It-Along Final Post

**SPOILERS BELOW**

I finished IT just in time--about 3 hours ago. Nothing like cutting it close. I've been so lame at my past readalongs that by the time I finish the book, everyone else has moved on. That's no fun. So, since I'm still trying to wrap my head around this massive book, I'll just list a few random thoughts.

• This book was not nearly as terrifying as I expected. There were several times that I read it at night and had no creepy dreams. I even read the big scene in the IT's lair around midnight last night and slept just fine.
• Stephen King writes some amazing characters. I preferred ITs characters to The Stand. Maybe because they were kids and less annoying (except for maybe Richie--I wasn't a fan). It was easier to keep track of this cast of characters, and I cared about them more.
• I was surprised to find how much of the story took place in the past. The entire story was basically back story leading up to two days (and not many pages) in the present.
• The ending was a bit of a letdown. I didn't know the form that IT would take, but as I'm not particularly afraid of that kind of creature, I think the clown was creepier.
• The Bill and Bev thing pissed me off. HE WAS MARRIED! Seriously! What is wrong with you people?! It was unnecessary to the plot. Not really sure why King chose to go there. And to Bev--Ben is so much better and he still has his hair (though I don't think highly of his fashion sense).
• The plot line with Bev's husband was anticlimactic. He made such a big deal to get to Derry that I expected this big showdown (I was hoping Ben would give him a beat down [not that I generally approve of such things, but he had it coming]). He died off page, and I almost missed the mention of it.
• The scene where they all express their love or whatever that was supposed to be after their first time attacking IT, made my skin crawl. I felt dirty reading it. How old are they?! I thought they were like 11 or something.
•  I loved Ben (hence the note to Bev above). He was my favorite character. Just so quiet, but strong. Never selfish.

So, that's the end of my random thoughts on IT. I'm glad I read it. There was of course, King's trademark verbosity, and some parts that I didn't care for, but when compared to the other few King books I've read, this is my favorite.

Banned Book Week: Lord of the Flies and Giveaway

Sheila of Book Journey is running a week-long event over on her blog for Banned Book Week. For more posts and giveaways, stop by her blog and check it out.

In honor of Banned Book Week, I am reviewing Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The premise of this book is widely known. A group of young boys end up stranded on an island. No adults around. I'm sure you can imagine what happens next.

Before beginning it, I supposed that this book would be an interesting piece of literature discussing human nature, but what I was surprised to find was how much I enjoyed the writing. As well as the writing, I found the different characters fascinating. No real back stories are introduced, but you can get a good feel for their different personalities. It took about a quarter of the book for me to get into it (luckily that isn't very many pages), but I couldn't turn the pages fast enough at the end.

After finishing it for the first time this past Sunday, I am still confused as to why this book was banned. There is death, but nothing particularly graphic about it. I love the introduction in my copy. It's by Stephen King and he has an anecdote about the first time he read Lord of the Flies. He was a young boy and mostly read adventure type books, but asked the librarian (of the little Bookmobile) if she had any books about how kids really are. She thought for a second and brought him a copy of Lord of the Flies. She told him that if anyone asked, he found the book himself (not surprising considering this post is for Banned Book Week).

Stephen King said he devoured the book and felt satisfied that it was a book about how kids really are. King later learned that writing a book about how boys would really behave is what Golding set out to do when writing Lord of the Flies. I wish it wasn't how human would really behave, but I think it is. It's my opinion that there is potential for good and evil in each of us. Deep down, what are we really like when all the rules and supervision disappear? Maybe that is what makes some people uncomfortable with this novel. There isn't always a happy ending for everyone and sometimes humans can do really despicable things. If you haven't read it, I hope you will. 

Now for the real reason you're here--the Giveaway! For one lucky reader, I'll be giving away a new copy of the edition shown above of Lord of the Flies with the introduction by Stephen King.

Rules for Entering

1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite banned or challenged book.
2. Include your email address (for use in contacting the winner).
3. You must be 13 years or older to enter.
4. Book Depository must ship to your address.

