Good Morning Everyone – How’s your Sunday so far?
I’ve been enjoying a weekend with some very good books so I thought I’d share some snippets on those.
I finally started Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I know, I’m the last person to read this right? What can I say, this book has all the elements of a very creepy tale… A mysterious locked door, sinister corridors and big, black buttons. I know I could easily finish this story in one sitting but I am savoring it and taking my time. Plus, I don’t think I want to read this at night. ha. This book counts as one of my R.I.P. III Challenge reads.
My other read is perhaps not as scary but it’s very dark, Out by Natsuo Kirino. This is actually my second attempt at this novel and I think this time I’ll stick with it. Fantastic character development is keeping me intrigued about these four Japanese women embroiled in a violent crime and their way out. This book counts as one of Japanese Literature Challenge reads.
I’m almost done with Blue Sky July by Nia Wyn. A moving memoir of a mother who goes against everything the doctors say in order to heal her son after he suffers a brain injury and is diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy.
And, I’m also nearing the end of Brief Gaudy Hour by Margaret Campbell Barnes. This is another fictional account of Anne Boleyn. I wonder how many books there must be about Anne? Either way, I don’t care because she is fascinating and this story manages to keep me on the edge of my seat even if I already know how it ends.
So, what are you reading this Sunday?
I think you’re right about Anne Boleyn being the most written about woman ever! And I’ve read a lot of them myself!
I loved Coraline, it was so deliciously creepy. And the illustrations were great. The Blue Sky sounds very good too. As does Brief Gaudy Hour. Enjoy your reading.
Coraline is too scary to read at night! 🙂 It’s funny how much kids love being scared-I read soooooo many ghost/horror stories in elementary school.
Oooh, Coraline 😀 And I keep hearing great things about Out too. I look forward to your reviews.
I haven’t even thought about reading Coraline yet, so you are definitely not the last!
Ha, I’d not even heard of Coraline – so thanks – it does sound good though!
That one about Anne Boleyn sounds good, even tho I’ve read my fair share about her, too.
I am catching up with my newspapers. My neighbor picked ours while I was on Evacuation in Texas.
Might be going back to Texas next week, depending on Ike’s path.
Coraline is such a beautiful book, Blue Sky July sounds very interesting I may have to pick this one up.
Ooh, I enjoyed reading Coraline so much! It’s one of my favourites by Neil Gaiman! I haven’t read Out yet, but I intend to get this book soon.
Coraline is so deliciously creepy! I’m really looking forward to the film. Trailer on youtube.
Glad you’re getting on better with ‘Out’ this time around. Lots of people have been reading it lately, it’s making me really want to pick up ‘Grotesque’.
I haven’t read Coraline yet (but it’s on my RIP list, so hope to get to it soon)!
Coraline was the first (and only, so far) Gaiman book I read. It is wonderfully creepy – I read it at the beach last year, in the sun, definitely not at night! And it has lots of references to and take-offs on Lewis Carroll’s Alice, which I loved. Hope you enjoy it.
Oh, I loved Coraline. Very creepy indeed. Probably too creepy for the younger set I think it was actually aimed at!! I’m reading Out too for the Japanese Reading Challenge. Dang. Note to Self: Must pull this off the shelf…soon!
I read Coraline aloud to my kids – we all loved it and were thoroughly creeped out!
I wasted too much reading time this afternoon watching my Seahawks get their behinds kicked. 🙁
You are not the last one to read Neil Gaiman. I am, and I’m (hopefully) going to see him and perhaps meet him later this month at the National Book Festival in DC. I’d better get a move on, right? Hopefully my copy of American Gods will make it in time.
ravenous reader – Seriously, I just found two other books at the bookstore this weekend which feature Anne! Do you have a favorite?
bookworm – Oh yes, the illustrations are perfect for the story aren’t they? I need to talk about those other two books once I’m done – very good too!
Eva – I was all about the scary books and movies as a kid. I think I’ve become more of a scaredy cat now 🙂
Nymeth – I’m almost done with it but I’m still dragging out the end. It’s so good!
Marg – I think you have to jump in and read it. It’s a great story!
Anon – Hope you check it out!
booklogged – I’ve got another Tudor book waiting in the wings. I’m all about the Tudors right now it seems 🙂
Isabel – I’ve been thinking of you! I hope you won’t have to evacuate again. You poor thing. Do you have to go to work this week?
