The Book Zombie

Music Mundays ♦ Track 3

Have you ever read a book and a certain song seems to pop into your head?

That happens to me all the time. Or I’ll be listening to music and a song comes on that reminds me of something I’ve read.

I thought for this week’s Music Munday I would share a couple of songs/books and the books/songs they remind me of.

The song that has the biggest book connection for me is One by Metallica. Every time I hear it I can’t help but think of Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. It’s a book I first read in Junior High, and it is the story of Joe, a young man who has been severely injured during his time served in World War I.

Metallica actually created their song based upon the novel, and bought the rights to the film version in order to include snippets of it in their music video. Johnny Got His Gun is an extremely disturbing book about the effects of war on the young men enlisted, or basically forced to give over their lives for the cause. Metallica’s video effectively presents the emotions that the injured soldier must deal with in his solitary and terrifying existence. It is one of the most powerful songs I have ever heard.

I cant remember anything
Cant tell if this is true or dream
Deep down inside I feel to scream
This terrible silence stops me

Now that the war is through with me
Im waking up I can not see
That there is not much left of me
Nothing is real but pain now

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please god,wake me

Back in the womb its much too real
In pumps life that I must feel
But cant look forward to reveal
Look to the time when Ill live

Fed through the tube that sticks in me
Just like a wartime novelty
Tied to machines that make me be
Cut this life off from me

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please god,wake me
Now the world is gone Im just one
Oh god,help me hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God help me

Darkness imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell

Landmine has taken my sight
Taken my speech
Taken my hearing
Taken my arms
Taken my legs
Taken my soul
Left me with life in hell

This was no ordinary war. This was a war to make the world safe for democracy. And if democracy was made safe, then nothing else mattered--not the millions of dead bodies, nor the thousands of ruined lives...

This is no ordinary novel. This is a novel that never takes the easy way out: it is shocking, violent, terrifying, horrible, uncompromising, brutal, remorseless and gruesome...but so is war.

One by Metallica
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

The next song, Bring Me To Life by Evanescence came to me while I was reading Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle. For me the connection is in the way the song is sung by both a female (Amy Lee) and male (Paul McCoy) and I found myself thinking of the lead characters from The Gargoyle, who were soul mates, and I thought only together could the two of them fully bring one another to life. Corny yeah?!

On a burn ward, a man lies between living and dying, so disfigured that no one from his past life would even recognize him. His only comfort comes from imagining various inventive ways to end his misery. Then a woman named Marianne Engel walks into his hospital room, a wild-haired, schizophrenic sculptress on the lam from the psych ward upstairs, who insists that she knows him – that she has known him, in fact, for seven hundred years. And so Marianne Engel begins to tell him their story, carving away his disbelief and slowly drawing him into the orbit and power of a word he'd never uttered: love.

Bring Me To Life by Evanescence
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

How can you see into my eyes like open doors
leading you down into my core
where I’ve become so numb without a soul
my spirit sleeping somewhere cold
until you find it there and lead it back home

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

Now that I know what I’m without
you can't just leave me
breathe into me and make me real
bring me to life

Bring me to life
(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)
Bring me to life

Frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life among the dead

All this time I can't believe I couldn't see
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems
got to open my eyes to everything
without a thought without a voice without a soul
don't let me die here
there must be something more
bring me to life

And this last one, I think maybe I only made the connection because it’s a song I’ve always loved and I just wanted another excuse to overplay it. John Green’s young adult novel Looking For Alaska brought to my mind, within the first 20 or so pages, The Freshman by The Verve Pipe. While I don’t normally enjoy music with this poppish of a sound, the first time I heard it my heart nearly broke. It’s just so full of hopelessness and that’s how I felt when reading Looking For Alaska.

Miles "Pudge" Halter is abandoning his safe-okay, boring-life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek what a dying Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps."

Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. Their nucleus is razor-sharp, sexy, and self-destructive Alaska, who has perfected the arts of pranking and evading school rules. Pudge falls impossibly in love. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, it is only in coming face-to-face with death that Pudge discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.

