Wow!  This was a pretty creepy and twisted tale.  This book was beautifully written and very interesting.  The whole time I read it, Hotel California was playing on a loop inside my head.

But what to say about it?  It's kinda of the age-old tale of a man being too stupid or stubborn--or both-- to listen to the woman in his life.  If Jonah had just listened to his sister Nora, things could have turned out so, so differently for both of them.

This is basically a Hotel California type situation.  A person with the right type of...psychic energy I guess, is lured into Slade House by the Grayer siblings, where they are treated to all sorts of fantasies--or hallucinations--and once they succumb, they are never seen again.  But each victim is warned by the previous victim until finally one of them is strong enough to fight back, which is the beginning of the end for the Slade House.

It was pretty spooky and kind of sad.  Enough of he victims' backgrounds were revealed that you felt real sympathy for most of them.  Anger, even, at siblings for what they were doing to innocent people.  It was a very good series of interconnected vignettes and while it wasn't completely an 'open ending', I feel like there is a door left open for a sequel.  I'd be very interested in reading.

So it only took me forever, but not because the book was bad (obviously).  I'm just a slacker.

I don't know what to say about it other than it is another gem from the master, Stephen King.  It was well written and had the right amount of creepiness, horror and humor.

There are some triggering scenes with animal abuse that were discomforting to me.

And am I the only one who felt bad for It in the end?  I think it was the mom in me feeling a little softhearted as It begged for it's life and for the life of it's progeny.  But, of course, I know It couldn't be left to survive, nor could it's young.  But for a brief moment, I felt It's pain; the need to save itself and it's children.

All in all, it was quite the roller-coaster ride.

I don't even know what to day about this. It was fantastic. It seems I say that about a lot of my reads, but I guess I just have good taste!

Helen, the protagonist is sick of her brother the Andrew. He's living the life of a farmer when suddenly he gets it into his head to write a book, which of course got published. This lead to publishes beating down the door, and Andrew going off for weeks and months at a time leaving Helen to handle things on the farm.

Needless to say she tires of it quickly, so when Mr. Roger Mifflin arrives at the farm with his bookstore on wheels, proposing to sell it to Andrew, Helen buys it instead. She'll be damned if Andrew goes off on another months long adventure and stick her with all the farm work. This is the beginning of a ridiculous, fabulous adventure for the forty-year-old woman who hadn't had so much as a vacation in fifteen years.

Andrew's in a right state when he finds out about it and ends up chasing down Helen and Mifflin, who was staying on only long enough to show her the ropes of Parnassus, the rolling bookstore. There are fights, robberies, deception, visits with book enthusiasts, actual book sales, and all along it turns out to be a love story.

It was really quite beautiful and a must read for all bookish people. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the sequel, The Haunted Bookshop!