A Book & A Beer | J.W. Martin

First Impression Friday | Horns by Joe Hill

Posted on January 25, 2019by J.W. Martin

Welcome to another First Impression Friday. In case this is your first time, here’s the rundown:

• Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions
and predict what you’ll think by the end.
• Did you think you’d love and ended up hating it? Or did you think
you’d hate it and wound up loving it? Or were you exactly right?
• Link back to Storeys of Stories so I can enjoy reading all the
First Impression Fridays out there!

Let’s talk about Horns by Joe Hill.

“Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples.”

My first introduction to Joe Hill was The Fireman. Even though I really like it I wasn’t exactly running to the bookstore to get his entire catalog, but a reading challenge had me looking at this one… AND I LOVE IT!

If this one continues as strong as it started, I just might run to the bookstore to get him entire catalog!

Warning: This book is awesome, but messed up. It starts out with most people revealing the worst, most evil parts of themselves, ramped up to 11.

My Prediction: At least 4 stars

Fun fact about this post: When I’m done reading this one (and before I run to the bookstore for Joe Hill’s catalog) I’ll almost definitely be watching the movie, starring Daniel Radcliffe.

All Books Reviews

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Posted on January 23, 2019by J.W. Martin

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE
by Celeste Ng

Penguin Press
September 12, 2017

From Goodreads:

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the alluring mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When the Richardsons’ friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family – and Mia’s.

Little Fires Everywhere was a book that seemed kind of interesting and then ended up sucking me right in and didn’t let go until it was done with me.

The plot is unassuming. Interesting, but nothing to imply not being able to put it down. And then you start learning about the characters and watch how the interact with one another and it becomes fascinating. It’s like you’ve become a little social scientist and these subjects have been given to you for study.

It all boils down to a story that is expertly told. Every chapter pulls you in, even when the story shifts suddenly. Several times throughout the book, a particular thread would be be getting really interesting. Then, suddenly, the book would shift and the next chapter jumped to another thread, or started a brand new one. Each time this happened, I was disappointed to switch away from the really interesting stuff I was in the middle of. However, within a few pages, I was completely into the new thread, hoping THAT one didn’t end. And when it did, I found myself in something else that I didn’t want to end.

Throughout the story, you’re presenting with several moral issues. Each one has multiple outcomes, though none of them are right or wrong. Just shades of grey. Which is very similar to the characters of the book. There are no good guys or bad guys, just more shades of grey. It leaves you really considering what you would do. Whose side you’d be on. And if you’re like me, you’re going to have a really hard time deciding.

When I started this book, I wondered if my expectations were going to be too high based on the hype surrounding the book. If anything, it actually made me a little skeptical. But after reading I can now say it’s earned all the hype, awards, and accolades surrounding it. Something everyone should read.

Fun fact about this post: Ng is pronounced like ‘ing’

All Memes Top 5 Tuesday

Top 5 books that need to be a movie

Posted on January 22, 2019by J.W. Martin

This week in Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday we’re talking about books that need to be movies. It’s a little different than just your favourite books. These books have scenes that I was able to visualize so clearly, with special effects and all, that I now NEED to see those scenes play out for real in front of my eyes (even though Hollywood has a talent for screwing up most adaptations.)

Six of Crows

The scene that jumps out of me the most is when Inej is climbing up the chimney, shoes melting, hands burning, but keeps going regardless.

Steelheart

There’s an amazing scene where a man who acts more like a mentor through most of the book suddenly lets loose and fights a bunch of soldiers. So intense.

Illuminae Files

No specific scene on this one. I need to see the WHOLE THING!

Red Rising

I need to see Sevro and howlers cutting their way out of a very clever hiding place.

Nevernight

Oddly enough, I really want to see the training scenes!

Fun fact about this post: I worked really hard to keep things spoiler-free!

All Book Tag

Ringing in the… New Year?

Posted on January 21, 2019by J.W. Martin

So Meeghan (of Reads and Bakes fame) has resurrected a 2017 End of Year tag and repurposed it as a Start of 2019 tag. And then tagged me. It might be getting a little late in the month for a ‘New Year’ tag, but I wanted to squeeze it in!

Rules:

Link to the person who tagged you (Meeghan)
Link to the creator of the tag (Bookmark Chronicles)
Answer the questions below (check)
Tag friends (or not if you don’t feel like it)

Questions:

Best book and/or series read in 2018?

ONE book?! I’m going to pretend it said 3 (and even that was tough to narrow down!)

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

Bag of Bones by Stephen King

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton

Authors that you’ve recently found and would like to read more of in the new year?

Robert Jackson Bennett

Preston Norton

Celeste Ng

Joe Hill

Alexandra Christo

Jo Nesbo

Adam Silvera

Most anticipated book turned movie/tv show?

I only learned that there was going to be a Raven Boys show from Meeghan’s post, so now I’m really excited about that. Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens is up there, too. I actually haven’t read the book yet (though it’s on my 2019 TBR) but anything Neil Gaiman is right up my alley.

