Stephen King: Mr. Mercedes (2014)

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Hi! This is a review that I've been dreading, simply because I finished reading the book over a month ago and...I don't know why I do this to myself. I mean, I know how it got to be this long since I've finished, but damn.

I've had this post saved at "Hi!" since...Thursday, I think. I didn't even know how to continue it, so I finally settled on just being honest, haha.

I have a love/like relationship with books by Stephen King. Some of his books fascinated and terrified me - such as my all-time favorite Duma Key and his more recent Joyland. Others didn't grasp my attention quite as much - such as Christine and Rose Madder. Regardless, whenever King has a new release, I always check out the book's promotional bite, curious to see what he's managed to come up with next and whether or not it's something I might enjoy reading. When it came to Mr. Mercedes, I knew in an instant that King wrote a book I would not just enjoy, but enjoy thoroughly.

Oh, I won't deny it: it's fun figuring out who the mastermind murderer is. I would know the fun in murder mysteries - Agatha Christie is one of my top favorite authors. But when a book's bite instantly introduces the murderer by name, and that book's author is Stephen King, well, you simply can't go wrong.

Kristin Hannah: Fly Away (2013)

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Hi! I can't believe I'm already writing a review for Kristin Hannah's Fly Away. It's felt like forever since I read the book's predecessor, Firefly Lane, but it's only been a month, and I've read three books - and part of my own - in between. I thought I would have read plenty more books before sitting with Fly Away,  purely because Firefly Lane left such an impression on me. 

And I probably would have done that if it weren't for my mom, who fell in love with Firefly Lane after I recommended it to her. Unlike me, she was eager mere minutes after finishing the book to jump into its sequel. As such, I bought Fly Away much sooner than planned and, well, read it. 

You can read my review for Firefly Lane here, but in a nutshell, this book held so deeply with me that I had nearly nothing negative to say about it. The story was heartfelt and painfully real. I wasn't sure how Fly Away would stand up to it. 

With that being said, I think Kristin Hannah did a magnificent job, though as is per usual with sequels, the first is always the best. 

Gillian Flynn: Gone Girl (2012)

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Hello. I feel like I'm late to the whole Gone Girl craze- I mean, for a while it was the book that would continuously pop up here and there because of how "amazing" it was (Gone Girl veterans - see what I did there?). And then there's me, who enjoys all genres but has a soft, warm spot for mysteries, horrors, and psychological thrillers.

Still, I never felt the urge to read Gillian Flynn's bestselling thriller until now. Actually, I never had the urge to read it period. I just didn't know what to read after Heartbroken. Lo and behold, Gone Girl was sure to sneak in - again - as I searched for books, and I decided I'd give it a go.

What can I say? No, really, what can I say? I have very strange, cycloned feelings about this book, and I've been dreading this review since the moment I finished the last chapter on the train yesterday morning. What will I write? How do I summarize my thoughts on this book?

Because, truthfully, everything about everything is complicated when it comes to Gone Girl.

Lisa Unger: Heartbroken (2012)

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Hi everyone. I have to say, today was fairly disappointing - the weather was shit and that ultimately meant I couldn't take any new pictures for reviews (not that I, honestly, wanted to, and it isn't like I don't have pictures for products on the ever-growing waiting list), nor could I go walking (which is what I wholeheartedly wanted to do). The rain, one could argue, was the appropriate soundtrack to get through the last bit of the star of today's post - Lisa Unger's thriller, Heartbroken (2012) - but, honestly (again), I didn't even feel like reading. I didn't feel like doing anything.

Reminds me of my pajama shirt that reads "It's one of those days." Oh yes, yes it is.

Surprise, surprise - I don't want to write a review right now! But I'm pushing myself to do it because I did indeed finish Heartbroken and the best time to write a book review is, literally, as soon as possible after the book is done. 'Sides, it's not like I didn't like the story!

Sarah Addison Allen: The Sugar Queen

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Yay! Another book review! I'm finally getting into the routine of reading again, and it's great. The book today's post is about - The Sugar Queen (2008) by Sarah Addison Allen - is a book I've been meaning to read for a couple of months now, and I'm both sad and happy that I finally got around to it.

Sarah Addison Allen is an author that is fairly new to me, in a way, as I discovered her at the end of 2012. This is the third book of hers that I read out of the five that she has published, and it's this book that made me realize something. The anticipation of her next novel - whenever that is, since she just published one this past January - pretty much mimics that anticipation I have for all of Sakamoto Maaya's releases.

What I'm trying to say is, in the short time that I've known this author, and from the three books I've read of hers, I feel confident in saying that Sarah Addison Allen is my new favorite (living) author. The sadness that exists in this is the fact that, as I mentioned before, she only has five novels, and I'm now done with three of them. I almost feel forced to take my time getting to the last two because the thought of having none left to read is awful.

In any case, the reason I love Sarah Addison Allen's work enough to declare her my favorite author has much to do with The Sugar Queen, and the themes it shares with her other two books that I've read - The Girl Who Chased the Moon and Lost Lake. Which brings us to this post.

