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| Me Yay |
I've only managed to truly review one book in 2016, and it was for The Birthing House, a garbage book I have referenced far too many times on this blog and am upset with myself for mentioning yet again, so I'm moving on. Given that I truly do love books
Please note: the titles are all links to the Goodreads pages of each book, which will take you away from (ryan)vention and either onto Goodreads.com or into your Goodreads app, so it might be best to read first and click later :)
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| A condescending meme. |
6. I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain ReidOkay, premise. How to summarize the premise of this book...okay. Basically, Jake is taking his girlfriend on a road trip to introduce her to his parents for the first time. Pretty normal stuff. We all saw it in Meet the Parents. What's the worst that can happen? Ashes being used as cat litter, that's what!
SURPRISE. We find out that Jake's girlfriend is thinking of ending things (oh Iain Reid, you clever title dropper, you) with Jake. Okay, well that's weird. You couldn't think of any excuses to get out of this awkward road trip, girlfriend? PS I call her girlfriend because I honestly don't remember if she even had a name, even though most of the story takes place from her perspective. Anyway, Jake and his girlfriend get to the farm where his parents live, and the story legitimately only becomes more awkward, strange, and unsettling from there.
I'm not even sure how to approach this one in terms of a review. Imagine you are walking down a street at night. There are no cars passing by. There are no other pedestrians walking the sidewalks. You try to walk more softly because you feel like you are disturbing the neighborhood with the sound of your feet hitting the pavement. Other than your footsteps, all you hear is the distant swish of cars on a faraway highway and the rustling of branches in the trees above. You're alone - and you know rationally that you are alone - but you get this feeling that you're actually not. You feel this so certainly that you can't help but look over your shoulder a few times, each time expecting to see a tall silhouette of a stranger trailing behind you, only to be surprised each time that no one is there. You quicken your pace, wondering why you decided to walk anywhere at night. The faster you walk and the closer you get to home, the more certain you are that someone is there lurking in the shadows. You look over your shoulder a second, third, fourth time. You're so sure of that someone is there that you begin to wonder if you should even go home. Ultimately, you decide you should. You finally get to your door, your heart is racing, you fumble to get your keys into the door and you're certain you hear footsteps running, running, running behind your back until finally you get the door open, you rush inside, slam the door, lock it, and back away.
That's how I felt reading this book. You feel unsettled but you're not ever 100% sure why - not even after you've read the final word.
If you are someone who enjoys a nicely tied up story, this book is not for you. If you are someone who likes to be comfortable with the characters in a story, these are not the folks you will want to spend time with. If you are someone who enjoys linear storytelling, this is not the right story for you. But, if you're okay with being unsettled...if you're okay with being uncomfortable...if you are okay with being terrified but not quite knowing what's scaring you...then this is definitely one novel you need to pick up.
5. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul TremblayI saw The Exorcist when I was nine years old. No, I can't say #ThanksForNothingTammi on this one - this was all the fault of me, a childhood friend, and an unmonitored DVD collection. When we first read the title, we thought it was just some random movie about someone to exercises a lot. Not kidding. Needless to say, given I was too young to understand what an exorcist was (as a Catholic at the time, by the way), then I was certainly too young to watch it.
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| What I thought The Exorcist would be like |
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| What The Exorcist actually is |
The Exorcist stayed with me for a long time. I had nightmares for two years after watching the movie. I talked with my local priest about exorcisms and the likelihood of someone being possessed. I became paranoid about the possibility of being possessed. I was obsessed with it not because I enjoyed the experience, but because something inside me was so deeply disturbed by the film. For the record, this was also the same child who, for one holiday season, refused to eat candy canes unless Tammi washed them because he was convinced he would miss a piece of plastic, swallow said plastic, and suffocate.
I rewatched the film when I was 18 years old - I went out, purchased my own copy of the DVD, and I watched it. By this time, I was an avid fan of the horror genre, and I was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I couldn't bring myself to rewatch one of the most heralded works of horror ever filmed (or written). Also, I didn't want to be a pansy.
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| I was just really surprised there was a pansy gif, so here you go. #HappyHolidays |
So why did I tell you that anecdote? A Head Full of Ghosts follows the story of Merry and her older sister Marjorie, whose parents must have hated them for naming them such names (no offense to any Marjories or Merrys). Merry, now an adult, is being interviewed nearly fifteen years after Marjorie's alleged possession and exorcism became a nationally televised American nightmare. Ultimately, the novel explores the intersections of three key concepts: memory/reality, good/evil, and religion/science.
What I liked most about this book is that it leaves you to your own devices to decide what truly happened to Marjorie - and what exactly Merry's role was in all of the events that transpired all those years ago. In particular, the uncertainty regarding whether Marjorie was actually possessed or was in fact suffering from some type of debilitating mental illness stayed with me. This theme is visible in most decent stories about possession, but it was very salient in A Head Full of Ghosts. The lack of true closure on the matter leaves you thinking about these characters long after you put the book back on the shelf.
4. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho Veronika appears to have the perfect life - that's why it is super weird when she decides she to take a handful of sleeping pills in the hopes to overdose and die by suicide. It isn't until Veronika wakes up in Villete - a mental hospital - that she discovers Fate has other ideas for her. Indeed, though she didn't succeed at dying at first, the overdose she experienced caused irreparable heart damage. Veronika, you see, wakes up to find out that she only has a few days to live. Feeling that she has nothing to lose, given she is in a mental hospital and only has a few days to live, Veronika discovers her true self - and, consequently, how to live a full life.
