Review of Nightmares #37 | Fool Moon (The Dresden Files #2) by Jim Butcher

Book info:
Fool Moon (The Dresden Files #2) by Jim Butcher | 401 pages/10.5 hours | Published January 9th 2001 by Roc | Adult, mystery, paranormal, supernatural

Summary:
Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work--magical or mundane.

But just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise.

A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses--and the first two don't count...

My thoughts:
Read August 7-August 10, 2017 | 4 stars
Set: October 2000

Review of Nightmares #36 | Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher

Book info:
Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher | 322 pages/8.5 hours | Published April 2000 by Penguin ROC | Urban fantasy, adult, mystery, paranormal, magic

Summary:
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks.

So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get interesting.

Magic - it can get a guy killed.
My thoughts:
Read July 30-August 2, 2017 | 4 stars

RDB Review #35 | Ring by Koji Suzuki, translated by Robert B. Rohmer & Glynne Walley

Book info: Ring by Koji Sukuki, translated by Robert B. Rohmer & Glynne Walley | 282 pages | Published April 2004 by Vertical | Adult Horror, Thriller, Suspense, Supernatural

Summary:

A mysterious videotape warns that the viewer will die in one week unless a certain, unspecified act is performed. Exactly one week after watching the tape, four teenagers die one after another of heart failure.

Asakawa, a hardworking journalist, is intrigued by his niece's inexplicable death. His investigation leads him from a metropolitan tokyo teeming with modern society's fears to a rural Japan--a mountain resort, a volcanic island, and a countryside clinic--haunted by the past. His attempt to solve the tape's mystery before it's too late--for everyone--assumes an increasingly deadly urgency. Ring is a chillingly told horror story, a masterfully suspenseful mystery, and post-modern trip.

My thoughts:

Read January 30-February 8, 2017

**Trigger Warning : Rape**

RBD Review #24 | The Accidental Cannibal by Dale Rutter

**I was approached by the author and given a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Book info:
The Accidental Cannibal by Dale Rutter | 301 pages
| Self-published, June 2016 by the author | Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Supernatural

Summary:
Samuel is a cannibal by accident.
The year is 1071. William the Conqueror is King and the land is still ravaged after his conquest of England.
In a small dystopian village, a famine ensues. Some resort to cannibalism. It wasn't Samuel’s choice. Unbeknownst to him, his parents fed him human meat when he was younger. He doesn't blame them, times were hard but he now has an ongoing battle with his unwanted addiction to cannibalism. He is flawed.
However, he isn't a normal cannibal, it's changed him in ways he didn't know possible.
He acquires abilities from his cannibalism but at great sacrifice to himself.
Part of the abilities torment Samuel though, it questions whether the cannibalism is right. He considers quitting but it's not that easy. The urges are too overwhelming.
Too controlling.
Also, whilst hunting, he runs into a mysterious sinister stranger, a fellow ‘powered cannibal’ who complicates things beyond comprehension; Samuel wants to quit but what if he needs his abilities if things get ugly? When things get ugly. Will he even keep his abilities if he quit the cannibalism?
Together with his friend Lizzie; his rock and voice of reason, they must battle Samuel’s demons as well as the pompous stranger who has big dark plans for the world.
Lives will be lost and Samuel will unravel a world unimaginable to him including more ‘powered cannibals’ just like him but how far will he delve into the unknown world before it costs him and those around him? (courtesy of Goodreads)

My thoughts:
DNF at 10% (3 chapters) on July 16, 2016 | 1.5 stars

*NEW* RBD Review #33 | You (You #1) by Caroline Kepnes

Book info:
You (You #1) by Caroline Kepnes | 422 pages |  Published September 2014 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books | Adult Mystery, Contemporary, Thriller

Summary:
When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.
My thoughts:
Read October 22-29, 2016 | 3 stars

*MINOR SPOILERS*

RBD Review #18 | The Crow by James O'Barr

Book info:
The Crow by James O’Barr | Published 1989 | 240 pages | Adult Graphic Novel, Horror, Supernatural, Paranormal

Summary:
Eric has returned from the dead, driven only by hate and the need to wreak revenge on those who killed him and raped and then killed his beloved Shelly. 

