Review: The Last Dream

The Last Dream by Pedro Almodóvar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure: I received an Advance Reader's Copy of The Last Dream by Pedro Almodovar from HarperVia via NetGalley.  

The Last Dream by Pedro Almodovar is a collection of short stories, mostly fiction although some are/might be autobiographical.  If you enjoy his films, you should enjoy this collection as they explore similar themes and reflect his style. My favorite story was the titular, The Last Dream.  I won't spoil it by telling you what it is about, but it was so moving.  It made me think of my own experience.  I shed some tears.  But not every story tugs at the heart strings.  Some are fun or dark or fantastical.  It is an interesting read because you never know what to expect from the next story.  Of course, you don't need to read them in order.  You could read them however you want.  But definitely read The Last Dream.  And maybe have a tissue handy just in case!

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Review: How to Sell a Haunted House

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Apparently, I have been on a haunted house kick lately, specifically a selling haunted houses of parents who have recently passed away under suspicious circumstances kick.  How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix fits very nicely in that niche.  Maybe because I am currently dealing with cleaning a house full of my parents' things, this book hit me hard.  I could relate to Louise not wanting to rush to just throw everything away.  There are lots of memories.  Memories are tricky things, and boy, can they be skewed by different perspectives.  This house has an added bonus, creepy dolls and puppets!  I never really thought of puppets as the thing of nightmares until now.  Dolls I can definitely see.  There are plenty of movies that make that point.  Add a healthy dose of sibling rivalry, and you have the makings of a horrific tale.  Get to reading!

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Review: Model Home

Model Home by Rivers Solomon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure:  I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of Model Home by Rivers Solomon from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux/MCD via NetGalley.  It should be available to the public on October 1, 2024.  

Rivers Solomon was in the process of writing Model Home when they read a teeny excerpt at WisCon last year.  I wrote down the title and have been obsessively waiting for its release ever since.  I almost lost my mind when I received an Advanced Reader's Copy because I couldn't wait to read this before Halloween.  You see, Model Home is a ghost/haunted house story, and it will haunt the hell out of you.     When you have to deal with the death of close family members, like your parents, it brings up all sorts of skeletons from your past. How one deals with it varies greatly.  Rivers has a way of writing that really puts my senses through a workout.  I swear I could taste the late night diner pancakes.  I really wanted those pancakes.  Don't let the pancakes distract you! This is some deeply dark stuff we are dealing with, but wow, was it worth it. 

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Review: Raising Women

Raising Women by Shannon Waite
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure:  I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of Raising Women by Shannon Waite from the author via NetGalley. This book should be available to the public starting October 11, 2024.

When I read the description for Raising Women by Shannon Waite, I knew I needed to read it.  It is described as an interactive novel about growing into womanhood.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE a choose-your-own-adventure book, game, movie, whatever so this was a no-brainer.  I've also made it into womanhood successfully by many definitions, so how bad could I get it wrong?  Hint: I got it really wrong.  The good news is I could go back and try again.  Reading it on Kindle made it fairly easy to jump to the right section.  Going back was less easy.  This is not a sweet coming-of-age book. You are a teenage girl, but you have to deal with very adult situations and sometimes uncomfortable situations.  Keep that in mind if you decide to gift this book!  I still had a lot of fun ruining my life.

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Review: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix really had me steaming about the patriarchy.  As he says in the forward, this book is a tribute to the mothers who are the everyday, unsung heroes.  To all the people who dismay the "housewife" as someone without a job, you have no idea.  So, a group of housewives start a book club to help them escape the day-to-day for just a bit.  They like to read true crime.  As a fellow lover of true crime, I get the appeal.  Gruesome but fascinating!  Then things start happening in their neighborhood that they would be remiss to ignore.  While many people can overlook a lot, most can't overlook a potential threat to their children.  That's when the book gets uncomfortable.  It's also when the men in the book get so annoying, I wanted to get rid of all of them!  And yet, it didn't seem that over-the-top which makes me sad.  Even though it promises vampires, it reads more like true crime than straight horror.  When you finish reading it, don't forget to tell your mother you love her.

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Review: Murder Road

Murder Road by Simone St. James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Murder Road by Simone St. James is a story in the tradition of urban legends about ghostly hitchhikers.  There's many a haunted road in the United States.  They are almost always some long, unlit deserted stretch in a rural part of the country. People who have heard the rumors tend to avoid it just in case.  But sometimes you are just passing through. You take a wrong turn.  And that turns your life upside down.  Lots of good suspense with plenty of secrets.  You might want to take this one for a ride.

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Review: The Book of Gems

The Book of Gems by Fran Wilde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Book of Gems is the third novella in the Gemworld series by Fran Wilde. I had been told you didn't need to read any of the other books to read this one, and that is true. I started here. This book was recommended to me because I like epistolary novels. It helps that it is short, so you don't have to worry about making a huge time investment into something you may or may not enjoy. In this case, I did enjoy it. There are definitely gems involved in new and unique ways. Don't upset them!

For a novella, there are a lot of interesting themes packed in here to chew on. You don't have to know anything about gemstones to appreciate the story even though they play a major role. It is more like a cautionary tale of colonialism and unethical archaeology. It made me think of early Egyptologists and the curses that supposedly plagued them.

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