Wrap Up (many, many months)

Finished 

  

  

  

   

  

So over the last couple...OK, OK, like 6 months I've dabbled in all sorts with my reading. I tried for the first time Bizarro fiction which wasn't altogether unpleasant. Definitely different and something I feel many readers that follow here probably haven't looked into before. Apeshit was kind of a mix of a terrible D-grade 80's horror movie. So absurd that it wasn't really scary, but lived up to it' namesake of bizarro fiction. There were definitely some WTF am I reading moments, and I was kept on my toes more due to the sheer nature of what insane debased thing the writer was going to come up with next than the actual scariness. Overall though it wasn't bad, and if you want to something a little (read ALOT) different I'd give it a go. 

I also went back and re-read the first 2 volumes of Paper Girls, and am awaiting the 3rd to come in at the library. My love for Brian K. Vaughan only grows with each new graphic novel I read of his. Ofcourse, I felt in the mood for a short classic at some point, and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley it was. I imagine it's along the same lines as 1984 by George Orwell (which I have still yet to read) and deals with a dystopian society in which the civilians are regulated meticulously in order to function at their most optimal. 

Jodi Picoult has always been a favorite of mine, and I was not disappointed reading Plain Truth, about an Amish family who are caught in a police investigation regarding the death of a newborn infant. The story seemed well researched and the insights into Amish life were intriguing, not to metnion the suspense in finding out what really happened.

Other honorable mentions, THRONE OF GLASS series, OMG. Ok I'm pretty late to the party on this one, I read the first book a few years back and didn't continue on (There's something wrong with me, I know) but wow, the emotional rollercoaster just in the first 2 books... and I just no there is more to come, my heart can't take it.!

Up Next In November

    

Other Updates 

I'm still loving Instagram, AGAIN I was a bit late to the party on this one, and only really started up this year with my Instagram account. It's a bit of a mishmash of things, boos obviously, but also food, nature and lots of animals.

Wedding planning has actually started...relative style and colors have been settled, budget set (if we can stay within it). For the mot part I think we've decided on a little place that was a vinyard but is now an arts centre. They have a cute little church onsite for the ceremony and we're going to rent this old rustic barrel store for the reception. The only fallback is that it's going to be alot of DIY, which is great because I can get my creative juices flowing and pinterest is a great help, but time constraints is going to be my biggest problem.

If you have any book reccomendations or even better, wedding advice. I would love to hear it. Until next time :)

Review- A Madness So Discreet (Mindy McGinnis)

Synopsis

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. 

Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us.

                     - Goodreads.com

Review 

By God, Mindy McGinnis has managed to do it again.  As if her ‘Not a Drop to Drink’ duology wasn’t great enough, ‘A Madness So Discreet’ delivered everything I wanted from a slightly creepy and dark novel.

Mindy has an amazing ability to write a great novel without ever really resorting to any kind of romance as a plot device. As someone who enjoys mainly young adult novels where such conventional things occur on the regular it’s refreshing to read something without an ounce of romance in it. There was definitely an opportunity to write a romance into the plot and I’m not going to lie, a part of me kind of wanted it to happen. However, I’m so glad it didn’t. The whole character relationship dynamic would have been destroyed by blurring the lines between patient and physician and I most definitely would have frowned upon the abuse of power.

A Madness So Discreet follows Grace, a girl placed in an insane asylum with questionable standards, by her father while she is with child. Such an occurrence during this time (the setting is historical; I believe the late 1800’s) would be a ‘blackmark’ on the family name. So, she is dealt with until she can return home sans child. The poor standards and severe treatment of the patients causes a defiant outburst from Grace and she is sent to spend her remaining time in an isolated area of the asylum.  But a chance encounter with a visiting Doctor, who performs lobotomies on untreatable patients, allows her to be freed from her physical prison and taken into his care where she is moved to a much more humane facility. Her talents in noticing small detail with her brilliant mind assist the Doctor in his new fascination of solving criminology cases.

The grey areas surrounding the morality of the characters intrigued me. I love it when characters aren’t just black and white. Grace’s past experiences and the way she deals with the fallout from these, are precursors to some of her later actions. Even while she is our hero of the book and we are rooting for her, at the same time she does some questionable things.

The picture painted of mental illness and how it was ‘dealt’ with at the time is vividly accurate. I find it astonishing the things people were put away for, promiscuity, alcoholism and in Grace’s case being pregnant. The fact that a single word to a judge from a (male) family member could get you sent away is harrowing.

There are some dark moments in this book, but the satisfaction felt at the ending was…. well satisfying. The mystery behind the murders the doctor and Grace are solving have a Sherlock type vibe to them, which satisfies the detective in me.  If you’re after something a little dark and different, also dealing with a minority group this would be a good one to pick up. 

My Rating 5/5

Mini Review- Tales of the Peculiar

Synopsis

Before Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales. 

Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The origins of the first ymbryne. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar—known to hide information about the peculiar world—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.

Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar. 

                     - Goodreads.com

Review 

Tales of the peculiar are short stories from the wonderful world created by Ransom Riggs. While I have been slack regarding reading Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, I had no trouble diving into this. His previous books are not enforced pre-requisites for these spooky and sometimes haunting tales of peculiar myth and morals.

There are 10 stories all up and for me there were a few standouts. By far though the first story of the book, ‘The Splendid Cannibals’ was my favorite, with a good dose of creepiness and a great lesson to be considered about greed.

This is a great addition to the world created by Ransom Riggs, but you could easily get into this book with no prior knowledge of his series. The entire book reads like a compilation of fairytales, similar to something like the Grimm tales, but with a ‘peculiar’ twist to it. 

My Rating 4/5

Feature & Follow Friday

Here’s this week’s prompt: 

Bookstagram Challenge: Fall Colours Book Photo

Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community.

I'm just starting out with bookstagramming, so I really enjoyed this challenge (plus I adore fall colours). There are so many inspiring people out there creating beautiful bookish photography. Nothing like stunning art to motivate your creativeness!

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booknerd #bookblogger #fall #autumn #bookphotography #yabooks #bibliophile #bookaddict #bookaholic #yalit

A photo posted by Elle Boot (@velvetpois0n) on Nov 10, 2016 at 1:30pm PST

Are you a Bookstagram Novice or Veteran...leave an Instagram plug if you want and I'll be sure to check out your page :)