Johannes Cabal

I recently listened to the audio book versions of Johannes Cabal: Necromancer and Johannes Cabal: Detective, by Jonathan L. Howard.  These were right up my alley, in that they were dark, but not too dark, and laugh-out-loud funny in places.  Imagine a less creepy Neil Gaiman. 

In Necromancer, we meet Cabal, a brilliant scientist who has sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for knowledge of necromancy.  Alas, necromancy does not work quite right for the soulless, so Cabal wants it back.  A bored Satan makes him an offer:  If Cabal can collect 100 souls in one year, he can win back his own. To this end, the Devil lends him an evil, traveling carnival, a la Something Wicked This Way Comes.

In Detective, Cabal is escaping a death sentence in a foreign land by disguising himself as a government official and catching a ride on the last aeroship out of a county descending into civil war.  Unfortunately, he finds himself on board with a murderer.

Both books were lots of fun. I'm looking forward to reading the third book in the series: Johannes Cabal: The Fear Institute.

The Ridge, by Michael Koryta

When I downloaded The Ridge, I thought it would be a serial-killer book, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover a good ghost story. 

Why did Wyatt French build a lighthouse in the middle of the Kentucky woods?  After his death, a small-town sheriff's deputy and a local newspaper reporter begin to suspect he wasn't just a crazy old drunk, but was, in fact, one of the few people who knew the secret of Blade Ridge.

This book brings a nice creepy vibe without being terrifying.

Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Even though Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is classified as young adult, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's part mysterious ghost story and part coming-of-age adventure tale.  Jacob is nearly 16 when his grandfather dies violently.  His last cryptic words send Jacob to an island off the coast of Wales where his grandfather, as a child, had taken refuge from WWII.

Old photos, meant to be the ones Jacob's grandfather showed him, are included throughout, adding to the creepy atmosphere of the story.  The clues are laid out and secrets are slowly revealed as Jacob unravels the mystery of his grandfather's youth, discovering in the process that his grandfather's grisly fate could also be his own.

There are a few violent deaths that might make this inappropriate for younger children, but the gore isn't excessive. It should be fine for junior high and up.

Avoid This

Do not get the audio version of David Brooks' The Social Animal. The. narrator. speaks. in. a. very. slow. monotone.   I narrowly escaped slipping into a boredom-induced coma. 

Perhaps the producer was going for a sophisticated tone.  "We don't need all that vocal variation to entertain our erudite audience." Yes, yes you do.

99 cent mystery alert

If you read or saw the movie version of the Lincoln Lawyer, you may not know that Mickey Haller has a  half-brother, Hieronymus Bosch, who's been the star of his own series for almost 20 years.

Amazon now has an electronic version of the first book in that series, Black Echo, for $0.99.

Update: Well, that deal is over, but Black Ice, another Harry Bosch novel, is available for $1.99.

"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and Urban Farming

I've been enjoying Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. She describes her family's move to a small farm in southwest Virgina and their attempt to grow all their own food or buy it locally for one year. 

I have never harbored a secret desire to farm, but this book has inspired in me a desire to grow asparagus and... keep laying hens.  So I was delighted to discover that residents can now keep hens inside the city limits of Knoxville.  We're civilized here though: No chicken coops in the front yard.

Book Review: Family Hiking in the Smokies

This book is great for families with younger kids. There is a good description for each hike that includes directions to the hike, length in miles and hours, age appropriateness, difficulty and points of interest such as waterfalls or lookout towers. 

The chart in the back let's the reader easily find a hike that can be done with a preschooler, one that has a waterfall or various other features.

I have a three year-old, so it's great to be able to scan for a nice short hike we can do as a family.

Free Audio Downloads from the Library -The Best Thing Ever

Without audio books, I'd never get the dusting done.  Or the yard work. Or the ironing.  I'd work at them for a few minutes and then sit down to read.  The selection is not great, but I never have any problem finding something I've been meaning to read.  Or reread.

I recently listened to 1984, which I read so long ago, that my memory of it had become quite dim.  It's a must read if you follow conservative bloggers. I've seen all these references to it in the past week: The memory hole, the two-minutes hate, we've always been at war with East Asia, we thank the party for increasing the chocolate ration from 20 grams to 15 grams.

I just finished The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag from the Flavia De Luce series by Alan Bradley.  Flavia is an 11 year-old amateur chemist and sleuth from 1950's England.  Although the protagonist is 11, these are not children's books.  They contain gruesome murders and adult situations.  Having said that, I laughed out loud more than once.  Highly recommended particularly if you enjoyed:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  I couldn't imagine the point of this book when I first heard of it, but since everyone else seemed to be reading it, I downloaded it.  And it was hilarious. I presumed that the shtick of the Bennet sisters fighting the undead would wear off before the book ended, but I snickered all the way through.

Update: Sure enough, the shtick of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies did wear off.  I tried Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, but I didn't make it through the first chapter.  Cute, but not compelling.