The Freshman by The Verve Pipe
Looking For Alaska by John Green

When I was young I knew everything
She a punk who rarely ever took advice
Now I'm guilt stricken,
Sobbing with my head on the floor
Stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice

My best friend took a week's Vacation to forget her
His girl took a weeks's worth of Valium and slept
And now he's guilt stricken sobbing with his
Head on the floor
Thinks about her now and how he never really
Wept he says

I can't be held responsible
She was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

We've tried to wash our hands of all this
We never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt stricken sobbing with our
Heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to
Slip, we'd say

I can't be held responsible
She was touching her face
And I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise

For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

Summer Is Short ♦ Read A Story

Harper Perennial and The Savvy Reader have come up with a wonderful summer reading event – Summer Is Short, Read A Story!

Here is a blurb from Harper Perennial:

Harper Perennial celebrates the short story this summer. Buy some. Read some. Talk some. All season long we’ve got piles of great content lined up, fun contests, great books and something exceptionally special — some of our favorite short stories by some of our favorite Perennial authors here on the site for you to read.

And can you believe this video! This really made me laugh :)

Now moving over to the Harpercollins blog/newsletter The Savvy Reader, you can find out about the Summer Is Short, Read A Story reading challenge. Basically all you have to do is read two books collections. Which is easy-peasy. But I know I’ll be reading more than that, since short story collections have always been something I enjoy.

I chose 4 books from the recommended list that I thought looked perfect for the summer - My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead edited by Jeffrey Eugenides, Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, Wild Nights by Joyce Carol Oates and Ugly Man by Dennis Cooper.

But the following classic short collections were what made my inner biblioholic drool like a madman. Are these not the most gorgeous book covers you’ve ever seen? I’m a sucker for matching sets!

So what do you think about the Summer Is Short, Read A Story program? How do you feel about short stories in general? Do you have any plans to read any this summer while relaxing, on vacation, or even just during those small 10 minute breaks at work?

May 2009 ♦ Reading Recap

Books Read in May 2009

Clown Girl ♦ Monica Drake
Clubbing ♦ Andi Watson
Curious Sofa ♦ Edward Gorey
Cycler ♦ Lauren McLaughlin
Dangerous Alphabet ♦ Neil Gaiman
Dreaming Volume 2 ♦ Queenie Chan
Dreaming Volume 3 ♦ Queenie Chan
Escape From Special ♦ Miss Lasko-Gross
Ethel & Ernest ♦ Raymond Briggs
Giver ♦ Lois Lowry
Halifax Haunts ♦ Steve Vernon
Invention Of Hugo Cabret ♦ Brian Selznick
Janes In Love ♦ Cecil Castellucci
Kat & Mouse Volume 1 ♦ Alex deCampi
Legends of Dark Crystal ♦ Jim Henson
Lost At Sea ♦ Bryan Lee O’Malley
Need ♦ Carrie Jones
Plain Janes ♦ Cecil Castellucci
Pretty Little Liars ♦ Sara Shepard
Slob ♦ Ellen Potter
Soulless ♦ Christopher Golden
Tale Of One Bad Rat ♦ Bryan Talbot
Twelve Reasons I Love Her ♦ Jamie Rich
Mating Rituals of North American Wasp ♦ Lauren Lipton

I’ve had quite a few people ask me about where I got the graphic I use above for my reading recaps, and I’m terrible for replying to comments (sorry) so anyways I thought I’d answer here. I used PaintShop to create the blank library card and then each month I open it in Paint and add the new text. If anyone would like the blank graphic here is the link to where I’ve saved it on Flickr.

Looks like I’ve read quite a bit this month, but it’s not like I’m overworking my reader skills considering I am enjoying lots of graphic novels (over half my reads in May) But then again, some of the comics I’ve been looking at recently have stories that are just as (if not more) entertaining than some full-length literary novels.

Weird. Strange. Unusual. Keywords.

Taking a look at the searches that led people to my blog during May made it quite clear that school is wrapping up and people are trying to catch up on those pesky final assignments. When will these horribly, lazy little cheats realize how much easier it would be if they just read the frickin’ books themselves! I’m hoping everyone who uses the internet to find free essays gets a big fat F – sorry for the rant but that just makes me cranky :x

So here are some not-suckbag-cheat searches from May:

“American Psycho Quotables” – My quotable post on American Psycho is here but I’m telling you read this book and you will find an abundance of amazing quotables.

