SheriC > Recent Status Updates

Martha’s constant corrections of Suki’s word choice is more than annoying, it’s rude. The girl has obviously got some sort of tic that causes her to substitute similar sounding words. It’s not ignorance and she hasn’t asked for help with it. She’s literally the only person who has shown any interest in Martha or demonstrated any caring for her at all and all Martha can do is constantly correct her.

Kicking off my Christmas reading with a new version of an old classic. I don't remember the circumstances under which I acquired this audio, read by Michael Page, but hoping it's a good one.

Martha needs a kick in the pants. She's so annoyingly passive. She's incredibly self involved. She doesn't "give" or "help" others as an expression of caring, she does it entirely to satisfy her own sense of self-worth. Other people are meaningless to her, except as a means of self validation.

The writing is a little clumsy and obvious, but I’m interested in the characters and where the story will go

First chapter impression: Annoying main character, but promising to have a satisfying character arc. Set up to be emotionally needy, desperately useful in hopes of some scraps of appreciation from anyone, endlessly taken for granted, and that's only when people bother to notice her at all. Militantly anti-romance, perhaps because that's how she avoids rejection.

No idea what to expect of this one. Picked up at a Friends of the Library sale.

“The Marble Hands” 1915 Capes - maybe where De Palma got the idea for the ending to Carrie

“Making Friends” 1987 Raisor. Ah the adulterated Halloween candy trope.

EDIT: apparently there are still parish clerks, go figure. But the modern role is somewhat different than in 1912, when the expectation was that they lit stoves and candles, dressed the rector, and readied the church for services.

"The Kirk Spook" 1912 (Swain) Not sure of the point of this one, but amused by opening (in jest?) assertion that soon no one will have met a parish clerk, as the profession is nearly extinct. And indeed it is, so extinct that if the story hadn't gone on to describe the duties, I'd have no idea what it was.

"The Jam" 1986 (Slesar) When road ragers get to where they're going. Flash fiction, but fun.

This has really turned out to be the story of the ghosts rather than that of the present day characters. I’m intrigued enough to keep reading, although the epistolary style in which it’s written is not very plausible.

Still enjoying the story, although the writing has some really clumsy inserts of exposition. Also, if these characters have encountered supernatural forces before - this is book #3 in an apparently haunted house series, plus prior adventures have been alluded to in the text - wtf are they so stubbornly refusing to entertain possible supernatural explanations for seemingly impossible events?

Nicely atmospheric and building the suspense. There's a ghosty who likes to play piano, apparently. And now we know there's something that will specifically menace the little girl.

But come on! If you're going to write a book featuring an antiques dealer, shouldn't you know that books printed in the 1920s and 30s wouldn't have ISBNs???

Off to a promising start. I never heard of this author, but I like her writing. And I have a special fondness for stories that set the stage with written correspondence. It fits so perfectly with the haunted house genre.

Here we go! I love starting new books by new (to me) authors. I have no idea what to expect with this one. I picked it up on a whim at Half Price Books, because it was a rare find: a horror hard cover written by a female author who isn't Anne Rice or one of those romancy vampire/detective/whatever story writers.

It's been a little hard to follow so far. And I feel like I'm missing out on some subtleties with all the basketball talk. I don't know anything about basketball except that it's played on a court and the ball has to go into the hoop to score.

"Men's brains seem to get petrified as they grow older. The surface becomes perished, like worn leather, and will no longer take impressions. You may have noticed it?"

Can I say how much I hate how Goodreads has made it difficult to post reading progress?

Not sure I’m going to finish this. Slow to get going, having trouble keeping my attention on it.

I'm finding these Wodehouse books are perfect audio for listening to while getting things done around the house.