strange and random happenstance

The Midnight Pack by Jasmine Kuliasha
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: eBook, 352 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

Jericho James has made a name for herself. Not the name she'd have necessarily chosen when she became a P.I. but when you become the foremost investigator in debunking cryptids, you embrace that rep. Also, it's never Cthulhu, it's almost always snakes. Occasionally an octopus. She should know, she's from Florida. Only once before has she investigated a case with a fatality. A case she'll never forget. Which is why when she's called to Stillbridge, Maine, to investigate the death of a college graduate who was hiking the Appalachian Trail who met a gruesome end she takes her job seriously. The locals assume it's a bear attack but the sheriff isn't quite so certain. Neither is the young boy Mikey who approaches Jericho to ask if she's there to kill the monster. In fact Mikey is soon her best source for information in the small town. Though she should have listened to him and never gone into the woods. But she needed to see the scene of the crime. And, according to the sheriff, the local hermit, Kermit, lives out in the depths of the forest, miles beyond the scene of the crime, and might be able to help. So she's off to find Kermit the hermit. Only Jericho has miscalculated the number of hours of daylight needed for her trek and only gets as far as the scene of the crime when she realizes she'll need to turn back. Of course that's exactly when she's attacked. Chased from the clearing she falls into a ravine and twists her ankle before she succumbs to darkness. She awakes the next day to sunlight streaming in through a window under a veritable mountain of blankets. Soon her rescuer makes an appearance. It turns out Kermit isn't such a hermit after all. He lives with his three sons, Benjamin, Theo, and Seth. It's Benjamin that Jericho is instantly drawn to. Neither of them can deny their chemistry. She is reluctantly, by some, welcomed into the Grey family compound. This isn't just a shack in the woods; there's terraces and gardens, patios and a gym, and a state of the art laboratory. Because these four men, who have been living in secret without any female presence since Kermit's wife and the boys' mother died five years earlier, are scientists. They are looking to fully eradicate a bloodborne pathogen. Not just keep it controlled like scientists can now do with HIV, but eliminate it completely. Their work is well funded and secret. Which is fine by Jericho. She can heal, do some research in their vast library, and ogle Benjamin. That is until it's brought home to her by some otherworldly forces that her hosts might be more dangerous than she thought. She really should have listened to Mikey.

This book had such a solid start; Jericho James arrives in Maine and befriends a child who knows all about the monsters in the woods and I literally had goosebumps. The Midnight Pack had all the hallmarks of Stephen King with a hint of Something is Killing the Children and then Jericho went into the woods and it became Twilight. Only somehow not even as good as Twilight if you dare to imagine that. Oh, and if you're wondering, Jericho knows all about Twilight and apparently learned nothing from Stephenie Meyer. Longing looks and losing her brain were what followed for the next couple hundred pages. I literally just couldn't with this book. It's like her desire overrode all capacity for rational thinking. How are they doing research without a computer? Do you think maybe they lied about not having one? Or about not having a phone? Or about exactly how you ended up injured? But then again, she debunks cryptids for a living and didn't even know what a wendigo is. A wendigo! If you Google cryptid it's literally the eleventh cryptid listed. AND might I add, this is with Google totally not working right anymore because of AI. Yes yes, we can argue that technically a wendigo isn't a cryptid, but the fact she'd never heard of one beggars belief. In fact I was hoping the killer would be like a wendigo/werewolf hybrid called a wendiwoof, but no, I did not get my wish, and while other people have done this type of hybrid they didn't name it the wendiwoof so I am claiming copyright. The ignorance of our heroine time and time again is just infuriating. Jasmine Kuliasha could of at least had some fun with Jericho being the personification of a dumb blonde, but she was just wanting to turn this into a romance, cue the heavy petting. And no. This book isn't sophisticated enough for this joke. I mean, it literally took over half the book for werewolf to even be uttered when it's on the freaking cover. And yes, I know that characters aren't self-aware, this isn't Thursday Next, but come on. Then again Jericho isn't even properly kitted out for a walk in the woods, always wearing just exercise tights and a tank top, maybe a light flannel. This is fall. In MAINE! Ugh, she is just too dumb to live. Let Benjamin's brothers have at her. But Jericho is only as ignorant as her creator. I didn't keep track of each and every infraction, it would have ended up longer than the book especially with how the house didn't seem to abide by the blueprints or the laws of physics. So let's go with the biggest one. A werewolf pack has a one out one in rule. So if they lose a member of the pack they have to be replaced. When Jericho kills the villainous brother the pack is worried she will be forced into becoming a werewolf to replace him. But hang on a minute. Five years earlier Kermit's wife, a werewolf, died. No one replaced her. So, um, what's with that? In fact what's with all of this. I just want to forget I ever read it. Sadly the worse the book the longer it remains.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: An Urban Development, Appalachian Trail, Cryptids, Cthulhu, Jasmine Kuliasha, Jericho James, Maine, Mikey, Plot Hole, Something is Killing the Children, Stephen King, Stephenie Meyer, The Midnight Pack, Twilight, Wendigo, Werewolf

Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand
Published by: Mulholland Books
Publication Date: July 19th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

Grady Kendall's life imploded. But then so has so many others. The pandemic came and everything ground to a halt, including the construction on all the wealthy vacation homes in Maine where he worked as a carpenter. The first stimulus check went to back rent and two overdue truck payments. So he moved back in with his mother. Though the memories at home aren't the kind you want to dwell on, his father's suicide, his brother's addictions, and so much loss. Which is why he likes his Pabst. And then an opportunity lands in his lap he can't pass up. An eccentric billionaire is looking for a caretaker for his home in Hawai'i. Grady has always loved the wilderness and has felt that circumstances have limited his chances to see the world so he applies. Within days all the paperwork has been sorted and he is flying to his new home on Hokuloa Road. Another of Wes Minton's employee's, Dalita, picks him up from the airport and drives him out to the house. The compound appears wild but on closer inspection he sees it's just as meticulously designed as the empty beach resorts he saw from the plane, it's just in need of some care, and that's what Grady is here to give. His work isn't too onerous and he has his own cottage. His boss is often at the sight of his proposed hotel on the remote Hokuloa Peninsula, which he now uses for conservation work, particularly with rare birds. In fact the most important of Grady's tasks is tending an aviary of rare birds on the second floor of Wes's house. Some days it feels like these birds are his only companions. Which leads him to feel the loneliness and menace of his isolated surroundings. Sure, it's beautiful, but it's otherworldly too. And then he learns about the disappearances. There's a well-known surfer who's just gone, as well as a girl, Jessie, whom he met on the plane. Because of his personal connection to Jessie, Grady feels like he should ask questions. But Wes hired him because he's a stranger, an outsider, and will not ask questions. The island is filled with the absences left by the vanished. It's only when a tourist like Jessie arrives that anyone cares. But despite being the wrong guy for every possible reason, perhaps he is the tool at hand to break this mystery wide open?

I hated this book so much I don't know if I'll be able to coherently express my rage. I mean, just the cavalier attitude to Covid and declaring people "safe" without knowing where they've been or what they've been up to enraged me. And keep in mind this is set at the very beginning of the pandemic, so tests were impossible to find and there was no vaccine! But that was just the first of many many rage inducing incidences and I have many issues stemming from the new subgenre of pandemic literature which I won't go into here. So much of this book is rooted in the lore and people of Hawai'i. Dalita speaks Hawaiian Pidgin, alternately called Hawai'i Creole English. It's a very stilted language. I'm sure Hand did this to add to the authenticity of the book. She says she went to great effort to learn the dialect when she went to Hawai'i. But as much as I believe in her good intentions it comes across as a privileged white woman travelling to a foreign land and setting herself up to be the mouthpiece of these people. It doesn't sit right with me. I kept asking myself, is she the right person to tell this story? Well, given my next complaint, yes, but that then brings me to the fact that if this book wanted to be authentic maybe a native speaker or someone whose life this is should have been telling this story. And I am against censorship, anyone can write any story they want, but that doesn't make it feel right. Because this book exudes white privilege and Hand is nothing but a haole! Grady and his adventures are nothing but the biggest most nauseating example of white savior complex I have read in years. I mean, it's so horrid that if I had to summarize the book in one word it would be cringe. I physically recoiled from this book. At one point a character accosts Grady saying "You think you're the fucking chosen one." And that is the book, he IS the chosen one. A drunk, messed up chosen one, but it's the outsider status of a white man that's the problem. He comes in and Dalita is all, yeah, people disappear all the time, but no one's ever going to take the time to figure it out. Well their new white savior will! Because that's what he's here to do, make everything right for the natives. How could Hand, whose previous works I loved for their understanding and subtleties write this tone-deaf tome!?! That's the real mystery.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Authenticity, Caretaker, Chosen One, Covid, Disappearances, Elizabeth Hand, Grady Kendall, Hawai'i Creole English, Hawaii, Hawaiian Pidgin, Hokuloa Road, Maine, Murder Most Foul, Pandemic, White Savior Complex