“Are Wolves Teeth Sharper Than Sharks Teeth” – Not entirely positive, but I think I heard something at the Boston Aquarium about sharks having teeth that are sharper than any land-mammal. Something to do with the jagged shape perhaps.

“A-Z Book Challenge” – This year’s A-Z challenge is hosted by Becky of Becky’s Book Reviews and the challenge has it’s own website which can be found right here. Which reminds me that I am horribly behind on updating my challenge progress :P

“Bibliophilism Disease” – Wow, I honestly don’t know if this is a real disease, but the word Bibliophile and the term Bibliophilism has been around since 1824. It’s definition is: a lover of books, specifically for qualities of format.

“Book Recommendation For Teens” – Young Adult and teen reads are a guilty pleasure of mine, but because I have 2 teen boys who read adult fiction, I'm not all that familiar with what’s happening in that area. So I have a couple of blogs I follow that focus a lot more on YA, have spectacular reviews and that I highly recommend ♦ Pop Culture Junkie ♦ Presenting Lenore ♦ The Story Siren ♦ There are tons more out there that I read, but these are the three that I always check out.

“Man Who Can Suck His Own Cox Contortionist” – You know what really made me laugh about this search? That the person searching knew how to spell contortionist properly but not the word before it. See kids this is why you should do your own schoolwork – do you really want to be like this guy or girl? :P

Review ♦ Benjamin’s Parasite

About the Book

At any given moment, the human body contains millions of parasites. This is the story of just one. A really, really nasty one.

Benjamin Wilson was having a lousy month even before the stomach pains began. He was about to turn forty. One of his students has been shot while on a homicidal meat cleaver rampage. And shortly after the funeral, Benjamin didn’t feel so good…

Now everything is changing. His body is being affected in some very unpleasant ways. His personality is developing a few “quirks.” But the biggest change is that he has a bunch of evil and/or psychotic people trying to hunt him down to acquire the parasite. His only hope is Julie, a gorgeous bounty hunter who may or may not have Benjamin’s best interests in mind, and who may or may not be competent enough to help him anyway.

Book Title: Benjamin’s Parasite Genre: Adult Horror Fiction

Author: Jeff Strand Type: Trade Paperback 226 pages

Publisher: Delirium Books Publication Date: August 2009

MOTIVATION FOR READING: So here’s what happened: I was relaxing and reading on a Sunday afternoon and suddenly my peace was shattered by the arrival of three testosterone filled males talking loudly and basically acting like morons. Hubs was rambling about bowling or hockey or some other type of sport. Youngest son was begging for money for the traveling fair or the movies or something else that you need to pay for. And oldest son was going on about the prom, tuxes and whether or not I had ordered a corsage yet for his girlfriend. Knowing that this could possibly ruin any chance of continuing my lazy, bookish day, I decided to play my “female who is completely insane” card and scare the freaks away. So I grabbed the closest book to me, jumped onto the sofa, book swinging violently around and screamed “That’s all well and good, but what does it have to do with Jeff Strand’s fiction?” Once they all turned tail and ran, I sat back down and read the book I had grabbed which turned out to be Benjamin’s Parasite!

WHAT IT’s ABOUT: The book’s official blurb is up above. But here’s a brief summation: Benjamin is an average guy who is a teacher, a dad, a husband and he’s approaching the big 4-0. He thought that was bad, until the morning he arrives at school and hears that one of his students went psycho-crazy with a meat cleaver, ending up dead in the process. Being a good person, Benjamin decides he should probably make an appearance at his students funeral. That’s when the trouble starts, he’s nervous to begin with – who wants to look at a dead kid? – but he starts to get a little more nervous when he thinks he sees the dead kid, named Brian, move.

He continued to watch.

Brian didn’t move again.

Good. Deceased kids weren’t supposed to move. They were supposed to lie peacefully in their caskets, lips motionless. Any movement was strictly prohibited by the laws of nature.

And then Benjamin swore – swore – that the body exhaled.

Not possible. No way in hell. He’d had an autopsy for God’s sake. You didn’t exhale after coroners cut you open and scooped out your insides. Brian was a troublemaker, but not that much of a troublemaker.

