the help of this girl, and has a completely different outlook on things by the end.

I loved the flashback stories to the medieval past. The other stories at first seemed a little jarring, like stories within stories sometimes are, but it only took a paragraph or two to be fully engaged in those also.

This book truly had it all. There was a strong historical aspect. The stories had a very mythical feel. There was much religious discussion. The graphic-ness even gave it a horror novel feel to it at some points. Of course, it's at heart a love story. There's a lot of references to Dante's Inferno, and quite a paranormal feel to it all too. Oh, and lots of artsy stuff going on too! Seriously, it covers everything. I loved looking at the notes at the end of the book to see all the various books this author got his info from! What a range of topics! Crazy.

But be warned, this is no gentle book. Very gritty. Very very. And the end, ah, I just don't know if I appreciated the ending much. Those that have read it, what'd you think about the ending?

Bottom line: I totally enjoyed it, was swept up and immersed!

Other Reviews:

The Literary Omnivore
Estella's Revenge
An Adventure in Reading
Both Eyes Book Blog
... and pretty much every other book blog out there! Let's just say I'm late to the party on this one!

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I'm Dying For

Today over at The Broke and the Bookish we are prompted to list ten authors, alive or dead, that we are DYING to meet! So I cheated, which is just too much fun to do with these lists sometimes:

Ten Living Authors I'm Dying to Meet

1. Markus Zusak: Okay fine. So I already met him. He's still on my list, 'cause I'm DYING to do it all over again!
2. Neal Shusterman: This would be awesome.
3. John Green: Even awesomer (that's just a new word I made up in case you wondered) I think.
4. Meg Cabot: She would be a crack up.
5. Stephen King: I'm not a big reader of his, but I still think he'd be fascinating to meet.
6. Neil Gaiman: Same goes for this author.
7. Robin McKinley: I wonder what she is like in real life.
8. Maeve Binchy: I bet she has a cool accent.
9. Suzanne Collins: Of course!
10. Judy Blume: So cool!

Ten Dead Authors I'll Meet When I Die!

1. Jane Austen: It goes without saying.
2. Louisa May Alcott: She had an interesting life, did she not?
3. Wilkie Collins: I almost wrote Charles Dickens, but I've opted for his lesser known, but wittier friend.
4. Mark Twain: He would be a blast!
5. John Steinbeck: Another fascinating sort I'm sure.
6. JRR Tolkien: I bet I wouldn't understand a word he said.
7. Emily Bronte: The person who wrote Wuthering Heights? That's GOT to be interesting!
8. Victor Hugo: To find out where Les Mis comes from. That would be cool.
9. Anya Seton: Have loved her books forever.
10. Laura Ingalls Wilder: A childhood hero.


Who would you put on your list?

Review: The Last Chance Texaco by Brent Hartinger

Book: The Last Chance Texaco by Brent Hartinger
Genre: YA
Rating: B
For: Fun
From: the library book sale

This was the second book I read while on vacation. It looked small and easy, which it was, but the subject matter was not very light. It's about one of those kids who go from foster home to foster home and finally she ends up at a group house which at first she is upset about, but soon realizes it's a perfect place. In fact it's the first place she's liked and belonged too.

But then some stuff happens that puts this home in jeopardy and they might lose their funding and be disbanded. So Lucy, along with a new (unlikely) guy friend, tries to solve the mystery and save the house.

All in all, it was a heartwarming story, but I must say, it just didn't grab me. Perhaps I wasn't in the mood for something like this while sailing the Caribbean, you know? So I hate to be too harsh on it, but I wasn't convinced about the characters... for instance Lucy went from ornery group home girl, to sweet "I love everyone" girl. The dude went from being awful to being cute way too fast. And the problem, which was a pretty big one, was solved way too easily.

So once again, I say, it was alright, but won't go down as my most favorite book of the month.

Other Reviews:

Books Are King
...and I can't seem to find any other reviews at the moment. Weird.

