Jessica’s Comments (group member since Nov 09, 2013)

Jessica’s comments from the Cedar Falls Public Library group.

Rebecca wrote: "The House on Cerulean Sea is on the top of my reading list. I've heard good things. I've got Seanan McGuire's new book on hold as well. Love her <3"

I just finished Across the Green Grass Fields; it reminded me of In an Absent Dream, which was my favorite in the series so far. The Wayward Children is a great series: shorter books with lots of folklore and fairy tale elements, and great representation of different gender and sex identities.

I really liked Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. She draws on folklore from pre-Columbian American civilizations in this fantasy, which is the first in a series.

How are your reading resolutions going so far? I'm on the second Harry Potter book, I have yet to crack open a non-fiction book (though I have one in my to-read pile), and I've been faithful to the online book club I'm participating in. Not too shabby so far.

Good job guys! I just though of another resolution for myself: I am in a few book clubs on goodreads, and I'm not good at reading along with the group and participating. I want to be better at that....and with posting in this group too!

Do you have any resolutions for reading for 2017? I am planning on reading more non-fiction than I typically do, and I also think I am going to re-read the Harry Potter books, which I love and haven't read in several years.

I hope you enjoy it Sue!

I myself am re-reading a book that came out in the last year or two, called A Head Full of Ghosts. It's a post-modern tale of possession told by the younger sister of the possession victim and supported by television footage shot for a reality show, blog posts, and other current media methods.

And I can't believe I forgot to mention a fantastic title I read over the summer called Security. A super-modern luxury hotel is about to have it's grand opening, but the staff are being quietly and hideously murdered, in spite of the state-of-the-art security system. It is absolutely a slasher movie brought to life in a book, and I loved it.

Some more of my favorite horror novels....

Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury! Rural community! A sinister carnival!

The Little Stranger Sarah Waters is one of my most favorite novelists, and this one is a bit different than her others....The Hundreds is a crumbling estate...is it haunted by the psychological pressures of modern society or something less earthly? I pick up different clues and form a different theory every time I re-read this one!

The Supernatural Enhancements is recommended to fans of modern 'paranormal' horror movies. Told through diary entries, video and audio footage, we only get pieces of the story and are left to form our own conclusions about the events reported in this story.

The Other is amazing, it's so creepy and the twist blew my mind the first time around! I wish more people knew about that book.

Shirley Jackson is my favorite horror writer; she is very atmospheric and subtle. The classic The Haunting of Hill House is one I re-read every year.
In the past year I've gotten into reading vintage paperback-type horror from the 1970s and 80s, and have found Michael McDowell to be very good. I would recommend The Elementals by him.
A more literary haunted house tale that came out recently is David Mitchell's Slade House, which is a ghost-ish story that ties into the universe of his previous novels, namely The Bone Clocks. I loved it!
For a quirky, post-modern take on the haunted building, check out Grady Hendrix's Horrorstör, which is visually laid out like an Ikea catalog. I know that sounds weird, but it's a weird book, in a good way.
More of my favorite horror books to come in this thread!

October is upon us, and with Halloween around the corner it is my favorite excuse to read one of my favorite genres--horror! I especially love haunted house stories, so I'm rereading . What are your favorite spooky reads? Is there a particular genre that really freaks you out?

Sheryl wrote: "All time favorite: Catcher in the Rye. I also enjoyed A Secret History. I read "The Magicians" by Level Grossman, which had been suggested for readers going through Harry Potter withdrawal. It was ..."
I also read The Magicians trilogy; I gave it 3 stars. I thought some ideas in it were pretty good and could have been great, but they got bogged down with some sloppy writing and uninspired characters. I liked it okay, but probably won't read it again (I have to want to read it again someday for a book to get more than 3 stars).

With school starting back up, I've also been remembering titles that were required reading in high school. I LOVED Slaughterhouse-Five, which opened new worlds of literary possibilities to me, though most of classmates didn't like it for being "too weird." I HATED A Farewell to Arms, which offended my budding feminist sensibilities. What books did you read in school that you remember with fondness or disgust?

Hello everyone! Though it's still summertime, it's time to send our students, or ourselves, back to school, so let's talk about novels that take place in school. Boarding school, high school, college, whatever. Some of my own favorites are:
The Secret History---basically "the" book to read if interested in what happens when several slightly strange college students become a group seething with obsessions and jealousies.
Special Topics in Calamity Physics---like The Secret History, but a high school version complete with high-schoolish problems, plus some adult problems as well.

What are your favorite novels set in schools?

Sheryl, I started Wolf Hall once, and it was kind of a dense read with lots of political stuff going on so I gave up, but with the intention of going back to it someday.

My favorite read so far this summer has been Peyton Place: as a kid I remember it being referenced in pop culture as something racy and scandalous, and it did not disappoint. Published in the 1950s, it is about all sorts of things happening behind closed doors in a small New England town, much of which would not be shocking to today's readers, but if a reader allows herself to be drawn into the world of a conservative small town with definitive lines between classes, races, and religious persuasion, it still has the ability to surprise.

I finished The City & the City, and it...is hard to describe. The plot is a murder case, but the setting steals the show: the city-states of Beszel and Ul Quomo exist within the same physical space, but completely separate with some areas that belong to both cities.....the citizens of each are conditioned from birth to only acknowledge the people and places that belong to the city they live in, and to notice anything going on in the other city (which occupies the same space) is highly illegal. A woman is found murdered in an area that overlaps both cities, so detectives from both cities must work together without breaching city boundaries to solve the case. Very interesting, but not a light read.

I just finished Robert Galbraith's The Silkworm, which I really liked because it was about the literary world of London and interpreting text to solve a mystery. I have just begun China Mieville's The City & the City, which is sort of a speculative fiction/suspense story.

I just finished a wonderful book called The Improbability of Love: A novel that was published this year. The title's namesake is a famed lost painting purchased by a young woman in a thrift store, and features a colorful cast of characters fighting for ownership including trendsetters and tastemakers, shady art dealers, survivors of both sides of WWII, rich immigrants craving prestige, and a few working stiffs. It's rather long and took me a while to really get into, but once I was hooked I couldn't put it down.

I just finished Jackaby, which is YA historical fiction/fantasy. Jackaby is a detective in 19th century America, and has the gift of seeing supernatural creatures the rest of us don't notice (fairies, ghosts, demons). Abigail Rook is a young woman looking for adventure as well as a job and a home, and she becomes Jackaby's assistant. Great for young readers who enjoy Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who, as well as mysteries and fantasy.

I don't plan on reading Go Set a Watchman; Harper Lee never intended to publish it, and I feel like I need her permission to read it (I feel the same way about works published posthumously). I started In the Unlikely Event, but I couldn't get into it