We All Float Down Here

I went to the movies and saw IT Chapter Two this weekend. I've been chewing over my thoughts and feels on this movie and have decided that Chapter One is much better. I'll be honest, I never liked the spider thing at the end. I think the movie tried to make it creepier and it just failed. I did appreciate how everyone, including Stephen King as the Shopkeeper, made sure to let Bill know his endings suck.

I love King, but sometimes his endings really suck. I really disliked how the Losers defeated IT in the movie. I also wanted more of Henry Bowers. He is such an excellent villian who really made their fight against IT so much harder and he wasn't given his due role in the movie.

Character/actor-wise, I think the casting was pretty damn good. Bill Hader as Ritchie was spot on...and who doesn't want to imagine Finn Wolfhard growing up to be Bill Hader???

The kids are back as well for the flashback scenes. I did appreciate how the adult losers faced down their adult fears separately (Ben, I feel ya on your fear of dying alone).

Overall, I'd say watch it. But for the love of god, just read the book!

I've read A LOT since we last spoke. Let's run them down:

Still Waters by Tami Hoag was pretty decent. I really like Hoag but this did annoy me some. It ended up being a good beach read and stayed in Florida.

The Titan's Curse and The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan were both consumed on my Kindle while in airports and airplanes. My tween seat mate on the way home heartily approved of the Percy Jackson series...and I agree. Good reads even if they are YA.

Blood Work by Michael Lister was a BookBub book deal. Jumped right into the middle of a series but the author let me know it was ok. Surprisingly good book with some nice twists.

Personal by Lee Child is a Jack Reacher book. I'm getting more and more hooked on Reacher IF I pretend that Tom Cruise never played Reacher in a movie. :) This was a really good and speedy read.

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Gran was a IRL book club book. We had a pretty lively discussion but man, if this true account of the Osage Indians does not prove that Americans refuse to learn from history, I don't know what does.

The Third Secret by Steve Berry has been sitting in my stacks forever! It came from a library book sale and I've heard good things about Berry. In this one, the Catholic Church has a secret (NO, not that one - which isn't really a secret) and one of their own is trying to solve a mystery. Less chaotic and Hollywood-y than a Dan Brown book.

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott was a postal book club book. Never heard of the author but I was intrigued by the premise of a church taking in a widow and her baby after the husband commits suicide. Two back to back church books!

Body Double by Tess Gerritsen was another one in my stacks forever. I do love Tess. This was a pretty good, weird, mystery that involves pregnant women and really creepy sickos.

Good Talk by Mira Jacobs was discovered by listening to episode 118 of So Many Damn Books. I instantly went to Powells online and got the book. READ THIS. It's important. You can never really step into someone else's shoes but this is a good start to trying.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was another good one. Why do people still need to be told not to judge other people? The Marsh Girl has more intelligence in her pinky than the entire town has collectively. 

So...wow. I've read a lot since June. According to GoodReads, I've read 30 of my 45 books this year. Not too shabby.

What to do?

I surprised myself by finishing 2 books on a work trip. Normally, I knit quite a bit but on both flights, I read for the entire flight.

I have a vacation coming up where I will be in the air a bit over 4 hours, with some layovers. When forced to choose between a 30 minute layover vs a 2 hour one, I'll choose the longer one. I hate rushing.

With all that, I know I need to choose books wisely for this trip. I'll have a fully charged iPod with my audiobooks and podcasts, along with knitting. But book-wise......

I'm 99% sure I'm taking Bonfire by Krysten Ritter. Definitely taking my Big Damn Classic War of the Worlds by HG Wells. War is on my Kindle so I'm taking that which means I'll have a wealth of books to choose from, provided the battery stays charged! Bonfire is a hardback. I need some paperback beach reads that won't cry if the ocean gets on them. I think this is the funnest part of planning a trip, besides choosing some knitting projects for the ocean view on the balcony.

