In a blump (book-slump)

I got some good reading in early this year, but have recently hit a blump.  I'm 50% through GoT.2 and bout 85% through Lady Chatterley's Lover, so I've been reading, but it's just slowed to a crawl.  I am aiming to finish LCL his weekend and GoT.2 by month end.  Not sure what I'm going to delve into next, which is weird, b/c normally I have a new book lined up to go.  Hopefully I'll get back into the book of things.  Le sigh.

June, the month of the Book...

I may have booked off more than I can bhew (book chew) this month. I'm currently reading 20 Years After, & Lady Chatterley's Lover, and starting GoT.2 today (as a read along with my Sexxy friend Mimi), and then starting Pillars.2 on June 11th (as a read along with my Sexxy friends Mel & Sonia). Lots of baction (book action)! Stay Booked! Happy Reading!
                             

 

There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife...

So begins Neil Gaiman's masterfully written, The Graveyard Book

    And with those words the reader is thrust into a unique world and adventure.  One can automatically infer that from just that opening sentence, they are about to embark on a bourney (book journey) of intrigue, excitement, and danger.  I am a huge Gaiman fan and this is the 5th book by him that I've read.  Neverwhere, American Gods, Smoke & Mirrors, and Stardust being the previous four respectively.  He is now the 2nd most author I've read, Stephen King being the 1st.  Gaiman has a way of weaving a beautiful story full of imagination beyond comprehension.  He doesn't fall into the formulaic plot that most author's of this genre do.  He creates new creatures as well as reimagining old ones.  He spins a story so enthralling the reader can't help but become immersed in it.  I have not been disappointed with any of the books I've read by him, though there were a few stories in Smoke & Mirrors that were just OK, but overall the book was great.

TGB Synopsis: "In this ingenious and captivating reimagining of Rudyrad Kipling's classic adventure The Jungle Book, Neil Gaiman tells the unforgettable story of Nobody Owens, a living, breathing boy whose home is a graveyard, raised by a guardian who belongs neither to the mortal world nor the realm of the dead.  Among the mausoleums and headstones of his home, Bod experiences things most mortals can barely imagine.  But real, flesh-and-blood danger waits just outside the cemetery walls: the man who murdered the infant Bod's family will not rest until he finds Nobody Owens and finishes the job he began years ago."

***THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS***

    Having never read The Jungle Book I cannot speak to how it compared, though I do fully intend on reading Kipling's classic this year.  I can say that I thought this book was fantastic!  It was full of Gaiman's wit and creativity.  He writes with compassion and it shows in the characters he's created.  You can empathize with each character, be it love, hate, anger, sadness, joy, or astonishment.  I found myself gasping at times when imminent danger was lurking around the next page, I laughed at the moments of awkwardness between Bod and the "living", I felt compassion from the tender moments between Bod and his "ghost parents" and his living/not living guardian Silas.  I was angered and frustrated at the cruelty of the school bully's and greedy shopkeeper, and the villainous murderers.  I felt triumph with Bod's defeat of his enemies.  I felt a deep sadness when he had to say good-bye to the only living friend and girl he liked, Scarlet, and even more sadness when it was time for Bod to say good-bye to the only world and "people" he knew, the ghosts of the graveyard, his "parents" and  Silas.  I felt joy and inspiration when Bod forged forward leaving all he knew behind, with hope and determination in his heart.  I felt excitement at the endless possibilities and adventures Bod would embark on.  This was a story of "love, loss, survival, and sacrifice...and what it means to truly be alive".  I felt all those emotions and more.  As I neared the end of the book, I kept looking down at the page number, in hopes I wouldn't be close to finishing.  I hungered for more, to read more and was impatient to see how the story unfolded, but I was also reticent to continue because it meant the bourney would be over.  Such is the dilemma for the avid reader and a truly remarkable book.  It is a cycle we must endure, a torture we inflict on ourselves with both great pain and pleasure, and always a cycle we are too eager to repeat.

    I loved this book and highly rec it.  It gets my highest rating XXX.  I will leave this post with one of the best closing paragraphs I've read:

    "There was a passport in his bag, money in his pocket.  There was a smile dancing on his lips, although it was a wary smile, for the world is a bigger place than a little graveyard on a hill; and there would be dangers in it and mysteries, new friends ot make, old friends to rediscover, mistakes to be made and many paths to be walked before he would, finally, return to the graveyard or ride with the Lady on the broad back of her great grey stallion.
 But between now and then, there was Life; and Bod walked into it with his eyes and his heart wide open."

Stay Booked! Happy Reading!

GoT.2: Clash of Kings

Very excited to be starting GoT.2: Clash of Kings on June 1st as a read along with my sexxy friend Mimi!  We did a read along for GoT.1: A Game of Thrones, and it was great!  Both the book and the read along :)  

My 1st time... reading an ebook. What were you thinking, perv!

Sooo I started reading my 1st ebook the other night.  I had pretty bad insomnia and didn't feel like turning on the light and reading The Prestige, so I remembered I had downloaded The Man in the Iron Mask from the Freebooks app on my iphone.  

 

 I am huge fan of Dumas, his books of art are brilliant (I've read Monte Cristo & 3 Musketeers).  As I was reading the preface I found out that there was a series called the D'Artagnan Romances.  Iron Mask was like book 5 in the series, 3 Musketeers being #1.  I immediately downloaded parts 2, 3, & 4; Twenty Years After, The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later, & Louise de la Valliere respectively.   