If last fall, after I'd watched a few episodes of the "dark reboot" of Nancy Drew, you'd tell me it would end up being my favorite adaptation of the year I would have laughed at you. Yes, I admit I'm all about the "dark reboot" having devoured the first season of Riverdale over a harsh weekend in 2017, but a dark Nancy Drew? Sure I was interested, but not sure I'd be hooked. I viewed it as a nice Wednesday night paring with Riverdale. But as Riverdale's quality continued to tank I looked more and more at Nancy Drew to be my Wednesday fix to get me through the rest of the week. Though I do applaud Riverdale for the nice twist of fate in that they were doing their own Hardy Boys tribute with this season's Baxter Brothers. A coincidence? Hell no. Do I care? Not as long as it entertained me. So what changed? What made me push aside an old favorite and choose a mildly diverting show about the residents of Horseshoe Bay, Maine, and the recent high school grads working at The Bayside Claw, a perennially failing restaurant? Much like Perry Mason, this isn't your parent's Nancy Drew, but I think that's why it works. And aside from the fact that it grows on you, I loved that the mysteries they tackled each week made all the characters personally involved. Their history, their backstory, their past relationships, everything tied into the narrative to make this bay side community rife with crime and more importantly the supernatural. The fact that the supernatural is real here still makes me giddy. It's not just hinted at or intimated, ghosts are REAL! And I love me some ghosts and ghouls. What's more, Nancy is being haunted by the ghost of Dead Lucy, the local urban legend which is very much based in truth and very much important to Nancy's backstory. Yet, my favorite character, hand's down, is George's mother, Victoria Fan, played by Liza Lapira. George was Nancy's former nemesis and now boss and George's mother knows everything there is to know about the supernatural. She's usually drunk and hostile because she's trying to shut herself off from the supernatural goings-on, but when she strolls into the Claw, you know it's going to be a kick ass episode. I would watch a show just about her! Until that day I at least have Nancy Drew.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Baxter Brothers, CW, Dark Reboot, Dead Lucy, Ghosts, Hardy Boys, Horseshoe Bay, Liza Lapira, Maine, Nancy Drew, Perry Mason, Riverdale, Supernatural, The Bayside Claw, Urban Legend, Victoria Fan

A Perfect Proposal by Katie Fforde
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: April 9th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Sophie Apperly is the odd one out in her family. They are all academic and artistic, whereas she's more of a homebody who likes to upscale thrift store finds into interesting creations. Therefore as far as her family are concerned she's a bit dumb and a bit of a dogsbody. To that end they volunteer her to take care of their Uncle Eric in the hope that this little gesture will make the horrid old man remember them in his will. Of course things don't go to plan in that Sophie and Eric get on like a house on fire and she finds out about a lost family trust to do with an oil well. Sophie decides to try to help her ever skint family by investigating this trust and to that end she gets a short term job in New York and goes to visit one of her two best friends. It's Sophie's dream come true, she's always wanted to go to New York, so when the job falls through, well, it's sad, but then there's more time to play the tourist on her very restricted budget.

