I enjoyed this series. I particularly liked that it didn‘t end with a happy ending that tied everything up to give a warm fuzzy as you closed the book. Many characters made real sacrifices, often with unhappy consequences. While it‘s a fantasy series, the ending felt true to the characters and ‘real‘ for the story to me. Clearly Hank the Book Sniffer gave up and went to sleep without me. 🤣📚💕

Well. 😐 That was infuriating. I spent a significant portion of this book wanting to punch one character or another in the face. But, of course, it was a page turner that I could barely put down. I will be interested to see how the Netflix series turns out. Not a glowing review, I know. 😂 However, I am still glad I read this.

Mr Gaiman posted this over in FB land. It‘s from a couple of years ago but it‘s still a fun listen to him read The Raven.

https://youtu.be/2jSHKPp-66w

Happy Halloween, y‘all! 🎃 👻 🧛‍♂️

#teamstoker #scarathon

So odd to read about my home town in history books. Due to Churchill giving his Sinews of Peace speech (better known the Iron Curtain address) in Fulton in 1946, we have a Christopher Wren church and a segment of the Berlin Wall at what is now the National Churchill Museum. It‘s kinda nifty. Here‘s the link to the museum if you‘d like to see pictures and such: https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/

I took a book to lunch today. It‘s been a while since I‘ve gotten to do this. Started my first Harlan Coben whilst eating yummy Peruvian food, which is less reckless comfort food. 😂

This was one of the freebies from Audible this month. I had never heard of this story, somehow inexplicably. It‘s an excellent little vampire tale. And it was published in 1872, so it predates Dracula by 25 years or so. The cast is wonderful. Of course, they had me Tennant. Now I must find the tale to read as well. 😊🧛‍♀️ 📚🖤

#teamstoker #scararthon

Unpopular opinion: this one was just so-so for me. Almost a pick, but I figured it out early on and felt like some of the characters were more obvious misdirection than perhaps the author meant. I pretty much trudged through it just to see if I was right. Quick page turner. Maybe don‘t listen to me because everyone else loves this one! 😂 I would give this author another go, though, as I was *this close* to liking it.

#scarathon #teamstoker

This is a picture of Harry S Truman around the age of 19 or 20. It is from David McCullough‘s amazing biography Truman. When young, President Truman looked an awful lot like a turn of the century Harry Potter. 😊 Interestingly, at this time he worked at a bank for William Thornton Kemper - who is the great-great-grandad of actor Ellie Kemper, of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame.

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge prompt is #gory . Well, this book certainly fits. This book is about a renowned Edinburgh surgeon, Joseph Lister, who pioneered antiseptic techniques. He was the first to say, “umm, guys, what if we wash our hands BEFORE surgery and not just after?” Seriously though, Victorian surgery was brutal. As a microbiology major, Lister is a hero of mine. Naming Listerine for him isn‘t enough to honor him. #teamstoker

Another excellent day at the Friends of the Library sale! Added Madame Bovary, Moll Flanders, and The Bostonians to my Modern Library collection. Plus books on Garfield and JQ Adams. Also finally going to give Harlan Coben a go after just about everyone has recommended him. But my fave is this little 1907 edition of Washington Irving‘s Sketchbook (edited by H.A. Davidson). I‘ll be reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow again tonight🎃🖤
#teamstoker

I wanted to share a great resource I got over at the Plodding Through the Presidents page in Facebook land with y‘all. This link is to a blog that has biographies of all the presidents. I am trying to read a biography on every president and this resource is pretty awesome if you are into that sort of thing. Screen shot of the blog homepage so you can see if you may be interested.

https://bestpresidentialbios.com/curriculum/

I started a new book tonight. Poor Hank the Book Sniffer has been a bit under the weather the last couple of days. Wee boy seems to have a bit of a cold with a cough, so he gets to snuggle as long as he likes. 🙁 #Hankthebulldog

This is an extraordinary book. It‘s beautiful. And heart breaking. And full of hope. And anger. And love. I‘m not gonna lie - I ugly cried more than once reading this gorgeous book. It does a remarkable job of navigating highly emotional grey areas surrounding some tough themes: loss of culture due to change, the influence of superstition on the lives of ethnic minorities, and the consequences of international adoption just to name a few.

Heads up, Gaiman fans!!!

Here‘s the link where you can vote for your fave Gaiman story through Halloween: 🎃 👻 🧛‍♂️🦇

https://www.gaimanfavorites.com/

#teamstoker #scarathon

This book was a complete surprise for me. It wasn‘t at all what I was expecting. And I really loved it! Wonderfully complicated characters - sometimes I loved and admired them, sometimes I thought they were just terrible. This was the first book I‘ve read by this author. I will definitely be finding more of her work.

