G ~ Grisham

John Grisham.  I love his legal thrillers.  I've read every one I can get my hands on.  I've been reading his work for somewhere around 30 years now.  His novel A Time to Kill is one of my all-time favorite thrillers.  It was also made into a pretty spectacular movie, as were many of his novels.

If you love thrillers and haven't given Mr. Grisham a try, I can only tell you that you're missing out.  His novels about baseball and other topics aren't quite as good, but his legal thrillers are absolutely the best out there.

F ~ Fantastic Fiction

Fantastic Fiction is a website that is always first on my favorites.  Here, you can search by title and author, browse books, or find books similar to one you really liked.

It's my go-to place for finding out what books are in a series.  This is of ultimate importance because, assuming the series is complete, I won't start a series until I have all the books that belong with it.  I really do not like being left hanging.

If you love books, want to find out information on authors, or just find a new book to read, this website is a necessity.

E ~ Emprise, Enigma, and Empery

I found the Trigon Disunity trilogy by Michael Kube-McDowell at one of my many visits to the annual Friends of the Library book sale.  The descriptions promised a good science fiction story and, best of all, the titles all started with E.

Why was that so exciting?  

Every year, I used to try to fill in all the letters of the alphabet with author names and titles.  A few times, I tried to do the alphabet twice through.  One year, I managed to complete the alphabet four times (scroll down, it's there!).  I gave up the practice a couple of years ago because I had run out of some of the harder letters and, really, I couldn't keep getting more books when I already had so many.

To find three titles, all starting with E, just about made my day.  Finding out later that all three books were solid 10's... well, that was even better.

D ~ Dystopia

Last year, I learned something new.  There is a word that describes so many of the books I've read and will read.  Dystopia.  I learned about it from last year's Dystopia Reading Challenge at Cornerfolds.  I'm sure it's not a new word, but I didn't know it, even though I've read hundreds (literally) of books that fall squarely into that realm.  Think 1984, Logan's Run, One Second After, The City and the Stars, the entire Deathlands series and, well, you get the idea.

If asked, I would have called them post-apocalyptic or cautionary tales, but some of the books I've read didn't really fit in those categories even though they certainly portrayed a world that's almost unrecognizable.  I'm glad to know there's an actual word out there for the paths we all hope no world, including ours, takes.

C ~ Collectorz

Collectorz software is a godsend to anyone who collects books.  They also have versions that work for movies, albums, comics and games.  I've been using their book software since 2007.  It's easy to use and keeps track flawlessly.

There is no affiliate program and I've never seen any advertisements.  The product speaks for itself.  Thanks to their software, I know exactly what books I have, what books I want, and what books I have already read.  I know when I got a book, when I read a book, and what series it goes with.  You even get free web space so you can share your collection -- here's mine!!

I own the iPad, Android, and PC versions.  No matter where I am, my book collection is at my fingertips.  Priceless.

B ~ Books

I've been called 'that lady who's always reading'.  What is it that I love about books so much?

I answered part of that question in my A post, but here's another reason:  When I was a child, I spent a lot of time indoors.  I have allergies that include grass, trees, flowers, stinging insects, and many other things.

The internet wasn't even invented yet.  We had three channels on the black and white TV.  I read everything I could get my hands on.  Books educated and kept me company.

I'm not stuck indoors any more (thank you, Benadryl), but books...I love them still.  I love their smell, the way they feel when I hold them, how they take me away to a whole new place and time, how they give me new ideas to think about, and how the really good ones can make me laugh or cry.  My favorite characters are like family.

Books are right up there with food and water, at least to me.

Mount TBR Checkpoint #1

Well, I'm slowly climbing Mount Ararat.  I've read 11 books so far that count towards this challenge, which equals 3862 of the 16854 miles I have to go.  It's all uphill from here!

My favorite cover came from By the Light of the Moon by Dean Koontz.

Shep O'Conner, also from By the Light of the Moon, is simply the most fun, most unusual and most lovable character I've come across in a long time.  Yes, he's autistic and rarely speaks, but he steals the show!

I was surprised (and not in a good way) by The Witches of Eastwick.  I'd waited so very long to finally read the book that had been made into the movie starring Jack Nicholson and Cher.  Unfortunately, it was....well, just really awful and boring.

My word for the Scrabble is Gads!  (I wish I could do Gadzooks, but I'm missing that double O and the K!).  The word is made up of books I really liked!

G ~ The Gunslinger by Stephen King
A ~ The Awakening by Thomas K. Martin
D ~ Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
S ~ State of Fear by Michael Crichton

I'm still climbing.  I've got a Jodi Picoult novel coming up next and I can never put her books down!

Zombies and Other Unpleasant Things by William Bebb

Title:  Zombies and Other Unpleasant Things
Author:  William Bebb
Pages:  192
Genre:  Horror
Publisher:  E-Book, 2013

Synopsis:  This is a collection of short, and some not so short, stories that involve the undead as well as a wide variety of very unpleasant things.

Some of the unpleasant things include mentally deranged psychotic clowns, someone being pushed from a very tall building, a giant six foot tall fluffy pink talking bunny that a man discovers in his kitchen at 2:47 in the morning, an elderly deranged man who believes he's a ninja, a vacation near Albuquerque that ends very tragically, and many other things.

Review:  I picked up this digital book for two reasons:  first, it had the story Southwestern Road Trip which is a sequel to Valley of Death, Zombie Trailer Park by this same author (which I read and enjoyed) and second, I do like scary stories.

Unfortunately, this book was not everything I expected.  The stories were okay.  The sequel kept my interest (mostly).  This author has no editing staff and it's obvious when you're reading sentences that make no sense whatsoever.

Still, it was free on Amazon, it was scary (and gross), and the story The Fall of Bayonne was actually quite good although, as the author says, it's more of a novella than a short story.  I think, perhaps, this author should stick to longer works.  His short stories just aren't really all that good.

Rating:  3.5 / 10

A ~ April Fools' Day

What in the world could April Fools' Day and books have in common?  I was born late in the afternoon on March 31st.  I was almost an April Fools' baby.  My mother read to me long after I could read for myself.  There were always books in our house and I had a library card of my own when I was very young.  I believe that these are the reasons why I love to read.

I remember my very first favorites still:  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

I turned 50 yesterday and I've always gotten a new book to enjoy either as a gift from my family or as a gift to myself....just in time for April Fools' Day.