At a gallery opening the helpful Sophie comes to the aid of the elderly Matilda. They instantly hit it off and soon Sophie is going to Connecticut to spend Thanksgiving with Matilda, who's grandson, Luke, looks on Sophie as a gold digger. Matilda and Luke himself are both rather wealthy. Yet Sophie has a heart of gold and, though she may be almost flat broke, she would never take advantage of this situation fate has landed her in. A situation that might help both her and Matilda, as Matilda sends Sophie back to England with a request, to find the house Matilda spent her holidays in as a youth. This might seem like a wild goose chase, but it's quite fun, and with Luke coming along for the ride, maybe something more then an old house will be found?

Three years ago I picked up my first Katie Fforde book and it was instant dislike. Love Letters struck all the wrong chords in me and made me swear off Katie Fforde. Of course I am a fickle person and I felt bad for having sworn off an author with only reading one of their books. I mean, shouldn't I at least give that author a second chance? Therefore I could look back without regrets having given said author the benefit of the doubt. As it so happens A Perfect Proposal had electronic galleys through Net Galley and I thought, if they approve my request, here is the perfect opportunity as it where to see if my first impressions were wrong. I thank the stars, and the e-galley gods, that I gave Katie Fforde a second chance. A Perfect Proposal was just the book I needed to brighten my days during a bleak time. This book is funny and witty with characters I connected to. I am hoping that Love Letters was the aberration in Fforde's writing career and not A Perfect Proposal so that I have tons of new books to look forward to. It's just such a wonderful surprise to find an author that you feel you can embrace.

You know how in some books they just drop everything in your lap from page one, here is everything and everyone, wham, girl, guy, situation, lots of complications till they are together, the end, or till they go at it, whichever comes first. A Perfect Proposal though does the exact opposite. We meet Sophie and are given the time to connect to her. We learn about her quirky dreams about customizing vintage and thrift clothing. How she's always loved the ocean. We feel for her because her family takes her for granted and think her a little daft, and who amongst us can't relate to that? There was a wonderful luxury in getting to know someone before they were thrust into this romantic situation. Not only that, but how often is it that someone so fundamentally good is the heroine? She has flaws, but she has such a big heart, she helps people who need it, is willing to give back without taking, has morals and is virtuous, but not in a goody two-shoes way. This lent the whole book a Jane Austen vibe in my opinion. There was the good poor girl who we've come to love and then her helpfulness puts her in the path of the aloof rich boy whose heart she will eventually melt by her sweetness. A modern Lizzy and Darcy if Lady Catherine decided to play matchmaker instead of heartbreaker. Sigh. I kind of wish the book hadn't ended so I was still in this world.

But no book is 100% perfect, there is always the things the niggle me, even in my most favorite of novels. The first is I didn't feel like the author had ever actually been to the United States. First that people from Maine were picking Sophie up in New York... um... I've driven that distance... it's like ten hours, not a short little jaunt. For Sophie not to know this it's excusable, but for the people she works for not having her fly there, that's weird. Sophie never using the internet, that's just odd. But New York being all wrong really got to me. Firstly, not knowing how big New York state is, forgivable, messing up distances within New York City, no way! She did a full days walk in weird opposite directions in hours, and then there's The Frick. I have been to The Frick many a time, and well, it's small, so easy to see everything in a short amount of time, an hour would do you easy, but Matilda makes it sound like it's the size of the MET! Also, the timezones are all off, England is five hours ahead of New York, no more, no less. Just little things an editor should have picked up on... which looking at my review of Love Letters, that was my main complaint, a lack of an editor...