The giveaway will close midnight Sunday, October 7. After selecting the winner at random, I will contact them by email. The winner will have 72 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Random.org selected #2 Sheila (Book Journey) as the winner.

Congratulations!

Pin It and Do It Challenge

I'm going to do this. Actually do this, and not just sign up for it like the last two times. I love Pinterest, you can find me here. I know people say it's a time suck, but it doesn't have to be. I rarely look at other people's pins. I simply use it to track things I've found online that I want to reference in the future. Most of my pins are recipes or organization related.

If you're interested in playing along with us, Trish of Love, Laughter, and Touch of Insanity is host, and you can find details here.  I think I can easily do 8 pins, but we'll start with Timid Pinner: 1-3. I know I'll probably do 8, but it's the blogging part that messes me up. Why? I don't know. It just does. Happy fall to everyone, and happy pinning and doing.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Read-a-long)

Oh, the ambiguous ending. I usually don't mind an ambiguous ending, but this one left me cold. I'm okay that Waters didn't spell everything out, but I wish there had been more clues to at least make a guess as to what was happening. I have no idea. I have some rather random guesses, but I don't feel like I have enough evidence to argue a case one way or another.

I do think that there was something supernatural in the house. At first I thought it was the deceased daughter Susan, but I couldn't figure out why she would torment her family. My thoughts were that maybe the suspicious circumstances concerning her death would come to light. Nope, nothing did.

The second thought that came to mind was that it was Dr Faraday's mother. It seemed like anyone who got in his way of breaking into the family was targeted. (Roderick was insulting to his class. The attack on the little girl seemed a distraction to the party intended to find a suitor for Caroline. Mrs. Ayres was disapproving of his engagement to her daughter. Caroline became a target once she ended the engagement.) By the end, I was just confused. Caroline seemed to recognize her attacker, but she didn't know either of those two individuals during their lives. Hmm...chin-scratcher.

The title didn't really come into play until the very end and it seemed like an afterthought. That was slightly disappointing.

I wasn't particularly fond of Dr Faraday in the first half, but I actively hated him by the second. He really showed his true character after being snubbed by Caroline. How incredibly insulting he was! He obviously didn't really love her because if he had he would never have said such dreadful things. He was just angered because he saw Hundreds slipping through his greedy fingers. And, stalker much? My goodness. Creepy, creepy dude. Leave her alone already. She doesn't like you.

Despite all my grumbling above, I did enjoy The Little Stranger. I can't deny that Waters' is an excellent writer. It was slow at times, but it kept my attention. It wasn't perfect, but it was an enjoyable RIP read. The audio really helped with that. I will certainly be looking for more audiobooks narrated by Simon Vance.

Much thanks to Estella Society for hosting!

The Little Stranger Read-a-long Check-in #1

I've had The Little Stranger on my shelf for close to two years. So when Estella Society proposed a read-a-long, I was all over that. The funny thing is that I've hardly touched my copy but have opted instead for the audiobook narrated by Simon Vance. During audiobook week a few months ago I heard many readers gush over Simon Vance. I totally get it now. He is good. Really good. I have actually been looking forward to doing housework this week so that I can listen to more of The Little Stranger. Truly shocking.

How are you liking the book? Can your read it at night?

I'm really enjoying it. Sarah Waters has won me over with her writing. It started a little slowly, but I found that it added to the creepiness. I would catch glimpses here and there of something not quite right in Hundreds, but it kept me guessing as to what would happen next. I haven't been fearful of reading it at night, yet, but I've carried on to chapter nine and it's starting to get a little more under my skin.

What do you think about what's going on?

I can't quite figure out exactly the rationale behind the different attacks, but I've had an inkling as to who is behind them. As I said, I read a little into chapter nine and of what I've read, it makes me think that my guess is correct, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone not there yet.

What do you think of the Ayres family? Do you pity them their fall from the top?