#teamstoker #scarathon

Rearranged some shelves to make room for yesterday‘s $10 book haul from the Friends shop. I decided to keep my seasonal reads out. #Poe #Shelley #Stevenson #Stoker #Wilde

#teamstoker #scarathon

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge promot is #thenumber13 . The tagged book is another by Robert Girardi. I really enjoy his work. It‘s often spooky and you aren‘t always sure whether all the characters are alive or even real for that matter.

#teamstoker #scarathon

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge prompt is #graveyard . Immediately I thought of this book. To me, London‘s Highgate Cemetery is as much a character as a setting in this book. Thinking of it again today, I may need to read this again.

#teamstoker #scarathon

Volunteering at our friends of the library shop this morning. Found some great stuff! I‘m particularly jazzed about the tagged book. My grandfather fought in the Battle of the Bulge and the copy of this book I snagged is the original 1959 edition.📚💕

Every Friday night in October TCM is running classic monster movies. Tonight‘s is Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, a Japanese Godzilla movie from 1965. It‘s so terrible in its subtitled, puppety glory that it‘s awesome. 😂🤣

#teamstoker #scarathon

“Once there was a Postman who fell in love with a raven.” So begins the delightfully odd story by Audrey Niffenegger, which she illustrates as well. If you like offbeat stories, you may well enjoy this one.

This book fits the #chillingphotochallenge prompt #raven.

#teamstoker #scarathon

Our little local library is getting new flooring so they asked us to checkout our limit to help clear the shelves. I took a bunch of big ol‘ cookbooks to help out. I was looking forward to going through some tonight for inspiration. Hank the Book Sniffer is sad puppo missing Daddy, who is away this week. I guess he‘s a book snuggler tonight. ☺️ #hankthebulldog

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge prompt is #ghostly. I love this collection of ghost stories put together and illustrated by Audrey Niffenegger. There are a variety of authors - from classic to modern - represented, which is nice. It introduced me to some authors I‘d not heard of which I always appreciate.

#teamstoker #scarathon

Life lessons from the journal of Dr Seward 😂🧛‍♂️🦇

#draculabuddyread #teamstoker #scarathon

Finished this one up while doing chores this morning. While not in the theme for #scarathon, I wanted to get it returned for those waiting in line for it. Man, I‘d forgotten what an emotional little ride this book was.😢

I highly recommend this production. It is done by the BBC with a large and talented cast that reminds me of their fine radio drama productions.

#teamstoker

Just finished this lovely monstrosity over night while I was sleepless with some viral crud. Fun second book of the series!

Without giving to much of the fun away, I will say this: there are #vampires 😊🖤 So not only is it a book in the #scarathon theme finished for #teamstoker , but it also fits the #chillingphotochallenge 🦇 🧛‍♂️

✅ Creepy old manor falling into decrepitude
✅ Elderly housekeeper with a sinister demeanor
✅ Family secrets no one wants to talk about
✅ Murder? Accident? Who to trust? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fun little spooky page turner. #teamstoker #scarathon

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge prompt is #horror. I immediately thought of the story Click-Clack the Rattle Bag in the tagged collection. Of course, Hank the Book Sniffer had to check out it‘s sniffiness while was taking the picture. 😂🐶

Here is a link to the delightful Mr Gaiman reading his creeptastic story at the NYPL: https://youtu.be/imLja6Emezo

#scarathon #teamstoker #hankthebulldog

Kickin‘ it 1979 old school horror tonight with the lovely and talented Carol Kane. When a Stranger Calls scared the peewodden outta me when I was young babysitter. 🤣

#scarathon #teamstoker

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge is #blackcat . This book is an adorable preschool Halloween book. If you have any littles in your lives you may want to check this one out.

#scarathon #teamstoker

Today‘s prompt for the #chillingphotochallenge is #coffin . I immediately thought of this book, which is one of my favorites from this year‘s reading. There are lots of coffins in this book. They just call them sick beds. 🤣 ⚰️

#scarathon #teamstoker

I bought this adorable little board book for the one year old son of a dear friend. It is lovely and bright! So stinkin‘ cute!

#teamstoker Not a book in theme, but a book nonetheless.