Yet what I really want to know is what is up with this trope of Chick Lit and holidays? So I did inadvertently do Chick Lit month around Easter, chicks, see, it's funny right? But so many Chick Lit books throw in holidays. Bridget Jones's Diary is all about the holidays, bonfire night, Christmas... same with Confessions of a Shopaholic, oh, and Going Home which I just read too was all about Christmas. And that's not even taking into account girly movies like The Holiday and Love Actually, which I actually really hate. Is there an unwritten rule that makes holidays a must for declarations of love and hookups? Personally I think it's a little tacky, but that's just me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Perfect Proposal, An Excess of Chicks, Bridget Jones's Diary, Chick Lit, Going Home, Jane Austen, Katie Fforde, Love Actually, Love Letters, Maine, New York, Shopaholic, The Frick, The Holiday, The MET

Thumb Flagging by Jerome Peterson
Published by: Eloquent Books
Book Provided by the Author
Publication Date: March 31st, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 410 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Jay Patterson has issues. The only boy and the youngest of a brood of five sisters he suffers from spoiled brat syndrome. This shadow occasionally rears it's selfish head now and again but he wants to control it. Willy is Jaybirdy's friend and he thinks he has the cure... hitchhiking. A way of life where you are at the mercy of those who pick you up and all you can do is have the proper presentation while hitching on the side of the road to achieve the more desirable rides, because one bad ride is all it takes. Willy convinces his crackerjack friend that the time is right for him to learn the ways of the concrete diva. "Afoot and lighthearted, I take to the open road" to live the American Mythology of freedom. The next day, slightly hungover, they take to the Arizona highway and byways to visit Jay's sister in Durango, Colorado. While waiting to be chosen by one of the multitude of cars that pass them, Willy imparts his knowledge and experience to Jay. How it's all about the attitude, posture and letting go, as Willy likes to cry out: "Me is free of identity!" Jay also observes that the way Willy sticks his thumb out with a little jaunty move it looks like a flag blowing in the breeze... and Thumb Flagging is born.

On their way to Durango they encounter many an interesting fellow. From a cowboy who holds more sadness in his heart then Jay can bear, to a preacher's wife who wants to know if Jay believes in love at first sight, to the scariest knife wielding crazy you could imagine, Petrie Sykes, to monument obsessed Native Americans, they meet every facet of humanity on the concrete diva. But between the good rides and the bad they arrive at Jay's sister's house unannounced. While she isn't pleased they have a fun night out and Willy and Jay hook up with some girls and they head back to Arizona in the morning flush with victory. On their return they plan to head back to work but they've been suspended because they didn't show up due to thumb flagging. Their solution is to take to the open road once more to while away their three day suspension.

Jay gets the crazy idea from seeing Bob Dylan's house in the newspaper that they should head to Malibu and see if they could meet his idol. There would be no greater homage to the man then thumb flagging to meet him. This leg of the journey is predominately peopled with a pro golfer, Trent Love, a psychic, Celeste, and a mentally handicapped man, Raymond, who has issues with some seagulls. The ominous Sykes also makes an appearance with a mysterious woman now by his side. Celeste rattles their cages and makes them come to some harsh conclusions about themselves. Jay decides that he must keep his spoiled brat child of a shadow under control or he will take those he cares for down with him. While Willy becomes reckless and decides they should be true hobos and illegally ride the rails before he confesses he has a son and a girl back in Maine and he thinks the time has come to return to them. Before he leaves Arizona they learn of Trent Love's horrible murder and they know it's Sykes. Willy's parting advice is to not tell the cops because Sykes would know it's them. Jay breaks this promise.

Summer comes and Jay has decided it's time to thumb flag his way to Maine to visit Willy and his son Hudson. With his trusty huskote, Nanook, he takes to the road. From preachers to servicemen he makes it across the Mississippi no longer being the pupil but the preacher himself. Jay has more confidence and Willy's knowledge to impart. Once in his home state of Illinois he finds himself perfectly paired with another thumb flagger, Chloe, who joins him on his journey. Chloe has a much more energetic and dance happy attitude to flagging with her trusty tape recorder blaring out Christmas Carols in July, which masks her emotional baggage. But there's a shadow, not his own demons, but Sykes and Mona are following them, knowing it was Jay who ratted them out to the police. Are they safe? Is Willy and his family safe? Is Chloe the answer to all Jay's questions? Can Jay just live with how things turn out and embrace the acceptance and detachment that Willy taught while they traveled this great land?