So I was bit excited to start reading Twenty Years After, even though it was an ebook and on my phone.  I can honestly say, it wasn't that bad.  I understand the convenience & ease of the ereader, and I will def invest in an ipad one day.  As most of you all know I have mocked ereaders, quite brilliantly really, from day 1 and I stand by the mocking, but I concede that I really don't mind reading on them.  Having said that, they are still a very poor substitution for the real thing.  I'm a die hard bookie and nothing can replace the feel and smell and enjoyment of buying and reading a real live book.  N-O-T-H-I-N-G.  But this sexxy reader can admit when he is wrong about something, this isn't one of those times, as I am never wrong, but one day when I am, I'll admit it.  I will continue to mock ereaders, mainly b/c it's fun and makes me happy, but I will def be reading books on an ereader, eventually, one day, maybe...  Stay REAL Booked! Happy Reading Real Books! :)

Marvel's The Avengers: A JaSexxy Review

          Avengers assemble!  Damn right bizziches.

It sucked donkey dangle!
No, I kid. :)
IT.FUGGING.ROCKED!
It was an awesome mix of smart scripting, fleshed out characters that were superbly acted by the most unlikely cast ensemble, witty humour, kick ass action, and excellent f/x.  It really had it all.  And I'm not a Marvel comics fan, well not much of one, I'm more a DC nerd.  But I fully admit Marvel has done a much better job marketing and transitioning their universe onto celluloid.  This is the 1st true blockbuster of the summer and it wasn't a mindless action blockbuster either.  Not that there's anything wrong with the mindless action flicks, I love them too.  I'm actually gigged out about The Expendables 2.  The Avengers just surprised as a more in-depth action flick.  It not only lived up to the hype, it surpassed it.  Of course Stan Lee makes an appearance which is always cool, but the appearances of Powers Boothe, Paul Bettany (the voice of Jarvis), Harry Dean Stanton (father from Pretty in Pink, nutter compound leader in Big Love), James Eckhouse (father from 90210), Lou Ferrigno (voice of The Hulk), added another level of cool. 
I highly rec this movie and def advise you to see it in the theatre for the full effect and don't leave until after the initial ending credits (there's a delish treat for those that stay).   Marvel's The Avengers gets my highest rating XXX.  Stay Entertained! Happy Viewing!

The Raven (the movie): The Jasexxy Review

The Raven: The JaSexxy Review
***THERE WILL BE SPOILERS***
I liked it.  Yes it was formulaic and mediocre, I will not deny that, not one bit.  But it was also enjoyable.  I thought Cusack's performance was really good and only limited by the script itself.  I guessed the villain well before it was obvious for even the most unawares viewer.  These are my negatives of the film.  Now allow me to highlight the positives.
John Cusack did a great job, as did Luke Evans and the rest of the supporting cast.  The plot, as I've already stated, was formulaic, but what gave it a boost, was the incorporation of Poe's stories.  And not all his most known stories either, which I found quite refreshing.  They didn't use those most popular stories as the crutch of the whole movie.  Yes they did use those to lean on, but it wasn't just The Telltale Heart nor The Raven, nor The Pit and the Pendulum, nor The Masque of the Red Death.  No, it had also incorporated The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Mystery of Marie Roget.  Now some of you may scoff and say, "I've heard of the Rue Morgue Jason!"  Indeed I am sure you have.  But how many of you can tell me who the murderer is in that particular story without looking it up?  I'd be impressed with those that can, and that's not condescending, I truly would be b/c the murderer is so far from the obvious, (it was an Ourang-Outang).  No, that is not a joke, read the story.  The Mystery of Marie Roget, was a nice touch (which by-the-by is a sequel, or continuation, however you choose to perceive it, to Rue Morgue).  I was however hoping that when Poe's house was set ablaze, in the movie, it would have some elements of 'The Black Cat', but alas it did not. At any rate, I enjoyed the debauchery of Poe, as was true to his character, but it did seem forced.  His true life demise was entrenched in mystery as any of his stories he wrote, and to this day, still unsolved.  In the movie he dies right after finding Emily, but in real life, he went missing for 6-days only to be found on a park bench, raving (delicious pun intended) incoherently, wearing another man's clothes.  This could've been incorporated in the movie, but they would've had to go a different route with some of the plot.  I know some may have issues with the fact that this wasn't a biopic, per se, but I loved the mixture of fact and fiction.  There are several "historical fiction" books out there that do this very thing, and weave a pretty impressive and intriguing story.  The Raven could have been utterly amazing and unique in its premise, and to a small extent, it was, but it went for the safe formulaic plot that those not familiar with Poe would enjoy, or at least in the minds of the film makers, the viewers would enjoy.  I relate it to Sleepy Hollow and Sherlock Holmes (movies), the former I enjoyed, the latter not-so-much.  Though those were more "inspired" by the actual books, as opposed to historical ficion.
I also did not think the gore was over the top.  The scene from The Pit and the Pendulum was gruesome to be sure, but it could've been much worse (refer to Saw pt.500, guts and intestines were shown in that shoddy rip off of Poe's masterpiece).  Bottom line, is this movie worth seeing, yes.  Do you need to see it in the movie theatre, not necessarily, but I do not regret having done so.  It was enjoyable and allowed me to,for a moment, suspend belief and enjoy a unique look at a deliciously wonderful "what-if", "alternate universe" of Poe and his works of art.   I give it X1/2-XX's out of 3 XXX's on my Sexxy movie rating scale.  Stay Entertained! Happy Viewing!

J.Sexxy's Review of The Lightning Thief, the movie, (and a bit of a J.Rant)...

