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Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Bird Box in Books

May 16, 2018  
Bird Box
Bird Box
Josh Malerman | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.3 (23 Ratings)
Book Rating
If you're looking for something that is fast-paced and just might give you an anxiety attack, Josh Malerman's debut novel Bird Box may be exactly what you need. Set in the very near future, Bird Box is a book that simultaneously takes place during and after the apocalypse. Human beings find their minds under assault by an unseen force, one that drives them toward homicidal and suicidal tendencies. The only way to remain safe is to never, ever open your eyes.

Imagine with me what living in a world, robbed suddenly of sight, might be like. We rely heavily on our senses and, as an avid reader, I highly value my ability to be able to see the written word. I can't even begin to fathom what it would be like to find myself forced into an eternally dark void, and never have I thought of a scenario in which I would choose to be blind.

In Bird Box, Malorie and her children aren't given that option. Stranded in a home that is not her own, and faced with dwindling supplies and a lack of social interaction with anyone but her two children, Malorie must embark on a dangerous mission to find a new, safer haven for her small family: only their destination isn't very close to them, and they are not alone. There's a fourth party traveling with them and they are helpless to identify the newcomer.

The entire story does not follow that journey alone, though. In fact, it simultaneously takes place prior to Malorie's endeavor, introducing us to an entire cast of characters ranging from lovable to untrustworthy; from the purely innocent to those whose madness goes beyond all help. Though I'm not a huge fan of the constant back and forth chronology (in fact, I find it to be extremely distracting), the manner in which Malerman reveals bits and pieces of his story is crucial to progression: it gives readers the opportunity to develop their own feelings for Malorie and how she handles her problems. I also found that the odd way in which he split the story kept me reading, if only because more often that not, I found myself wondering how or why something was the way it was presently if, at the beginning of the end, everything seemed to be headed in a totally different direction.

Like most stories that take place after the world as we know it has met its doom, whether by nuclear fallout, bio-warfare, or the collapse of government, Bird Box brings out the best, and more readily, the worst in people. They become desperate or panicked, sometimes to the point that their actions defy all logic: such as the voluntary or involuntary blinding of oneself to avoid madness. Perhaps I so easily love post-apocalyptic books for that reason alone. They have a habit of reminding us exactly how pathetic and disgusting our own race can be; how often we are willing to put ourselves first, despite the suffering of others, should the situation call for it.
  
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Debbiereadsbook (1202 KP) rated Bad, Dad, And Dangerous Anthology in Books

Oct 15, 2020  
Bad, Dad, And Dangerous Anthology
Bad, Dad, And Dangerous Anthology
Rhys Ford, TA Moore, Bru Baker, Jenn Moffatt | 2020 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.5 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
great box set!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this box set.

These are four unrelated stories save for the common thread that one of the main characters is a single dad and a paranormal being.

I read all four, but I only really enjoyed 3.

KISMET & CADAVERS BY JENN MOFFATT

I haven't read anything by Ms Moffatt before, but I hope I get to soon! I LOVED this! Thomas and KJ met years ago, and Thomas felt that connection. His daughter moving up from KJ's class at school gives him the perfect chance. But things are getting in the way, and a dark magic has to be dealt with.

I loved the cat in this, I really did. You don't get many undead cats playing a huge part in stories and he made me laugh, how he is with Thomas. And that he likes KJ.

It's funny, and sexy and this was my favourite, along with the next one!

WOLF AT FIRST SIGHT BY RHYS FORD

This is a novella from the Wayward Wolves series (currently only one book!) but you don't need to have read that book to follow this.

Joesph's Nana frequents the pub he is watching. The owner is rather easy on the eye, but Levi isn't the only one keeping secrets from Joesph.

Joseph and Levi have immediate attraction and it takes them time to act on that. I loved that most of the people in the pub are not what they seem and the solution to Levi's Peacekeeping problem wasn't what I saw coming.

And it was sweet, dammit!

MONSTER HALL PASS BY BRU BAKER

Vampires with a twist!

Hugh is a vampire who feeds on energy, NEGATIVE energy gives the biggest boost. So once a year, when his daughter is at camp, he goes off to help his police friends deal with their more dangerous criminals. Meeting a Fae who can smell Hugh's daughter and then goes off on one at him, wasn't really in the plan this summer. When Rykoff reveals the truth about Hugh's daughter, he knows he needs help.

Cute, really cute. I enjoyed this one, not quite as much as the first two mentioned but I did enjoy it. I'd read more of these sorts of vampires, I really would!

ELF SHOT BY TA MOORE

I didn't like this one as much as the other three, I got a bit lost along the way with this. But still, a good read, just not a great one (Sorry!)

A thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a few hours with new to me, as well as not-so-new authors. Ms Baker and Moffatt are now sat on my wish list!

4 good solid stars across the whole set, But 5 for Kismet and Cadavers and for Wolf at First Sight.

~same worded review will appear elsewhere~
  
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Brian Eno recommended Fresh by Sly & The Family Stone in Music (curated)

 
Fresh by Sly & The Family Stone
Fresh by Sly & The Family Stone
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I didn't know much about Sly and I'd only heard the two hits that he'd had, which were 'Everyday People', which I loved because of that bass line which goes all the way through without changing once, and 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)', and I loved them but I didn't think that much of them. Then one evening in 1971 I was round the house of this bunch of London musos who I'd kind of fallen in with and they were all sort of jazz-influenced people. They used to smoke a lot of grass. I didn't, but the room was full of enough stuff to probably affect me. They were all talking about this album and how it set the scene for something totally new, and I was interested because they were the very serious people who were into Coltrane and Charlie Parker, yet this was a pop record. It's so sketchy, the whole thing, it hardly holds together. It's like little flicks of paint. Instead of an organised composition, it's just people throwing in these little touches and somehow it coheres. It's like the first time I saw a Jackson Pollock or something. Another interesting thing about this is I had just started experimenting with rhythm boxes, which were considered completely beyond the pale by most musicians. They had like six rhythms on: bossa nova, Latin, rock & roll... something like that, and they had these terrible sounds [mimics rhythm box] but I really liked them and I was starting to write things over them, and everyone was asking me, ""Well, you'll replace that, won't you?"" and I said, ""Actually, I don't think I will."" Then I heard this (first track, 'In Time'), where one is playing alongside Andy Newmark, one of the great drummers of all time. But there's nothing really holding it together except the rhythm box."

Source
  
    iPlay Design

    iPlay Design

    Sports and Education

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    Mirroring to your TV from apple will allow you and your team draw them on the Big Screen Now!! ...