REVIEW: UNDER THE DOME – STEPHEN KING

Under the Dome – Stephen King

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if—it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens—town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a selectwoman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing—even murder—to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.

I am so glad to be done with this one. The timing of this one was a bit much for me at times. Current reality – pandemic, quarantine, election year, racism battles the list goes on… There were a lot of parallels in people’s actions to what we are seeing daily in the news. Murders, riots, suicides, people attempting to stand up for what is right. Basically what it comes down to is pressure can really bring out the ugly in people. There is so much ugly in the world right now, and in this book, that my ‘read to escape reality’ method was not working. It was very well written – as is any King. A bit long winded, which can also be expected from King. There was one moment: Busted – 16, that I really enjoyed. It stood out because instead of jumping to another character perspective it pulled back and you flew through the entire town with the guidance of a narrator. It was a nice short break and helped you catch up to where everyone in the town was at that moment. This book does not lack characters to keep track of that is for sure. I am not even going to talk about the ending to avoid spoilers. Anything I have to say, I fear, would give too much away.

Would I recommend this book: Sure. Long, but a great book. The timing of my read could have been better.

“Murder is like potato chips: you can’t stop with just one.”

REVIEW: THE INSTITUTE – STEPHEN KING

The Institute – Stephen King

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”

In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.

Whew, it feels good to finish another King. 16 down… 42 to go (including the Bachman titles) King does kids best… seriously. I don’t know if it gets any better than the Loser’s Club for me, but these guys were close. Avery was probably my favorite out of all of them. The Institute started a little slow, but that is usually the case while King introduces characters. Once arriving at the institute the pace started to pick up and he did really well describing what the heck went on there while also making you stress about these poor kids and what they are dealing with. I am slightly disappointed in the ending. The story really ramped up and I even turned to Jarred and went “It’s going down!” as he oh so graciously let me continue reading through dinner in my attempts to finish… but then I just kinda felt meh when it was done. While I am content with how things concluded, it seemed to just fizzle out in the end. Overall I really enjoyed this one.

Would I recommend this book: yes, one of his stronger works in recent years

“Great events turn on small hinges”

“He was only twelve, and understood that his experience of the world was limited, but one thing he was quite sure of: when someone said trust me, they were usually lying through their teeth.”

“They reminded Luke of twins in some old horror movie.”

PICTURE BOOK REVIEW: MOTHER BRUCE – RYAN T. HIGGINS

Mother Bruce – Ryan T. Higgins

Bruce the bear likes to keep to himself. That, and eat eggs. But when his hard-boiled goose eggs turn out to be real, live goslings, he starts to lose his appetite. And even worse, the goslings are convinced he’s their mother. Bruce tries to get the geese to go south, but he can’t seem to rid himself of his new companions. What’s a bear to do?

Holy Moly do we have a lot of picture books in this house now. I was so excited when this one was added to our collection over Christmas. I loved this book, and I hope J grows to love it too. J seemed to like the illustrations since he actually focused on the pages a little. But we were also getting hungry so we had to rush through the first reading of this one. This one will get read many times if I have any say. Good for me, J doesn’t have much of an opinion yet!

Font Readability: 10/10
Illustrations: 10/10
Mom Engagement: 10/10

REVIEW: JACK & JILL – KEALAN PATRICK BURKE

Jack & Jill – Kealan Patrick Burke

When they were kids, Gillian and John used to visit the local cemetery every Sunday after church. It was a curious place for children to frequent, but they had their reasons. The main attraction was the lofty hill that separated the cemetery from the elementary school, and the act of tumbling down it like Jack and Jill was a ritualistic escape from the abuse they were suffering at their father’s hands…

Burke’s writing style is killer. It hooks me every time. This is such a DARK story, and while this is very much a reality some live in, that does not make it an easier pill to swallow. But no matter how disturbed or upset or angry Burke makes me… I always need to know how it ends. 96 pages of raw, disturbing nightmares.

I’ll be honest. This one is a hard one to recommend. However, if you are a horror fan, and you have not read any of Burke’s work – RUN – don’t walk. Tent and Blanky are at the top of my list with Sour Candy not far behind. Kin is on my list to read along with a couple of his short story collections – Dead Leaves and Dead of Winter.

Would I recommend this book: ehhh depends. More than likely no – but I’ll point you in the direction of some of his others.