Ugh, so not happy with this movie adaption of The Lightning Thief.  By no means was the book exactly fine literature, but it was enjoyable and entertaining and, like The Hunger Games, so easy to adapt to film.  And yet both movies failed, IMO, to capture the books.  Now let me preface by saying I know that a movie can't translate everything that is in a book, that's the beauty of books, they hold something special, their words and our imaginations.  I don't want everything from the book in the movie, b/c the books ARE special and feel like a part of you that no one else will get. 
Now having said that, why the flaming fig newton do they have to take out absolute key plot points and cool scenes?!  Again I get why things are omitted but not so glaring key plot points.  Hollywood has a way of dumbing down our literature b/c they feel the audience isn't patient or smart enough to "get" it.  So we sit here and get Cliff's Notes versions of our favourite books and, to me, it's quite offensive.  These movies not only fail to capture the heart & soul of the books, but they also fail to capture the heart & soul of the avid reader. 
Now I know these movies appeal to a great many people, obviously money talks and from ticket sales it appears that the audience are exactly what Hollywood thinks they are.  We compromise our intelligence and right to be entertained by saying, "Oh it wasn't that bad", "Yeah they left a lot out, but it was OK".  Even though deep down inside the little bookie in us just died a little from saying it.  We make excuses and we shell out our money like well trained parapets.  I used to blame Hollywood, but really it's the viewer that is the cause of this atrocity.
As a huge Stephen King fan, I'm used to movies destroying books I love, but it never ceases to amaze how bad some of these movies really are in comparison to the books they are based.  It's like they are testing how far they can go.  "Let's leave one of the most important plot points from the book, out, and ooo we don't need this character.  What?  The whole plot ends depends on key scenes involving that character?  Who cares, these zombies won't know the difference and if they do they'll lap it up like brains on a buffet". (had to get a zombie shout out in there)
If you've read the Percy Jackson books, you won't like this movie, if you haven't read them, you will.  One more thing... After seeing THG, The Lightning Thief, one of the Twinkie movies, I've come to this realization.  Today's crop of youth actors, suck.  They have the acting range of a peanut.  No wait, I take that back, that's mean.  A peanut can act better.  I mean it fools everyone into thinking it's either a pea or nut, when in fact it is a legume.  I would rather pay to see a canister of Planters peanuts act out a Shakespeare play, than pay to see another one of these YA movies.  To be or not to be... a nut.  Classic. 

Percy Jackson Books

Started reading the Percy Jackson books last week and now on book 2, The Sea of Monsters.  Very enjoyable books.  Not as good as the HP books, but they are good.  Fun, light, enjoyable reads.  And I love the Greek Mythology theme.  I'll give review of the 1st 3 books when I finish them all.  Stay Booked! Happy Reading!

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

This was my 1st foray into the Steampunk genre and it did not disappoint.  I mean it's a book about 1800's Seattle in vain of Jules Verne and has zombies!  It's basically Jules Verne/George Romero hybrid.  BUT and there's a big but, and not the Sir-Mix-A-Lot good kind of big but.  It was a far cry from the thought provoking, imagination bending prose of Verne and far less scarier than Romero's works. 
Book synopsis:  Cherie Priest's much-anticipated steampunk debut has finally arrived in the form of a paperback original. Its plot features the sort of calibrated suspense that readers of her Four and Twenty Blackbirds would expect. Boneshaker derives its title from the Bone-Shaking Drill Engine, a device designed to give Russian prospectors a leg up in the race for Klondike gold. Unfortunately, there was one hitch: On its trial run, the Boneshaker went haywire and, long story short, turned much of Seattle into a city of the dead. Now, 16 years later, a teenage boy decides to find out what is behind that mysterious wall. Can his mother save him in time? Zombie lit of the first order


JaSexxy's Synopsis: It didn't suck, not at all, but it wasn't OMSJ good either. I did enjoy it and it did keep me involved and entertained, it was just Priest's style wasn't that great.  She used italics wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much.  I mean like there was a word in italics every other bleeding sentence.  That got a bit annoying.  The characters are likable and you do sympathize with their plight and the machinery and vehicles were pretty cool.  There's a gun that sends off a huge sonic boom that immobilizes zombies for like 5mins, which I thought was pretty inventive and cool.  And made me want to invent it to have b4 the zombie apocalypse actually happens. I'll keep you updated on my progress with that.  Anyway, back to the book. It wasn't a typical zombie book and it wasn't a "You're the chosen one" kind of book, which I liked b/c I feel I've read too many of those of late.  This was the 1st book in The Clockwork Century series and I plan on continuing the adventure, but it isn't like I need to run out and get book 2 right now.  It ended open-ended but not with a cliffhanger.  Though I am looking forward to finding out what happens next, I'm not chomping at the bit (bit of zombie ref for ya), to get to it.  Overall I give it a XX rating (that's out of 3X's) maybe 1 1/2 X's.  I def rec it but wouldn't say, GO NOW AND GET IT!  I will read more of this genre though b/c I think it's wicked cool.  Stay Booked! Happy Reading!

TWD.TPB GN'S 13-15

 I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously these books are so frippen amazing.  It's been a long time since I've read anything that literally has me gasping, and cursing and talking out loud; "Oh come on!", "Are you f**king kidding me?!", "No f**king way that just happened!", and so on.  LoL.  These GN's are beautifully illustrated and amazingly well written.  I sit there all tense from the suspense of the story.  What I love and ironically dislike at the same time is that NO ONE is safe.  Not even the "main" characters.  You start to love a character, boom dead!  Or some tragedy befalls them.  It's insane.  But it's realistic (as realistic as a zombie tale can be lol).   But seriously, every movie, TV show, book has the hero and band of "good" people that ALL survive the odds, but that's so not realistic.  We've lived this life long enough to know one constant, life ain't fair.  The good don't always win, nor do they always survive.  In a world based on death and destruction and at any second it can only get worse, this series

 does it honest and true to life.  Even a non-zombie life.  So please do yourself a favour and read this series.  Forgot about that it's about zombies, or a world that is "impossible" to be, that's just the icing on the zombie cake.  Read them because they are enthralling, well written, realistic and pure macabre fun.  Read them b/c you love to read and appreciate a thrilling story that keeps you on edge EVERY SINGLE BOOK, EVERY SINGLE PAGE.  Every one ending with a cliffhanger that makes you hungry for more.  I devour every book like a zombie noshing on a fat kid.  :)
TWD.13: Too Far Gone - Our group that we've come to know and love has started to decrease in numbers, but we've also gained some new, very likable characters, for spoilers sake I won't say who is no longer with the living, but not with the living dead either.  At any rate in book 12 our group was found and brought to a community that has been built and survived for years.  Our jaded group doesn't know whether to trust it and its "citizens" or not.  It's too good to be true.  So

