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Book Review – Gilchrist

Gilchrist by Christian Galacar

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Paranormal Horror, Extreme Horror

“I know why we’re all here,” Elhouse said, his lower lip trembling, eyes unblinking. “It’s worse than you can imagine.”

“Death is a big and ugly thing. It’s clumsy and loud, yet somehow it manages to be so damn clever and sneaky. It just doesn’t seem fair.”

Peter and Sylvia lost their little boy 2 years ago in a horrible accident. As a lot of couples do when a child is lost, they have grown apart in their grief. Drawn to drinking and pills to numb the pain and memories, they both know that their marriage is on it’s last threads.
“Sometimes things weren’t fine. Sometimes the broken thing stayed broken until it was thrown away.”
“Death had hardened the soil of their hearts, and now no new love could grow.”

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Book Review – Another Time

Another Time by Joseph Hullett

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Realistic Fiction

“Are we captains of our souls? Absolutely. But masters of our fate is stretching it. The harbor we reach is sometimes a long haul from the course we plotted, because storms, and doldrums, and monsters intervene. Ask Odysseus.”

Marlow is an old Vietnam vet, the VA hospital where he was treated after the war has just been torn down and Marlow has travelled 4 hours to see it. Now he is drinking in a bar, telling the young bartender all his memories and stories he was told as a bartender himself before he makes the bus ride home.

“Turns out, that talking-ass, other-timer had my number. I’ve remembered his stories for thirty years now.”

“Me remembering thirty years later that old madman remembering people from his own way-back-when feels full-on weird. I see myself seeing him see them, and it’s like I’m looking in a mirror reflecting a mirror.”

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Book 22: Michigan

Goodreads: “I’m not an old-timer. I’m an other-timer,” declares a Vietnam-scarred vet who had found safe harbor after the war as a barkeep in a small northern Michigan town. Now plopped stool-side far from home – having traveled all day on a bus to witness a landmark moment – his outpouring of memories prompts a young bartender to complain, “What’s it to me? I wasn’t even born then.” Thirty years later, however, remembering the old vet recalling people from his past, the younger man sees himself see him see them, and realizes that all our way-back-when times are just a mirror reflecting a mirror, a fading column of reflected reflections … of stories. The old vet had been right when he claimed that, for a bartender, remembering is an occupational hazard. Was it also true that memories can be a way to forget.

I just started this book yesterday, made it 1/3 of the way and spent several hours saying out loud “WTF did I just read”. I wasn’t sure if maybe I was just having an off day so I had my hubby read a page and let me know if I am just struggling with a case of the dumb but when he responded with a WTF of his own, I had my answer. Thankfully this book is short or otherwise I am not so sure I would be able to get through it.

32/100 Books to Read in a Lifetime

On my list of 100 Books to read in your lifetime, I just finished the audio book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck narrated by Gary Sinise. Oh what a heart jerker for sure. It is a quick story just under 4 hours of listening time.

I have started using the Libby app to listen to audio books and I LOVE it! It is by far the easiest and cheapest way to listen. All you need is a Library card!

July Recap

4 Books
2,182 pages
Average Rating 4.25

What Doesn’t Kill You 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Bayou Myth 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Digital Fortress 🌟🌟🌟🌟
IT 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I finally got out of my 2 book slump! Whew! July was a crazy month for me so I am very proud that I completed these 4. I am so ready for life to resemble some kind of normalcy. I need a vacation so bad it’s not even funny anymore. Our planned trip this year has been cancelled and rescheduled 3x so far. Which I completely understand, and I want to be safe, but it is just torturous. You get your hopes up and then… Just kidding! Now we are looking at November.
I am 7 books behind schedule on my year goal 😫 however 2020 is not like a normal year that’s for sure. I certainly don’t want to rely on my vacation to catch up, just in case, so we might need to schedule a little weekend getaway to unplug and relax.

L is for ….