Name a character that you wouldn’t mind sharing a kiss with at midnight (if there is one)?

Princess Lira from To Kill a Kingdom. That might end up being my death, her being a siren and all, but what can you do?

What’s on you TBR for 2019?

So much. Some of the most recently added entries are:
All Systems Red, Hounded, and Scythe

How many books do you hope to read in 2019?

Last year I hit 65, so I set this year’s goal at 70.

Will you participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge or any others?

Kinda, sorta. Goodreads, for sure. And I’ll kind of be doing the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge again. I didn’t complete it last year, but I find it’s a great way to decide what books to read.

Any New Year’s Resolutions?

Ugh. I’m not great with resolutions. I began the new year trying to work out 5 days a week, which hasn’t been working out thus far. I’d also like to blog a little more consistently and get more creative writing done (at least 1 novel and a handful of short stories)

Fun fact about this post: I took a break in the middle of writing this post to play a round of HQ and was embarrassingly eliminated on the 4th question.

All First Impression Friday Memes

First Impression Friday | Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Posted on January 18, 2019by J.W. Martin

Welcome to another First Impression Friday. In case this is your first time, here’s the rundown:

Let’s talk about Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.

“Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

I was very excited to start this one. It’s the audiobook version, and as I start, I instantly recognize Bahni Turpin’s voice, who gave an amazing performance with The Hate U Give audiobook.

Then I’m into the first chapter and everyone’s training in the best way to kill zombies, and I’m still excited, and then I keep going and my excitement begins to die. Very little happens. To be fair, I just finished Feed, which sets a very quick pace. However, the pace of Dread Nation thus far is like those moving sidewalks you see in some airports. Sure it’s easy, but a medium walk is still faster.

I’m holding out hope that the action will pick up. Everyone has weapons and training, so stuff will go flying sooner or later.

My Prediction: 3 stars.

Fun fact about this post: I can’t believe it, but this is my first FIF post of 2019. #slacker

All Books Reviews

FEED by Mira Grant

Posted on January 17, 2019by J.W. Martin

FEED
by Mira Grant

Orbit
May 1, 2010

From Goodreads:

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop.

The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives—the dark conspiracy behind the infected.

The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

This near-future zombie book was a very pleasant surprise.

I picked it up thinking I was getting into a mindless gore-fest with gnashing teeth and shambling bi-pedal moan machines. And honestly, I would have been fine with that. Instead, a got a story that was thought-provoking, deep and inspiring, still with plenty of action and excitement.

As with many of the great zombie stories, the zombies aren’t the main enemy. They aren’t even the biggest obstacle to overcome. They are an element of the world, a way of life that could be replaced by killer bees or freak lightning storms. As expected, the main threat to humans living in a zombie infested world is still other humans!

What wasn’t expected was a political thriller, and though I’m not usually drawn into political thrillers, this one had its hooks in me big time. Maybe it was because our journalists didn’t just write for one newspaper or another. They were bloggers. That’s an immediate connection for any of us that are part of the blogosphere.

While the plot is somewhat predictable, this story keeps you guessing in other ways. Most things can be seen from miles away, like a shambling zombie making its way across a desert. However, like the zombie that pops out of a closet and makes the whole theatre jump, there are a few surprises that you WON’T see coming.

If you’ve ever decided against reading a book because it was “just a zombie book” (why would you even do that?) I would recommend giving this one a try. It’s rich with satisfying story without a heavy zombie aftertaste.

Fun fact about this post: Mira Grant is a pseudonym for Seanan McGuire!

All Memes Top 5 Tuesday

The Ape That Understood the Universe by Steve Stewart-Williams

Posted on January 11, 2019by J.W. Martin

The Ape That Understood the Universe
by Steve Stewart-Williams

Cambridge University Press
September 13, 2018

From Goodreads:

The Ape that Understood the Universe is the story of the strangest animal in the world: the human animal. It opens with a question: How would an alien scientist view our species? What would it make of our sex differences, our sexual behavior, our child-rearing patterns, our moral codes, our religions, languages, and science? The book tackles these issues by drawing on ideas from two major schools of thought: evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory. The guiding assumption is that humans are animals, and that like all animals, we evolved to pass on our genes. At some point, however, we also evolved the capacity for culture – and from that moment, culture began evolving in its own right. This transformed us from a mere ape into an ape capable of reshaping the planet, travelling to other worlds, and understanding the vast universe of which we’re but a tiny, fleeting fragment.

The good people at Cambridge University Press and NetGalley provided me a digital ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really didn’t know what I was getting into with this book. I knew it was about culture and evolution, with focus on our creation and recognition of culture. Didn’t know much more, but I was definitely interested.

What happened from there was a mixture of immensely interesting information and repetition of said information. To be fair, this is non-fiction. Repetitiveness may be intentional to get certain facts through skulls as thick as mine. But like I said, there was some really interesting stuff.