we end up not knowing to trust the community or not.  But the crazy part is, we start to not trust our beloved group either.  Are they starting to become the "evil" people that they've encountered on the road?  We just don't know.  This leads into TWD.14: No Way Out, which by far has been the OMSJing book of them all!  It is really hard for me to not give anything away, but trust me when I say it was a tense, suspenseful read that only furthered my love for this series.  Course it also made me cuss b/c I didn't have book 15 yet.  LoL.  But needless to say I went out and got as soon as I could.  Which leads to TWD.15: We Find Ourselves.  This book begins fantastic b/c and keeps a steady pace throughout.  It isn't as tense and suspenseful as the others, but it was equally as good.  It also gave a hint of what the next drama was going to be in the future books and ended with a coupling of 2 "main" characters that I knew were gonna end up together eventually.  I cannot wait for TWD.16!  Highest rating XXX.  READ THIS SERIES!!  WTYZM!! (Word to your zombie moms) ;)

The Revenge of the Baby-Sat by Bill Watterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Satirical and heartwarming and just flat out frippen funny! Used to read C&H in the newspaper and when I saw the (collected works) books I had to have them. I have 4 C&H books an love then all. I really can't see how anyone can't enjoy them. Highest rating XXX. Stay Booked! Happy Reading!

View all my reviews

Sexxy Book Challenge Catacombs

This Sexxy Book Challenge Catacomb is a list of my yearly Boals and what books I read to reach them.

                                                           2012
2012 Boal did not go well for me.  I had set a modest 34 boal for my Reading Challenge, but unfortunately was only able to read 26.  Bigh (book-sigh).

Original Post:
2012 Boal is on!  I want to read 34 books to get my total "Read Books" to 250.  The ambitious bookie in me wants to so go for 84, and I still may, but it's going to be a busy year so I don't think I'll be able to make that boal.  So here are the books of honour to be read.  These are in no particular order, nor is this list set in stone.  Some on this list may get replaced by another book and I will def be adding more to it if I feel like I can surpass my 34 boal.

      2012:

1. The Angel's Game
2. The Revenge of the Baby-Sat 
3. Dinosaurs Love Underpants
4. The Walking Dead: Too Far Gone (#13)
5. The Walking Dead: No Way Out (#14)
6. The Walking Dead: We Find Ourselves (#15)
7. The Stranger 
8. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
9. Boneshaker
10. Bag of Bones
11. Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (#1)
12. Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters (#2)
13. Percy Jackson: The Titan's Curse (#3)
14. Pillars of Earth: TPOE.1
15. A Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire & Ice (#1)
16. The Graveyard Book
17. Lady Chatterley's Lover
18. Lockdown: Escape From Furnace (#1)
19. Solitary: Escape From Furnace (#2)
20. The Walking Dead: A Larger World (#16)
21. Fall of Giants
22. The Prisoner of Heaven
23. Batman: Earth One
24. Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
25. Gone Girl
26. A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, and The Cricket On the Hearth (one volume)

Once a book is completed it will be placed in the order it was read and have a strikethrough. I'm very excited by this challenge and even more excited about the amazing book adventures I'll be having!



                                                      2011
Well the 2011 Reading Season has come to an end.  I am proud to say I made my boal!  50 books read for a grand total of having read 216 books overall.  I will be announcing my 2012 Boal very soon, so stay booked!  I will also be posting my overall review J.Sexx Quickie Reviews on all the books I read in 2011.  Lots to come this year and I'm quite excited to get started!  Congrats to all those on their 2011 Boals whether you completed them or not, it was always about getting some damn good reads in, so that in itself is success.  GL to all those that will be starting 2012 Book Challenges.  Stay Booked!

Original Post:
I had set a boal for the 2011 Book Reading Season and that is to have read 200 books by Jan. 2012. I am currently at 202, but as I stated on my Facebook Book Club Page (join by following the link from my home page) I have upped that goal to 215.  So here are the books of honour to be read. The strikethrough books are the ones I've read in the order I've read them.  The others are what I plan on reading, but those will change as my tastes of the moment will.

1. Water Room
2. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
3. FaeFever
4. Smoke & Mirrors
5. The Continual Condition
6. Water for Elephants
7. Rebecca
8. DreamFever
9. Full Dark, No Stars
10. High Fidelity
11. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
12. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
13. Life, the Universe and Everything
14. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
15. Anthem
16. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
17. The Hunger Games
18. Catching Fire
19. Catcher in the Rye
20. Mockingjay
21. We the Living
22. To Kill a Mockingbird
23. World War Z
24. Bossypants
25. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much
26. Delta of Venus
27. Into the Wild
28. The Thief of Always
29. Dexter: Darkly Dreaming (Bk.1)
30. Dexter: Dearly Devoted (Bk.2)
31. The Walking Dead: Days Gone By (Bk.1)
32. The Three Musketeers 
33. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead
34. Zombie in Love
35. The Hellbound Heart
36. Mister B. Gone
37. The Walking Dead: Miles Behind Us (#2)
38. The Walking Dead: Safety Behind Bars (#3)
39. The Walking Dead: The Heart's Desire (#4)
40. The Walking Dead: The Best Defense (#5)
41. Loving Frank
42. The Walking Dead: This Sorrowful Life (#6)
43. The Walking Dead: The Calm Before (#7)
44. The Walking Dead: Made To Suffer (#8)
45. The Walking Dead: Here We Remain (#9)
46. The Walking Dead: What We Become (#10)
47. Fight Club
48. The Walking Dead: Fear The Hunters (#11)
49. The Walking Dead: Fear The Hunters (#12)
50. The Rum Diary

ZOMBIE SQUEE!!