Joanne Mosher – I can’t believe I waited so long to read it you know. And, I hope to have a review up on Blue Sky July soon. It was really good too.
Melody – Now I’ll finally be able to say I’ve read a Neil Gaiman book! So far, Out is great. It’s very dark though and not a typical mystery book.
Tara – I cannot even imagine what the film will be like. As soon as I’m done with the book I’ll go check out the Youtube vid!
tanabata – This was definitely right book, wrong time sort of thing. I’m really bowled over by the character development. I haven’t even read what Grotesque is about but I will probably be checking that out.
Stephanie – I hope you’ll enjoy it – Coraline is such a great character!
JLS Hall – I had to start reading in the day time – I was afraid of dreaming about button eyes 🙂 See, I’ve not read Alice in Wonderland – my knowledge of it is very sketchy so I’m probably missing out. I’ll have to save that story for another time then!
stephanie – I wonder what my younger self would have thought of Coraline. I think he really plays up the fears that a lot of children have – fear of the dark, closed spaces, etc. Hope you are enjoying “Out”!
Carrie K. – Oh no, and then to have your team not win. Now, that’s a shame! How fun that you read this aloud to the kids. This is one book I’d actually been thinking of listening to on tape as well. I think that might be fun.
Literate Housewife – Well, this book is pretty slim so you should be able to make it 🙂 How fun that you get to go to a literary festival. Hope they have lots of authors! Will be looking forward to your posts on that!
I adored Coraline. I couldn’t look at buttons for a month after I’d read it!
You know, I’ve never read Gaiman, although we have lots of his books around as my husband likes him. I’ll have to pick Coraline up one of these days!
I thought Out was very gruesome, but I think it was more of a surprise than anything. I had no idea that was going to happen.
As for Coraline, I thought it was okay, but that’s because I’m not fond of fantasy. So actually okay is good! 🙂
Michelle – Indeed! I have a little jar of buttons on my craft table but I think I need to put it away 🙂
Dorothy W. – Oh it’s so good, I hope you do pick it up! Which one is your husband’s favorite by the way? I did try American Gods a long time ago and couldn’t get into it but I don’t know, I feel more adventurous with my reading nowadays 🙂
Joy – I do know what’s going to happen as I’ve read some spoilers so I think I’ll be prepared for the gruesome bits but it definitely has a very dark tone doesn’t it?
I read the blurb of Out at the end of another book. It sounds very surreal and convinces me that the Japanese really have a knack for staging suspense and murder story. I’ve been curling up with Perfume this weekend. Another murder (sort of) story.
I’ve read only nonfiction about Anne Boleyn, and she was a fascinating woman. Smart, well read, strong willed. And her fate makes her story so much more intriguing.
I read OUT a couple of years ago, and it was one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read. But so well written. The characters are so real. She has a new book out now, but I have yet to pick it up.
I doubt you are the last person to read Coraline, but I am glad you’re enjoying it!
I just finished Out and put up a review on the estella’s revenge site for their September issue. I enjoyed it. It was brutal and dark and not my normal kind of reading, but it is certainly a page turner and an eerie one at that.
Matt – Oh yes, the staging that the author is developing in this story is superb. I feel like I’m right there in the factory with these women. Very good. And, yay, you are reading Perfume! That’s a favorite of mine. By the way, I tagged you on a meme 🙂
Karen Olson – She was fascinating wasn’t she? All along I’ve thought of her as this evil she-devil but while she had a lot of faults, I’m convinced too that her family really used her and you can’t help but feel a bit sorry for her.
Carl V. – I just should have listened to everyone in the book blog community and have read that one sooner. It was great. Looking forward to your review of Out on Estella’s!
You aren’t the last person to read Coraline. I haven’t read it yet 🙂
There’s a great biography of Anne Boleyn by Joanna Denny. Definitely puts her in an interesting light as an evangelical, who truly believed that God meant her to marry Henry and reform religion in England. It does not show her as a victim at all. She played her cards well, getting Henry to marry her and not just keep her as a mistress. She does have her faults, she could be shrewish. But she became more insecure and vulnerable when it became clear she would not produce the promised heir. Denny’s ancestors were neighbors of the Boleyns.