I read this as the September buddy read. This is one of those good old fashion ghost stories. I had to keep reminding myself that it was written in the 1960s and some of the actions and reactions of the characters were definitely old fashion. 

This was the first book I read of Barbara Michaels, I believe. She is a very good writer and kept my interest throughout the book. 

I did enjoy the fact that the main couple in this story were in their 40s/50s even if the author did remind the reader a few too many times of them being grey and over-the-hill. :) 

I would definitely be open to trying another one of her books maybe written a bit later though to see how her character development differs through the years. 

Checked off another square for the Halloween Bingo! 

I'm just going to be lazy and just shrink my book covers to use as bingo markers, since I already have book covers I use for my other blog.

I will list books as I begin to read them.  Links will be added and squares marked off as I finish each book.


Read by candlelight or flashlight:  A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

Reads With (Booklikes) Friends:  Ammie, Come Home by Barbara Michaels

Grave or Graveyard:  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Ammie, Come Home

by Barbara Michaels
Book 1 of Georgetown

To be honest, I don't know if it was just my general avoidance of reading this book in the dead of night or what, but the creepiness I'd been expecting wasn't exactly there.  At least, I didn't really feel scared or anything (and I'm an admitted scaredy-cat).  There were scenes that were quite disturbing, and I can kind of see parts of the book where one would have been frightened if read in the setting of a dark room, lit only by flickering candlelight.  But otherwise, maybe I just didn't really get into it as well as others might have.

Ammie, Come Home is very well written, with a smooth progression, and a refined narration.  The premise of the story was excellent and, again, I can see this being a good choice for a Halloween read, and maybe a manufactured eerie reading nook would give great effect to the experience.

Again, I kept lights on.  Everywhere.  Maybe I should have gone for ambiance instead of letting my scaredy-cat self wimp out.  Because certain books are meant to be read in certain ways.  I think.

Anyway...

As far as the rest of the book goes, it was quite enjoyable up to the end.  The ending of the book was actually what I enjoyed the most when our four main characters discover the mystery behind Sara's possession and the haunting of Ruth's home.  But other than that, I couldn't help taking notice that a lot of actions by characters didn't make a whole lot of sense, and a lot of that, "Don't you see?" exclamations made by characters were NOT, indeed, obvious to me upon each secret reveal.  And there were some continuity problems I had noticed as well, but we'll bench those, because loose ends are typically on par with a lot of books I've read lately and I'm not about to be irritated by them.

Anyway, there were happenings and hauntings and stuff.  And our main characters start researching the reasons behind Sara's possession as well as the strange manifestation early on in the story.  But they sure did spend a LOT of time lounging around and chatting, eating, and drinking.  They're discussions about the entire situation felt really relaxed, even though Bruce's behavior gave indication otherwise.

"It's partly the weather and partly this damned picnic atmosphere," Bruce said.  He stabbed a shrimp and looked at it fondly.  "We seem to spend half our time eating and/or drinking, under the most peculiar conditions."

What should have been a day or two of investigating the haunted house, the possession, the malevolent entity, and the house's historical significance, felt like it was taking weeks.  Because every time we turn around, our characters are making breakfast, or having a relaxing nightcap, or--as the quote above indicates--having a freakin' picnic!

Character-wise, I had trouble relating with any of the four main characters.  And I don't know if it was because I had trouble getting into the right frame of mind for the time period--to be honest, I guess I never realized how different a mere few decades of time could be from each other.  Admittedly, I was born in the 80s and lived through the 90s, and can relate to the differences between then and now.  I guess it just might be that I didn't quite grasp the differences between what I'm familiar with and the culture of the 60s in America.  I admit that I rarely read books that aren't contemporary to my own lifetime, aside from my most recent explorations into historical fiction, or anything that's fantasy-based.

Sure, men treated women terribly in the past.  They still do now.  But it bugged me a lot that our two heroines just kind of shrugged it off and moved on as if it were an everyday occurrence... and I suppose it probably was.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  But the things that Bruce and Pat would say to Ruth and Sara offhand just really turned me off.

The characters felt unexciting anyway.  There was little development.  And I really didn't care for the male characters, though Bruce seems easier for me to like than Pat did.  In fact, Pat seemed unnecessary, and kind of an arrogant ass.  And everyone was always shouting at each other.