  I just got The Walking Dead (TWD) 11-14 in Trade Paperback.  These graphic novels (GN) are so amazing.  They are well written and beautifully illustrated.  People think of GN's as, "Comic books, grow up!", but they don't realize they are  missing out on some of the best works of art in modern times.  Let first say this, I am a comic book junkie.  LOVE THEM!  But it's not all kiddie stuff.  Comics have been dealing with adult themes and world issues for their entire existence.  They've dealt with social issues from poverty, to domestic violence, to racism, sexism, AIDS, politics, homosexuality and so much more.  The Graphic Novels have given those comics a stronger voice.  Combining the comic book art with novel savvy has been pure genius.  Most GN's are a collection of series in one setting, creating a super comic book novel.  A lot of movies have been based on GN's that most people don't even know. 
  TWD is a series that deals with humanity and how humans are the real monsters and how survival and adaption are so Darwin we don't even know it at 1st.  In a new world where school teachers and pizza delivery boys become the ultimate survivalist and the strong become weak, weak become strong, people go crazy, chaos is the norm and death lurks everywhere.  Rules change, laws change, normal is subjective and humanity is pushed to the brink of its true nature: Animalistic & Survival.  These GN's entrance the reader from page 1 and don't let go even when you get to the final page.  You have to read the next one and the next one.  No one is safe in these novels, just like in the real world, anyone can die at any time.  And they do.  There were so many OMSJ moments in these I literally gasped out loud countless times.  I implore those that are fans of the show to pick them up and for anyone that enjoys damn good story telling.  Ignore they are GN's.  Get off your elitist book horse and read them.  You won't be sorry you did.  WTYZM!  (Word To Your Zombie Mom).  :)

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

"A genius is merely a man who sees nature, and has the boldness to follow it." ~Frank Lloyd Wright~

"Ogni mia fibra.  E'posseduta dall'amor.  My every fiber is possessed by love." ~Faust~

    I don't know what to say.  I didn't hate the book, but it wasn't a fave.  I think cause I'm such a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright that I wanted more of his designs, life story, etc., where this was more of a telling of his affair in a sweeping dramatic fashion.  It was a little bland at times, but not horrible.  Just a mediocre read IMO.  But the ending, holy sh*t!  I would tell people to read it just to get to the end.  I mean, speechless.  I had several friends say, "Wait till you get to the end".  I was like, yeah, OK.  I guessed what was coming when it got closer, but it was worse than what I imagined.  I have to admit I had no idea this happened and I think that's why the ending has hit me so hard.  To be a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and not know this fact is unsettling.  And the fact that it is a fact makes it that more disturbing and it doesn't resonate with the rest of the "blandness" of the novel. 
If you don't know what I'm talking about, please do not look it up if you intend on reading this book.  Let the ending shock you as I'm sure it did to 90% of those that read it.  I must read FLW's autobiography and sometime soon.  I'm still in shock over this.  Lol.  Crazy.  I don't think it's worth reading actually.  I mean the end does make it, but the in between just wasn't worth the wait.  But again wasn't horrible, just not a OMSJ (Oh My Sexxy Jason) must read.  Stay Booked! Happy Reading!

New Book Purchases October 2011

Last 2 days I've picked up a handful of cool books that I can't wait to delve into.  Here are the books I chose, or rather what books chose me:

                       1. The Walking Dead: Miles Behind Us (#2)

                      
                    2. The Walking Dead: Safety Behind Bars (#3)

                                                      


                                            3. The Rum Diary

                                              4. Boneshaker

   

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker

"Your most treasured depravity is child's play beside the experiences we offer."

From Goodreads: Clive Barker is widely acknowledged as the master of nerve-shattering horror. The Hellbound Heart is one of his best, one of the most dead-frightening stories you are likely to ever read, a story of the human heart and all the great terrors and ecstasies within. 

Book synopsis: Frank Cotton's appetite for the dark pleasures of pain led him to the puzzle of Lemarchand's box, and from there, to a death only a sick-minded soul could invent.  But his brother's love-crazed wife, Julia, has discovered a way to bring Frank back-though the price will be bloody and terrible...and there will certainly be hell to pay.

My synopsis: Bloody brilliant!

This is only my 2nd Barker book and my 1st adult book by him, the 1st being The Thief of Always, which was a YA book (see review on this very blog!).  As a hard-core fan of SK for my entire life, I can honestly say Barker has now found a place in my horror heart right next to King.  His character development is fantastic.  You feel for them, you despise them, you fear them, in short he does what every author should do and that is to get the read to feel empathy for the characters.  His story telling is taut, dark, sadistic and pure macabre fun.  I'm not one to get scared while reading and only SK and Poe have really gotten me spooked, after reading this, I swear I had to fight off images of the Cenobites coming for me. Lol.  It was awesome!  There are so few authors that can take this genre and make it unique, fascinating, tantalizing and scary all while weaving an intricate, thought provoking and satisfying plot.  If an author is sub-par the book becomes a farce, something to be laughed rather than taken seriously and certainly not going to frighten the reader.  I really hate to repeat myself but to me, only Poe and King have done it brilliantly and now I can add Barker to that list.  Now admittedly I haven't delved into too many authors of this genre.  But I have dabbled in Koontz and John Saul, and have come away with a bad taste in my brain.  Koontz has written some pretty good books, but overall he's not very good.  Saul I've only read a few books and found them to be trite and hard to read.  I actually hated his hero in one book and was rooting for him to die.  Actually it may have been a heroine, either way, blah! 
 
