Haunted Houses – fictional

Cover of Hell House

As a follow up to my haunted house attraction post, here is a list of haunted house books and movies.  I was surprised that it was difficult to find a list of haunted house books to jog my memory.  My final list is short which makes me want to read a bunch more.  There is a nice list on Wikipedia for haunted house movies.

Haunted House books & short stories

• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898)
• The Open Window by Saki (1911)
• Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)
• Hell House by Richard Matheson (1971)
• The Shining by Stephen King (1977)
• The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons (1978)
• Homebody by Orson Scott Card (1998)

Of these, Haunting of Hill House and Hell House were the most satisfying to me.  I think they both owe quite a bit to James’ governess.  Both feature psychic investigators who visit an allegedly haunted house and confront their own psyches as much as any supernatural force in the house.  Matheson’s book removes any doubt as to the supernatural events but manages to be just as disturbing I think.

A minor story concerning The Shining. Many years ago I moved into an isolated old farmhouse.  Not long after, I was on the second floor, sitting up with a sick child.  It was a dark and stormy night.  Or, at least it was raining hard and the house was creaking in the wind.  Once the child had fallen to sleep, I decided to read to keep myself alert and naturally I chose The Shining.  It didn’t make me sleepy.  By the time I reached the bit about the bathtub, I had to put it down and find something else.  Very quickly. I had to finish the book in the daylight hours.

Books I read in September 2009

Busy month, so not a lot read.

Nothing pleases me more than a good traditional Regency and Brodnax’s book was very romantic.  Gilman’s psychic countess is old-fashioned and very much a comfort read.  Son of the Mob was recommended to me and it’s funny and I’m glad I  read it.  I liked Hoyt’s Serpent Prince best of the trilogy and the best part was Simon telling his increasingly meta-fiction fairy tale to his sweetheart.  Plus, his red-heeled shoes made me smile each time they were mentioned.

1. The Countess and the Butler by Elizabeth Brodnax
2. Full House by Janet Evanovich
3. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
4. The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman
5. The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
6. Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
7. The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

Charlaine Harris’ ‘Dead’ series

Back in 2001, I had the opportunity to read Dead until Dark the first book in the series.   However, it wasn’t a paranormal romance, and I wasn’t interested at the time.  But with the buzz from the True Blood series, I thought I’d give it another try.  I’m glad I did since the mystery/horror elements are much more appealing than the paranormal romance this time around.

Dead Until Dark

The story: a socially isolated waitress (Sookie) at a bar in rural Louisiana encounters a vampire and goes to his rescue when he is attacked in the parking lot of the bar.  This action embroils her in a supernatural murder mystery.

I love Sookie’s wry observations on her own and everyone else’s behavior.  She doesn’t easily accept all the bizarre revelations about the supernatural people but she doesn’t waste time protesting her new reality either.  Her tenuous place in the social structure makes it believable that she’d fall into the ‘outgroup’ of vampires and such.  I hope that Harris enriches all the minor characters – the community members are all quite interesting.

Living Dead in Dallas

The story:  A co-worker at the bar where Sookie works is murdered.  She is hired by vampires to solve the mystery and she learns far too much about supernatural world.

I was slightly disappointed with this one.  It may be that the author is moving from a single novel to a series and so has to lighten the tone a bit.  I also missed Sookie’s hometown politics and interactions.  Dallas was less interesting to me here.  I do like how Sookie is changing due to her adventures: she’s more confident, more daring and a bit more sophisticated.

Club Dead

The story:  Sookie’s having boyfriend trouble and then he goes missing.  She’s got to find him and upbraid him.

I don’t like the urban setting. Moreover, this one got way too painful for me.  I really hated what some of the characters in this book did.  So much so that I contemplated dropping the series.

Dead to World

The story:  Sookie is bitter and alone after her breakup.  It never rains but it pours since her brother disappears and she has an amnesiac vampire dropped into her lap (more or less).

But I did pick up the fourth book and I’m happy for doing it.  Sookie’s back at home which pleases me no end.  Sookie’s becoming more resilient emotionally and mentally, and I think she’s becoming a force to be reckoned with.  Normally I’d find fault that every guy she meets is instantly attracted to her.  But I can buy that her psychic powers are the real lure and they are all supernatural beings.  No humans for Sookie.

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Books I read in August 2009

I have read fewer books this past month – been quite busy.  Thoroughly enjoying ‘dead’ series by Charlaine Harris.  The next book – Dead to the World wasn’t in my library – the librarian said it’s a very popular series right now. So, I got another book in a non-vampire mystery series.  The Horus Killings was the second mystery I have read set in Egypt, and I’d like to read more.  I’m rereading the Betsy-Tacy series.  Pierce’s Alanna series leaves me cold and I’m not sure why.

1. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
2. The Horus Killings by P. C. Doherty
3. Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
4. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce
5. Once On a Time by A. A. Milne
6. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
7. Mammoth Cave Romance by William Lee Popham
8. Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace
9. Be Your Own Best Friend by Thomas A. Whiteman & Randy Petersen (nonfiction)
10. Short Stories of Saki by H. H. Munro

Book Preferences Meme

Here is a meme from Booking Through Thursday.

Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? Frivolous is my first choice.
Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Paperbacks are easier to move. Much nicer to carry eight boxes of paperbacks than eight boxes of hardbacks up flights of stairs.
Fiction? Or Nonfiction? Used to be exclusively fiction.  Now, nonfiction is less of a commitment.
Poetry? Or Prose? Prose by far.
Biographies? Or Autobiographies? If I love the voice of the writer than I prefer autobiographies.  I’ve read too many dull biographies.
History? Or Historical Fiction? I enjoy historical fiction most when I know either very little or very much on the subject.  I like histories when I’m fascinated by events or people and desperately want more depth.
Series? Or Stand-alones? I used to stand-alones exclusively.  Now I am refuse to read series, mostly because I rarely was able to find the entire run.  I like both now but I have been enjoying sequels lately.
Classics? Or best-sellers? I have come to prefer either forgotten bestsellers or obscure classics.
Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? Straight-forward, transparent prose is my favorite.
Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Plots.
Long books? Or Short? Short is good. Entertaining is better.
Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? Non-illustrated.
Borrowed? Or Owned? I have no space for owning all the books I read.
New? Or Used? New if it’s a book that I will reread or consult a lot. Used for everything else.

me versus the TBR stack

I mentioned previously that I have been cataloging my books and movies with data crow.  I realized that I had about 40 books that I had borrowed from family members in the past year or so.  Well, they actually offered them to me.  I have been reading books from the library and these books had languished on different shelves.  I have them together now and decided to bend my will to finishing them up in the next couple of months.

• Horus Killings by P. C. Doherty
• Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
  
• Mystery of the Shrinking House by William Arden
• The Alton Gift by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
• Queen of Dragons by Shana Abe
• Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce
• First Test by Tamora Pierce
• Fushigi Yuugi #1-4 by Yuu Watase
• Juniper by Monica Furlong
• Beast by Donna Jo Napoli
• Wild Boy by Nancy Springer
• Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce
• California Demon by Julie Kenner
• Return of the Twelve by Pauline Clarke

I put the list in the sidebar to help me remember.

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Books I’ve Read – July 2009

I read 16 books this month.

Nonfiction:

Women of the World was the most inspiring, and it included women travelers I hadn’t heard of before.  Clute’s Science Fiction was the most fun.  I particularly enjoyed the sections on international sci-fi.  Style was the most disappointing of the lot. Her Style seemed stuck in the 1960s.

Women of the World: Women Travelers and Explorers by Rebecca Stefoff
Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease
Style by Kate Spade
Science Fiction: the Illustrated Encyclopedia by John Clute

Juvenile and Picture Books:

Warriors disappointed me a little – it’s a graphic novel but it was visually boring.

Warriors: #1 Into the Wild by Erin Hunter
Crown of Horns: Bone #9 by Jeff Smith
Purplicious by Elizabeth & Victoria Kann
Judy Moody Gets Famous by Megan McDonald
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

Fiction Books:
Color Purple was by far and away the most delightful. I had thought it was akin to a dirge and avoided it. In fact, it is most celebratory. Enjoyed Huntress the best of the Smith YA paranormals.  Started reading Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse books which I am thoroughly enjoying.  Now I want to see the TV show.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Huntress by L. Jane Smith
Witchlight by L. Jane Smith
Maggie by Marion Chesney
Black Dawn by L. Jane Smith
Dead until Dawn by Charlaine Harris
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Did Not Finish:

Mrs. Mike was distasteful in its depiction of indigenous Canadians.  Banks’ book was not nearly as funny as I had thought it would be.

Mrs. Mike by Nancy and Benedict Freedman
Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Banks

Issues with Vampire Diaries

I am dense.

After my post on the news that L. J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries is coming to television, I got a lot of comments on the casting.  One of the issues brought up is why the main character Elena was not cast as a blonde for the TV show.  I was puzzled because I thought blondes were the it girls in Hollywood too.