Broken into three sections this book slowly builds, creating a portrait of America and the humanity that dwells within. The first section is dominated by Willy as he imparts his wisdom to Jay and teaches him the ways of the concrete diva. The second section is more a journey of equals, where Willy is more a trusty companion then the driving force of their first journey. The third section is strictly Jay's journey and his acceptance of the life he finds. While I enjoyed the first two sections with Willy, who is a very humorous belief spouting traveler, it wasn't until Jay's journey that I became invested in the characters. Willy's humor and rhetoric act as a shield, so while you appreciate him, you don't really empathize or relate, unlike Jay. Jaybirdy is vulnerable and more relatable. Plus, I'll put this right out there, I'm a sucker for Nanook, who's such a sweet, smart dog. Also, as I've always said, look to how people treat their animals, and the bond that exists between Nanook and Jay shows the quality of person he is.

The two aspects of the book that thoroughly engrossed me in the third part was the Sykes mystery and Chloe. The first two sections were just as much about the journey as the destination, in fact the destination did not really matter in the end. Whereas in this final section, while the journey is just as important as the previous sections, the destination is even more so because of the Sykes/Mona factor and the Chloe factor. Can Jay stop this devious couple and protect his friend he is going to see while also winning the hand of the fair maiden before journey's end? It made me veritably fly through the final 200 pages.

As a final rumination I will say that I have many similarities to Jay's issues he has which he uses the highway as therapy for. I would never think of taking the action he did but I can see the benefit of taking him out of his comfort zone and how this forces him to grow up. This is a true American coming of age story where Jay's inhibitions are overcome up the siren call of the road. I have never felt an urge to just head to the nearest embankment and stick out my hand, but I have friends who have and who valued this experience as part of their lives. For those who would never or those who have this book is a great read. It has a little bit of everything and just might make you want to take out your map and see where the road might lead as passenger or driver.

Remember you can enter to win a signed copy of this book until December 20th!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 3:58 AM 1 comments  

Labels: America, Arizona, Bob Dylan, Book Review, Hitchhiking, Hudson, Jay Patterson, Jaybirdy, Jerome Peterson, Maine, Mona, Nanook, Raymond, Thumb Flagging, Trent Love, Willy Jacobs. Petrie Sykes

This week I'm profiling the author Jerome Peterson. Jerome has a great book out, Thumb Flagging, that maybe you might find yourselves tempted to buy for others this holidays season... I'd recommend it. Jerome will be stopping by this week to answer a few questions. I will also be posting my review and of course, what would an author profile week be without a giveaway!?! That's right, Jerome has kindly sent me a signed copy for one lucky reader of my blog. So stop in throughout the week, learn a little but about Thumb Flagging and perhaps get yourself your next great read!

Here's the books official patter to whet your appetites:
"The lure of the open road and the undeniable wanderlust of the heart have overtaken the life of young, kindhearted Jay Patterson. When he meets confident, free-spirited Willy Jacobs, Jay hesitantly becomes a bohemian of the highway in this tale set in the late seventies. Their unforgettable cross-country journeys by hitchhiking and riding the rails lead them to extraordinary situations beyond their imaginations.

Willy is a friendly street-smart drifter who applies his zany roadside therapies to help Jay overcome his crisis of confidence. As the unlikely pair travel, Willy philosophizes and uses his strong personality and energy persuading Jay into becoming a hitchhiking junkie. The vagabonds meet with unexpected encounters and come face-to-face with themselves and the harsh realities of the open highway.

They stumble upon many others who are traveling and tending to their own physical, psychological and emotional wounds. Paranoia strikes at the heart of their journey as they cross the path a number of times with a mysterious psychopathic couple.

While traveling alone from Arizona to Maine, Jay meets a female drifter. The decisions they make could result in a magical relationship or a tragic goodbye. Jerome Peterson lives in Sonora, California, and works for a park and recreation district. He has hitchhiked across country, which included riding the rails. His next book is Jesus Is a Gardener, and he is preparing a poetry manuscript and a book of short stories."

Now onto the giveaway!

THIS GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED

The Prize:
Thumb Flagging, Signed by the Author Himself!!!

