I Learned Something About Myself

The Pouch of Douglas (be warned). I was watching Hannah Gadsby’s show, Douglas on Netflix. Now here we are. (The bit is at the end of the post.) Really, I think it's important. I learned about a part of my body that I didn't know existed. Also, it came during a part of Hannah Gadsby's show that had me feeling like, why had men named all the things? and, couldn't they come up with better names? If you have watched Douglas (and if you haven't, I recommend that you do), another part that made me laugh so hard and wonder so much, was that piece of fabric up a lady's bum in a renaissance painting. It was a choice. The artist chose to take the time to paint that!

What else did last week bring me? A re-watch of the last three episodes of Lucifer on Netflix. Because, why not?

My daughter is obsessed with Julie and the Phantoms. Have you seen it? It's cute. Great for teens and tweens, I think. The music is enjoyable and will have you singing along. It's a hidden gem. A song from episode 2 below.

I finished Maya Angelou's Complete Poetry. It's brilliant. If you haven't read her poems, I highly recommend them. Some are fun, others are heartbreaking. They're beautiful, lyrical, and take you on a journey.

With a vacancy in my reading list (not reall), I started Meg Cabot's Mediator series. The first book is Shadowland, featuring a teen protagonist who can see ghosts. She even punches one! It's also giving me some 90's feels. It was published in 2000, which means it was likely written a couple years before. The late 90's were some good years. Maybe that's one of things I like about Julie and the Phantoms. The Phantoms died in the 90's. I also just enjoy Meg Cabot's books.

I have been advised that should start a newsletter. What would I write in it? That I have a new blog post up? Bits from those posts? Link to books recs? Other bloggers? Could I include things from the WCYR? How long would it have to be? It's already giving me anxiety and I haven't even started anything yet. I'd need some kind of email signature/logo, which also has to be done.

The sky is darkening. Maybe it's time to stop thinking about things that make my tension level increase.

Doll Bones

Doll Bones is the first book I've read by Holly Black and I don't think it'll be the last. Doll Bones tells the story of three friends, Polly, Alice, and Zach, who are twelve and are growing up. The three friends have been playing together since they were little. Something happens which makes Zach think that he won't be able to play with Polly and Alice anymore. Life changes a lot at twelve and these three are no exception. Growing up, however, is not all they have to worry about. They're being haunted, by a creepy porcelain doll.

What is it about porcelain dolls that make them creepy?  Also, they're creepy, so why do people buy them?  How many possessed dolls have there been in horror movies and shows? But they keep getting bought. The cover of Doll Bones is the creepy doll. It is a great cover for a middle grade horror novel. It is the cover and the fact that I've been wanting to read something by Black (and the crazy sale price) that had me pick up Doll Bones and it was great.

Doll Bones was the perfect read for the car trips we took recently; I barely noticed the time pass by. I loved the three main characters. They each came from different home lives and they are each becoming adolescents in their own way. They are leaving childhood behind, but are also trying to hang on to it. Their quest was fantastic, scary and fun. I liked the end, the last line, but I'm still left wanting more. I want to know more about Polly, Zach, and Alice. I wish there was more at the ending. I want to know more about their families too. It might just be me though, I've been hard to please with endings lately. I'm happy I read Dolls Bones, it was a great October read.

Where There's Smoke, by Jodi Picoult

I've always been curious about author Jodi Picoult.  She's written some wildly popular books, at least one I can think was made into a movie.  Pic out has written so many books, where do I start?  I start where I have with other authors.  I read a short story.  Where There's Smoke is available for free from iBooks, Kindle and Kobo.  It's also available through Google Play and as a PDF directly from Jodi Picoult's website.  If I missed anything, information is available through her site.

Where There's Smoke features a main character from Picoult's upcoming novel Leaving Time. It's offered for free, I believe, as part of the promotion for Leaving Time. I've always thought that offering free short stories is a good way to get people interested in a novel. Am I interested in reading Leaving Time. Yes...ish. Serenity, the main character and narrator of Where There's Smoke, is an interesting character. I like how naturally she describes and uses her psychic abilities. I could read more of Serenity, I thought I might have gotten a bit more in the short story. The story had a "prologue" feel to it. Though, what I considered the secondary storyline, was resolved, the main plot was not. I assume it will be dealt with in the novel, but as a short story on its own, the conclusion was lacking. So, while I want to know what happens to Serenity, the short story could have been just a smidge better.  

1408, by Stephen King

I wasn't sure I was going to write about 1408 for this week's Short Story Monday.  I planned on writing about it when I wrote about the collection it is in, Everything's Eventual. (I'm almost done, just a couple more days.)  But then I thought, what if 1408 was published online somewhere? (I like my Short Story Monday posts to be available online so anyone interested can read them.  It isn't a necessity, just a preference.)  After all, I wrote about Herman Wouk Is Still Alive and it was published in The Atlantic.  Since 1408 is a popular story and was made into a movie, it seemed possible.  I came across this site which has the full text of 1408.  However, this is not a literary publication, as far as I can tell.  I also can't seem to access the main site, so it definitely seems questionable.  But I'm going to write about 1408 anyway (because it was awesome).

1408 is a fantastic story.  It is frightening and tense.  The imagery sticks inside your head. 1408 is yet another of King's stories that has been turned into a movie and I can see why.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but now I can't wait.  The fluidity of what is happening in that hotel room is appealingly scary.  Mike Enslin is so determined.  For what he writes about, he mind is closed when entering room 1408.  The time he spends in that room radically changes his mind.  Olin is a fantastic creepy innkeeper, though, he's really not creepy.  He seems genuinely concerned for Enslin.  Though I do question Olin's motives and past behaviour.  He sends maids into that room to give it a "light turn", even though he knows the dangers.  I understand in the beginning maybe doing that, but after seeing the repercussions, why would he continue to send people into that room?  Why not do the cleaning himself?  Why does he seem not to have any health issues?  I didn't really think about Olin in this light until much after I finished the story.

I'm considering re-reading 1408 around Halloween. I should have, perhaps, read this entire collection at Halloween.  It's a fantastic group of work and I will have more to say on that soon.

Short Story Monday is hosted by John at The Book Mine Set.

Two Doctors, By M.R. James

Did Dr. Abell wish ill on Dr. Quinn? Perhaps. Quinn not only gained the desired services of Abell’s former servant Jennett, but was also taking his patients. Quinn wasn’t doing it on purpose; they all just wanted to come to him. There was something about Abell that put these people ill at ease, including their rector. The narrator is asking for help. He (presumably a he, given the era in which this story was written) has found a collection of papers in an old ledger he acquired. He is asking the reader if they also think there was some supernatural work at play.

Apparently, this is part of M.R. James’ style; he was the creator of the “antiquarian ghost story”. He used more realistic settings and stayed away from the Gothic. He wrote during the early twentieth century and his ghost stories are thought to be some of the best in English Literature. If this is the case, I wonder which or whether any current horror writers have read him.

I’m not sure what I thought of the story itself. Two Doctors was definitely interesting. Did I enjoy it? I don’t know. Maybe I’m too tired these days to be reading something written in such a dense style. Initially I was confused. The story is only eight of the pages in my Oxford Book of English Short Stories, but I found that I kept having to go back and re-read a paragraph or two that I just finished, so I would know what was going on. I didn’t dislike the story. It just left me feeling ambivalent towards it. I think it’s one of those stories I’m likely to forget in a few weeks.

You can read the story here or here.

Thanks to John Mutford at The Book Mine Set for hosting Short Story Monday.