books

We are going to counseling why?

AngelaLeave a comment

Hmmm. I have to admit, having to take my 12 year old to counseling would normally be a chore I dreaded, just because of my work schedule and the inconvenience of the appointment time. But, when I am trying to get a book finished, it is my guaranteed one hour of reading without hearing “Mom, she looked at me!” 20 times an hour (OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point, right?)

So, I say “You have to get ready for counseling”, only to hear “I don’t wanna go”, only to say “You have to go. If you don’t I have to pay $50.00 for the missed appointment.” True statement.

More true? “If you don’t go, Mom does not have a guaranteed hour of reading time so she can get further in this awesome book!” Ehhh, the way I see it, we both get a much needed hour of therapy 🙂

Spoiler Alert!

I am not much further, but I did manage to get past the point of Abra crying and her parents dreaming; each seeing a different number carved into her chest, 11 and 175. I was surprised when the September 11th connection was made; I certainly did not see that coming. And as it always does, I immediately thought about where I was when I first heard the news that day.

How are you liking the story so far?

 

So Far, So Good!

AngelaLeave a comment

Chapter 19, page 83. I am definitely not as far into “Dr. Sleep” as I planned to be, but my schedule this weekend allowed me reading time only when I went to bed. And fell asleep. And woke up having to go back a page to remember what I read 🙂

I feel pretty good about understanding what’s going on without having read “The Shining”. Seeing the movie a long time ago helps the names be familiar to me, but I will get “The Shining” regardless in the near future and read it.

I think this is a story that the reader would understand even without reading/seeing “The Shining” before-hand. I have randomly bought books before (yes, because I liked the cover :-)) only to find out it was the 2nd or 3rd book in a series. Enough of the original story usually gets repeated or touched on that you can understand the book without reading earlier books in the story.

I have a goal of finishing this book by the coming weekend. How well that works out is dependent on so many things I have no control over, that this may prove to be a pipe-dream, so to speak.

I feel like the alcoholic in Dan Torrance is likely close to the heart of Stephen King, and very familiar (based on fact) to his days of alcohol abuse. It gives it an even more realistic feel than if the writer were someone who has never fought the demon Alcohol. Even anyone who has had the hangover-to-end-all-hangovers can likely relate to his very descriptive telling of what a hangover feels like.

Did you get farther than me, and are you enjoying it so far?

Dr. Sleep is on My Bookshelf!

Angela2 Comments

Very excited about reading Stephen King’s latest book, “Dr. Sleep”. I just picked it up today, and hopefully will have time in the next couple of days to begin reading it. I have never read “The Shining” and would like to read that as well! I have seen the movie more than enough times that it still scares me like crazy, but I also know books are always better than movies.

I tend to run hot-and-cold for Stephen Kings books. I either love them or don’t really care for them. But as he has written so many books, I have found plenty of his stories that are just terrific. I read under the dome, but found it to be less than exciting for me. I think his favorite book I have read to date would be “From a Buick 8”. Has anyone else read this story? I have read it about 5 times.

Have you begun reading Dr. Sleep? Is it what you expected? Spoilers ore OK! Just a warning ahead of time for others who don’t want to know anything ahead of time.

The Cuckoo’s Calling

Angela1 Comment
Loved this book, cannot wait for the next in what is promising to be a great series
Loved this book, cannot wait for the next in what is promising to be a great series

OK, so I have to be completely honest here; if I did not know J.K. Rowling penned this book, it might have taken me a year or two to find it. I only say that because I tend to read books by unknown author’s, and since it was getting great reviews under the penned name of Robert Galbraith, and being a mystery, I am fairly certain I would have picked it up at some point.

Knowing she wrote it, I ran and out got it and read it in about 4 days. I probably could have read it faster, but my employer is pretty adamant about me going to work on a daily basis, and my kids insist on being fed and entertained!

All joking aside, it was a truly great read, and I am looking forward to the 2nd Cormoram Strike novel which I understand is already in the works. I just wonder if she is going to keep up the guise of writing under Robert Galbraith or just put her name on it since the whole world knows it’s her.

For any of you readers of this book, what did you think? I almost felt as I was reading it that I may not have said “This is J.K. writing this” but with all of the references to places in London that seemed to be mentioned in the HP books, and the writing style itself, I know I would have said “This certainly feels like a J.K. book, someone borrowed her style!”