So Many Books, So Little Time

From Goodreads:  After his confrontation with the man in black at the end of The Gunslinger , Roland awakes to find three doors on the beach of Mid-World's Western Sea—each leading to New York City but at three different moments in time. Through these doors, Roland must "draw" three figures crucial to his quest for the Dark Tower. In 1987, he finds Eddie Dean, The Prisoner, a heroin addict. In 1964, he meets Odetta Holmes, the Lady of Shadows, a young African-American heiress who lost her lower legs in a subway accident and gained a second personality that rages within her. And in 1977, he encounters Jack mort, Death, a pusher responsible for cruelties beyond imagining. Has Roland found new companions to form the ka-tet of his quest? Or has he unleashed something else entirely? My Thoughts:  I can't believe I put off reading this for so long!  I read The Gunslinger about a year ago and then bought The Drawing of the Three soon after.  I wasn't a huge fan of T...

From Goodreads:  17 year old Leeann Worthier is the perfect girl in town - or so she says. George Willets is the heir to a booming petroleum business. When they announce their engagement, George's controlling mother is unimpressed and Leeann absolutely refuses to live with her mother-in-law. So George gives his new wife a house as a wedding gift. Thirty years before, the same house had hosted a grisly scene: George's uncle and cousins had all been slaughtered, his aunt Robina accused of both murder and suicide. The house is a gorgeous, well-maintained mansion but has stood empty since the tragedy. It's intimidating, but who is Leeann to turn down a free house? When the ghost of Robina begins to haunt Leeann, she realizes she's made a huge mistake ...   My Thoughts:  Wow, talk about "My Big Fat Redneck Wedding".  This book was slightly ridiculous.  I felt like I was inside some white trash girl's head the entire time which was incredibly obnoxious but a...

From Goodreads:  On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence. My Thoughts:  This was the November pick for my book club and I feel like I can't live in Kansas without having read this book.  It was definitely well worth the read.  In Cold Blood reads like a novel but tells the story of an brutal murder that took place in the 1950s.  I had to keep reminding myself that this was non-fiction because it read like your average mystery novel.  Capote...

From Goodreads:  The aristocratic vampire that haunts the Transylvanian countryside has captivated readers' imaginations since it was first published in 1897. Hindle asserts that Dracula depicts an embattled man's struggle to recover his "deepest sense of himself as a man", making it the "ultimate terror myth". My Thoughts:  How have I put off reading this book for so long???   For some reason, I thought it would be boring and super lame.   WRONG.   This was a great book and it’s no wonder it is considered a classic.   The creepy factor reminded me a lot of The Woman in White and the story hooked me right away.   The characters were silly but lovable and I found myself completely engrossed in the story.   It was really hard for me to get the picture of Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing out of my head because the original Van Helsing is nothing like that.   Madame Mina seemed to be the smartest one of the bunch though she tried to play hers...

From Goodreads:  In sixteenth-century Hungary, Countess Elizabeth Báthory tortured and killed over six hundred servant girls in order to bathe in their blood; she believed this brutal ritual would preserve her youth and beauty Danica, a young forensic psychologist, is drawn to Báthory’s legend. She has moved from Canada to England to work at Stowmoor, a Victorian insane asylum turned modern-day forensic hospital. One of her patients, the notorious Martin Foster, murdered a fourteen-year-old girl in homage to Báthory. He cultivates his criminal celebrity and Danica struggles to maintain a professional demeanor with the charismatic Foster as she begins to suspect that his activities may be linked to a cabal that idolizes Báthory. Danica’s life in London becomes increasingly complicated when Maria, a glamorous friend from Danica’s past, arrives to do archival work in the city. She claims to have discovered Báthory’s long-lost diaries and slowly reveals horrific passages to Danica. A...

From Goodreads:  It was love at first sight. From the moment seventeen-year-old Arnie Cunningham saw Christine, he knew he would do anything to possess her. But Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate vehicle of terror My Thoughts:  I was really nervous about reading this book.  I saw parts of the movie as a child and it completely freaked me out and because of that I had no desire to read the book.  I am so glad I did because I could not put it down.  This is one of my new favorite Stephen King books.  The story was so good, the characters were amazing and oh my goodness, was it creepy.  The idea of a possessed car sounds kind of lame but trust me, this book is anything but lame.  Roland LeBay is the perfect villain and Dennis Guilder is the average guy turned hero; I can't say enough about how well-written and well-developed these characters were.  And of course, King had to end the book in a way that made my skin crawl....

From Goodreads:  "Douglas Preston fulfilled a lifelong dream when he moveed his family to a villa in Florence. Upon meeting celebrated journalist Mario Spezi, Preston was stunned to learn that the olive grove next to his home had been the scene of a horrific double-murder committed by one of the most infamous figures in Italian history. A serial killer who ritually murdered fourteen young lovers, he was never caught. He is known as the Monster of Florence." Fascinated by the tale, Preston began to work with Spezi on the case. Here is the true story of their search to uncover and confront the man they believe is the Monster. In an ironic twist of fate that echoes the dark traditions of the city's bloody history, Preston and Spezi themselves become targets of a bizarre police investigation. My Thoughts:  I like true crime books and this book was no exception.  It is told from two different points of view:  from the point of view of Mario Spezi, a journalist, who wr...

From Goodreads:  A promise made twenty-eight years ago calls seven adults to reunite in Derry, Maine, where as teenagers they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city's children. Unsure that their Losers Club had vanquished the creature all those years ago, the seven had vowed to return to Derry if IT should ever reappear. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that summer return as they prepare to do battle with the monster lurking in Derry's sewers once more. My Take:  I just have to say that Stephen King creates the best characters.  The seven children he wrote for this book were amazing; I felt like I knew each one of them personally.  They were each so unique with their own individual problems but still felt strong enough to try to combat the evil that took over their city.  I must say that I was surprised at how not scared I was by this book.  The story was definitely creepy and Pennywise/Bob Gray was one...