Inhale the decay

You know the smell of old books? The smell of a used bookstore? It's that slightly vanilla like scent that I have come to adore, want, crave. New books smell ... bland, like ink and paper. But the complex aroma of an old book is all its own. It even seems as if each old book smells slightly different. But what makes books smell so amazing? Science. There's stuff called cellulose and lignin in paper that breaks down as it ages into three different organic compounds; benzaldehyde, ethyl hexanol and vanillin. Vanillin smells like vanilla (suprise), benzaldehyde smells somewhat like almondy and ethyl hexanol smells flowery. You learn something new everyday. Now go open an old book and inhale those delicious decaying organic compounds. 

Dreaming

At the end of old novels the last page usually has some sort of mail order form for the authors other published works. Every time I see these pages I wonder what would happen if I sent my money in. Would I get my letter back? Or maybe, magically they'd actually send me the book? One can dream. 

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

Hardcover, 652 pages

Published September 15th 2001 by Random House (first published January 1st 1984)

Stephen King was somewhat of an idol in my house as a young child. My mom owned and cherished all of his books. While she was pregnant with me, Cujo was just released and my grandmother forbid her to read it because it was "too scary for a pregnant woman to read". Of course, she still read it and, yes it was horrifying, but that never stopped her. Growing up, I was drawn to these books and was told, "you can read them when you're older". So, like a good little girl, I waited until I was older. Kind of. 

Every year during the summer, my grandparents rented a cabin in Lake Tahoe for the whole family. It was on one of these annual family trips where I had my first taste of true horror. There was a game room in the cabin where us children were sent because we were too damn loud. That room had an ancient T.V. and old, second hand VHS tapes left by vacationers of years past. Amongst these tapes was one which changed my life. It was It, based on the novel by Stephen King. My cousin and I were intrigued. But we couldn't watch it while everyone was downstairs, lest we be caught. We waited. And waited. Then one day we got our chance. The adults left to gamble and we were left with one of our old uncles who turned his hearing aid off in our presence. We snuck upstairs and popped in the tape. This movie is the reason I can't look at clowns. I can't go to the circus. I don't even want to read It (well, maybe just a little ;)). I was horrified but I was hooked. Since that day I have been obsessed with everything horror. Which brings us to this book.

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub isn't what I'd call horror, even though these two authors are masters of horror. To tell the truth, it wasn't what I was expecting from these two at all. It's definitely got its creepy parts, but it's an amazing novel of adventure, fantasy and typical good vs. evil that Stephen King is known for. 

12 year old Jack Sawyer is swept from his normal life to a crappy hotel in New Hampshire. His mother's illness and harassment from her husbands old business partner has sent her into hiding, dragging poor Jack along for the ride. Jack spends his days roaming around the town, and talking to his new friend Speedy at the amusement park. Jack begins to question the "daydreams" he's had from a very young age and dives head first into a world like his own, but not quite to save his mother from cancer. 

Jack's story deals with coming of age, loss, good, evil and ultimate power. I'd add more, but honestly, you need to read it for yourself. I don't want to give anything away. I cried, I laughed and I stayed up all night reading this book. I can't remember a book leaving such an impact on me in a very, very long time. I know this is an old one, but honestly, everyone needs to read this book. It's utterly amazing. 

The Replacement - Brenna Yovanoff

Hardcover, 343 pages

Published September 21st 2010 by Razorbill/Penguin Group

There's something not right about the town of Gentry. Parents tell their children bedtime stories about a man who stole children. They hang small metal scissors over their infants' crib to keep them safe. But, inevitably, every 7 years a child goes missing. A replacement child is put in their crib in its place. The replacement child usually doesn't live long when the parents realize it isn't their real child. This has been going on in Gentry for years, but people don't talk about it, but they know it's a part of life and they know it's the reason their town is successful.

Mackie has always been different than his peers. He can't touch or go near anything with iron in it, including blood. His schoolmates think he's a wimp because he throws up everytime someone gets a bloody nose. His best friend Roswell is the only person who understands him. But Mackie is getting really sick, he's dying. He finds out what really lives underneath the city and that they're willing to help him, at a price. But what will Mackie do when he realizes that the last child who was taken is still alive and he's the only one who can save her?