Like many of Coelho's novels, Veronika Decides to Die explores one core concept. In this particular novel, Coelho chooses to explore the concept of madness and, in particular, collective madness. Throughout the novel, we not only experience Veronika's journey to discover life, but we also see through the eyes of individuals with clinical depression, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia. It is a short book (a mere 210 pages), but it's an important look at what makes humans human, and questions the readers' preconceived notions on sanity and madness.
Full disclosure, I bought this book several years ago after I found out Sarah Michelle Gellar - aka Buffy aka THE ONLY HEROINE WE WILL EVER NEED - was starring in the film adaptation. I previously read The Alchemist and couldn't quite get into the writing style of Coelho or understand what all the buzz was about. Having said that, I thought the concept of Veronika Decides to Die was an interesting one - someone who chooses to die by suicide but fails to do so wakes up and learns how to truly live the life she imagined. It's an altogether inspiring and heartbreaking premise, and it works.
For the record, I watched the film adaptation after reading the novel, and I wasn't impressed. Sorry, SMG.
3. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness Conor O'Malley has unknowingly summoned a monster, and it visits him every night at 12:07am. When the monster comes the first time, it assures Conor that it is not there to frighten - rather, it is there to tell Conor three stories about the dark side of the human condition. In exchange for the three stories, it tells Conor that he has to tell the monster his own story. Each story the monster tells comes with increasing conflict in Conor's life. On top of these nightly visits, Conor is plagued with schoolyard bullies, an absentee father, a cold grandmother, and - worst of all - his mother's terminal cancer.
I didn't know what to expect from this novel when I bought it. I found it in the children's section at Wal-Mart (I was probably supposed to be grocery shopping, but the book siren called). I felt a bit foolish picking it up and buying it, illustrations and all, but Goodreads had it at almost a 5.0 rating, so I decided to give it a shot.
At first glance, Conor's story is a children's fantasy novel. But when you actually read it, the story is a coming of age story about the loss of innocence, loneliness, grief, and acceptance. It is easily the most compelling, unsettling, and emotional novel I read this year. All in all, it is a fast read - I read it in 4 hours - and it is beautifully illustrated in stark black ink. Although I didn't want to put it down, there were a few moments when I had to set it aside to fully digest the experience and, admittedly, pull myself together.
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| Me reading A Monster Calls, tbh |
2. The Road by Cormac McCarthyAs far as novels go, I am not a huge fan of dystopian or post-apocalyptic stories (usually). I couldn't get through the first fifty pages of Hunger Games, and could barely sit through most of the movies (with the exception of Catching Fire). I read The Stand by Stephen King and seriously could not comprehend why anyone thinks that's his best work with so many other worthy contenders. I only enjoyed Fahrenheit 451 because it's Bradbury and I think the themes are important, particularly in the political climate we now find ourselves in - but ultimately, I probably wouldn't pick it up again. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline was...fine. Honestly, I'm not sure where this dislike of dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels comes from, but the genre has just never resonated with me for some reason. The Road, however, is a different story entirely.
The novel follows the story of a father and his son trekking across a post-apocalyptic United States after a mass extinction event has left few humans (or, indeed, any living things) alive. On their journey, they not only have to battle the unforgiving winter, but also contend with other humans who have turned to cannibalism to survive. On top of this, the man knows he is dying - the only thing keeping him going is the need to keep his son alive. Along the way, they meet other like minded survivors and are witness to the darkest acts of humankind all in an effort to survive.
This novel is gut wrenching and wrought with emotion. On the outside, it is a story of survival. At its core, it is about the human experience and the special bond between a father and son. The Road is a haunting experience whose moments will stay with you long after you read its final pages. This is what dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels should aspire to be.
It also made me sob like a baby on an airplane, so there's that.
1. 11/22/63 by Stephen King It's difficult to summarize 11/22/63 without giving too much away, but the basic premise is simple: High school English teacher Jake Epping finds himself time traveling through the "rabbit hole" from 2011 to the late 1950s to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. King explores truly interesting concepts throughout the novel: the butterfly effect that occurs each time Jake goes back and tries to change events of the past (which directly impacts the future he eventually returns to), the idea of living a double life (since Jake cannot reveal his true identity in late 1950s/early 1960s America), the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination plot against JFK, and various social issues both from the mid-20th century and today.
Fangirling aside, 11/22/63 featured some of the most strongly developed characters I have ever read from King, and one of the most heartwarming and heartbreaking love stories he has ever told. Of course, some of King's signature moments are here, including a dangerous journey through Derry, Maine, a grisly crime (and I'm not talking about JFK here), and a hint of the supernatural. I may offend some King fans by saying this, but this might very well be my favorite King novel. This is King at his best.
Oh, and skip the Hulu series once you've read the book. It's total garbage in comparison.
Although I only reviewed six of my favorite books of 2016 here, there were only a few I read this year that I would not recommend. You can see my full list from 2016 on my Goodreads page. Goodreads, by the way, is one of my favorite things from 2016 - I know it's been around since 'Nam, but I was new to it this year. It's really helpful in finding your next great read, as well as keeping track of what you've read already and making and finding recommendations with your social circle.
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