 NYC Midnight Short Story Contest Assignment: 2,000 Words Genre: Horror Location: A bus stop Object: A pencil As she locked the door to her car and approached the bus stop, Meg recognized the faded black steel frame wrapping the space on three sides, and she knew what she’d find plastered to the scratched and filth-smeared plexiglass bolted in behind the squat metal bench: a Led Zeppelin poster, circa 1975, bleached from the sun and peeling away in strips, so that what looked like an angel—naked, male, enormous white wings extending from a grotesquely muscled body—appeared to be reaching his arms to a torn and hellish heaven.
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 NYC Midnight Short Story Contest Assignment: 1,000 Words Genre: Horror Location: A clearing in a forest Object: A footstool This story isn’t long, and you won’t learn any lessons from it. It’s simply what happened to me. Take it or not, believe it or don’t; either way, I’m never getting out of here, and the only thing left to me are my words. I sincerely hope that you, whoever you are, burn these pages once you’ve read them, because the only way to end it is to destroy any trace of it.  Genre: Science Fiction Themes: Late 80's, D&D, Friendship, Time Travel Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½ I liked enough about One Word Kill that it gets a high 3. I didn’t hate it at all—there is a lot of cool stuff going on, and the story has promise. But I didn't love it, and with a description like "Ready Player One meets Stranger Things," I really wanted to love it. The writing is good, the characters interesting and believable.
But it lacked energy, for some reason. It never went beneath the surface, really, so we don’t have much reason to actually CARE about Nick and his friends or what happens to them. So, while we might be interested in the story, we’re not necessarily invested in it. And it’s annoying, because I really liked what the author was setting up.  Genre: YA, Horror Themes: High school, haunted houses, ghosts, bullying, domestic abuse Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Okay, so I sort of have a rule about not posting negative book reports, because—really—who am I to judge? Just because I didn't like a book doesn't mean I'm suddenly qualified to rant about my problems with it, and anyway, someone else may love the book for the same reasons I disliked it.
BUT....but. This book is complicated, because I loved The Haunted for a bit and then I didn't like it all. So it deserves a book report either way, and I think I can explain my feelings minus the usual slander and trash-talking one finds in popular reviews these days (ahem—I'm looking at you, Goodreads).  Genre: Mythology Themes: Major and minor elements of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology It feels good to finally finish a book that has been on my "To Read" list for more than two years!
What did I learn? The origin of words like "arachnophobia," "cornucopia," "hilarious," "hypnotize," and so many more. That the Greeks were beautiful, cultured, and imagintive (if a little obsessed with murder and suicide), the Norse were both heroic and wise, and that many of us can trace our culture and race (and certainly our language) directly back to these ancient people. Oh—and that now I'm ready to read Rick Riordan and Neil Gaiman!  Genre: Guidebook, Writing Themes: Defining Science Fiction vs Fantasy, World Building, Structure, etc. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to write, and especially for those of us who want to write speculative fiction.
 Genre: Historical Fiction Themes: 1920's Paris, American Expat, Art Scene, Literature, Love & Marriage When planning a trip to Paris for the first time, most people would struggle with what to wear. Being the book nerd that I am, however, I struggled with which book to bring along. The Nightingale and Turtles All the Way Down were strong contenders as books I’ve been wanting to read for awhile, but I ultimately chose The Paris Wife, which turned out to be the perfect book to read.
 Genre: Science Fiction | Horror Themes: Biological Contamination, Government Conspiracy, Psychological Fortitude, Supernatural Lifeforms All I can say is—Wow. I LOVED this book. It dug its tentacles into me from the very first page, and I’m not sure it’ll ever let go. Certainly not until after I’ve devoured the other two books in the Southern Reach trilogy.
Annihilation is smart. It’s creepy. It’s challenging. It makes you think, and it doesn’t give you all the answers. I only wish I’d picked it up sooner, instead of letting it sit and gather dust on my “To Read” shelf for the past four years because I’d heard it wasn’t very good.  Book Report by Kelly Greenwood Genre: Non-fiction Themes: Far North, Wildlife, Native Eskimos, Natural History I know I’m late to the game on this one, but that is the wonderful thing about books—they are reborn every time a new mind opens their cover. And my mind is blown away by Arctic Dreams. Lopez is well known for invoking a deep sense of place in his work, and since I began reading this book my mind has not strayed far from the wild white world of the north..
 Genre: Non-fiction | Writing Themes: Writing Fiction, Publishing, Social Media, Monkeys & Bees *Explicit* (In other words, he swears a lot) Wow, what to say about Chuck Wendig? He’s the blogger at www.terribleminds.com, he’s very funny, and he’s a kick-ass writer. All three of these characteristics of Chuck are wrapped neatly into his book, The Kick-Ass Writer.
This book bears a somewhat lengthier report, simply because my reasons for reading it were more personal than for many of the other books I read. |