So The Hellbound Heart, which the fantastic movie, Hellraiser, was based on, is about Frank Cotton and his reckless, pleasure seeking, way of life.  He seeks the ultimate pleasures in everything, drugs, travel, sex, money, material things, etc.  He's made his living as a trader of items, people; drug dealer/smuggler and has been all over the world and especially to all the seedy parts of the world for new highs in both drugs and sex.  In his travels and dealings he hears rumours of Lemarchand's box.  A box that is to supposed to take an individual to a new world, new realm, never dreamed of, of unimaginable pleasures.  He finds the box in Germany from a cat named Kircher, who affirms the pleasures that await him if he should figure out how to solve the puzzle box.  Fast forward, Frank is in California in his grandparents house, who have passed away and left it to he and his brother Rory.  Frank is in the biggest room of the house where he has set up all his offerings for the Cenobites that will come if he should be able to solve the puzzle box.  What offerings?  The heads of doves, a jar of his urine, another jar of his essence, and several other oddities.  Frank has been obsessed with the box since before he obtained it.  Having the box for months and failing to figure it out but never being deterred.  Finally he gets the box to open...
   "The bare bulb in the middle of the room dimmed and brightened, brightened and ddimmed again..  It had taken on the rhythm of the bell, burning its hottest on each chime.  In the troughs between the chimes the darness in the room became utter' it was as if the world he had occupied for twenty-nine year had ceased to exist.  Then the bee wold sound again,k and the bulb burn so strongly it might never have faltered, and for a few precious seconds he was standing in a familiar place, with a door that led out and down and into the street, and a window through which-had he but the will (or strength) to tear the blinds back-he might glilmpse a rumor of morning.  
   The bulb flickered out.  This time it went without hope of rekindling.  He stood in the darkness, and said nothing.  even if could remember the worrds of welcom he'd prepared, his tongue would not have spoken them.  It was playing dead in his mouth.
   And then, light.
   It came from them: from the quartet of Cenobites who now, with the wall sealed behind them, occupied the room.  A fitful of phosphorescence, like the glow of deep-se fishes: blue, cold, charmless.  It struck Frank that he had never once wondered what ty would look like.  His imagination, though fertile whe it came to trickery and theft, was improversihed in other regards.  
Why then was he so distressed to set eyes upon them?  Was it the scars that covered every inch of their bodies, the flesh cosmetically pnctured and sliced and infibulated, then dusted down with ash? Was it the smell of vanilla they brought with them, the sweetness of which did little to disguise the stench beneath?  Or was it that as the light grew, and he scanned them more closely, he saw nothing of joy or even humnity, in their maimed faces: only desperation, and appetite taht made his bowel ace to be voided."

Yeah and it only gets better.  Rory, Frank's aforementioned brother, moves into the house with his new wife, Julia, whom we come to find out did the horizontal bump bump with Frank.  Rory is a bit of dullard, but lovable.  He is enamored with Julia but after diddling his brother, she finds Rory repulsive.  She hadn't stopped thinking about him since he disappeared, which the family just chalked up to his flighty, wishy-washy ways and assumed he left the country again.  Julia discovers Frank is "living" in a different realm just beyond the walls of the room the Cenobites took him from.  Now the "living" is in quotations because, well I'll just leave it here.  I don't want to ruin it for you all.  Let's just say evil dirty deeds transpire and the fun really begins!

I was seriously hooked, delicious pun intended, from page 1 and read the the entire book in a day.  It's not very long at 164 pages.  I devoured :)  every page ferociously as if I were a Cenobite with a new soul.  I highly rec this book and Barker.  Highest JaSexxy rating XXX.  Stay Booked!  Happy Reading!

The Walking Dead: Volume 1: Days Gone Bye

Excellent read!  The show followed the book pretty tightly.  Though there are like 14 books in The Walking Dead series, so the show could veer off at some point, like TB did.  I need to get the rest of the books in this series.  It's an excellent and fresh take on the Zombie story.  My zombie reading is pretty minimal so I only have World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide (both excellent) to compare TWD too, but really well done and excellent art work.  I really like in the introduction by writer Robert Kirkman he says:
"I'm not trying to scare anybody.  If that somehow happens as a result of reading this comic, that's great, but really... that's not what this book is about.  What you now hold in your hands is the most serious piece of work I've done so far in my career.  I'm the guy that created Battle Pope; I hope you guys realize what a stretch this is for me.  It's really not that hard to beliece when you realize that I'm delving into subject matter that is so utterly serious and dramatic...
Zombies.
To me the best zombie movies aren't the splatter fests of gore and violence with goofy characters and tongue in cheek antics.  Good zombies show us how messed up we are, they  make us question our station in society... and our society's station in the world.  They show us gore and violence and all that cool stuff too... but there's always an undercurrent of social commentary and thoughtfulness."
  I couldn't agree more.  Night of the Living Dead just wasn't a great scary movie, but it's undercurrent of social commentary, in this case racism, was a also fantastic.  It dealt with an extremely important issue in the United States, at a time it was not only relevant but also volatile.  This is the beauty of Sci-Fi, horror, comics, they all take a stand and bring issues to light in ways that we don't at 1st realize and in ways that are far better than "legit" drama.  These genres take relevant, seriously important and at times volatile issues and present them in clever, unique and thought provoking material.  It's why I've always been a fan of these genres since I was a kid and continue to be a fan as an adult.  I can't wait to get the books in this series and devour them like a zombie on a slow fat kid!  Highest rating XXX.  Stay Booked! Happy Reading!