Review: Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe

Book: Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe
Genre: YA Fantasy-ish
Rating: B+
For: Review
From: The author sent it to me. Thanks!

I ended up taking this book with me on vacation because it looked a bit light-hearted and fun, perfect for trip reading. And yes, it turned out to be that mostly, but it was also a bit dark too, I thought, and I found myself just wanting to get done!

It's about this obnoxious kid, really full of himself, who likes (among other things) to go to restaurants and say it's his birthday, every time, so he gets free dessert. Well, after one of these times, he woke up the next day feeling a bit different. And the next day, and the next and so on. Turns out he is aging one year, every day. So if he is just a few months from graduation, and if you do the calculations, you'll soon see that his chances of making it to the end of the year are slim.

But that's just what he plans on doing, and along the way, he may even learn a little about himself and how to treat others with a bit more respect. Does this story sound familiar? It didn't hit me until nearly the end, but it's a bit of a Beauty and the Beast retelling.... sort of.

So I liked it for that reason. But I had a hard time connecting with the main character, any of the characters really. I felt no sympathy for him at all! And be warned, he has a one track mind, so there is lots of sex talk and not so pretty language going on quite a bit.

Despite that, I was hooked enough to read to the end to find out what happens to him. Also, there must be more to the story, because it's going to be a trilogy, of course.

Another point in this book's favor, my sixteen year old picky book reader started it and seemed hooked right from the start. It remains to be seen if he keeps reading though!

Other Reviews:

Books With Bite
Logan E. Turner
Stop Drop and Read
Alexia's Books and Such

The Sunday Salon: On With Summer!

Welcome to another "musings" Sunday Salon post. Here's what I'm thinking this morning:

Outside my window: Sunny and beautiful! NOT hot, NOT humid! Dry and clear and breezy!

I am listening to: Someone is blasting something in the other room. Whatever it is, I don't like it much. A minute ago they were listening to Charlie though, and I could listen to him for quite awhile before getting sick of him!

I am watching: Ah! Let's get caught up on some mini movie reviews, shall we? While on the trip I watched The Adjustment Bureau. It was interesting, but not near as intense as I'd expected. Last night watched Just Go With It, which I admit, and some funny laugh out loud moments, but still, those Adam Sandler movies have just too much potty/sex humor to really make me say "it was funny." The night before we watched Beastly, which was okay. Very sappy, rolling of the eyes sappy, but still I enjoyed it. Neal Patrick Harris was awesome in it and he needed more scenes. Also, last night, we started watching Falling Skies, so I hope to have time today to finish that and get caught up with that series. I'm also catching up with Friday Night Lights, a series that almost never fails to leave me weepy by the end of the show. What's up with that? Still pondering Netflix.... I'm this close to doing it.

I am thinking: that the rest of this summer may drag a bit after our adventure. Still it blows me away that it's half over already. I need to find some fun things for everyone to do I suppose.

I am grateful for: dry heat!

I am reading: So yesterday I was swept up into The Gargoyle and read it non stop until I finished it. Wow, I have no idea how to describe that book! But hopefully I can figure it out for a review. This morning I've read several chapters in A Crown of Swords, which means I plan to concentrate on that one this week and get it done soon too.

I am photographing: We have hundreds of trip pictures to organize now. I need to figure out which ones to print, and then also maybe make a slideshow of some of them to share. Same goes for the movies I took. I hate just taking them then not doing anything with them, know what I mean? What a waste. But it's such a project too.

I am listing: Things to do with ourselves the rest of the summer! Things to make for dinner! Top Ten things for posts!

I am creating: Movies hopefully!

On my iPod: Ugh! We listened to my "favorites" playlist so many times while driving! It made me realize all the music we have around here that I have yet to add to my iPod. Another project to do. So much classic rock that we have that I need to put on there. And musicals. And soundtracks.

