Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine

I don't know why I always say I'm a thriller girl. Well, yes I do, I gravitate toward thrillers, but actually I like any great book. There are so many interesting books out there, so little time. Insert mental clip of Burgess Meredith saying "that's not fair, that's not fair" here. If you don't know what I'm talking about, shame on you...and you call yourself a book lover.  Go find a copy of the Twilight Zone, episode Time Enough At Last. Be enlightened!

Anyway, in the realm of housewifery (?), my new vacuum arrived (I know you were so concerned, practically holding your breath, checking here daily, "OMG did she get the vacuum, I'm so concerned" said you.) It is here, but has to be put together. Despite it being here for days, it is not together yet. In the realm of procrastination I am successful! Shocking, I know. I finished a wonderful book called Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman.

This story follows Eleanor who is an awkward, completely socially inept, young woman.  We find out why she is the way she is, about her horrific mother who calls her weekly, what has happened in her past, and how she slowly starts to bloom. This book will have you in tears one minute and literally laughing out loud the next. The story is character-centric, so it is imperative that the characters be well-developed and the reader becomes invested in them. The author does a great job here. The story is beautifully told and one of those you find hard to shake days after you've finished reading it.

Well, enough book chat, better get on the dumb vacuum thing. Hubby better not give me any grief over it or I'll give him a little Eleanor, and don't think I can't do it!

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

For Valentine's Day, my husband gave me a gift subscription to The Book of the Month. I've loved it. Every month, so far, I have picked a wonderful thriller to read. For June I received The Anomaly by Michael Rutger. It is issued early for BOTM and is due for release June 19th.

I don't generally go over the plot, assuming you just want to know if it's good or annoying since you've obviously searched out a review and have certainly read the jacket.  Since this is not released I will say this is kind of like Indiana Jones meets Robert Langdon. It's the story of a group of people that shoot a series that is broadcast on YouTube. They are searching for a cave in the Grand Canyon that was supposedly visited decades ago but now only legend. The unusual cast of characters finds a cavern and to say it is a unhospitable place is an understatement. No more, nope, not saying anything more, tick-a-lock!

I am always amazed when writers can describe action and it's easy to picture without the words getting in the way. Some thriller writers do that really well, James Rollins comes to mind, Michael Rutger is one of those writers. The Anomaly is well paced, well edited, is creepy and interesting at the same time. It has some really good dialog, especially if you like sarcasm, who doesn't? Overall, I completely enjoyed this book. If you like books that are a little rough and tumble, you'll like this, There are absolutely no make-up tips here. If you like books that make you wonder enough to turn the pages faster and that almost each chapter ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, you'll like this. If you are claustrophobic, you'll be completely freaked out by this book. Needless to say, I'm rethinking that trip to the Grand Canyon, photographs of it are so good these days!

Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen by Serena Valentino

Hello everyone. Hope you are well. I've been reading up a storm, well perhaps an intermittent shower for some of you but a storm for me. It is June 9th, and I've just completed my fourth book. My husband might tell you this is cheating as I finished my first book of the month at precisely 12:20 am on the first. But you have to cut the previous month off somewhere and everyone knows (read with exaggerated eye roll) that midnight is the cut off. So I have branded him wrong, me correct (as any happily married man will know his wife is always correct, because we ARE). That brings my total this year to 31 books read. That is as many as I read in all of last year, so I'm pretty darn happy.

If you read my blog intro, which shame on you I know you didn't, then you'd know already that I don't "do" audiobooks. For the record, I would read/listen to anything that had a great story so perhaps I should say I haven't "done" an audiobook yet. Another thing I don't usually do is Young Adult books. Sure, I've seen youtube, now branded "booktube", full of 20 somethings proclaiming they've read 8 gazillion books in a month. (By the way, one gave a very negative review on The Woman in the Window, not liking so much of what she read including how it was set in London.....really? It is set in New York...so I don't know about "reading" so many books in a month. Course, I could just be extremely jealous as I am, as you know, a confessed pokey ass reader.) (as a sidenote, what is with all the quotes in this post? geez),

Anyway, I don't get all these adults, men and women....not boys and girls, but men and women that are reading books for kids. There are so many adult books that are fantastic, why would you read outside books meant for you? Judgmental isn't it? Yeah I know. I've got a sink full of dishes and my left leg is falling asleep, I think I'm cranky. ...Breathe...."Anyway," she said sweetly and calmly, all that rant being out there I did see a few kids books I was a tiny bit curious about. Have you seen these books about Disney stories where they retell what happened, often before or after the official story? I wonder if these are a result of the whole Wicked series. Anyway, I might have purchased a few, okay three.

So last week, I could not resist and I opened, just to glance at the first page or two of Fairest of All. It is a story about the wicked queen in Snow White. No spoilers but it talks about when she was a child, her parents, Snow White's life before her, the wicked queen's marriage and relationship with the king. To be completely honest, I was blown away. The story by Serena Valentino intertwines with the Snow White story I know and love, brilliantly. It explains but doesn't rewrite or distort any part of the original.  Obviously, I read the whole thing and am trying to look away from the others I purchased as I have a long list of books to read this month. If you don't want to dish out the money for this book, check out your library, since it was published in 2012 it's probably off reserve! As for me, I have a sudden craving for a bright red apple.