After convincing himself it was just a trick of his mind, Benjamin goes back to his normal life. Except not long after the funeral he begins to feel a little weird. At first it’s little things like suddenly feeling like a teenager who just discovered sex, and being unable to satisfy his cravings for chocolate. Too much sex and candy isn’t something he’s really concerned about, but when the stomach pain begins Benjamin thinks something is really, seriously wrong. And his assumption is quickly verified when he is kidnapped from a hospital emergency room by a gorgeous woman with a gun.

WHAT’s GOOD: There are way too many good things about this book! The best thing is the writing – it’s not like most of the horror I read, in that it is chock-full of humor while still managing to give me the creeps. The following scene where Benjamin is receiving the results of an X-ray from his doctor in the hospital had me holding my sides, I was laughing so hard!
(Dialogue – Doctor White = blue and Benjamin = red)

“You seem to have some sort of intestinal parasite.”

“Intestinal parasite.” Benjamin considered that. “Better than an alien, anyway.”

“Well, yes, that’s one way of looking at it.”

“So it’s like a tapeworm?”

“Not quite. It’s a bit more sizable.”

“I actually don’t know how big tapeworms run these days,” Benjamin admitted.

Doctor White held up an X-ray.

“Holy shit!” Benjamin exclaimed. “That’s in me?”

“Yes.”

“Get it out!”

“That’s our intent.”

Benjamin took the X-ray from him and gaped at it. The thing was a frickin’ monster! A squid monster. “Is this picture life size?”

“Yes.”

“It’s the size of a hot dog!”

“We know. As I explained earlier, the X-ray results were somewhat alarming.”

“Look at those tentacles! I’ve got Chthulu is my gut!”

“Who?”

“It’s from H.P. Lovecraft.”

“Who?”

“Squid creature writer.”

“Oh.”

The supporting characters are also perfect, even though Benjamin steals the show with his clever comebacks and hilarious inner thoughts. I loved the bad guys! The Smith brothers have been sent on a mission by their father Mr. Smith to acquire Benjamin and his parasite for some evil plan. The only kink in Mr. Smith’s plan is that his sons are complete idiots – and that’s being nice. Between the two of them they don’t have the brains of a dead tree. The following quote is what Joey Smith is thinking moments before he has to call his Dad, Mr. Smith (keep in mind that Joey and Clyde are full-grown men and supposedly dangerous bad guys):

His preference would be to not update Dad on the situation until they had good news, but he had a missed call from Dad showing on his cell phone and ignoring that for too long could be as bad as failing. They’d done “Rock, Paper, Scissors” to determine who had to call. Joey picked rock. Clyde picked paper. Clyde always picked paper. But Joey always picked rock, and if he switched to, say, paper the one time Clyde switched to scissors, he would’ve felt like a complete idiot.

I could probably quote the entire book here with things that I liked. So one last thing I thought was awesome about this book was that it started out slowly, building up a nice background, and then it took off. The situations went from bad to worse to completely, insanely out of control. Insane cows, vans filled with psycho killers, a sentient stomach bug, and a parachute scene worthy of the big screen. But even with all the unbelievable happenings, I never once thought to myself “Oh right, like that would ever happen!” The reason why is simply that I never had the chance, Benjamin’s Parasite is just that terrific.

WHAT’s NOT so GOOD: There’s nothing not good about this book. Seriously the worst thing I can think of is the queasy feeling I experienced from descriptions of the parasite. I’m sure that if my stomach had growled while reading this book, I would likely have died on the spot! But that’s not really a bad thing at all, I like getting the heebie jeebies from my horror. Probably the worst thing about this book is that it’s the only book I’ve read by Jeff Strand and I desperately want more now!

FINAL THOUGHTs: Most assuredly the creepiest book I’ve read lately. And the funniest. But I would not recommend it to anyone whose pregnant – I know it would have sent me running to the hospital for an ultrasound just to make sure I was carrying a baby and not some crazy experimental parasite. (o.O)

Benjamin’s Parasite is available to purchase in trade paperback or digital format at Horror Mall.

About The Author

Jeff Strand is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of such demented books as The Sinister Mr. Corpse, Gleefully Macabre Tales, and Pressure. He lives in Tampa, Florida where his problems with intestinal parasites are few and far between, although that last burrito (the one with the funny colored sour cream) didn’t work out so well for him. He can’t remember if he already mentioned that he lives in Tampa, Florida. If you’re a brave web-explorer, you can visit his website at www.JeffStrand.com

Graphic Novels / Comics ♦ Take 2

Graphic novels and comic books have always been favorites of mine. Anything from Archies to X-Men, adaptations of movies and TV shows, and of course online comix too. But as I mentioned in a post awhile back, fellow bloggers and their reviews have prompted me to search out specific titles and since I kinda dug the layout from that post, I figured I’d do a couple more.