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation becasuse they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damagging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future." ~Chris McCandless~

    I consider myself a newbie when it comes to non-fiction.  I've really only been reading them for 6yrs steadily.  I've maybe read 1-2 every 2yrs in my 20's and that's a very generous estimation.  More like 1 every 4yrs.  It wasn't until my late 20's/early 30's I really started reading more non-fiction.  Why?  Well the way I look at non-fiction is this, we are getting a true story or rather a story that is supposed to be true.  My problem with non-fiction isn't that they aren't good reads, my problem is we get the author's biased view of the subject.  No matter how much a author is supposed to be objective and impartial one can't help but having their work influenced by their own beliefs.  When I read about a true event or individual, I want just that, the truth.  I don't want someone's version of the truth.  If an author likes the subject they will paint the subject/event favorably, if they don't like the subject/event then it will be given an unfair and unbalanced view.  So this is why I am very hesitant to read non-fiction novels.  Having said that, I have indeed read some amazing non-fiction books and Into the Wild is one of them.  In the very beginning Krakauer admits; "I won't claim to be an impartial biographer.  McCandless's strange tale struck a personal note that made a dispassionate rendering of the tragedy impossible.  Through most of the book, I have tried-and largely succeeded, I think-to minimize my authorial presence.  But let the reader be warned: I interrupt McCandless's story with fragments of a narrative drawn from my own youth.  I do so in the hope that my experiences will throw some oblique light on the enigma of Chris McCandless."
  Fair enough.  Krakauer not only voices my very concern with non-fiction novels, he confirms it.  I am more forgiving because Krakauer admits that it will be biased to influence the reader what he felt for McCandless and McCandless's story, but that it will be limited.  OK Krakauer I respect that and I'm intelligent enough to know when you're inflecting that "authorial presence".  So on I read....

   Books synopsis: "In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley.  His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless.  He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car nad most of his posssessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself.  Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter..."

My synopsis: I have to admit at first I thought, "Pfft some rich spoiled punk, who is given everything, wants to "find himself".  Big deal".  And I was right, but I was also wrong.  This book made me a bit frustrated because I went from, "This kid is a stubborn moron.  Spoiled and pissing away his life" to "I can totally relate to what this kid is thinking and feeling".  McCandless is truly an enigma.  He craves solitude but loves company.  He wants nothing to do with money and material things, even those material things he desperately needs to survive in the wilderness.  McCandless meets new folks across his travels and every one of them seem fully enamored with him.  He makes indelible impressions everywhere he goes.  So why if this extremely gifted, intelligent and well bred youngster is all these things and so well liked, is he willing to go into one of the most dangerous wilderness's in the world?  This is what Krakauer tries to find out and in the process  uncovers a very complicated, contradictory, heartbreaking and frustrating, yet inspiring story.  This is really as far as I'm going to review this book.  I think it is something everyone should read and determine their own pov.  I will say one thing and it is in regards to McCandless and it is this.

  McCandless is complicated yet simple.  He is hypocritical yet honorable.  What leads him to go off on this journey of life, of self are issues with his parents.  But this is also a bit schizo because he has friends that say he loved his parents and others that say he couldn't stand them.  We do learn what the issue is later on, but to me that issue is just a cop out.  I think the bottom line with McCandless is he was searching for something, I think we all are in some way or another, but he didn't know what that something was.  I don't think he was anti-social or suicidal yet he did show those attributes at times.  I just think he was a kid that said f**k it, I don't know what I want, where I want to be but I know right now none of this is it.  He read and was influenced by works of Tolstoy, London, Davies & Thoreau.  The romanticism of nature and wilderness of living a spartan life and the personal issues he was having led him to this journey of self discovery.  McCandless took those works and views to heart and decided it was how he was going to find, whatever it was he was missing inside.  There is really nothing about McCandless that makes him more special than any other confused youngster in this world.  There are kids all over the world that come from worse backgrounds, who struggle and fight and scrape to survive and make better lives for themselves and no one is writing stories about them.  McCandless was a wealthy kid, though his parents fought and scraped for everything they had and made a success of their lives by hard work and dedication, Chris McCandless did not.  This is not to take anything away from him.  Problems are problems and he had problems, no doubt.  If it weren't for Karkauer's stirring portrait of McCandless, he is just another lost youth trying to find himself and does so half-assed and that leads to his death.  I mean he hitchhiked across America and could've gotten picked up by the wrong person, murdered and that ends the story.  He was lucky.  I will now contradict myself, I admire McCandless for his tenacity and fortitude.  He may have not known what he was looking for, but he went out in search of it when so many of us settle and lead mediocre stagnant lives.  He was stubborn and wanted to do thing his way, I can relate, I'm the same way.  He wasn't a complete idiot as some think.  He studied plants and animals and wildlife and the areas he was going to be venturing through.  It is undetermined what killed him but more than likely it was due to ingestion of poisonous vegetation.

  His death is sad and it broke my heart when I read the scene when his sister, the one relative he was closest too, finds out of his death.  Utterly heartbreaking.  I can honestly say this was an emotional roller coaster of a read that at times had me wanting to sell everything I own and go out on my own adventure in search of who I am.  And if I were younger and did not have a daughter I just would, but it would be foolish and selfish.  So I pick my adventures in other ways and like McCandless I do  everything my way, I never settle.  But unlike McCandless I face my problems head on.  Life isn't perfect and the easiest thing in the world is to pack up and walk away from it all, it's a lot harder to stay and face it head on.  And that is what this book does, makes the reader examine their own life.  The reader knowingly takes a journey in McCandless's life, but by doing so unknowingly begins to examine their own life.  The emotions we feel aren't just directed at McCandless and what he believes and stands for, but at ourselves for the things we don't stand for.  And maybe we aren't mad at McCandless for his journey, but at ourselves for the lack of one.  Excellent read.  Highest rating XXX

