October Reading Wrap-Up

Everyone have a good October? Lots of Halloween fun, and whatnot? I was all excited thinking we'd get a TON of trick-or-treaters since we're in a neighborhoody area, but apparently kids all trick-or-treat at stores now? So thanks for making me feel old and also I have a giant bowl of candy and only one kid came by. I would have dumped more candy into his bowl but his mom was giving me a look like she wouldn't like that so I restrained. Plus I thought maybe he'd be the first in a run of kids showing up, but NOPE. Anyway, another month down. First time in awhile I was very aware of the month coming to an end. Not like the beginning of October, which totally snuck up on me. Maybe it's cos there's a holiday at the end. Maybe it's because the first week in November is going to be insane (as was the last week of Oct) for work, so I've been paying close attention to getting through these days. Maybe it's because we had a readalong this week, which forced me to pay more attention to a calendar than I normally do.

Let's see those stats

Total books read
7
The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
The Shining by Stephen King
Working Stiff:Two Years, 262 Bodies and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Dr. Judy Melinek
Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (except I listened to it instead of read so I didn't actually see the pictures...)
Think Like A Freak by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Total pages read
2,777 (cos graphic novels make up a lot of pages, even when listened audio style)

Percentage of fiction read
71%

Percentage of female authors
14%...I think that's the lowest in awhile

Percentage of white authors
100%

(again, since I didn't actually see the illustrations for L&K it feels like cheating to include him)

Percentage of US authors
57%

Book formats
ebook - 71%
audiobook - 14%
paperback - 14%

Rereads
29%

Review books
0% - again

Books by decade
1790s - 14%
1970s - 14%
2000s - 29%
2010s - 43%

Books by genre
Economics (kinda) - 14%
Fantasy - 14%
Gothic - 14%
Horror - 33%
Science - 43%

Resolution books
57% - which sounds pretty impressive but probably shouldn't. It's only because The Monk and The Shining were written prior to 2000, and then The Last Dragonslayer, The Monk, and Coraline were by authors not from the US.

Is the radio play dead?

Writing radio plays, it seems to me, is a lost art.

Stephen King says that in his intro to the collection of short stories Everything's Eventual. He talks about how he was trying to write a radio play, something along the lines of of Orson Welles' treatment of H.G. Wells War of the Worlds, starting the play as fake news announcements. But he couldn't do it. It was reading more like an audiobook. Which is what lead him to make the above comment. Or in full:

Writing radio plays, it seems to me, is a lost art. We have lost the ability to see with our ears, although we had it once. I remember listening to some radio Foley guy tapping a hollow block of wood with his knuckles...and seeing Matt Dillon walking to the bar of the Long Branch Saloon in his dusty boots, clear as day. No more. Those days are gone.

It seems true. The only time I listen to the radio is the few times I'm in the car (I train it to work and try to walk as much as possible rather than take the car out) and then I tend to listen to music.

So radio no, but I do listen to some podcasts. Serial. Freakonomics. Welcome to Night Vale. Night Vale is probably the closest to a radio play, the type King is talking about, but it still isn't quite the same.

But then I found something that is like King's lost radio play. And oddly enough, it came from his son, Joe Hill.

Kayleigh over at Nylon Admiral posted about how Hill's Locke & Key was currently available as an audiobook for free. For those who don't know, L&K is a graphic novel, so my first reaction to a GRAPHIC novel being made into an audiobook was a confused Britney

but I went with it cos I like free. And it's treated like an audioplay. There are multiple actors playing the different parts. There are sound effects. We're not hearing them tell a story, like the World War Z audiobook does. The characters aren't narrating. It is what I imagine King's radio plays were.

When I first read the Everything's Eventual intro, I was thinking that King is probably right, that the radio play is dead because who's going to sit around listening to the radio again? I'm glad I was wrong.

And seriously, go download Locke & Key because it is FREE until November 4th so you have a few more days.

Monkalong Part V/Finale: I have sold distant and uncertain happiness for present and secure

Here we are, the final post about The Monk. Let's jump right in, shall we?

I didn't actually expect Ambrosio to rape Antonia. I was a liiiittle worried when Virginia showed up and Lorenzo was all "If I wasn't so in love with Antonia, I would totally tap that" but thought "Well, Antonia's probably going to die but she's not going to get raped. Something is going to stop this." AND THEN IT DIDN'T. NOTHING STOPPED IT.

I was very upset reading this section.

