I'm a slayer, ask me how.

Sometimes I take the risk of putting a popular book on hold and try my best to get through it in the 3-week checkout period. And how could I resist a title like this – How to Sell a Haunted House? (Plus, I read ‘The Final Girl Support Group’ last year and really enjoyed it!)

Lots of spooky vibes going blended with some family drama. Like so many good ghost stories, the protagonist is clueless at the start, convincing herself that the TV magically turned on and that the creepy puppet just fell off the shelf.

She did just have the realtor (who is also her cousin - there is some small town drama too) tell her the house is haunted and she refuses to sell it. There were...noises in the attack which appears to have been nailed shut in a very haphazard manner, as though her parents were scared to go up there.

There was already an earlier chapter that made it hard for me to fall asleep after I read it - it wouldn't have been so bad but the scary thing happened while she was asleep and it wakes her up...

Anyway, about to dive back in and see what spookiness awaits! Hopefully the story and the scares can be sustained over the 400 pages (I have about 300 left, I think). I will report back!

I'm listening to 'The Last Wish', the first book in The Witcher series.

In the books and games (at least, in the English translations), the bard is named Dandelion.

For some weird reason, in the audiobook, the narrator has chosen to pronounce this as "Dan-DILL-ee-On" and it is just very weird. Like, I want to see his pages to see if it was spelled differently. Because in the game, he is definitely called "Dandelion", pronounced just like the flower.

(and all the Netflix only fans are like "Wait, you mean Jaskier?")

77 emails in my inbox from you lot. SEVENTY SEVEN. LJ/DW is dead, clearly. Only took me 90 minutes to speed read through them. I apologize for incoherent or missing comments.

This month has flown by, but not for the most fun reasons. I was pretty distracted with some health issues at the start and that should all be wrapping up tomorrow with a final blood test. Short version is that my body punked me and I got two periods for the price of one. Finally felt back to normal this past weekend.

I saw It: Chapter Two the weekend it came out. My friend Mathew and I saw the first one in the theater and I have a soft spot for this Stephen King story so I wanted to see part II on the big screen. Without spoiling anything, if you've read the book, the movie suffers from a lot of the same problems as the book. Except in the book, the adult and kids stories are intertwined, distracting you from the weaknesses but with this movie, they tried to focus on the adult stories more (though the kids are still heavily featured) but the adult story is just kind of boring. It wasn't bad, it just was kind of...it was a thing that happened. And I really was in the mood for something scary and this just wasn't. Kind of bummed, waste of a great cast. They were acting their asses off but, in the end, the script failed them.

Speaking of King, I've got his newest book The Institute from the library which is another reason I haven't been online much this week as I have been going to bed early to spend quality time with this book. I only have 3 weeks to read it because I'm sure it has a wait list because Stephen King. Usually I have a lunch book and a bedtime book, but I'm lugging this one all around with me, trying to sneak in a few pages every day. I'm really enjoying it so far but one thing I find distracting (that no one else will) is that it remind me of an X-Files story that I wrote in middle school. Perhaps these are tropes I wasn't even aware of...anyway, I don't want to spoil anything.

I also started listening to Tan France's book Naturally Tan which is read by Tan so it is like I am driving to work and Tan is sitting next to me, rambling about his life and I AM HERE FOR IT. I love it. He is cracking me up. I also find it amusing how much less taboo the word "fuck" seems to be in the UK and also the fact that Tan says "fuck" all the time but also says "gosh". He's adorable.

BASTILLE CONCERT THIS SATURDAY! I'm really excited about this. I'm taking my Mom because she is also a fan. It's at a new venue in DC that I have never been to, so we're going to make a day out of it. It is also Mom's birthday weekend, so I'm going to treat her to dinner along with the concert. It's this whole new part of DC that is all fancy and I guess on the water? It all opened up a few years ago so this will be an adventure for both of us.

We've got one more episode of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Atlanta and Killjoys left. I'm sad about the Killjoys finale because it is the series finale and I'm going to miss that show. It just had a great sense of humor and fun and action and I wish I had found it sooner.

Season 2 of Atlanta has just been all over the place, but in a good way. Every episode is a roller coaster of emotions. Donald Glover is a national treasure. I really look forward to his work as time goes on. This show is so good, but I feel like he is working up to something mind-blowing one day. Like, a whole other level.

Dark Crystal has been interesting. Oddly enough, I was surprised at how DARK it was LOL. I mean, I should have known, it is a prequel to the movie and I know how the movie STARTS so I know where this story will eventually END. But still. Damn. I am enjoying all the voices. Totally identified Mark Hamill right away, if only because he sounded like The Joker from his Batman days LOL. Deet is my favorite, but I think part of that is her character and part of that is her big dilated pupils give her that cute anime look.

The final season of Schitt's Creek will appear on Netflix October 5th. Talk about emotions. I'm ready though, it will be good to have that show back in my life.

And now it is 11pm so I need to get into bed and READ!