My thoughts:
Read May 17-18, 2016 | 5/5 stars 

RBD Review #15 | the princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace

Book info:
the princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace | Published 2016 | 154 pages | Poetry, Feminist, Non-Fiction, Contemporary, Mental Illness, Mental Health

Summary:
“ah, life-
the thing
that happens
to us
while we’re off
somewhere else
blowing on
dandelions
& wishing
ourselves into
the pages of
our favorite
fairy tales.”

a poetry collection divided into four different parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, & you. the princess, the damsel, & the queen piece together the life of the author in three stages, while you serves as a note to the reader & all of humankind. explores life & all of its love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, & inspirations (courtesy of Goodreads).

My thoughts:

Read May 05, 2016 | 5/5 stars

RBD Review #12 | The Martian by Andy Weir

Book info:
The Martian by Andy Weir | 435 pages | Published 2011 | Adult, Sci Fi

Summary:
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive — and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him? (courtesy of Goodreads)

My thoughts:
Read April 6-14, 2016 | 5 stars

RBD Review #10 | After Alice by Gregory Maguire

Book info:
After Alice by Gregory Maguire | 256 pages | Published 2015 by Headline | Fantasy, Retelling, Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale

---This is the UK cover, which I found more appealing than the US one---

Summary:
When Alice fell down he rabbit hole, she found Wonderland as rife with inconsistent rules and abrasive egos as the world she left behind. But how did Victorian Oxford react to Alice’s disappearance?

Gregory Maguire turns his imagination to the question of underworlds, undergrounds, underpinnings - and understandings old and new, offering an inventive spin on Carroll’s enduring tale. Ada, a friend mentioned briefly in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, sets out to visit Alice but, arriving a moment too late, tumbles down the rabbit hole herself.

Ada brings to Wonderland her own imperfect apprehension of cause and effect as she embarks on an odyssey to find Alice and bring her safely home from this surreal world below the world. The White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat and the bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts interrupt their mad tea party to suggest a conundrum: if Eurydice can ever be returned to the arms of Orpheus, or if Lazarus can be raised from the tomb, perhaps Alice can be returned to life.

Either way, everything that happens next is After Alice (blurb on book).

My thoughts:

Read March 24-29, 2016 | 5 stars

Big Ol' Display | National Batman Day, September 17

National Batman Day is September 17th this year. Since my coworkers were focusing on The Bat himself, I thought it would be fun to look into Alfred's filing cabinet of other characters and write case files on some of them. I ordered about 45 books from other libraries and I still don't feel like I have enough.

RBD Review #2 | We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi

Book info:
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi | Published July 29, 2014 by Vintage | 49 pages | Nonfiction, Essay

Summary:
What does “feminism” mean today? That is the question at the heart of We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed TEDx talk of the same name—by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun. With humor and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination, but also the more insidious, institutional behaviors that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics. Throughout, she draws extensively on her own experiences—in the U.S., in her native Nigeria, and abroad—offering an artfully nuanced explanation of why the gender divide is harmful for women and men, alike. Argued in the same observant, witty and clever prose that has made Adichie a bestselling novelist, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman today—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists (courtesy of Goodreads).

• “Gender matters everywhere in the world. And I would like today to ask for a different world. A fairer world. A world of happier men and happier women who are truer to themselves. And this is how to start: we must raise our daughters differently. We must also raise our sons differently.” 
• “The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing how we are.” 
• “I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femininity. And I want to be respected in all my femaleness. Because I deserve to be.”

My thoughts:
Read February 9, 2016 | 5/5 stars
I thought this speech-turned-published-essay was awesome. Adichie says what we all wish we could say, and she says it eloquently and professionally. I think it could be very hard to be offended by this work. She sheds light on the fact that, no matter what country you’re in and no matter what race, men and women are treated differently, and that needs to change. She also gives what needs to be done to change it.

When I first saw it, I ordered it from my library and when it came in, I was surprised at how small it was. It only took me about 30 minutes to read. I was hoping for more, but when I was done, Adichie made her point loud and clear and there was no need or desire for more. I will definitely recommend this to anyone interested in thoughts on feminism, positive or negative. Maybe it will give some insight.
Find it:
Amazon | Goodreads | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

RBD Review #1 | The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

***This is my first review ever. I promise they get better.***

Book info:

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin | Published April 1, 2014 by Algonquin Books | 272 pages | Adult Literary Fiction

Summary:

On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto "No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World." A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.

A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island—from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.’s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It’s a small package, but large in weight. It’s that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn’t take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.; or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light; or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.’s world; or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn’t see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.

My thoughts:
Read February 6-8, 2016 | 5/5 stars