“I am twelve, John is nine, and we have not yet learned of death. Pain and horror, however, are kindred. They visit us nightly, and take away little pieces of our soul. We live in nightmare and escape during daylight.”

REVIEW: FROM A BUICK 8 – STEPHEN KING

From a Buick 8 – Stephen King

Shortly after his father, a Pennsylvania state trooper, is killed in a senseless automobile accident, Ned Wilcox discovers that the members of Troop D have a secret concealed behind their headquarters. Curtis Wilcox’s friends and colleagues take turns relating the twenty-year history of the mysterious Buick Roadmaster locked in Shed B and how its discovery and unexplained behavior has captivated the tightly knit group of men for two decades. The Buick seems to be a conduit to another reality and every now and then it breathes, inhaling a little bit of this world, exhaling a little bit of whatever world it came from.

A couple years ago I decided I was going to read every Stephen King (and Richard Bachman) book. So this crosses number 14 off the list on the quest to 58. 24% of the way there. Originally I was going to read them in order of date published… but that got thrown out the window fast.

We will start with the positives as I try to keep this spoiler free. I really liked the point of view this book took on. It felt like you were sitting on the bench with all the guys as they told the story. I think that is what kept me interested. It felt casual as they broke from present day to the past, working their way through the story in the natural, organic way people tell stories. And that is where the positives end for me. Going in I had no idea what the book was about. I knew it wasn’t high on the list in popularity, but I had to read it eventually, and had decent hopes for another car book after enjoying Christine as much as I did. The book put me to sleep many times. It was easy to put down. And one event completely outraged me. Then to top it off I had to relive that event a couple more times as it was told from different people’s perspectives. I honestly don’t know much of what happened after that point. My brain had checked out, and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel for just getting the book over with.

I’m curious if you have read this one, what you enjoyed about it. I feel like I gave it a fair chance. Just not the book for me.

Would I recommend this book: No

“In my experience the bad shit gets saved up until you have a day when everything comes due at once. That was one of those days.”

REVIEW: AN UNWANTED GUEST – SHARI LAPENA

An Unwanted Guest – Shari Lapena

It’s winter in the Catskills and Mitchell’s Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing–maybe even romantic–weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge wood-burning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity–and all contact with the outside world–the guests settle in and try to make the best of it. Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead–it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic. 

I am a strong believer that a narrator can make or break a book. Bad narrator… the book is basically dead to me. (not really – but you get my point) I wasn’t overly thrilled with this narrator, but I can look past it. Overall I enjoyed this one. I think I would have been a little bit more hooked if I had physically read it instead of opting for the audiobook. So far I would recommend every book I’ve read by Lapena – this one is no different. This one gave me a nice Clue vibe, and I really enjoyed the little twist at the end (I may or may have not predicted it – but still rather enjoyed it). A nice little murder mystery that I would give 3.75/5 stars

Would I recommend this book: Yes

Favorite Quotes
“True psychopaths can be very convincing…”
“One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”

THE TURTLE HERMIT WAY

Over the past few months we have been working our way through Dragon Ball Super. I’m a little sad to report we only have 3 episodes left. Not sure what we’re going to do once we finish all the episodes. I’m sure we will both experience withdrawals and debate starting completely over with Dragon Ball.

During one of the episodes – episode 105 to be exact (dubbed) – Master Roshi says the following “Now listen to me boys. Always remember these words. Work hard, study well, and eat and sleep plenty. That is the Turtle Hermit Way!” Needless to say that is one of our favorite quotes from the show! Which of course lead to needing it on a shirt.

Hope you Dragon Ball fans love it as much as we do!

REDBUBBLE
TEEPUBLIC

REVIEW: NO EXIT – TAYLOR ADAMS

No Exit – Taylor Adams

A determined young woman must unmask and outwit a vicious psychopath in this tense and clever tale of suspense. – On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the Colorado Rockies. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop with no cell phone reception. Inside are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

I could not put this book down. Probably would have read the entire thing in one day if I didn’t have adult responsibilities – like work. I think I was so hooked because it felt believable. I could really get snowed in at a rest stop and the events that followed could actually happen to me. NO THANKS. This was a great, quick read that has helped somewhat end my 2019 reading slump. Hey I finished a book! And in 3 days! 2019 record!

Would I recommend this book: Yes

Favorite Quotes
“The difference between a hero and a victim? Timing.”
“The easiest lies to tell are the true ones.”
“History doesn’t quite repeat itself, but damn, it sure can rhyme.”

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