Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

Book number 18 for 2024; 5/5 stars.

This is actually the fifth time I have read this book, which must mean it is my favorite book. 

I can’t say enough good things about Neverwhere. For me, it is the ultimate fantasy/horror novel. We meet our protagonist, Richard Mayhew, going about his normal, boring life, going out with work “friends,” being engaged to a pretty girl, and about to have dinner with her boss, a rich man who owns part of pretty much everything in London.

On their way to dinner, they stumble across a girl, who is mostly unconscious, and appears to have been beaten. She is dirty, and dressed in layers of clothing, such as a homeless person might be. Richard, risking the ire of Jessica, his fiancé, decides that he cannot simply leave this girl alone, so he picks her up and carries her back to his apartment. This girl turns out to be named Door, is from London Underground, and is being hunted by a couple of nefarious dudes named Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, a couple of villains who would rival the infamously creepy Uriah Heep.

After saving Door, and helping her regain some of her health, Richard is sent on a mission to find someone who can escort Door back to the Underground. Eventually, Richard finds himself on an adventure that is beyond his own ability to believe.

Mr. Gaiman’s writing is fabulous. There is humor, there is violence, there is danger, and some of the most insanely weird beings and people that I have ever encountered. At every turn, it seems as though we meet something or someone even stranger than before, from Serpentine to the Velvets, to the Angel Islington. I absolutely love this book, and will probably read it again.

TTFN, y’all!

My Best Friend’s Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix

Book number 13 for 2024; 5/5 stars

Another five-star read by Grady Hendrix, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. Hendrix’s typical humor shines in this one, and just like the other two I have read, there suddenly reaches a point where things just aren’t funny any more.

The book begins with adult Abby reminiscing over the past, and then immediately flashes back to years from childhood on to high school. The friendship between Abby and Gretchen begins when Gretchen is the only one who shows up to Abby’s tenth birthday party. The relationship begins very awkwardly, but blossoms into a best-friend relationship pretty quickly. 

The story progresses as Abby and Gretchen get older, and eventually, the two of them become friends with Glee and Margaret, and all of them are students at a private school. Abby’s family, however, is the only family that is not really wealthy. 

Something terrible happens one night, though, on a holiday weekend, when the four of them decide to drop some LSD and go skinny-dipping at the lake. Gretchen gets separated from the others, and basically spends the night out in an abandoned concrete bunker by the lake. That’s when it all started. Gretchen really started having weird things happen, and, at first, chalked it up to flashbacks from the LSD. The thing is, none of the other three ever noticed any effects from the LSD.

Things get worse and worse for Gretchen and Abby, until one day, Gretchen seems back to normal and suddenly Abby is excluded from the rest of the group. That’s as much plot as I will reveal, here, but I will say that the eventual exorcism scene is harrowing. 

I will also admit that the end made me cry. But I’ll cry at just about anything, so there’s that.

Definitely another great book by Mr. Hendrix, and I plan on watching the 2022 movie that was made. I am also excited to find that a TV adaptation is in progress for his Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

TTFN, y’all!

Reading Recap, January 2024

I finished 11 books in January and here is the list of them, with linked reviews and star ratings on The Story Graph. Last January, I finished 12, so I’m a book behind this year. But, hey . . . I’ve got a whole extra day in February, right?

Book number 1. A Prayer for the Crown Shy, by Becky Chambers. Finished 1/1/24, 5 stars.

Book number 2. But Have You Read the Book? by Kristen Lopez. Finished 1/4/24, 4 stars.

Book number 3. Christmas: The Season of Life and Light, by Emily Hunter McGowin. Finished 1/5/24, 4 stars.

Book number 4. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente. Finished 1/8/24, 3.5 stars.

Book number 5. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann. Finished 1/13/24, 5 stars.

Book number 6. From a Far and Lovely Country, by Alexander McCall Smith. Finished 1/16/24, 5 stars.