But then I realized this:

Elena, Vampire Diaries

Bella, Twilight

Mystery solved.

Another thing that irritates me is much of the material on Vampire Diaries outright saying that it is another version of Twilight. (TVsquad, beyond hollywood).   The producers are on riding Twilight’s cape but I am still irritated.

L. J. Smith published the books in 1991.  It seems that Meyer only had the dream in 2003 and the first book was published in 2005.  Moreover, most pretty-pretty vampire stories are just watered-down versions of Anne Rice’s vampire tales.  Twilight is more of a blanched vegetable version.

I remember a young person writing on a forum that she’d read Meyer’s series and asking, in sum, if there were any other stories with a  vampire mythos.

Part of me thinks this is (very) funny but it’s a little sad too.  She’s missing out a lot. Fans could go a long time and not run out of vamp books to read.

I may break down and find a time line of pretty-pretty vampires in books.

Romance Novel Covers, I See Now

I was reading The Dames, Dolls and Delinquents: A Collector’s Guide to Sexy Pulp Fiction Paperbacks by Gary Lovisi. Well, I couldn’t manage the whole thing. But I read the introduction and the chapter on “romance” and learned a few things.

I didn’t jot down the names but this is what I understood:

In the 1940s and 1950s, the art department for publishers of inexpensive fiction sent detailed instructions to artists who drew sleazy covers. The books were aimed at heterosexual men and were pretty smutty if the titles and blurbs were to be believed.

Many of them featured a disrobing or disrobed girl, sometimes at the mercy of a fully clothed man.  One cover amused me with its cover: a topless girl whose chest is delicately hidden by a tree branch.

Here’s where it gets interesting.  According to Lovisi’s research, many of the these same artists started working on the clinch covers for romance novels.  To my mind, it’s no wonder a lot of romance novels in the 1970s and later had partially undressed women and men in sleazy poses.  There’s no point in an old dog learning a new trick.

This may be old hat to romance fans but I feel that I’ve discovered why some romance novels used to have those appalling covers.

On the positive side, I did like many of these romance covers.  Link.  “Silent in the Sanctuary” and “Firefly Lane” were my favorites.

Books I’ve Read in June 2009

Very little nonfiction taken in this month. I was surprised by how touched I was by Bourdain’s food book. Makes me want to look up his other books.  I’ve read several of Cameron’s artist way books but I like this one the best. The exercises are streamlined and the essays are enjoyable.

1. The Apron Book: Making, Wearing and Sharing a bit of Cloth and Comfort by EllynAnne Geisel (2006)
2. No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach by Anthony Bourdain (2007)
3. The Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (2008)
4. The World’s Best Indoor Games by Brandeth Gyles (1982)
5. Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year ed. by Charles Brooks (2008)
6. Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life by Julia Cameron (1998)

Here is my picture book and juvenile book list. This month I’ve been trying to read Newbery Award winners.  I was disappointed by Tale of Despereaux – far too precious for my taste.  Midwife’s Apprentice was much better than Cushman’s other book, Catherine, Called Birdy. Midwife’s Apprentice was highly enjoyable.  I liked Walk Two Moons and A Year Down Yonder too.  The Higher Power of Lucky is the type of book I avoided at all costs as child and teen.  Pointless story and vapid characters.  The Gammage Cup was a satire a genre which I don’t usually enjoy.  This one was fun.

1. 1. The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall (1959)
   2. Three Little Pigs by James Marshall (1989)
   3. Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid #1 by Megan MacDonald (2005)
   4. Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (2006)
   5. The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman (1996)
   6. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (2008)
   7. A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (2002)
   8. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (2003)
   9. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (1996)
   10. The Sleeping Beauty by Trina Schart Hyman (1977)
   11. Happily-Ever-After Book by Jack Kent (1976)

Mostly read fun stuff for my YA and adult books.  Their Eyes Were Watching God surprised me by how much it delighted me.  I’d read experts and critiques which made it seem like a dry and miserable reading.  It’s actually fresh and charming.  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian reminds me of talking to some people with horrific childhoods.  They make you laugh and then later the sheer tragedy of their story startles you into tears.  Good book.  I’m glad there is a sequel.

1. 1. The Marquis Takes a Bride by Marion Chesney (1987)
   2. Sweet Masquerade by Marion Chesney (1984)
   3. First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh (2009)
   4. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)
   5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (2007)
   6. The Maze in the Heart of the Castle by Dorothy Gilman (1999)

Interview with Sherman Alexie about Amazon’s Kindle.