Nacwolin’s Neighborhood

Finished Under the Dome by Stephen King.

This is definitely my least favorite of his epics (in order: It, The Stand, then this), but it's still pretty good.

The town of Chester Mills (in Maine, but I bet you could've guessed that) is basically your average small town--until a dome is dropped on it.  Nobody knows why (our government doing an experiment? terrorism? aliens?) but why doesn't really matter when you're under a dome and completely cut off from the outside world.

As if the dome isn't bad enough, there are some less than savory people in the town (notably the second selectman Big Jim Rennie and his son, Junior).

It's a long book, and it covers a week in the life of the town.  (The dome is dropped a couple pages in.) 

It took me a while to get into this book (about 500 pages, or half the book) but I finished the other half of the book in about 24 hours.

Connections to other King stories:  Not really.  Castle Rock is mentioned, but that's about it. (There's also a character named Myra Evans, but it's not the same one from Needful Things.)

Movie version:  No (not yet?).

 

This is of no interest to anyone but me, but here's a list of the books coming out next year that I'm excited to read (this will be updated, probably):

January:

5:  Captivate by Carrie Jones (sequel to Need), Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves, Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers, Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler, Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky, It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs

12:  The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova, All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab  

19:  Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris, The Mark by Jen Nadol

21:  The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes

26:  Blood Ties by Kay Hooper

February:

1:  Possessed by Kate Cann, Numbers by Rachel Ward

2:  Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

10:  The Wife's Tale by Lori Lansens

16:  Horns by Joe Hill

23:  The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood 

March:

2:  House Rules by Jodi Picoult, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

9:  Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman, So Much for That by Lionel Shriver, The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

16:  Vampire Diaries:  Shadow Souls by LJ Smith, The Body Finder by Kimberly Dirting

23:  Every Little Thing in the World by Nina de Gramont, Caught by Harlan Coben

April:

1:  Cool Beans by Erynn Mangum, This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer (sequel to Life As We Knew It)

6:  Strange Fate (Night World) by LJ Smith

20:  Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

27:  The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg, The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong (Darkest Powers book), The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

May:

3:  The Red Thread by Ann Hood

4:  After the Kiss by Terra Elan McVoy, Lies by Michael Grant (sequel to Gone and Hunger)

25:  Heart of Valor by LJ Smith, Night of the Solstice by LJ Smith, The Lighter Side of Life & Death by CK Kelly Martin

June:

1:  My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares, The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch

10:  The Evil Within by Nancy Holder (sequel to Possessions) 

15:  Churched by Matthew Paul Turner, The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst 

July:

13:  Live to Tell by Lisa Gardner, Broken by Karin Slaughter

Suggested by JM:

“Life is too short to read bad books.” I’d always heard that, but I still read books through until the end no matter how bad they were because I had this sense of obligation.  That is, until this week when I tried (really tried) to read a book that is utterly boring and unrealistic. I had to stop reading.

Do you read everything all the way through or do you feel life really is too short to read bad books?

I've almost always completed books that I've started.  Maybe because I usually read books that have been well-reviewed or maybe because I'm generally an optimist and that even after a slow start I hope that it might get better, or maybe I have a stick-to-it-iveness that says if you're going to start something you might as well finish it.

Speaking of of finishing it, that does remind me of one of the few books I didn't finish -- "IT" from Stephen King.  Clocking in at over a thousand pages and at the apex of his drug-addled, no-one-will-edit-him 80s long windedness (Steve: more isn't always better) -- I plodded along in this for about 400 pages and then said, "No mas!"

Oddly, I know several people for whom this book was one of their favorites, but I couldn't stand IT.

Just wondering if I am the only person that tends to eat more when they are sick. It's like, I feel bad, so I go around the house eating whatever I can get my hands on hoping that it will be the magical thing that will make me feel better. In the end, I'm still sick and now my pants are tight too. 