L is for …. Lily

🐢 Lily, the beautiful Brazilian Cherry Head Redfoot Tortoise is enjoying her photo shoot with a yummy piece of Lettuce, straight from the garden.

I had no idea I had this many L books! I see that “Last” and “Love” are extremely popular title starters.

Lord of the Flies is a classic for a reason! Such an unfiltered glimpse into the human psyche when left to its own devises. I read this book for the first time in school and just reread it again 2 years ago. If you havent read it since school either, I highly suggest you add it to your TBRR – To Be ReRead pile.

👠 Lust Killer – One of my favorite Ann Rule books! It might be weird calling a book on a serial killer a favorite but not for me. I am a true crime fanatic and it fills the majority of my life. I am drawn to Ann Rule’s cases from the Pacific Northwest because it’s my home. Well technically, I live in the Inland Northwest but we all like to consider it the PNW. Anyway, this is one that true crime fans should check out, Jerry Brudos was one twisted psychopath.

The Life of David Gale, this was an incredible book and the movie is pretty much word for word so you can choose either option. College Professor David Gale is an advocate for the abolishment for the death penalty. He is found guilty of the rape and murder of his best friend but has always stood by his claim of innocence. A week before his execution date he agrees to do a series of interviews with journalist Bitsy Bloom.

Book 21: Massachusetts

“Bag of Bones meets Stranger Things…”

Ooh, I love both of those…color me interested! Everything about this book sounds good and scary.

I received this book back in 2018 as a Goodreads Giveaway and I am finally able to get to it. This year I have been focusing on gifted books as priority so that I can finally read and review those that have been sitting on my shelf for far too long. A big thanks to Christian Galacar for this gifted copy!

“Two years after losing their infant son to a tragic accident, Peter Martell, a novelist with a peculiar knack for finding lost things, and his wife, Sylvia, are devastated to learn they may no longer be able to have children. In need of a fresh start, and compelled by strange dreams, the couple decide to rent a lake house in the idyllic town of Gilchrist, Massachusetts, a place where bad things might just happen for a reason. As bizarre events begin to unfold around them—a chance encounter with a gifted six-year-old boy, a series of violent deaths, and repeated sightings of a strange creature with a terrifying nature—Peter and Sylvia find themselves drawn into the chaos and soon discover that coming to Gilchrist may not have been their decision at all.”

“Set against a small New England town in the summer of 1966, Gilchrist is a sinister tale about the haunting origins of violence, evil, and the undying power of memory.”

Book 20: Maryland

I love that Dan Brown has brillant woman cryptographers as his characters! It’s so awesome to see a male author put women in powerful positions that are male dominate roles. Cyber books always bring out the geek in me.

“When the NSA’s invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage … not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it would cripple U.S. intelligence. Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Susan Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but also for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.”

Book Review – Bayou Myth

Bayou Myth by Mary Ann Loesch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Young Adult, Paranormal Romantic Thriller

“You can’t be no great priestess if you are always walking on the safe side of the path. Take risks even if that might mean fighting against normal.”

16 year old Joan Renault is the great granddaughter of the legendary voodoo priestess Marie Laveau, whose magical gifts have been past down to Joan. Teased her whole life by the other kids and called “hoodoo hag”, she just wishes she was normal but what comes to her little town is anything but normal and she must rely on all her training in order to put a stop to the evil.

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Book 19: Maine

We all know this story and I am so excited to FINALLY read it. It is has been sitting on my bookshelf for YEARS and I am a asshamed to admit that I have been avoiding it due to the size, 1089 pages. 😳 I knew that this would take a long time to read and did not want to derail my reading goal so I always put it off, well not any longer. I got the brillant idea to listen to it on audio instead. It’s still gonna take me some time with 45 hours of listening to do but at least I can multi task while doing it.

“They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they were grown-up men and women who had gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them could withstand the force that drew them back to Derry, Maine to face the nightmare without an end and the evil without a name…”