Book Chatter

Sunday Matters

December came around quickly and it seemed like my entire neighborhood was taken off guard. No decorations. But then, BAM, decorations everywhere. I love it.

This past week was good The Teen had her choir concert and she sang a solo and played her ukulele for the first time in front of an audience. She did great!

Right Now:

We are getting ready to go to church and by getting ready I mean that I am in an upright position, drinking coffee and nibbling on buttered toast.

This Week:

This Tuesday I have to take my daughter for an x-ray. Something came up at her physical which I have been asking about for years but this new doc agreed that she needs to be seen so we go for that on Tuesday.

My work party is this week and my last day of work is Thursday. I will return to work on January 9th. It’s good chunk of time. I am hoping that it’s nice and quiet.

Reading:

I am finishing up Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. It’s really good. I thought I’d finish it this past week but things came up. Things like my lack of attention.

Watching:

I’ve been lining up my movie viewing but haven’t actually sat down to watch anything. I spent a good two hours on the Turner website adding classics to my shopping cart. I guess I am in a classics mood.

However, I will be watching The Walking Dead’s mid-season finale tonight. I hope it has some action because besides the opener, the rest of the season has been rather slow.

Making:

I have no idea what to make this week but with all this stress eating I’ve been doing here and there, I feel absolutely polluted. I think there will be (or should be) a lot of greens on the menu this week.

Grateful for:

Today I am grateful for my little pup, The Otter Pup. She knows how to read me. She knows when I need a little friend to keep me company and she knows just when to be funny. She’s going to be 7 soon if you can believe it. We just love her.

Summer of Night
By Dan Simmons
Griffin, Paperback, 9780312550677, July 2011, 498pp.

The Short of It:

A good story but not as scary as I had hoped it to be.

The Rest of It:

It’s the summer of 1960 and in the small town of Elm Haven, Illinois, five twelve-year-old boys are forging the powerful bonds that a lifetime of change will not break. From sunset bike rides to shaded hiding places in the woods, the boys’ days are marked by all of the secrets and silences of an idyllic middle-childhood. But amid the sun drenched cornfields their loyalty will be pitilessly tested. When a long-silent bell peals in the middle of the night, the townsfolk know it marks the end of their carefree days. From the depths of the Old Central School, a hulking fortress tinged with the mahogany scent of coffins, an invisible evil is rising. – from the publisher.

This book kept reminding me of the TV show Stranger Things. I think I mentioned the similarity no less than six times on social media. Summer of Night is actually book #1 in a series. I was not aware of that when I started it, but it really works as a stand alone novel (in case anyone is interested).

Small towns can be creepy and this one comes complete with a “rendering truck” tearing-up stuff all around town. Just the idea of a truck filled with dead animals in various stages of decay is enough to make you cringe but to have a truck like that come after you? A pre-teen you? Terrifying.

Oh, and then there are dead people floating up to second story windows and holes that magically appear underneath beds with the sole purpose of pulling kids down into them. Like I said, scary stuff but as with most novels that center around young people, the young people band together and battle all that is evil and it makes for a good story.

But, it was slow in parts. REAL slow. Simmons like to write and this book is just under 500 pages but the pacing was a little uneven. Some parts were incredibly suspenseful and others functioned as set dressing but all in all, it was a good read. Maybe not the scariest book ever read… which is how it is noted on many horror lists but very good. I loved all of the characters. Simmons does a great job of developing each one.

Have you read it?

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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