A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman

So this blog has been going for a little while. We're getting close, right? Good, because I want to tell you a secret. My husband doesn't read much. He has no patience for it after work, maintaining he's read enough for the day. Now, every once in a while, I'll read a book that he can't resist. I love it, naturally. I think he has completed 5 books this year. That is a whole library for him. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean this as an insult. Nope. Just like every book NOT being for every person, every hobby can't be for everyone either or this world would be boring. Now that I've given you the domestic reading situation I have to confess that I usually tell my husband about the novel I'm reading, not every detail of course, but the basic plot as it is progressing. He actually listens and remembers. When I ask him "What was the book that had the character that did...." he'll name the book immediately. Go figure, half the time he can't remember my name but phone numbers and license plates from the 1960's and books I've told him about....BINGO! (Yes, I'm teasing, he knows my name....I think.)

Last week I read A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman. Now he is the author of the very popular thriller Bird Box, that I still have not read. Despite my fear of dark water, I was excited to read this. You know how I hate it when books meander off topic, since this was a very short book of just over 100 pages, I thought surely it would stay on target and I would rocket through. I happily report it does stay on target. Unfortunately that is about the last thing about this book that made me happy. Okay, okay, that was too harsh. It was entertaining and the writing style pleasant. It bugged me though, still does.  This couple finds a house under the water of a lake, why it is there is never explained. (bug) The couple dives many times exploring the house, really interesting idea. Inside the house things happen that are not physically possible. The couple agrees not to discuss why certain things in the house are not the way they should be...by the laws of nature. The author never explains why those deviations exist (bug). Then the ending, to be honest I don't get it. I am not even sure if they are dead or alive. (bug, bug, bug...get me a fly swatter, bug!)

Can you tell this story irritated me? It's like I write a story that surrounds the sky being purple with pink polka dots...that is what the whole story is about, but never tell you why and just when you think you are about to get some answers, it's over. Blank page! Not to have a tantrum but if this hadn't been on my Kindle, I would have thrown it across the room! Loved the story idea, did not love the actual book. Ahhhh, but now enter my husband. I tell him the last 3rd of the book, including the ending. Tell him I dislike it and why. He disagrees completely! Can you believe that! The nerve! He thinks this book is brilliant, artistic, inventive, and very Twilight Zone. He thinks I want to be lead through the story too much and that everything I dislike is perfection.

So there you have it. The exact reason I always say to never put much stock in negative reviews or positive either. Yes, of course I still want you to read the blog. I think you just have to use reviews as a jumping off place. Hubby thinks it would be cool to jump in this lake and explore, I'll just stay in the boat and get some sun.