Lost At Sea

Raleigh doesn’t have a soul.
A cat stole it. Or at least that’s what she tells people. Or at least that’s what she would tell people, if she told people anything. Why is it all so terrifying? Why is everyone so hard to deal with? Why is she in a car with three of her classmates, driving halfway across the country? What is she even doing here? She doesn’t even know them!
Raleigh is eighteen years old, and she has no idea what she’s doing. If you’ve ever been eighteen, or confused, or both, maybe you should read this book.

Author: Bryan Lee O’Malley Genre: Graphic Novel

Illustrator: Bryan Lee O’Malley Type: Paperback 168 pages

Publisher: Oni Press Publication Date: July 2006

My Thoughts
The blame or thanks for this one goes to Nymeth of Things Mean A Lot. In her review Nymeth says "Bryan Lee O’Malley really captured what being on the verge of adulthood feels like." and that simple sentence really spoke to me.

It seems like I’ve always felt like my life was on the verge of something, whether it was one step closer to being an adult, or one step away from finally understanding what it’s all about. Then I wonder to myself if I even know what it is. This is the feeling that I got from Lost At Sea. But Raleigh isn’t just worried about where she’s going, she also seems to have lost her way in finding who she is. She doesn’t know why she’s in this situation and she doubts that she fits in with these strange people. Once she discovers that how she sees herself is different from how others see her, life might make a bit more sense. I think that this book carries such a powerful message, that is, no matter how confused or lost we may feel, odds are that the people around us are feeling the same way. Lost At Sea is just too hard to describe in words, I just have to say the feelings this story made me feel were so familiar and scary, but seeing them expressed made me think it was ok.

Things Mean A Lot
A Book A Week

Other Reviews
Have you reviewed this book too?
Let me know and I’ll add your link.

Small Victories

Read About Comics

The Curious Sofa
a porno-graphic
work by
Ogdred Weary

The Curious Sofa is a classic book by Edward Gorey, published under the pen name Ogdred Weary (an anagram). The book is a "pornographic illustrated story about furniture" (according to the cover). According to reviews, there is nothing overtly sexual in the illustrations, although innuendos (and strategically deployed urns and tree branches) abound. The New York Times Book Review described it as "Gorey’s naughty, hilarious travesty of lust". The story may also be found in Gorey's book Amphigorey. (Wikipedia)

Author: Edward Gorey Genre: Picture Book

Illustrator: Edward Gorey Type: Hardcover 64 pages

Publisher: Harcourt Brace Publication Date: September 1997

My Thoughts
For the life of me I cannot remember what led me to order this one, well other than the fact that Edward Gorey is awesome!

The Curious Sofa is really fun, because despite the subtitle of A Porno-graphic Work, there is nothing at all sexual in nature presented in the words or pictures. It’s all left to the reader to make the pervy assumptions and figure out all the innuendos.

The art is simple, pretty and slightly bizarre. I think it has to do with the expressions on some of the characters faces – they just look mischievous.

Another hilarious thing is that all the men are described as well-endowed, well-formed, etc.

And the ending just left me speechless, while my mind concocted a million scenarios.

Other Reviews
Have you reviewed this book too?
Let me know and I’ll add your link.

Clubbing

A spoiled, rebellious Londoner takes on the stuffy English countryside in Clubbing.
The Crime: Getting caught with a fake ID at an exclusive West End nightclub.
The Punishment: Spending the summer at her grandparents’ stuffy country club. But Charlotte “Lottie” Brook, best known for her mile-high platforms and an unbridled passion for classic literature, will end up doing more than just serving time in country boot camp. In between avoiding the strange locals and cake decorating contests, Lottie will narrowly escape romance and end up solving a murder mystery on the 19th hole of her grandparents’ golf course.