To live my faith: I think perhaps I'll go to church today! It feels like forever, even though we've only missed two weeks of church. (One week we went, but it was in Ohio, and in Spanish!)

I am hoping and praying: that the kids find jobs and will be occupied for the rest of the summer.

Around the house: messy. Very very messy. I think maybe I should vacuum one of these days.

From the kitchen: So I bought a cute little cookbook in New Orleans and now I want to try some stuff from it. The girls already made some yummy cookies, so that's a start! But today, we are grilling steaks, so here's hoping those end up good.

One of my favorite things: Prison Break. Yes, we've hooked my newly returned older son on these and so he's been watching as much as he can and we watch with him now and then. And it's still one of my favorite things for sure.

The children this week:Did I tell you how great they were on the trip? Hardly any problems at all. This week I suppose they'll try to get back into a little routine, need to get lessons started up again, and have them set some summer goals.

Plans for the week: No plans. Nothing at all. Read maybe. And vacuum!

On this date: Last year I shared some of my favorite biographies, the year before I reviewed an awesome American Idol concert (the Kris and Adam year), the year before that I did a post on favorite literary couples (which needs fixing as I can see half my pictures don't show up anymore), and the year before THAT I listed what the kids were reading, which is really quite fun to look back on now four years later.

Thanks to Ibeeeg of Polishing Mud Balls for the inspiration for this post's layout.

Our Big Trip!

View The Big Trip in a larger map

We've just come home from the trip of a lifetime. It was crazy fun. And now I'll tell you a bit about it, if you are interested. If not... feel free to skip it!

First, a little background:

My husband's parents have always wanted to go on a cruise, with the whole family, for their 50th wedding anniversary. So we've been planning that for a couple of years. Then, my brother who is a Southwest flight attendant, now and then gets buddy tickets (standby) which he gives out to the family. It was our turn to use these, so this is what we thought.... we'd fly to Ohio and visit the area where my son has been living and working the past two years, and then rent a car and drive to Florida at which point we'd meet up with the extended family, go on the cruise, and then fly home from there once it was over. It sounded a bit crazy but doable, right?

Well, we are a little bit nervous travelers to begin with, and since we've done the standby thing before, we knew sort of what to expect, which is to bump that anxiety level up several notches. It's especially hard to do with whole family of six, and our previous experience with it was not fun at all. So we weren't really too keen on that part of this plan. We'd planned to leave on Thursday of that week, and then my brother said, no, Wednesday looked better. So we rushed to get ready a day early. Then the night before, he told us that the plane had 10 seats left to sale and 20 people who had listed to fly standby. So that freaked us out and we thought, why are we doing this!

So we up and decided to just get in our car and drive! The relief was overwhelming. So we got up early that morning and drove away.

For those who want the short story, here's the break down of our experience by the numbers:

Miles on the road: 6378
Miles on the ocean: unknown
Gas gallons used: 379
Days: 22
Nights: 21
Weeks: 3
Hotels: 10
States covered: 20
Countries visited: 5
Capitol cities seen: 10
Days on a boat: 7
Major freeways traveled: 12
Times laundry was done on the road: 3
Bus Tours: 3
Colds caught: 5
Sunburns: 3
Amusement Parks: 2
Racetracks: 3 (one horse, 2 motor)
Downpours survived: 5
Books Read: 7
National Parks/Sites visited: 3
Key chains bought: 9
Shirts bought: 8
Magnets bought: 4
Salt and Pepper sets bought: 5
M and M's consumed: 3 monster bags
Public Restrooms used: countless!
Money spent: countless!

Now for the little longer version! We divided our trip up into five different phases.

Phase One: Get to Ohio. We drove for two days straight and arrived on the very night we'd planned to originally. We slept overnight in Council Bluffs Iowa.

On the banks of the Mississippi.

