"'I am unflappable,' Laurence told the bus driver. Who shrugged, as if he'd thought so too, once upon a time, until someone had flapped him."

Ramen doesn't know the danger that lies within. He has the bravery of youth. Later in life, he'll be drawn back to the book inexplicably because of a promise he made as a puppy.

Maybe that's why God made us kids first and built us close to the ground, because He knows you got to fall down and bleed a lot before you learn that one simple lesson. You pay for what you get, you own what you pay for . . . and sooner or later whatever you own comes back home to you.

It's rare in the horror genre for an idea that feels truly original to come along, and in Bird Box, Josh Malerman has provided such an idea. As with anything original, there are a few logical leaps and flaws here or there, but it is Malerman's strong, fully realized lead character Malorie, and those he surrounds her with, that make this novel unforgettable and unputdownable. Highly recommended for a fast-paced, truly unsettling read.

The creatures of her mind walk horizonless, open fields. They stand outside the windows of former homes and gaze curiously at the glass. They study. They examine. They observe. They do the one thing Malorie isn't allowed to do. They look.

I closed my eyes and saw pages flying off a calendar - the kind of corny transition they used in old movies. I saw them flying out my bedroom window like birds.

"And really, was there any adequate way to prepare someone for a trip back in time?"

I started this book with the idea that it would be a quick read, something to kill a bit of time, a Twin Peaks-esque thriller that inevitably fails to capture the enduring strangeness of that series. I was very wrong on all counts except the quick part: this twisty, turny thriller grabbed me from the beginning and would not let go for it's mere 300 pages. It starts like Twin Peaks but is not content to stay there. It is its own compelling beast.

I wasn't sure about this one at first, it felt kind of like a throwaway summer read that I would forget pretty quickly. Crouch's simple prose is deceptive, his action quick and blunt. But man, this thing sucks you in. Now I have to know what Wayward Pines is, and if then next two books stay this compelling, I'm in for the trilogy. If you give this book a shot, I think you will be too.

Paul Tremblay, in this riveting, sad, honest take on the hard-boiled detective story Hammett and Chandler created, manages to do something bold and unexpected. Mark Genevich, his flawed narcoleptic hero, must pull the truth out of the murk where his own questionable consciousness and memory are the real labyrinth he must traverse to solve the mystery. I highly recommend this slim private eye novel and can't wait to read the sequel.

"Well, that is one of the three foundations of learning: see much, study much, suffer much."

"And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere 'modernity' cannot kill."

"And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere 'modernity' cannot kill.

@Litsy #Litsy #AllHallowsRead in for some late nights...

A better book than this I haven't read in a long, long time. Mr. Adams has crafted a true classic, a tale (or "tail") which weaves together a quest story, a story of true friendship, world building of the highest quality, heck, even a bit of spy novel. And it all works so well. It just happens to be about rabbits. I truly cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you haven't met Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, General Woundwort and the rest, you must.

"Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it. For them there is no winter food problem. They have fires and warm clothes. The winter cannot hurt them and therefore increases their sense of cleverness and security. For birds and animals, as for poor men, winter is another matter." This one's for you, Old Man Winter.

"He understood terrible purposes. They drove against all odds. They were their own necessity. Paul felt that he had been infected with terrible purpose. He did not know yet what the terrible purpose was."

"Even the sound of digging, clearer already, only set him thinking of the best way to sell his life as dearly as he could. But what else was there for any of them to do? At least Bigwig's preparations would keep the others busy and perhaps do something to dispel the silent fear that filled all the warren." Bigwig: friend, fighter, sleeper agent, rabbit, hero.

"Although there were no enemy or other danger to be perceived, they felt the apprehension and doubt of those who come unawares upon some awe-inspiring place where they themselves are paltry fellows of no account....There is nothing that cuts you down to size like coming to some strange and marvelous place where no one even stops to notice that you stare about you."

For whatever reason, this series continues to be underrated and lesser-known. This is some of the best YA writing (or sci-fi writing in general) that I've read in a long time. It just keeps getting better page by page. Read this. Because of the writing and because of its brilliant originality and "cuz it ain't a Spackle."

Do you read books? Have you ever been reading Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones or Dune or been watching Star Wars and thought to yourself, "Man, this is great. But it's missing something. If only all the characters were RABBITS!" Well now you can! "Watership Down!" Read it, you embleer lendri!

"A foraging wild creature, intent above all upon survival, is as strong as the grass."
Nobody does poetic/factual like Mr. Adams.

Our stories haven't changed in generations, you know. After all, we haven't changed ourselves. Our lives have been the same as our fathers' and their fathers' before them. Things are different here. We realize that...We're all wondering what kind of things you tell stories about.

Just finally got around to reading Watership Down. This has been a long time coming...only 84 pages in and Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig and the rest already feel like old friends.

"Discreet and mopping up piss generally aren't partners, but I give it my best shot."

Hill has done it again. A family saga inside a horror story inside a deep character study. His protagonist is a strong, flawed, fully realized woman, the perfect balance against his frighteningly three-dimensional villain, a modern vampire who snatches children into his mind. A massive triumph (ha!)

Sleep is heavy. It has mass. Sometimes it has supreme mass. Sleep is a singularity. There's no moving or denying or escaping. Sometimes sleep is light too. I've been able to walk under its weight.

Eight years ago I got my private detective's license and narcolepsy. I now live alone with both.

New read: Paul Tremblay's "The Little Sleep," the story of a hapless narcoleptic detective (narcol-ective? Det-arcoleptic?) that is heartbreaking and hilarious at the same time. Loving it so far. Already glad there's a sequel.

The difference between childhood and adulthood, Vic had come to believe, was the difference between imagination and resignation. You traded one for the other and lost your way.

"I believed you the first time you told me about it."
Lou Carmody, you amazing human being. You give me hope for mankind.

Well, on the downside I left the book I'm reading at home today...on the upside I always carry a spare McCarthy in case of emergencies. Break glass for beautiful, harsh, scathing examinations of the human spirit.

Was there any human urge more pitiful-or more intense-than wanting another chance at something?

Killing time with some Christmas in April. Sad return for Maggie Leigh :( hope she doesn't have a bad end...but it's Joe Hill so...