The thing that I found the most interesting is how much our current society strives against what our genes have designed us to do. Nearly every behaviour our genes have programmed into us over centuries of survival and replication are the exact things we try to resist on a daily basis. From relationships, to the way we eat, to the way we treat each other. It’s all backwards. But thanks to our culture, the advances we’ve made, we’re still able to make it all work and survive.

There’s some really interesting things in this book, but as I said, it gets repetitive and it’s really long. Although the author seems to have a very witty sense of humour, it wasn’t enough to make the pages pass by effortlessly. If I had to reread this one, I might prefer an audiobook version.

Fun fact about this post: as I write, there are 3 people snoring around me. My wife beside me, my son in the next room, and my dog at my feet.

All Life Writing

Writing on Wednesday… but on a Friday!

Posted on January 11, 2019by J.W. Martin

Let me be 100 with you all for a minute. There’s been a lot of slacking since November ended as far as my writing goes. A lot of slacking. I need to put an end to that. So allow me to share a few goals for the first quarter of the year, and maybe I’ll feel a little more accountable to get these goals done.

Send out more query letters for Vicarious

I sent a few around early November, but then I started reading articles about when NOT to send query letters. A lot people were saying the end of November is a bad time because of how many first draft NaNoWriMo projects are being lobbed at literary agents everywhere. They said the end of the year was bad because every one kind of checks out early for the holidays. And they said January is bad because everyone is trying to get back into the swing of things after the new year. I don’t know if ANY of that is true, but I’ll start querying again some time in February!

Finish writing first draft of Evolution

Evolution was my NaNoWriMo project. I had about 30k words done pre-nano and nano itself added another 50k. With somewhere between 10 – 20k remaining, I should end up about 100 all-in.

Write first draft for stage play Out of Order

I’ve acted in a few plays, both comedies. It’s great fun if you ever get the chance. I’d also like to write one. Again, a comedy. This idea would take place in an apartment building lobby, where one of the elevators isn’t working (hence my not-so-clever title!) If the play turns out well, maybe the troupe I frequent will even perform it!

Write some of short stories bouncing around in my head

Troglodyte – a struggle of a species trying to make the from water animal to land animal.

Zombie – a man dies, but remains in his body unable to move on. But instead of trying to eat the brains of the living he can only lament why he’s still here.

AcetaminaPhil – a man is able to take pain away from others just by being near them.

Humans and the Things They Do When Standing on a Mine – a hunter steps on a mine and freezes in place. He thinks help has arrived when another man promptly comes along, but this new man is more interested in studying the hunter than helping him.

I have even more ideas rolling around up there, but these are the ones that I feel have had the proper marination time.

There it is. Hopefully by the second quarter I’ll be ready to take on a second draft of some of these projects, but that would require getting the first draft finished!

Fun fact about this post: writing it on my phone while lying in bed. 🙃

All Memes Top 5 Tuesday

My Prediction: At least 4 stars

Fun fact about this post: When I’m done reading this one (and before I run to the bookstore for Joe Hill’s catalog) I’ll almost definitely be watching the movie, starring Daniel Radcliffe.

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng

Fun fact about this post: Ng is pronounced like ‘ing’

Six of Crows

Steelheart

Illuminae Files

Red Rising

Nevernight

Fun fact about this post: I worked really hard to keep things spoiler-free!

Rules:

Questions:

Best book and/or series read in 2018?

Authors that you’ve recently found and would like to read more of in the new year?

Most anticipated book turned movie/tv show?

Name a character that you wouldn’t mind sharing a kiss with at midnight (if there is one)?

What’s on you TBR for 2019?

How many books do you hope to read in 2019?

Will you participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge or any others?

Any New Year’s Resolutions?

Fun fact about this post: I took a break in the middle of writing this post to play a round of HQ and was embarrassingly eliminated on the 4th question.

My Prediction: 3 stars.

Fun fact about this post: I can’t believe it, but this is my first FIF post of 2019. #slacker

FEED by Mira Grant

Fun fact about this post: Mira Grant is a pseudonym for Seanan McGuire!

Fun

An Escape

Learning New Things

Curiosity

A Sense of Accomplishment

Fun fact about this post: I think I’m way funnier than I really am. I know this.

The Ape That Understood the Universe by Steve Stewart-Williams

Fun fact about this post: as I write, there are 3 people snoring around me. My wife beside me, my son in the next room, and my dog at my feet.

Send out more query letters for Vicarious

Finish writing first draft of Evolution

Write first draft for stage play Out of Order

Write some of short stories bouncing around in my head

Fun fact about this post: writing it on my phone while lying in bed. 🙃

Fun fact about this post: This list was edited heavily. My first list was too depressing, especially since it looked a lot like the list of books I HAD to read in 2018!

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE
by Celeste Ng

FEED
by Mira Grant

The Ape That Understood the Universe
by Steve Stewart-Williams