Phase Two: Visit Ohio. We drove all around both Columbus and Cincinnati, visiting friends of my son. We went to a party, to church, and to a barbecue. It was really fun. Three days were spent here in total.

Making new friends.

Phase Three: Get to Florida, and see the country. We drove through Kentucky and saw some horses (slept in Lexington.) We drove through Tennessee and saw the Smokies (slept in Knoxville.) We drove through South Carolina and saw an awesome lightening storm (slept in Columbia.) We drove to Savannah Georgia and saw that quaint town and Fort Pulaski. We drove to Orlando and went to Universal Studios (spent three days here.) Six days in all we took on this phase.

Kentucky horse track.

Walking on the Appalachian Trail for a couple of steps.

River boardwalk in Savannah.

Phase Four: Go on a Caribbean cruise with the whole family! We met up with everyone who had all gradually arrived in Orlando. That Sunday morning we got on the big huge boat, Freedom of the Seas, and spent the next week seeing Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Beautiful places, but hot. The humidity sapped me big time! Seven days were spent on the cruise during this phase.

The town of Hell on Grand Cayman.

Holding turtles.

The Boat!

Swimming with the sting rays!

Bargaining in Jamaica!

 Phase Five: Get Home! We got off the boat the next Sunday morning, quite early and by that night we were in New Orleans. The next day, we walked around that city for a bit and then by that night we were in Denton Texas.  The next day we stopped for a bit in Oklahoma City to see the memorial there, and then by that night we were in Santa Fe New Mexico. The next day, we just drove and drove until we got home! Four days in all it took to drive home.

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

New Orleans on the Fourth of July.

Driving west into the sunset.

Random Trip Thoughts:

* I love this country! So beautiful! I love how each state has it's own personality. I may have to do a separate post on that thought.
* Humidity is not my friend. It made me miserable.
* Hotel rooms are not created equal, even within the same chain. Oh, boy we had some REALLY nice ones and some really pretty yucky ones.
* Cruises are not relaxing when done with a crowd of 24 people.
* Ever wonder about all the shredded tire pieces on the road?
* I seem to be fascinated with bridges and cityscapes.
* In Jaimaica, they really talk like you think they do!
* It's impossible to read as much as you hope to on vacation.
* Having a smart phone on a road trip can come in very handy.
* M and M's can get you through many many miles!
* Love the rain, except at amusement parks.
* Drinking water should be free.
* We should have taken more cash!
* The kids did awesome.
* It's good to come home.

Home Again Home Again!

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd mention that last night we got back from our three week long trip. THREE WEEKS! Thanks to all of you who kept reading here, even though I was obviously posting pre-scheduled things! (Except for that one Sunday Salon.) Still, it was fun to try and come up with things to post about in advance.

Wow! So I will report on the trip in a different post because you know, it was much too much of an adventure to not say anything about it. It might take a day or two because I want to organize pictures and videos too.

So, what's been going on here in the bookish world? I need to go around and see what you've all been up to! I did pretty much no reading. So frustrating! I read one really easy YA called The Last Chance Texaco which I thought was okay, and other another one called Happy Birthday to Me that the author sent to me, which I thought was okay too. Then I started The Gargoyle, which is very weird and a bit graphic and reminds me a lot of the Columbus book I read awhile back (Waiting for Columbus) so much so that it's a bit chilling.

And now that I'm home all I can think about is all those huge big fat books that I've committed to read! I need to get going and spend the rest of the summer just reading! Which is good because after the adventure we've just had we are all thinking... now what? What's next? What do we do now!?? The kids are kicking around here and when I say, "Are you bored?" they say "Oh, no, not bored AT ALL!" Pretty funny.

Other random thoughts:

* thinking about (finally) signing up for Netflix!
* need to catch up on Friday Night Lights
* JOSH GROBAN.... next thing on my list to look forward to!
* I love my dry desert weather!
* a day long nap sounds like heaven right now.

But, there's stuff to do, so I'm off to get doing it.