TTFN

I read a lot of comics at lunch this month, mostly because I am working my way through the new A.S. King novel at home and it is good but not a quick read. Little too heavy and heady. She is one of my favorite authors so anytime she puts out a new book, I drop everything to read her, such a unique style and voice. You'll have to wait until May for my full review though because I'm only halfway through the book.

Trees, Vol. 2: Two Forests by Warren Ellis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I’m intrigued by where this is all going! The black flowers and the Trees. The Mayor and the police. Will the humans destroy themselves before the real threat even appears?

And the real big question we are all left with - WHEN THE HECK DOES THE NEXT VOLUME COME OUT?!?! (oh wait, just Googled it, Warren Ellis posted in February that the script was submitted to the artist so hopefully the wait will be over soonish?


Space Boy Volume 1 by Stephen McCranie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


3.5 stars - There is a lot being set up in this book that I am assuming will pay off in the next volume. I did like the main character and her struggle. The idea of space travel that takes 30 years and what that would do to your life...

I was surprised that the eponymous Space Boy barely makes an appearance. Guess I will have to pick up book two to find out what is up with him!


Fence by C.S. Pacat

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was a lot of fun and I can't wait to read the next one. Reminded me a bit of 'Food Wars' with the plot centering around the school's heirarchy, the poor kid trying to prove himself and the try-out matches to make it on the fencing team.

I also found it amusing that it is set in an all boys school and there is a student who pretty much sleeps with everyone and the students KNOW he is just a heartbreaker but they do it anyway.


The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


So sweet, so perfect - maybe too perfect? I love the art style and how the whole story unfolded. And I’m glad it had a super mega happy ending, even if the odds of that happening make this a fairy tale.

Then again, if I was gender fluid and I was reading this story, I would want this ending. There are enough doom and gloom stories.


Logan's Run: Vintage Movie Classics by William F. Nolan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Picked this up after seeing the movie, hoping for more details about the society. Stopped about halfway through when I realized that it was just a poorly written book with a cool idea that some filmmaker snatched up the rights for, probably without actually reading the thing.


Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love how MurderBot is growing and changing a little bit with each book. Each story is better than the next. Its relationship with the humans and with other robots keeps evolving. And the sarcasm level also keeps going up LOL.

I'm a little sad there is only one more novella left and then I'll have to wait for the full novel to be released.


Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi by John Scalzi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Cute little collection of Scalzi stories. If you're not familiar with his longer stuff, you might wonder who the heck this guy is. They range from satire to silly to just goofy. I picked it up because one of the short stories was adapted for 'Love Death and Robots' on Netflix.

Tim is sick *again*. Hoping I don't catch it. Bonus is that we are going to drive out to see his family next week so we will be in the car ~13 hours...yeah I'm going to get it, aren't I?

He's driving me a little crazy right now because he is sitting behind me playing a game rather than in bed. He took the bedtime cold medicine over an hour again! It's going to be weak by the time he gets in bed. :\

BUT IT IS THE WEEKEND! AND I FINALLY READ ALL OF YOUR ENTRIES!

I feel like I just got my work groove back after all the short holiday weeks at the end of December. And also I was kind of spent at work so I read a lot of LJ/DW entries while drinking my hot chocolate this morning.

And then I treated myself on the way home with this:



I mean, I need something for that 13 hour car ride! I didn't play the original because who the heck owned a Wii U? It's one of the systems I never got (but believe me, I thought about it a lot!). It came out today so I bought it, which I can't even tell you the last time I actually picked up a game on the release date...maybe Mass Effect 3? Or was it Dragon Age Inquisition? Either way, it's been awhile!

I played it for a bit tonight while watching the last hour+ of BlacKKKlansbman. Did anyone else see this? I read the memoir and I was actually impressed by how close the script stayed to the true story. They could have gone overboard and created more scenarios for Ron to go through, but they kept it close, just letting the viewer marvel at how freaking insane all of it was. Though be warned, the last 5 minutes will mess you up. The messed me up. I wasn't ready. I don't want to spoil it but just...but ready.

So that is my first movie of 2019. A whole stack of DVDs showed up for me at the library because I had them all set to unsuspend after January 7th and I was apparently number 1 in line for EVERYTHING LOL. But with Tim sick and the weather being meh, it feels like a good weekend to maybe watch some movies while playing a video game hehe.

OR practicing my guitar! I didn't do all of my goals every day, but I did pretty well. I kept my Duolingo streak, exercised 3 days and practiced the guitar 3 days. I was rocking those first 3 strings today LOL. If you want to hear a really choppy version of "Ode to Joy", I can totally hook you up!! I just want to get the basics down before I try Rocksmith again. For those that don't know, Rocksmith is a video game but you use your actual guitar. But I always felt like I didn't know where my fingers were and I'd get really frustrated. So now I'm using a really basic "teach yourself guitar" book and just trying to learn how to hold it and play the notes without staring at my fingers. Then we can move on to "Pour Some Sugar On Me". :P

Okay, time to crawl into bed with a good book (City of Stairs, thanks for the rec colls, I'm about 90 pages in and it's got me hooked)