Finished The Shadow Club Rising by Neal Shusterman.

This takes place after the events of The Shadow Club.  Not surprisingly, nobody at their school trusts the members of the (now-disbanded) Shadow Club.  And when a new student (the incredibly obnoxious and unfortunately named Alec Smartz) starts getting hideous pranks played on him, everyone (students, teachers, the principal) believes it's because of The Shadow Club in general and Jared in particular.

So Jared has to prove his innocence.  I preferred this to the first book but still like Unwind most of all. :)

 

Finished Hunger by Michael Grant (the sequel to Gone).

This is more of the same (kids surviving in a world without parents) but there are more bad things thrown in in this one. (No, I'm not getting more specific; if you're curious, read them.)  :)

I think I prefer Susan Beth Pfeffer's books, but these are good, too.

 

It was a big day for Penny yesterday as she completed and graduated from her Family Dog I class.  For the past month and a half or so, we’ve been working on sitting and staying and heeling and coming when called – all the things that are needed to be a good dog citizen.
 

I will have to say that Penny didn’t really love the classroom environment, because she couldn’t quite conceive of a place where there were half a dozen nice dogs and that she wasn’t supposed to play with them.  What else could they be there for???
 
Still – when called on to do her series of behaviors, I have to say that she did really really well and passed with flying colors.  After the final class, there was a little graduation ceremony and all the dogs received their diplomas to everyone’s cheers, though I’m pretty sure Penny was everybody’s favorite (not that I’m biased or anything).
 
After the class, Penny got an extra treat and then got to go play with her BFF Roxy the Vizsla at dog beach.  They ran and ran and ran together and just had a great old time.
 

Afterwards, we all tramped over to a dog-friendly café in Del Mar for a late breakfast, relaxing well into the early afternoon over good food, pleasant conversation and tired pups.
 
Good job, Penny!

Finished Gone by Michael Grant.

This is a pretty fitting series to start right after reading Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone (and right before Under the Dome), because there are similar themes.

In this one, everyone over the age of 14 disappears, all at once.  (So kids 14 and younger are now responsible for themselves/each other.) 

To make matters more interesting, some of these kids start developing powers.  (Think X-Men style mutations.)

Not surprisingly, they start to break into two camps--Team Sam (good) and Team Caine (awful).

This is an interesting series.  (I'll be starting book 2 tonight or tomorrow; Gone ended with no real sense of resolution.)

Finished The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer.  This is a companion book to Life As We Knew It. 

Alex lives with his parents and two younger sisters in New York City.  When the asteroid hits the moon, his mom is at work (she works in a hospital's OR) and his dad is in Puerto Rico for a funeral. 

Alex has to figure out a way to keep his family safe and together, at least until one or both of his parents comes home.

I think I preferred Life As We Knew It, but this was good, too.

These books (there's going to be a third out in April) are so scary, too.  I don't think I'd do well in a world where I'd have to acquire food someplace that isn't a grocery store (or any of the places where we normally get food) and I certainly don't know how to cook and wash clothes without electricity and running water. 

Since I have been neglected my blog I thought the perfect way to work back into it would to do a post everyday with the catchy little title/themes...Me and My Monday, Things on Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday...I think I made up Thankful Thursday, but since we are in the month of Thanksgiving I thought it would be appropriate.  Problem is, I do not have a catchy title/theme for Friday.  I know many people used to participate in Ugly Outfit Friday, but all of my outfits are ugly and I am not in to photographing myself lately.

So...what to call today....Fantastic Friday would probably be okay if it was indeed a fantastic Friday, but it is not.  Freaky Friday might work better, but what do I post for that?  Fried Friday could be an interesting.  Kind of stumped.

Plus, after having a horrible night, I wake to find out that a neighbor's husband hung himself.  And then one of the blog families I have come to love is losing their little boy today.

Maybe a more appropriate title would be F-ed Up Friday, but that is probably too offensive.