I know this won‘t count for #scarathon because this is TV and not a movie, but I still wanted to share with my team. AHS: 1984 is good, old fashioned 80‘s slasher horror fun. The last couple seasons were a little off, but this season is back old school. 🔪 #teamstoker

Today‘s prompt for the #chillingphotochallenge is #spell . I love this book. Everyone knows Sleeping Beauty . . . Under a sleeping spell . . . Prince Somebody . . . blah, blah, blah. But this one? This one is different. In a lovely, super Gaiman-y way with Chris Riddell‘s resplendent art. #scarathon #teamstoker Also, those crazy flowers are growing spontaneously in my sidewalk because Hank the Book Sniffer has not peed on them, miraculously. 😂

First #scarathon book finished today! It wasn‘t scary, but with characters carrying names like Jekyll, Rappaccini, Frankenstein, Hyde, Moreau . . . I certainly think it fits. This was a super fun romp and I immediately started book 2 and book 3 arrived yesterday. If you are a purist, this may not be for you. If you are good with reimaginings, you may really enjoy it! #teamstoker

I love this book. I need to read it again. It had been a few years since I‘d read regularly and went looking for a book to get me back into reading. The clerk at the bookstore recommended this, bless him. It got me hooked on books again. And it was the first book I thought of when I saw #haunted prompt for the #chillingphotochallenge . #scarathon #teamstoker

Super excellent book mail today! Just in time for the #DraculaBuddyRead with #TeamStoker for #Scarathon

Finding groovy used books is my favorite! 🖤

Sir Snaggletooth (aka Hank the Book Sniffer) and I are starting a new book tonight, he with his new chew rope and me with my wee dram of Jameson. It‘s been a day. Night, y‘all! #hankthebulldog 📚💕🥃🐶

Hank the Book Sniffer informs me that it‘s time settle in and read for the night. Night, y‘all! #HankTheBulldog

In honor of #BannedBookWeek . . . In 1998 I was new mom and kept hearing about challenges to this new book that promoted witchcraft. I thought I should check it out even if they were kids books, because . . . I was a new mom and needed to start reading more kids stuff. I bought the first one and read it. And I fell in love. 💕As soon as my baby girl was old enough we started reading them to her. She grew up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 👇🏻

AAAS science blog shared reviews of three books books on our insect neighbors, including the tagged book. The blog is from July, but I‘ve not seen these before. They look wonderful! Sharing the link for those interested:

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2019/07/23/small-wonders/

Finished this one up today. Ooooofff. While not a comfortable read in places by any means, it was certainly a valuable read. It‘s not possible to condense my thoughts for the limited space here, so I will simply say that I think any American that cares about the integrity of our country should read this book. The more we sweep the folly of our past under the rug, the more damage we do to our future.

Reading this series again in preparation for the show coming out this fall. I‘d forgotten how good this one is!

I really enjoyed this book. It‘s the first Laura Lippman book I‘ve ever read. I will definitely be checking out her other work. I particularly loved the tenacity of the women in the book. I‘d seen criticism that the book swapped perspective to too many characters too often and it was confusing. I found that engaging and that was one of my favorite things about this book. If you want a good page-turner that sucks you in, maybe give this a go.

“No wonder men didn‘t want women to wear bloomers! . . . . If they had pockets! With pockets women could conquer the world!”🤣

For so much of history women have been hampered by clothing. Power over women in the name of fashion. I just loved this middle paragraph.

Audio gardening today. (I had a terrible mess going on - ‘before‘ is in the bottom.) Thank you, @mariaku21 , for recommending the production of Othello with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ewan McGregor, and Kelly Reilly on Audible. It is exquisite! And it made my task easier to accomplish. 🌱 📚 🎧

Excellent book if you are a Rushdie fan. I‘d read some criticism that it was weird that he had written it in the third person. I found this to be not at all distracting and felt it was rather perfect given the meaning behind the title of the book. I also thought it allowed him to take the piss out of himself a little easier in places, which is welcome. He has quite an ego and would be insufferable were it not for his honesty about it. Great read!

It‘s here!!!!!! I‘ve been waiting for this since 1994 💕

This interview was bonkers! The author of the tagged book about Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA‘s experiments into mind control was on today‘s Fresh Air. It was simultaneously fascinating and absolutely sickening.

Here‘s the link is you‘d like to listen: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/759054577/the-cias-secret-search-for-mind-control

This book is now a must-read for me. Ooooof.

I finished this gem yesterday. Outstanding book. It covers Lincoln‘s decision to go forward with the Emancipation Proclamation, Teddy Roosevelt‘s intervention in the coal strike of 1902, FDR‘s immediate attack of the Great Depression upon taking office, and LBJ‘s obsession to pass civil rights legislation in the wake of Kennedy‘s assassination. It also touches on the childhoods and deaths of these men. History nerds, this one‘s for you! 📚💕