I did NOT like the implied romance... or lack thereof.  The whole thing between Pat and Ruth just seemed awkwardly forced into the plot for the sake of having a romantic couple.  Then that bombshell that Ruth drops about her traumatic past with her now-deceased husband... WTF?  Because then we just move one like nothing happened.  Even the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship between Sara and Bruce felt a bit unnatural as well.  Not that I'm complaining or anything, because, I suppose, sometimes there's no need for any focus to be on romance at all.

What I DID like was the setting and descriptions of our characters, their fashion, their home, etc....  I liked the potential the book had to really be a haunting tale of ghostly revenge and secrets and cries for help from beyond the grave.  I liked the historical aspect of our main characters' research--or rather, I guess Bruce's research.  I liked the brief delving into the theological aspect of malevolent entities, with short mentions of the perceived differences between different cultures and subsequent spirits and exorcisms within said other cultures.  These are all ideas that can be expanded upon and caught my interest.

Unfortunately, a lot of things were left hanging; lots of loose ends that were unsatisfying.

I will definitely try to pick up another Barbara Michaels book and test my luck with her again.


***

2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• Bookish Resolutions Challenge
• 2016 Halloween Bingo

Where to start?

I've been hearing my mom rave about how much she loved this book for ever, which in the way of such things between mothers and daughter sometimes, had the perverse effect of making me disinclined to read it.  This is spite of my enjoyment of ghost stories and Barbara Michaels' other work.  (N.B. I love my mom, just stupid vestiges of teenage stubbornness I suppose.)

In the lead-up to the 2016 Halloween Book Bingo, Person of Interest suggested a buddy read.  I'll admit to trepidation though; my mom always talked about how scary this book was, and I've known her to read the Amityville Horror without flinching.  But nothing like a spot of good natured peer pressure to push a girl through!

When I first cracked it open I got up to chapter 3 and nothing much had happened; a bad dream, a bit of foreshadowing.  This was somehow worse; I knew it was going to get creepy, it was going to happen any page now... But all the (necessary) setup made it easy to put the book down until the next day.

I was right; everything starts hitting the fan soon into chapter 4 - and that's where the trouble started for me, because this is a buddy read, and I should be pacing myself, reading small sections to savour and discuss with friends, and I can't put the book down, I have to find out what happens next!!  Hot tea was brewed in vain, only to go cold and neglected; by chapter 6 I was firmly of two minds about this book - it was creeptastically gripping and unbelievably condescending and dated in its tone.  

As others have noted, Patrick was ...unlikeable.  Add to this his behaviour in at least one scene and way too much vagueness pertaining to Ruth's past and I was... unimpressed with our protagonists.  Bruce was mostly a pompous git, and Sara was rather vanilla.   So while I as still enjoying the story it could go either way for me at this point.  I pried myself off the book at the end of chapter 7 and swore I'd not go near it again for at least 24 hours.

I think I made it the 24 hours and I'd like to say I was able to only read a bit more the next day, but that would be crap - I grudgingly went through my to-do list and then sat down with this book and wild horses were not going to part me from it until I finished.  I had to know how it ended.

Oh, Barbara Michaels, you crafty, crafty lady.  I see what you did there.  You never did explain Ruth's past clearly, but you did explain Patrick's behaviour ever so neatly; I didn't have much justification beyond his name for disliking him after that.  I especially liked how you sneaked a bit of sophisticated theology in too when you thought nobody would notice.  Clever, and it added a tiny bit of heft to the story without beating the reader over the head.  Nice.

There's no way anyone who has ever read any ghost story couldn't divine at least some of the ending, but I'll admit my sub-conscious predictions fell short: it was more complex than I had foreseen, which of course made it all the better.  As to what finally felled the evil, well, that showed a complexity of theological belief that I don't see much in my spooky reads and I respect Michaels all the more because of it.

All in all an excellent ghost story and one I wouldn't want to read - or re-read - after dark; I'm fairly certain it would scare the bejeezus out of me.  

I jest, but the worst part of the book is probably the part where I have to call mom and say:  you were right!  ;-)

I'm using this book for my Genre: Horror square in Halloween Book Bingo

I've finished Chapter 7 and the characters have grown on me.  Bruce is shaping up to be a descent sort and not the player Ruth assumed he was.  Pat is still a hard sell, tho.  To be fair, a couple of the scenes where I wasn't crazy about his behavior probably weren't entirely his fault. But his attitude and aggressive tendency don't sit well with me. Ruth's backstory was illuminating.  And despite several chilling incidents from where I last left off, I haven't been scared witless. :-D  Only 24 hours left now for our foursome to track down the dark secrets of the house.