I can't believe it's been over 7 friggin' years...

since I've last posted. Well, I haven't stopped reading. I've posted a lot on Goodreads, but I almost forgot I ever had this blog. But now I'm back. I'll still be updating Goodreads, but I'm going to use this blog in 2018 gosh darn it! I'm a reader, although I may be a slow reader by some people's standards. But I'm consistent. I read a lot. I'm going to be reviewing the books I've read and also using this blog to post the books I've chosen for the two challenges I've chosen to do, the 5 Year Classics Challenge, hosted by The Classics Club and the TBR (to be read) Pile Challenge 2018, hosted by Roof Beam Reader . Both of these challenges sound like good ideas to me and they are right in line with what I want to do: read more classic literature and pare down my book collection.

2011 - The Year of the Classics

I have decided to spend 2011 reading from my stash. Stash of books, that is. I've started out with To Kill A Mockingbird as a warm up book, and I'm totally bowled over by how good it is and continues to be, even after 20 years. After To Kill A Mockingbird, I plan to take Oprah up on her challenge to read A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. I own so many wonderful books that going to the library is purely an option for me, not a necessity. I have a great many books that I've collected with the intention of reading or re-reading them again "one day" . Well that day has come.

Shot In the Heart by Mikal Gilmore

I've stayed up past midnight the past two nights finishing this book. Both nights I've gone to bed spooked, but that doesn't stop me. Considering the fact that I'm usually in bed by 10:30 or so, this is definitely saying something. I was a little girl during the 1970's, so I don't remember anything about Gary Gilmore and his story. In fact, I'd never heard his name until I read about this book, and "The Executioner's Song", the Norman Mailer book about Gary's life. I've actually had Shot in the Heart on my shelf for years, but had never gotten around to reading it. Since I'm currently on a memoir kick, I decided to give it a go. Well, all I can say is that it is a fascinating, well written, and very compelling book. Written by Mikal Gilmore, Gary's brother, it is the story of his family. It's a family full of rumors, hauntings, insinuations, abuse, mental illness, and yes, evil. But the evil in the story is not cut and dry. It is many layered evil, with some gooAd peeking through the edges. When you read this book, you are able to have empathy for Gary, yet in no way does it seek to excuse him. Gary was a product of a warped environment. Some people are able to rise above such circumstances and some aren't. We are all wired differently. All in all, it is an excellent read and I highly recommmend it. However, prepare to be haunted by it. A+

A Good and Happy Child

It's been forever! Okay, yes, I HAVE read things since my last post, but NO I did not feel like posting about them. Today's post is a literary thriller by Justin Evans called "A Good and Happy Child". Rob bought it and a couple of other books for me for Mother's Day and I give it a good solid A-. Certainly not a bad read, but not the best I've ever read either. It had tones of the Exorcist about it, though it wasn't specifically Catholic, like the Exorcist was. It's a book told through the memory of a now grown man who is having trouble bonding with his baby son, for fear of contaminating him with the dark spirits of his past. An interesting premise, but the majority of the entire book is in the past, events that took place when this man was around 11. He becomes convinced that demons are trying to take over his mind, and some of his late father's university friends believe it as well, though his mother and psychiatrist think the boy is simply suffering from mental illness. It was a spooky book, and it gave me the chills when I thought about it too long. It reminded me of a book I read about 6 or 7 years ago written by a priest who had performed several exorcisms and frankly, I had to stop reading it. In fact I had to get the book out of my house entirely, I couldn't put up with it touching anything I owned. Perhaps because I know A Good And Happy Child is fiction, I could enjoy it more, but still, it was very creepy. Anyone wants it, let me know. I'll send it to you.

A Whole Lot Lately

Okay, I have read a bunch of stuff since my last post but I've become rather lazy about posting. The most recent novel I finished is Digging To America, by Anne Tyler and I definitely give her an A. A nice solid, enjoyable book with good characters. Not going to go into great detail, but I recommend it. Another book both Rob and I both just read is The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls. It's a memoir about this woman's crazy childhood. I loved it! I highly recommend it. It's extremely compelling and very well written. Right now, I'm reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I actually started reading it a couple of years ago and stopped even though I liked it. So I'm reading it again so this time I can find out how the story ends. I'll post more soon. Reading some non fiction too.

Mother Teresa by Navin Chawla

I was completely and totally humbled and even shamed by this book. It was wonderful, yet it makes me so sad. Mother Teresa and her sisters of the Missionaries of Charity gave up absolutely everything so that they could be on an equal level with the poor, diseased and dying people they serve. They have no more material possessions than the clothes they are wearing and maybe a toothbrush. It makes me ashamed of how materialistic I can be, and I pride myself, on NOT being that materialistic. Their lives are about Christ and the people they serve, and that fills them up completely. All I can say is GOD BLESS THEM!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I guess this blog should really be called "What Kristin Has Read" since I wait until I finish something before I post about it. I was reading The Road before I read Harry Potter 7, but some things take precidence, and HP is one of them. Anyhow, since I finished Harry, I went back to the Road and finished it up as well. I liked it. It was an interesting story, about the relationship between a man and his son, after the world as we know it has ended and they are some of the last people on earth. I loved the innate goodness of the boy, whereas the man has become jaded and suspicious, yet the boy remains compassionate and hopeful. Their relationship is quite beautiful and pure and the man does the best he can to protect the boy from the harsh realities that surround them. It does end up happily, in a way, and overall, I was pleased. My only complaint would be that McCarthy doesn't really give you any background information about them, and you're never sure why all the other people died. Nuclear bomb? Plague? What gives?