Book number 7. Fire and Ice, by Erin Hunter (Warriors #2). Finished 1/19/24, 4 stars.

Book number 8. Leviathan Wakes, by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse #1). Finished 1/24/24, 5 stars.

Book number 9. Epiphany: The Season of Glory, by Fleming Rutledge. Finished 1/26/24, 5 stars.

Book number 10. With Open Hands, by Henri J.M. Nouwen. Finished 1/26/24, 4 stars.

Book number 11. Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #4). Finished 1/28/24, 5 stars.

One might say that I’m handing out too many 5-star reviews. One can go ahead and say that. But maybe, just maybe, I’m simply choosing really good books.

TTFN, y’all!

Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells

Book number 11 for 2024, 5/5 stars.

The fourth and final (I think)(Nope, I’m wrong . . . I see that there are at least three more) installment in The Murderbot Diaries, Exit Strategy does not disappoint. I’ll be honest, during the first chapter, I didn’t think I was going to like it as much as the other three. But once it got going, it didn’t slow down and held my interest solidly to the end.

Murderbot has just finished its adventure on Milu, where it helped a group of humans who were doing an assessment, who were battling the big bad of the whole series, GrayCris corporation. It was discovered, in that story, that what was happening on the planet was an illegal mining operation. 

Anyway, Murderbot is now trying to find Dr. Mensah, the human who had previously owned it, before it hacked its governor’s module and gone “rogue.” Dr. Mensah, because of the events on Milu, had been sort of kidnapped by GrayCris, who was in desperate need of money. So they were trying to ransom Mensah. Murderbot shows up at the location and proceeds to try to get to her. In the process, it winds up collaborating with three of the other team members that worked with Mensah. 

From that point, the action is pretty much nonstop and the excitement, as well. Things even get somewhat emotional, at one point, which, of course, Murderbot hates. 

As it turns out, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, almost as much as I did the first one, I think. Very close. I will, of course, continue reading these as I am able to get my hands on them. 

TTFN, y’all!

Epiphany: The Season of Glory, by Fleming Rutledge

Book number 9 for 2024; 5/5 stars.

This is another volume in the Fullness of Time series from Intervarsity Press. I’m not 100% sure of the order that they are supposed to go in, but I figure, since they are following the Church calendar, Advent should be first, followed by Christmas, and then this one, Epiphany. And that’s the order I have read them in. It is my humble opinion that Fleming Rutledge has done a magnificent job of presenting “the season of glory.”

All of these books, so far, have blessed me tremendously. At this point, I am hard-pressed to pick a favorite between Epiphany and Advent. Each book has been organized differently, which is fine, considering they are all by different authors. I would say that I probably have learned the most from this one. For most of my life (at least the part where I even knew about Epiphany), I pretty much just thought of Epiphany as the day the wise men showed up at the house of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. And while that day is the basis for the event, there is much more to it than that.

Many people don’t consider Epiphany a “season,” but I have come to think of it that way, myself, and Ms. Rutledge presents it in that way, as well. She highlights so much more, though, than the Magi visit. Included in this book are chapters about the baptism of Jesus, the transfiguration of Jesus, His first miracle, and the Sermon on the Mount (as well as the lesser known Sermon on the Plain). There are ten chapters, plus an introduction and conclusion, but the book finishes up at only 167 pages, so it’s not a long read. I basically read a portion of a chapter (sometimes the whole chapter) during my morning devotionals, beginning on January 6.

The last chapter takes us to what Fleming Rutledge calls “The Mission,” which is, of course, Jesus’s instructions to His disciples shortly before His Ascension. And conclusion, which she calls a “Coda,” consists of “Doxology,” which is fitting, because “doxa” is a word that occurs numerous times throughout the book. It is the Greek word for “glory,” and “doxology,” literally means “to speak glory.”

Extremely well-written, with plenty of research and notes, I highly recommend this little book for anyone looking to delve deeper into the mystery and beauty of the Church calendar and Epiphany.

TTFN, y’all!