I finished The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian on my work trip. I ALWAYS love his work but tend not to seek it out on my own. Why is that? I also grabbed Edge of Evil by JA Jance from my stacks before I left because I was worried I'd be left bookless. I nearly was. I finished The Sleepwalker on the flight home with 40 minutes left of the flight. Thank goodness I had another book.

Still listening to A Gentleman in Moscow and am about 6 hours in (17 hour book). Also finishing up Sing, Unburied,Sing by Jesmyn Ward. This is a tough read. It's good, very good, don't get me wrong. It's the subject matter that makes it a difficult read. I both want to hug and smack Leonie. I'll have this done before vacation.

I guess I need to get to the hard task of finding more vacation books. With over 1,100 books in my house, you wouldn't think that would be difficult.

Revamp

I decided to try a new thing with Iced Tea Diaries. Instead of just individual reviews, I'm just going to write. Reviews are still a thing and I'll link to them on Goodreads!

Firstly, I finally finished George R R Martin's Fire and Blood, a history of the Targaryen family. It was an audio book that was a billion hours long but, aside from some meandering, was pretty good. I finished out the Game of Thrones series with my friend, Jaime. I will say I'm a bit disappointed in how rushed the last season felt. Give us more episodes instead of making characters go against who they are just to hit the plot point!

I just finished Lincoln Child's Death Match. Just ok. Not really what I was hoping for, as a data IT geek, but I guess because I am a data IT geek, I was accurate in my prediction of the ending.

Computers are assholes. That sums up everything.

I have so many books mid-read but just haven't finished them. I think some of them were too cerebral for what my brain can handle, with work being what it is. Hence Death Match.

When I was on vacation, I stopped in at Indy Reads Books and got me a good armful of books. I just grabbed The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E. Pitman (actually a purchase from Silver in the City on Mass Ave) as my next book book. Seems like the right time to read that.

I did also grab The Library Book by Susan Orlean and Art Matters by Neil Gaiman at Indy Reads.

My next audiobook will be A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles because my friend James keeps asking if I read it yet. Plus it was a book club pick, even though I missed book club.

The GRRM audio was such a beast though I'm taking a small break and listening to podcasts. I just found Books of Your Life and, lo and behold, the first episode I hear is with Neil Gaiman.

Speaking of Neil, have you watched Good Omens yet? Is it just me or does David Tennant really have that lanky, dorky sexiness going on??? Ahem. Anyways, the show is fantastic. If you are geeky enough, there are lots of easter eggs for you to find (Pratchett's hat!) and I'm fairly certain I missed some. Which I guess means I must watch all 6 episodes again. How sad.

I have a public group on Facebook to chat all things books called A Novel Discussion. It's new but hopefully will start scooting along with conversations! Join up!

Flawed Dogs by Berkeley Breathed

This was an adorably dark book that made me tear up more than once. A little dachshund with a ladle for a leg is being put in a dog fighting ring. He sees what he's up against and just lays down to die.

This is how we start the book!

We flashback to how Sam the Lion wiener dog is actually bought and paid for by Mrs. Nutbush for the sole purpose of winning the Westminster Dog Show. Fortunately for Sam, he spies an girl, Heidy, who looks like she should be his human. Heidy is an orphan, going to live with her uncle. Sam escapes Nutbush and ends up chasing down Heidy, who keeps him. Because, who wouldn't?

In Heidy's new home, there is Cassius, a French Poodle who is evil (aren't they all?) and Cassius wants Sam gone so he can have Heidy's love for himself. Cassius actually crafts a plan to be rid of Sam, that results in Sam being shot and left for dead.

Sam survives and ends up at the National Last-Ditch Dog Depository with other flawed and misfit dogs. Sam is scarred up, missing a leg, and has been through hell. We come back to the dog fight and Sam's story continues from there.

Sam and his misfit friends are adorable, sad, and awesome. The drawings in the book just emphasize the crazy that this book is but they are heartbreaking too. Sam comes out on top, flawed as he is.