I was trying to figure out how I would react to this in the post. It mostly amounted to me trying to think up exactly what terrible things should happen to Ambrosio. And then he was tortured by the literal Spanish Inquisition AND the literal Devil so. Fine. I approve of said punishment.

Good job, Alice, for calling from the beginning that Matilda was a demon THE WHOLE TIME. Or at least, that's what I understood, right? Something created by the Devil to get Ambrosio when he saw how faux-righteous and jerktastic he was, and he has been planning this for awhile. The monk sees one boob and then he's a couple months away from matricide and incestuous rape.

I wonder if the Devil knew it would all happen so quick. I bet the he had all sorts of other things lined up and is now just going to have to save those for someone who doesn't fold so easily. I hope he can use Matilda for other soul-stealing cos otherwise it seems like a waste.

We also got Agnes's story but we all already knew this, right? We knew that was her when Lorenzo found her, we knew she was trapped down there and starving. Then we get a whole bunch where Lewis tries to convince us that Virginia wasn't some homework he forgot about and then did on the bus that morning before turning it in and I did not care about any of this. I would way rather get some pointless Raymond stories. Or some more Christoval. He should have made another appearance. And the Bleeding Nun. Would have loved to see more of her.

This was a roller coaster that I was absolutely not anticipating. There was so much crazy shoved in a few pages. Thank you, Alice, because there is no way I would have read this if you hadn't hosted this readalong.

A society of Rain Men would be dysfunctional. A society of Don Tillmans wold be efficient, safe, and pleasant for all of us

Remember when Emily of As the Crowe Flies (and Reads) wrote about how great The Rosie Project is and then I read it and it was great? And then Simsion wrote a sequel to it and though he didn't call it Rosie and Don Take Mahattan, it was still pretty fun. Apparently even Bill and Melinda Gates are fans.

In the first book, Don Tillman is looking for a wife and in typical Don fashion, breaks it out into questionnaires and spreadsheets. He then gets pulled into a separate project to help Rosie identify her father and of course those two projects result in the unlikely pairing of Rosie and Don falling in love. (Spoilers, I guess...)

This book picks up with Don and Rosie living in New York. He's teaching at Columbia and she's a med student. Things are going well when Rosie announces she's pregnant and Don begins to freak out. Which is not necessarily the wrong reaction, especially for someone who does not do well when things are not following a carefully curated scheduled. Which I hear babies are TERRIBLE at following.

Don's reaction to finding out about the pregnancy:

I was happy in a the way that I would be happy if the captain of an aircraft in which I was traveling announced that he had succeeded in restarting one engine after both had failed. Pleased that I would now probably survive, but shocked that the situation had arisen in the first place, and expecting a thorough investigation into the circumstances.

This tips off a series of events where Don does what he can to try to prepare for the baby while Rosie is seriously worried he'll actually be able to bond with this kid. Then there are a series of wacky misunderstandings that keep building on each other and yeah, the book probably would have been a lot shorter if the characters actually stopped and took like 10 minutes to explain things to each other. But of course that doesn't happen.

I liked the book. I did. BUT it's not as good as The Rosie Project, though I suppose sequels rarely are.

My biggest problem with this book was the fact that Rosie didn't seem to make much sense. As I mentioned, Rosie is worried that Don won't be a good father because he won't be able to bond with the kid, but she never actually talks to Don about this. Or anything. The two of them hardly speak and I get this is supposed to be them drifting apart, except Don isn't drifting because Don cannot read subtle cues so it's really just Rosie slowly sneaking out because she KNOWS Don isn't going to pick up on little things like the two of them sleeping in separate rooms. I mean, I get her being overwhelmed with her work and also being pregnant and not seeming to have anyone to talk to but the things she expected from Don seemed out of character. I'm not saying her concerns about Don aren't valid, but she's one of the few people that understands how Don operates so a lot of the way we see her interacting with Don seemed out of character.

BUT OVERALL the book was entertaining and Don was still Don, who I've been picturing as Dr. Reid from Criminal Minds, so that's fun.

It may not be better than the first one, but I was still entertained.

Gif rating

Title quote from page 42

Simsion, Graeme. The Rosie Effect. Simon & Schuster, 2014

Monkalong IV: since He had lost the reality of virtue, it appeared as if its semblance was become more valuable

It's Thursday which means it's time for another Monkalong post. (Thank you, Alice.)

Fair warning, I have had a couple vodka sodas, so if this post makes no sense, well, at least I have an excuse this week.