Author: Andi Watson Genre: Graphic Novel

Illustrator: Josh Howard Type: Paperback 176 pages

Publisher: Minx Publication Date: July 2007

My Thoughts
I didn’t pick this up for any specific review, basically what happened was I read Plain Janes and Janes In Love (reviews coming soon) because of Dewey’s review where she also mentions that they were part of DC comics Minx line. I loved the Janes and decided to check out some other Minx books.

Reading the description of this one I was half-excited – yay for the goth girl exiled to hicksville. And half-blah – living at a country club/golf course. But luckily Lottie, the main character, is about as into golf as I am, which leads to much sarcasm and poking of fun. The actual story had lots going for it, there was the city girl in the countryside angle, then there was the murder mystery bit, and also a little bit of teenage summer romance (or not) but all of this together basically tells the story of a Lottie – a girl with lots of spunk and a fondness for black clothes, platform boots, modern technology and classic novels. Here is what Lottie had to say while picking out a book to read:

I check out the bookshelf. No, not Tess of the d’Ubervilles, I read that last term. The rest of the class hated me for saying it was all her own fault for having such lousy taste in men. The thing about the classics is – why do the women always cop off with the wrong bloke and die?

Oh and in the end, Lottie decides to read Wuthering Heights!

The story takes place in the English country side and there is a bit of British slang used. So something I found really neat (showing my geeky side) was that at the beginning of the book there is this:

“The coppers have nicked my corned beef
and hash and Yorkshire puds and bogged off
down the motorway.”

Don’t have a clue what I’m talking about?
Consult my Lexicon on pages 147-151
to translate the English slang into
fluent American.

And right at the back is a very funny dictionary of terms.

Other Reviews

Have you reviewed this book too?
Let me know and I’ll add your link.

Escape
from
“Special”

Miss Lasko Gross’ debut graphic novel is the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story of Melissa, who, by turns willful, funny, and perceptive, unsentimentally questions adolescent rituals and the arbitrary imposition of adult edicts. Subjected to the whims of her bemused parents and, as the years pass, rejected by her peers, the opinionated Melissa copes by watching horror movies, psychosomatically vomiting to get out of temple, and making comics.

Escape From “Special” unfolds in a series of brief anecdotes, impressionistically dredged as if from memory, without the self-righteous revisionism or nostalgic haze that characterizes so many artists’ depictions of childhood and adolescence. Drawn in a muted full-color palette, Lasko-Gross’ art, with its detailed backgrounds and expressive, clean-line character drawing, exquisitely conveys the volatile mix of confusion, uncertainty, and defiance that define the interior life of a young girl.

Author: Miss Lasko-Gross Genre: Graphic Novel

Illustrator: Miss Lasko-Gross Type: Trade Paperback 136 pages

Publisher: Fantagraphics Publication Date: February 2002

My Thoughts
Often when I’m looking for a new read, similar to something I enjoyed, I will search for related items on amazon. After reading and loving American Born Chinese, I did just that and Escape From “Special” popped up all over the place.

However, amazon failed me with this one. There wasn’t anything in particular that made this a bad read, I just couldn’t relate to the character and didn’t enjoy the design. The description states that it is the story of a girl told through brief anecdotes – and normally I like that style – but in this case there wasn’t enough flow or connectedness. Many of them seemed pointless, or just in the wrong place.

Boston Bibliophile

Other Reviews

Have you reviewed this book too?
Let me know and I’ll add your link.

Worducopia

It wasn’t until I browsed the library’s graphic novel section that I fully comprehended the amount of comics and graphics that are out there. And the range of topics, subjects and genres they cover. This was just a mixed bag of what I’ve been reading but I also have posts coming up dedicated to Neil Gaiman, more from the Minx line and a few more potlucks.

The next group of comics I will be blogging about are adaptations of classics. Right now, for example, I am reading the graphic novelization of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis – which is very strange but totally cool! So readers how do you feel about classics being redone in comic book fashion?

Good Thing About Being A Zombie #1

... Zombies don't get older, at least I don't think they do (o.O) Alas, I am just a lowly human fan-girl who must grit my teeth, cover the gray hairs, hide the wrinkles and face the tear-inducing oven of too many candles on a cake. *Next year I say there should be NO cake ... or maybe just a cupcake with a single candle!