Perfection is overrated.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby

This book of essays came highly recommended by Jenny Lawson, and since I love Jenny, I assumed I would love this book. I was right!

Samantha Irby is insanely funny and vulgar. She starts off this collection with her Bachelorette Application that introduces her to us.

“You know, what I really need is someone who remembers to rotate this meaty pre-corpse toward the sun every couple of days and tries to get me to stop spending my money like a goddamn NBA lottery pick.” 

And we just go running from there. A few things she mentioned sounded crazy familiar, so I looked her up. Yup, she has Crohn's Disease. I had Ulcerative Colitis (a cousin to Crohn's) and I truly feel her pain. One of the fascinating things about people with IBD is the ability to speak plainly and often about butts and poop. Samantha is no exception, so if butthole talk makes you nervous, well.....

How about lesbian talk? Her essay on her first girl encounter, referencing an open-face, medium rare, roast beef sandwich and soft serve ice cream, is a visual. For real.

She details her "dumpster fire" of a childhood. Saying she had it rough is a bit of an understatement but she has the ability to make you laugh as her dad's ashes end up in her mouth instead of the river (damn wind!).

“I am a simple person. Kind of. I mean, I don’t really have any dreams beyond comfortable pants and unlimited sparkling water.” 

Neon Prey by John Sandford

I love real books. Dead tree type books. But I also like my Kindle because when I hear the ding on Prey release day, I know I have instant happiness. And like that *snapping fingers*, the new Lucas Davenport book was in my hot little hands.

This is the 29th Davenport book and it really doesn't show it's age at all. Don't get me wrong, Lucas is aging. When his description said he was 52, for some reason, I was really surprised. But, I'm 43 and now 50s really don't seem that old. Maybe his chases are slowing a bit but his mind is still whirring at top speed, intelligence and humor were always his best points.

Deese is a killer. Not only that, he's a cannibal (the opening BBQ scenes take on a totally different feel when you know this fact). Not only is he a killer cannibal, he's out on the loose and Davenport, along with Rae and Bob, are brought in to find him. They start off in New Orleans, but tips lead them out to LA and Las Vegas. Sandford can write excellent characters. Rae and Bob are ideal sidekicks to Lucas and they stand up fully in their own right, much like Virgil Flowers.

Deese ends up with his brother, Marion, and his home invasion gang. He's surrounded by some nasty folks and it would seem they are brought down pretty quick. Honestly, it felt really easy in the beginning, good tips, cooperative cops, happening upon the right house, etc. Even Bob and Rae felt this was easy.

It was too easy.

A gunfight between cops and gang leads to some perilous results.

In the end, I'm going to say we're at a "typical" Prey ending but dammit, they are all GOOD. I only meant to read this a bit at a time but devoured it in 2 nights. I love Davenport. I love who he is, I love what he does, I love his complexities. He's not perfect, he can royally screw things up, but his intelligence brings him back to the top.

I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi

This was an interesting premise. Maddy, a seemingly perfect mom/housewife, jumps to her death off of a building and everyone is left to wonder why. Maddy herself is in another realm watching over her husband and teenage daughter, trying to make life better for them now that she is gone.

This could have easily went south and dark but it actually didn't. I admit to being irritated with Maddy. "Why are you playing God with your family now when you chose to leave them?" That thought kept playing in my head as Maddy manipulated feelings and situations to get the outcome she wanted.

Her husband, Brady......I'm shocked anyone stayed married to him, to be honest. Eve, her 17 year old daughter, was a typical selfish teenager. But Eve was the one who really reflected and worked on understanding her mom's suicide. Eve's transformation was partially sad and partially amazing. Brady stays an ass for a while :)

I felt the ending was a bit forced but I'll leave that for you to discover and make your own opinions on! Overall though, this was a really good book that made me reflect on how I treat my loved ones and what I would need to change to make people feel appreciated while they are still here.