The Rules:
1. Open to EVERYONE, just because you haven't been following me all along doesn't mean you don't matter.
2. Please make sure I have a way to contact you if your name is drawn, either your blogger profile or a link to your website/blog or you could even include your email address with your comment(s).
3. Contest ends December 20th 11:59PM CST
4. How to enter:

Answer me this: If you could hitchhike anywhere, where would you go?

5. And for those addicted to getting extra entries:

• +1 for answering the question above
• +2 for becoming a follower
• +5 if you are already a follower
• +10 for each time you advertise this contest - blog post, sidebar, twitter (please @MzLizard), etc. (but you only get credit for the first post, so tweet all you like, and I thank you for it, but you'll only get the +10 once). Also please leave a link!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:17 AM 12 comments  

Labels: Arizona, Hitchhiking, Jay Patterson, Jerome Peterson, Jesus Is a Gardener, Maine, Thumb Flagging, Willy Jacobs

Under the Dome by Stephen King
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: November 10th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 1088 Pages
To Buy

Official patter:
"On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when — or if — it will go away.Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens — town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing — even murder — to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out."

Sure everyone's excited about the whole, Stephen King might have finally written a book to best The Stand (at least in length). Personally, as a graphic designer, I find the whole concept of the cover fascinating. Not only was Scribner willing to sink a ton of money into it, but it was also all from Stephen King's own wishes! A publisher doing the bidding of an author? How novel... but then again, if you're Stephen King... To perfectly create the town he created within the dome of their doom the cover had almost as much work done on it as a big blockbuster movie! From using photos to illustration to computer rendering to CGI, plus we must not forget the "big reveal," this cover has generated a lot of buzz. I think it turned out pretty well, I do like the full panorama going on.

Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith
Published by: Penguin Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sparkling collection of Zadie Smith's nonfiction over the past decade.

Zadie Smith brings to her essays all of the curiosity, intellectual rigor, and sharp humor that have attracted so many readers to her fiction, and the result is a collection that is nothing short of extraordinary.

Split into four sections-"Reading," "Being," "Seeing," and "Feeling"-Changing My Mind invites readers to witness the world from Zadie Smith's unique vantage. Smith casts her acute eye over material both personal and cultural, with wonderfully engaging essays-some published here for the first time-on diverse topics including literature, movies, going to the Oscars, British comedy, family, feminism, Obama, Katharine Hepburn, and Anna Magnani.

In her investigations Smith also reveals much of herself. Her literary criticism shares the wealth of her experiences as a reader and exposes the tremendous influence diverse writers-E. M. Forster, Zora Neale Hurston, George Eliot, and others-have had on her writing life and her self-understanding. Smith also speaks directly to writers as a craftsman, offering precious practical lessons on process. Here and throughout, readers will learn of the wide-ranging experiences-in novels, travel, philosophy, politics, and beyond-that have nourished Smith's rich life of the mind. Her probing analysis offers tremendous food for thought, encouraging readers to attend to the slippery questions of identity, art, love, and vocation that so often go neglected.

Changing My Mind announces Zadie Smith as one of our most important contemporary essayists, a writer with the rare ability to turn the world on its side with both fact and fiction. Changing My Mind is a gift to readers, writers, and all who want to look at life more expansively."

Sometimes you just feel in the mood for some reading that's not a novel with an elaborate plot but a nice little article. But on top of that, it's sometimes such a hassle to find new writers. So what could be better than a writer you already know and love releasing exactly what you were craving? Nothing! Zadie Smith, the celebrated author of White Teeth has often contributed articles and other writing to the world of literature, but now they're all collected in one place. Ah convenience! Plus I love how the cover is designed to integrate into your "Zadie Smith Section" of your library, being reminiscent of the On Beauty cover. I love consistency...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 1:05 AM 0 comments  

Labels: British Comedy, Changing My Mind, E.M. Forster, George Eliot, Maine, On Beauty, Stephen King, The Stand, Tuesday Tomorrow, Under the Dome, White Teeth, Zadie Smith