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker

I've been meaning to read Barker for a long time now, but have never gotten around to it.  On my last trip to B&N, as I walked around debating which books I was going to choose or rather what books would choose me, I had 4 books in my arm and trying to whittle it down to 2-3 (was trying to be good) while I was wandering and thinking which books to take home, I happened down the B aisle and right in front of Barker.  Well damn there goes me being good.  I have Imajica pt.1 & 2 but the lure of a new book...  I saw The Thief of Always and picked it up and it just felt right, like it was meant to be in my hand.  Who am I to fight fate?  So I decided on this and 2 other books and went home extremely happy.  My happiness would only increase when I decide to read this a few days later.
The books synopsis: "Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for a thousand years, welcoming countless children into its embrace.  It is a place of miracles where every childhood whim may be satisfied.  There is a price to be paid, of course, but young Harvey Swick, bored with his life and beguiled by Mr. Hood's wonders, does not stop to consider the consequences.  It is only when the house shows its darker face-when Harvey discovers the pitiful creatures that dwell in its shadows-that he comes to doubt Mr. Hood's philanthropy.  But the house and its mysterious architect are not about to to release their captive without a battle.  Mr. Hood has ambitions for his new guest, for Harvey's soul burns brighter than any he has encountered in ten centuries..."
"Menacing demons, wondrous miracles, sinister magic and vivid characters... A compulsive, lightning paced tale that slmost begs to be read aloud." ~The Miami Herald~
My synopsis: Frickin awesome!  "Frickin awesome!" ~JaSexxy~ :) 
I will fully admit I am not fast reader, my mind tends to wander (within the context of the book, not randomly lol) and I stop to write quotes I like plus I am usually reading 2-3 books at once, so rarely do I get through a book in 1 day.  I started Thief Wednesday morning and finished it that night.  Yeah it was that good.  Harvey Swick, 10yr old boy, bored and annoyed on a dreary and grey rainy February day is playing make believe in his room.  As he was getting bored with his make believe his mother walks in and forces him to clean his room, much to his despair.  He is utterly unhappy at this turn of unfair events.  He says aloud, "I am ten.  I don't have to tidy up just because she says so.  It's boring.  I want to... I want to..."  He walks over to his mirror and ask it. "What do I want?  I don't know what I want.  I just know I'll die if I don't have some fun.  I will! I'll die!"  And with that the rain picked up and his window blows open.  He finds this weird as he was positive he latched his window.  He goes to close the window and "Cold rain spattered his face.  Half-closing his eyes, he crossed to the window and fumbled to slam it, making sure that the latch was in place this time.  The wind had started his lamp moving, and when he turned back the whole room seemed to be swinging around.  One moment the light was blazing in his eyes, the next it was flooding the opposite wall.  But in between the blaze and the flood it lit the middle of his room, and standing there-shaking the rain off his hat-was a stranger.  He looked harmless enough.  He was no more than six inches taller than Harvey, his frame scrawny, his skin distincly yellowish i color.  He was wearing a fancy suit, a pair of spectacles and a lavish smile."
We learn that this stranger's name is Rictus.  Rictus seems harmless but when you read further the description of this stranger you get the sense something evil and shark-like in his smile.  He 1st tells Harvey he can ask him any question he wants, but when Harvey starts asking questions that Rictus doesn't expect, he then changes his mind and tell hims no more questions!  He Tells him there is a magical place to go if he is truly bored and that there are no rules, no chores, nothing but fun.  Mr. Hood's Holiday House a place where a kid can live vicarious and free.  Well needless to say Harvey desires to go and so off they go the next day. 
They get to the house and have to cross some invisible barrier to get to the house.  The house itself is grand and beautiful and the climate within the barrier is warm and sunny with clear skies, which is complete contrast to the dreary weather outside the barrier.  This alone already makes Harvey happy.  Though one does get the ominous sense of dread despite the sunny happy facade.  Inside he meets 2 other children, Wendell and Lulu who are seemingly the same age as he and Mrs. Griffin an elderly lady that takes care of the children.  Lulu doesn't seem all that happy, but Wendell is as happy a kid in candy land.   The 2 boys have loads of fun, reading comics, playing in the tree house, eating whatever they want and as much as they want.  The seasons change throughout the day.  During the day it's summer, at dusk, fall and Halloween kicks in and at night winter & Christmas where the morning brings spring.  Christmas the kids can wish for whatever they want and they will get it.  They want a tiger, they get a tiger, they want a motorcycle, they get it.  Harvey wishes for a toy his father gave him when he was 6 but lost convinced the wish would not come true he noticed a present under the xmas tree.  Sure enough when he opened it, it was the the very toy down to the exact last detail.  Harvey when 1st reaching the house says that he only intends to stay for a short time, but ends up staying overnight.  At breakfast he tells Mrs. Griffin that he will stay a little longer but he should call his parents.  She doesn't scuff at this, but tells him to go right ahead.  Wendell tells Harvey that his parents already know he's here and that he doesn't need to bother calling.  Wendell says when he called his parents that already knew.  Harvey, doubtful, calls his parents and upon hearing their voice says "I just wanted call and say where I am and I'm all right."  To his surprise they tell him they already knew that and to stay as long as he desires and not to worry about school for he has earned a break from it.  He is surprised but never-the-less happy.  He interacts with Lulu occasionally but you can tell there is a budding romance.  But she reveals some things about the house and what is really happening that starts to make him suspicious of the seemingly innocuous house.  His suspicions fade and realization begins to form and he ends up in a battle for not just his life, but his very soul.  I could go on and I almost did, but to do so would give too much away.  And really it is a book all of you SHOULD read.
I never feel like my reviews do these great books any justice.  So I apologize for that.  But take my word for it this is a fantastic book, or rather don't take my word for it and read it!  It is extremely well written, characters are incredibly fleshed out and you feel their emotions.  There's several bitter-sweet moments with Harvey and Lulu that just melt the heart.  Even though it is written for YA there is plenty of fantastic creep factor and OMG moments.  I highly recommend it.  Give it my highest rating XXX.  And I will leave you with this parting quote:
"Time would be precious from now on.  It would tick by, of course, as it always had, but Harvey was determined he wouldn't waste it with sighs and complaints.  He'd fill every moment with the seasons he'd found in his heart: hopes like birds on a spring branch; happiness like a warm summer sun; magic like the rising mists of autumn.  And the best of all, love; love enough for a thousand Christmases."