Remember how last week we were talking about how kick ass Elvira was (save for the whole copying the Bible by hand, except for the naughty bits, for Antonia)? I had fleeting thoughts that Elvira would end up coming to the rescue and saving the day. Except instead of that Ambrosio killed her because he is taking Matilda's "go big or go home" logic to sinning seriously. At least she prevented him from raping Antonia so that's something.

Wish Ambrosio could get stuck in gum

Since his first attempt (this week) at assaulting Antonia failed, Matilda convinces him to give Antonia a medicine that will make it seem like she's dead. Then he can steal her body and assault her at his leisure.

And of course this isn't the craziest thing to happen. If Lewis has aliens show up, I don't even know if I'll be that surprised anymore.

Theodore talks with one of the nuns who tells him that during the procession of St. Clare she'll tell him what happened to Agnes. Lorenzo brings a member of the Inquisition with him for this public declaration of guilt

had to be done

but turns out the guy from the Spanish Inquisition turns out to be one of the merciful ones. When the nun decries that the Prioress is a murderer and killed Agnes the crowd, who presumably don't know Agnes, goes NUTS and kills the Prioress and then decides to go after the rest of the nuns and burn down the convent while Lorenzo and Inquisition guy try to calm people down.

Lorenzo is helping hide a group of nuns when he hears a moaning. He follows the groans and finds his sister clutching a baby. Except he doesn't recognize her as his sister. She recognizes him but doesn't proclaim how she knows him but right? That's Agnes. She isn't dead but she is malnourished and faints before she can give any information. But Lorenzo drags her and the baby back up from the dungeon and eventually the riots subside and everyone can get to safety.

Lewis, you're one twisted guy. I can't even guess what's going to happen next.

Puppies instead of rape would be nice

Title quote from location 4841

Lewis, Matthew Gregory. The Monk.

It's only death. I mean, all of my best friends are dead

Neil Gaiman, I don't know what to do with you. I can't think of another author that I have such a varied opinion on. Or maybe it's really just based on a negative first impression (American Gods) because otherwise his stuff has been pretty great. Of course maybe it's the novels that don't work. I mean, Coraline and The Graveyard Book are book children's books, Good Omens was written with another author and Neverwhere is the novelization of the TV series. The point is, I like more Gaiman than I dislike, and I should probably stop claiming that I have mixed feelings about the guy and just go with AG was not my jam, but everything else so far has been. Especially The Graveyard Book which I loved waaaaaaay more than I was expecting. Love love love love love love love.

"It is going to take more than just a couple of good-hearted souls to raise this child. It will," said Silas, "take a graveyard."

The Graveyard Book is essentially The Jungle Book. Or I guess, so I've been told, since I only know The Jungle Book from the 2 Disney versions (cartoon & live action). The story opens with a mysterious man Jack murdering a family. But he misses the little boy, who crawled out of his crib and out the door, eventually making his way to a nearby graveyard, where he's found by a ghost couple, Mr. and Mrs. Owens. They convince the rest of the graveyard to give him Freedom of the Graveyard and he's given the name Nobody "Bod" Owens.

If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained.

The overarching story is about what happened to Jack's family and who is this man Jack, but the bulk of the book is made up of various adventures Bod gets into as he grows up in the graveyard. He meets a girl who comes to the graveyard, though her parents think he's just an imaginary friend. He discovers an ancient creature called a Sleer, gets captured by Ghouls, befriends the ghost of a witch, learns how to fade, and all sorts of shenanigans.

He decided not to tell anyone what he was planning, on the not entirely unreasonable basis that they would have told him not to do it.

The characters are so much fun. Bod is curious and kind. His caretaker Silas is creepy but takes his position caring for Bod seriously, the witch is demanding but watches out for Bod, and Jack is terrifying. Even if you could sort of guess how things were going to go, getting there was so much fun and there were a lot of tense moments.

There was something at the edge of Silas's lips that might have been a smile, and might have been regret, and might just have been a trick of the shadows.

I really didn't want this book to end. There may have been a few tears shed, which is not awkward at all when you're standing on the street waiting for someone to come pick you up (though at least I was out of the coffee shop by this point). I had heard great things about the book but wasn't rushing to pick it up since I figured it was a kid's book and I probably wouldn't be that into it and that is incredibly stupid of me because I could have read this so much sooner. Love love love love.

Gif rating:

Title quote from page 179, location 2138

Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. HarperCollins, 2008. Kindle