I found them obnoxious in how they treated those they saw as beneath them. Roderick more so than Caroline, but they are both fairly condescending. I wanted to slap Roderick when he made the comment to Dr. Faraday about how they were only friends with them because their real friends couldn't be welcomed into their home in its current state. I guess I'm a girl who doesn't deal well with snobbery. I feel badly for them that they may lose their home, but devastation was all around in that time period. They were hardly in the worst of circumstances.

Thoughts on Dr. Faraday

The group post of questions says "Can't you feel the want radiating off him?" Yes! So much. That is a perfect way of phrasing it. He is so obsessed with this family. He reminds me of Charles Ryder from Brideshead Revisited. He seems to want to work his way into the family in any way possible. His sights seem to be set on Caroline. I think it's telling that he's constantly remarking on how plain and manly, etc. Caroline is.  I'm sure if that play doesn't work, he'll work another angle.

RIP VII, IT, and The Little Stranger

RIP VII, Or R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril VII is hosted by Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings. I am so excited! This is my first year participating, and I have been hoarding scary books for just this event. I have crazy huge stacks, but they are just stacks from which to select my reads. There is no way that I'll be able to be read them all. I'll definitely be shooting for Peril the First--four books of the RIP variety. To the books!

Stack the First: Books I'm Hoping to Finish

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Dracula by Bram Stoker

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters--Readalong hosted by Estella Society

It by Stephen King--Italong hosted by Jill and Christina (what am I thinking?!)

Stack the Second: Audiobooks I'm Hoping to Finish

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters--Doing a listen/read for the readalong.

Don't Look Back by Laura Lippman--Random library pick. The Little Stranger hadn't come in and I had a long drive ahead of me.

Stack the Third: My Maybe Books

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (and other three in Jackson Brodie Series)--This series has been recommended by so many of my favorite bloggers.

Both readalongs are mentioned above, but here are the buttons and links again if you're interested.

Found here

Found here

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky
published 1999
completed September 2012


This book. I don't know if I'll be able to express just how much I love this book. I wasn't really sure I would. I've heard it's easier to appreciate as a teenager, but for me, it worked. In a really big way.

Charlie is a fifteen year old freshman in high school. You'll discover from the opening pages that he's unlike most kids his age. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a series of letters that he writes to a stranger, trying to keep somewhat anonymous. You never discover to whom he is addressing and mailing these letters, but he shares with them in detail of his experiences throughout his first year of high school.

While I loved this book, I don't think everyone will. Some readers have difficulty with Charlie and his voice. If you don't feel an affinity towards Charlie, I don't think the book will work for you. As I said before, it worked for me. He had me on his team from the first page. I've had the book out from the library for months, but once I finally sat down to read it, I finished it in an afternoon. I couldn't put it down.

I fell in love with Charlie. Not in a romantic way, but in a I-want-to-put-my-arms-around-you-and-hug-you-and-protect-you kind of way. Charlie has this innocence, and it's difficult to pinpoint what is so different about him. I initially thought he may have Asperger's, but some revelations at the end of the book made me think his unique way of looking at the world may have been caused by something he experience when young. Either way, he sees the world so differently than others. Others always come first and he genuinely loves and wants the best for everyone. He feels things so deeply, is so loyal, and honest. He understands so much, but is yet so naïve at the same time. I took so many notes while reading this. Some of Charlie's insights are so simple, yet profound.

So many huge issues are tackled in this slim book. I don't want to get into spoilers, but this goes to very dark places, but through Charlie's eyes, it's bearable. For those who've read it, the struggles of Patrick and Brad were particularly heartbreaking. I was friends with several "Brads" in school who weren't ready to share that aspect of their lives with others until later in life. I still keep in touch with some of them, and it makes my heart ache to think of what they must have gone through in high school. How difficult it must have been.

As I was nearing the end of the book, I was nervous. I didn't know how it would resolve itself, but the epilogue set things right in a realistic way. It left me with a sense of hope.

I've attached the movie trailer below. I think it comes out in the US this month, but the UK release is Oct 3. The trailer seems like the tone isn't quite right. Am I the only one nervous about this? I'm hoping that the actual movie is a better reflection of the book. We shall see.