Kristin Hannah: Firefly Lane (2008)

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Whenever I go to Barnes and Noble, I always visit the fiction aisles to see if anything catches my eye. I love my tried-and-true favorites, like Agatha Christie and Stephen King, but I am as eager to discover a new love as I am to read another of their stories. I view my list of authors as I do my list of music artists: one that I work to expand on, so that the possibilities to experience become endless.

I've never heard of Kristin Hannah, but the covers of her books along the shelf were what drew me in, and the summary of Firefly Lane is what won me over. A story of friendship between two completely different girls that goes over the span of thirty-plus years. Horror and mystery novels are my favorites, but stories of life and all of its ugly and beautiful faces have been meaningful to me lately. And, of course, I love stories that really go in-depth. I rather know too much about the characters than too little. I want to feel - to realistically feel.

As such, I purchased Firefly Lane (2008). It has been my go-to read during my time on the elliptical, so I didn't expect to finish it this soon. But I've been wanting to read it - wanting to see what happens next, how the friendship between these girls ends or goes on forever. That's why I sat down today and read what was left.

Now I'm here, unsure of how to organize this review, but wanting to tell you that Firefly Lane is one of the most touching, powerful, and submerging novels I've ever come across.

Sarah Addison Allen: Lost Lake

One of the seven limited edition postcards.

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Hi! Here is another product I preordered at the end of 2013 for a 2014 release date.

...It seems weird calling a book a "product."

Anyway, when I heard that Sarah Addison Allen, an author I just discovered last year (you can see my review of the only other book I've read of hers here) but whose style I've fallen in love with, was finally having her fifth novel published, I couldn't wait for January 21, 2014 to roll around. My boyfriend preordered it for me as a gift, and I received shortly before my trip to California. As such, it was the book I took with me for my flight.

After reading The Girl Who Chased the Moon, and the backs of the other few books Allen has published, I knew Lost Lake was the book I wanted to read on my trip to and from California. I knew I'd be sad and restless, and I knew that her books are ones with refreshing, warm, and comforting stories spread across the pages. I wanted to bring a book whose story would distract me from the emotions I would feel - a book that would pull me into another life.

Allen's work thus far has managed to do just that, and I'm happy to share my thoughts on this new novel with you. Since it's more often than not inevitable for book reviews to be scarce in pictures, I'm also happy to say that upon the preorder availability of Lost Lake, Allen's website sent out an email that mentioned a neat bonus for those who did choose to preorder the novel: the submission of a preorder receipt and some basic information gave readers a chance to receive a set of limited edition postcards (such as the one above) with artwork from the novel. Please enjoy the pictures of these postcards throughout my review!

Sarah Addison Allen: The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Hi everyone. I'm really excited about this post, because the book I'll be talking about is one by an author that I've never read before, but whose writing I've fallen in love with. It's the kind of excitement I usually experience when I discover new music artists that I want to follow. With books, the feeling is much rarer.

The book is The Girl Who Chased the Moon, and the author is Sarah Addison Allen. I actually came across this book while browsing the Barnes and Noble sometime last year. What caught my eye was the book's title, since I adore the moon, and its cover, which you see above and will see again below in just a bit. But I ended up not getting it for reasons I can't even remember - and didn't get it until I stumbled across it in person during my trip to San Diego.

And I'm so glad I did. I'm normally a mystery/horror reader, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. But the book's synopsis captivated me - more on that later - by presenting a world both realistic and fantastical, and the story was one I enjoyed thoroughly. I finished the book yesterday and was eager to review it as soon as possible so that I could begin reading a second novel by Allen that I just purchased on Friday!

Stephen King: Joyland

Hi again. Time for a book review, yay! And a King one at that.

When I heard that Stephen King was releasing a book - Joyland - that had to do with murder, ghosts, and theme parks, I was thrilled. I love murder mysteries (hence my loyalty to the deceased Agatha Christie), I love horror built around ghosts (which feels like the most believable kind of horror, to me anyway), and I think that theme parks/amusement parks/carnivals - however you want to call them - are the perfect setting for anything horror. They have so much life flowing through them that there are as many happy memories in them as there are chilling histories. In carnivals, ghosts are inevitable.

So when 06/04/13 came around, and my preordered copy came in the mail as a gift from my boyfriend, I couldn't wait to start reading it. Of course, I was working on another book that is way longer and more complex to read at the time (and I have yet to finish), so I didn't get the chance to read Joyland until my flight to California. I finished it in about 3 sittings, though, and the reason is simple: King knows how to write.

Stephen King: Rose Madder

This review is long past due, as I finished reading this book months ago. I picked up a copy of Stephen King's Rose Madder for my trip home from San Diego. I find that, from experience, reading a good book during emotionally painful flights helps trick the mind from thinking about the pain.

Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House [[Spoilers]]

Hi everyone! I've been back in New York City since Monday night, and 'enjoying' the WONDERFUL weather we've been having (yep, I may have missed that terrible hurricane but I made it just in time for yesterday's snowstorm). Anyway, I'll write more about that in my next IceBlock post, but for now I want to finally give you guys a book review!