Check out the comic I got in my email this morning. Totally perfect! It put a smile on my decrepit old face :D

How am I celebrating my birthday? By playing Wii, I'm absolutely in love with the boxing game and the bowling! And besides I need to get as much playtime in as possible while my decaying old person body still lets me. OH and the best game ever = Dead Rising = it's fierce zombie-hunting fun for the Wii and you can dress up in silly costumes too :p

Blog Tour ♦ Mating Rituals of the North American WASP

About the Book

Sometimes What Happens In Vegas … Follows You Home.

Peggy Adams is upset when she wakes up next to a strange man after a Vegas night she can’t remember … but she’s horrified when she discovers that she married him! Luke Sedgwick is WASP royalty, the last of the New Nineveh, Connecticut, Sedgwicks. He might also be perfect, if Peggy weren’t already “pre-engaged” to her live-in boyfriend of seven years (she even has a “promise ring” to prove it.) Peggy and Luke agree to get an annulment ASAP – and then receive an offer they can’t refuse …

Luke’s eccentric great-aunt Abigail offers the two the chance to make millions on the family estate: all they have to do is stay married for a year. Peggy is soon pretending to be one-half of the perfect couple among New England’s WASPy set on the weekends, while keeping her marriage a secret during the week. But she isn’t prepared for what might be her worst mistake of all – falling in love with her soon-to-be ex-husband.

Title: Mating Rituals of the North American WASP Genre: Fiction

Author: Lauren Lipton Type: Trade Paperback 356 pages

Publisher: 5 Spot Publication Date: May 2009

My Thoughts
Some people may consider this book to be of the chick-lit variety, and I tend to steer clear of most obvious chick-lit type stories. But when I first read about Mating Rituals of the North American WASP I could tell it wouldn’t be the typical fluffy “single girl in the city finds perfect shoes which lead her to find Mr. Perfect, develop good skin and teach her how to become multi-orgasmic”. And I was right, Lauren Lipton has written a light and fun story for women that manages to still captivate the reader with characters who could be taken from real life and who deal with some of the same issues, problems and insecurities as everyone else may at some time or another.

The plot of Mating Rituals of the North American WASP focuses on the romantic and not-so romantic foibles of Peggy and Luke, who’ve found themselves married after a few too many drinks in Las Vegas. Sure not everyone ends up marrying a stranger after partying hard, but everyone’s heard a horror story about a person waking up next to a random guy or girl they hooked up with in a bar. So it’s a common enough storyline, but what makes the difference in this book is that the characters are so damn easy to like. When Peggy and Luke discover they are newlyweds and are presented with an opportunity to make some money from their union, you don’t feel like they are out only for themselves and their own selfish reasons. They each need the money for good, even respectable, things. So if suffering together through a charade will help them, you can’t help but feel for them.

What was especially good about this book is that it shows an excellent use of character and relationship growth throughout. On the surface the faux-couple seem so different from one another, but as their lives become more entwined you start to see how compatible they are as a duo. If they would only stop being such stubborn morons. From both their points of view you are presented with thoughts, feelings, doubts and hopes that are doing them no good kept to themselves – if only they could communicate better, things would start looking up and a lot of misunderstandings could be avoided.

I also enjoyed seeing how each of them viewed themselves in terms of their place in society. Peggy has a hard time because she feels out of place in Luke’s circle, but she also views that circle as being snobbish. At the same time Luke often seems to feel embarrassed of the people who surround him and their supposedly good social manners.

The biggest plus for me in Mating Rituals of the North American WASP was the character of Luke’s aunt Miss Abigail. She’s a 90 odd year old society monarch, who is sweet, but domineering, and seems to know a lot more about what’s really going on. Her feistiness and spunk were both hilarious and tragic and it was always a great time when she made an appearance in the story. Abigail’s inclusion in the book also gave Luke a very human aspect, and I think in the end she had the biggest impact on Peggy and Luke’s future.

There are so many good quotes to be found in this story, but this was one of my favorites, from an early scene in which Peggy first sets eyes on the Historical home she will be sharing with Luke and Miss Abigail:

Balanced high on a ladder in the front yard, a frail figure was sawing branches from an oranging maple.

Peggy’s breath caught in her chest. A low picket fence separated the front yard from the sidewalk, and she hurried through its gate and across the lawn, afraid of startling Miss Abigail off her unsteady perch. Why wasn’t Luke pruning the trees? Really, why wasn’t a Gardner doing it? A house this size would have a gardener.

