NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Let's get this out of the way first. Joe Hill's real last name is King. He wanted to make his own name without being linked to his father.  It was pointless, since he looks JUST LIKE STEPHEN KING. Hill continues to write under the pseudonym, but no longer hides who his parents are (Tabitha King writes too).

I normally steer clear of anything involving kids, especially kids being molested.  I can't tolerate it.  So I was really worried about this, however NONE of the kids involved are touched in any way.  In fact, the main vampire-like villain Charles Manx makes it very clear there is a special place in Hell for those who do.  So, if you were afraid of that, know it is not something happening in this book.

OK then.  IF you were worried about it, why did you even try to read this, Mrs. W.?  Because a student, a PACE student, a young lady who would be placed in the dreaded "reluctant reader" category (seriously, can we just erase that label out of existence?!?!?!) recommended it to me.  She loved Kim Liggett and Amy Lukavics.  She told me I should read this after I had her read them.  I take that kind of discussion VERY seriously and to heart. 

Hill writes horror, and this definitely is.  It's also on the Hardinge level of weird in some places.  For example:
Shusterman's Full Tilt meets New Hampshire's Santa's Village
Nosferatu
Allusions to the book that would become Nov. 22, 1963 by King
A fortune telling Librarian named Maggie in nowhere but Here, Iowa
Scrabble tiles that talk and ghosts that speak backwards
Magic New England covered bridges
An escape room book for little kids
Bikes and motorcycles and antique cars with healing abilities
Cosplay
Geek culture

Yeah, this was an acid trip, but in a good way.  I did like it, in an I Like King way, if that makes any sense. Which it might not, considering.

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

Dreams of El Dorado by H. W. Brands

I had hoped to post this review over vacation, but then my husband's schedule changed.  We were supposed to go to the race in Richmond Sunday.  We planned to leave Friday, hit Hersheypark midway, and arrive in VA late Saturday night.  Alas, Hershey is closed until further notice, and NASCAR has postponed all races til at least mid-May.  So Justin changed his days to be home with the boy and I Thursday and Friday, which I won't lie was nice.  But now, with MTA on an ultra-reduced schedule, he and his crew will be working 21 straight days of 12 hour shifts.  Bleh.

So, on to this review.  Meh.  That rhymes with bleh.  I digress.

I really wanted to write this a glowing review.  It is one of the most detailed American history books I've ever read.  BUT the glaring problem is the glossing over of the Native American Indian.  Again.  Like, aren't we passed this phase in textbooks?  Why are we suddenly all over the Brown and Black Western Experience but forgot all about the Red?  I actually rolled my eyes a few times at the stereotypical, almost Disney-like portrayals.  I also recognize this is my own bias as well.

Dates, places, packing lists, survey equipment, horse counts, types of boats...there is a ton of sheer data presented (which might be what took me so long to read this; there is just a LOT of words on the page of STUFF).  It certainly makes for an interesting log of how exploration and travel have changed.  Politics and grandeur play an important part in the desire to seek the West, and both were emphasized by the author as central to American expansion.

Just OK I guess. #shrugs

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.