The Replacement is a unique novel on good and evil and the grey that exists in between. Yet again I'm blown away by how Brenna Yovanoff weaves such an exquisitely beautiful yet dark world. I am still extremely impressed with her writing and this book may be her best, imo. 5 stars all the way. Read it :)

Come Sit By Me - Thomas Hoobler

ebook, 218 pages

Published July 15th 2015 by Booktrope

Paul and his father move to a quiet country town from New York City after Paul's mom died. The houses are big and cheap, the downside? Last year a high school student shot and killed 7 people. Now Paul is attending Hamilton High and is assigned the killer's old locker. After joining the school newspaper, Paul is assigned to write a memorial piece about the deceased, minus the killer, Cale, and he becomes obsessed. Nobody seems to know why Cale would kill kids he didn't even know, and more, they don't seem interested in finding out. Paul becomes determined to understand Cale and his motives even when it becomes dangerous. 

This is a promising story, but not all that original. The writing shows promise and with a little more substance I think this book could have been so much better. But my one big (well huge) problem with this book is Paul's obsession with breasts. Almost every chapter includes an in depth examination of some girls chest. The librarian, the cheerleaders, etc. "I did manage to sneak a look at her boobs, and was a little surprised to see that they didn't appear quite as big as before. Or perky. Or something. Well, they were still in the high percentile of breasts is observed up close, so I wasn't feeling buyer's remorse." Umm.. wow. Extremely degrading and stereotyped. 

Then there's Caleb's Book. The whole story was building up to this moment: the usb drive. If Paul just found the usb drive he would know why Caleb did what he did. And when he did... oh my. I get what the author was trying to do, really I do. Caleb isn't supposed to be the smartest kid ever, but really? The spelling is bad, yah ok. That would be fine and everything if it was just CONSISTENT. 

And that ending. Improbable to say the least. I really wanted to like this book, like really bad. It had promise, it started off going somewhere and then it got lost. This author has serious potential and I think that with some help this book could really be great. 2 stars. 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

The Space Between - Brenna Yovanoff

Hardcover, 363 pages

Published November 14th 2011 by Razorbill

Brenna Yovanoff is one of my new favorite authors. Her books are all completely different than any other YA books I have read, and when you read you become immersed in her beautiful and terrifying worlds. Her characters are deep and thought provoking, they make me think about what I would do in their situation. The Space Between is her version of Hell, Heaven, demons, Angels and religion. While normally I wouldn't be interested in a book about religion (like at all), Brenna makes the characters relatable and utterly human in an amazingly beautiful yet terrible world. 

Our main character, Daphne is the daughter of Lilith and Lucifer and has spent her entire life in the world of Pandemonium (AKA Hell). When her brother Obie (the son of Lilith and Adam) tells Daphne that he will leave Pandemonium for good to live on Earth with his true love Elizabeth, Daphne feels sad for the first time. On his way to the station, they come across Truman, a "lost one" (someone who is unaware that they are part angel) who is about to be torn apart by the demons of Pandemonium. Obie takes him home and nurses him back to health while Daphne stays in Pandemonium, sad and alone. Lilith, trapped in her metal garden, sees Obie in a vision, blood spraying across white snow, and orders Daphne to go up to Earth and save him. Daphne and Truman set out to find her brother and find that this fight is much larger and complex than they thought it was. Every demon and angel is in danger, especially Daphne and Truman. Can she find her brother and keep Truman safe while demons are being murdered everywhere she turns?

I don't like writing too much about plot because I believe that's something for the reader to discover on their own, and honestly there is a lot more I could say about this book but I won't. This book was fantastic, I highly recommend it. 4 1/2 stars. 

Bird Box - Josh Malerman

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published May 13th 2014 by Ecco

Omg omg omg! This book is absolutely fantastic. I literally could have read the whole thing in one night, but I restrained myself. This is definitely a book for adults who aren't squeamish because it WILL give you nightmares. 

Bird Box is an apocalyptic story with an unknown predator. They call them the creatures, but nobody for sure knows what they are. Once someone sees a creature they go insane, they become hostile and murderous before killing themselves. Those who have kept their eyes shut, the survivors, live in houses with covered windows in fear of looking outside. Our main character, Malorie, just lost her sister and has lost contact to her parents. Remembering an advertisement in the paper about a safe house, Malorie puts her life and the life of her unborn child at risk to drive there, keeping her eyes closed as much as possible. 

The story jumps from the future, when Malorie is caring for two four year old children to almost 5 years earlier in the same house with other survivors. The jumps between past and present create a sense of foreboding. Why is Malorie alone in the future, raising two children? What happens to the other housemates? And when she decides to leave, what is out there with her that her children keep hearing?

This is one of the best apocalyptic type books I have ever read. This review is very short because I don't want to spoil anything. Josh Malerman is an exceptional writer and I cannot recommend this book highly enough.