At the tree, bits of wood rained onto the lawn. Peggy stopped between fallen branches, dodging another that was plummeting to the ground. “Should you be up there? Isn’t this considered strenuous – ”

“Look out below!” Miss Abigail called. Another slender branch dropped near Peggy’s feet. Miss Abigail regarded it with a cold eye and nodded. “That should do for today.” She started down the ladder, disregarding the hand Peggy held out to her, passing Peggy the saw instead. “If Luke asks, our neighbor Mr. Fiorentino chopped off those branches, and I was not on that ladder!”

Mating Rituals of the North American WASP is a book that I would definitely recommend for anyone looking for an enjoyable, light read. It replaces the tired clichés of common chick-lit with smart characters, clever dialogue and glimpses into issues that are much more important in life than clothing, money and careers. Although at times predictable, the story and it’s real-life topics are refreshing and make this book well worth the read.

About The Author

Lauren Lipton is the author of two novels, It's About Your Husband (2006) and Mating Rituals of the North American WASP (2009). She is also a freelance journalist who specializes in style, business and trend stories. ♦♦♦ She is currently fashion, beauty and lifestyle editor at ForbesWoman magazine. She has also contributed features on society and media to the New York Times Sunday Styles section. A former Wall Street Journal staff writer, she reported on copycat brides who steal their friends' wedding ideas, pajama parties for grown women, and luxury homes with his-and-hers garages. ♦♦♦ Her work also has appeared in Conde Nast Portfolio, In Style Weddings, Martha Stewart Weddings, Best Life, Glamour, Marie Claire, Fit Pregnancy and Working Mother, and on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. She began her career at the Los Angeles Times. ♦♦♦ Born in Providence, R.I., Lauren grew up in the North County of San Diego and in Los Gatos, Calif., before moving to Los Angeles. She holds a bachelor's degree in English and anthropology from Occidental College and a master's degree in print journalism from the University of Southern California. ♦♦♦ She lives with her family in New York City and in Litchfield County, Conn.

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Music Mundays ♦ Track 2

Okay, even though the title of this one is Track 2 it actually contains 3 songs. In keeping with the idea of music being able to tell a story much the way that books do, I’ve decided to reveal my hidden secret (well, aside from the My Little Pony thing that I’m sure Jill’s still laughing over) Normally, I would consider myself a full blown supporter of the Anti-Twang Movement aka Down With The Dixie Chicks. But I have a weakness for certain songs and artists which I prefer to think of as Southern Rock (it’s just an excuse but whatever.)

It was an old friend who turned me onto these songs back when we were teens, and they still pack an emotional punch when I hear them. Travis Tritt wrote three connected songs and made music videos for them that tell the story of Mac Singleton, played by Travis himself.

The first song is Anymore and is all about how Mac becomes paralyzed and how he feels about returning to his hometown and the love of his life Annie. Basically he’s battling with himself over how he could be with her now, and whether it’s right to want her to stay with him.

Following this is the second song, and my personal favorite, Tell Me I Was Dreaming. This song lets us know that things are well between Mac and Annie, she’s now pregnant with their child and their lives are perfect. But one day Annie has an accident on their dock, and Mac tries so hard to help her when she falls in the water. After help comes they get her to the hospital, but Annie can’t be saved and she dies while giving birth. But their baby survives and Mac is left with a beautiful little girl.

If I Lost You ends off Macs story, it’s now five years later and we find out how his life is going with his little girl. It seems to be sad but also really positive as Mac knows that even with all that’s happened he’s blessed to have his daughter with him.

So yes, sometimes country music can be excellent. And sometimes music videos tell stories worthy of being made into books – even if they may be tear-jerkers. Then again, maybe it’s all the cold medicine I’m taking that’s making me all sentimental and crap.

Huge thanks to Chris for creating the super-fabulous Music Mundays!

Music Mundays ♦ Track 3

Summer Is Short ♦ Read A Story

May 2009 ♦ Reading Recap

Review ♦ Benjamin’s Parasite

Graphic Novels / Comics ♦ Take 2

Good Thing About Being A Zombie #1

Blog Tour ♦ Mating Rituals of the North American WASP

Music Mundays ♦ Track 2

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