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Rated What Stalks Among Us: A Creepy and Atmospheric YA Thriller About Teens Trapped in a Haunted Corn Maze 10/10

<div>Absolutely LOVED this. I'm not a regular reader of YA — not for any snobby reasons; it's just not where my attention usually takes me — but I'd read and enjoyed Sarah Hollowell's previous book (A Dark And Starless Forest), so I knew I was in for a good time. Well... a tense time!&nbsp;<br><br>And WOW does Hollowell keep up the tension! Two high school seniors encounter a mysterious corn maze in springtime Indiana and soon find themselves trapped, unsure of the new rules for their environment, and also... is that a dead body that looks just like one of them? What a beginning!&nbsp;<br><br>The story also deals with the lingering effects of emotional abuse and other toxic relationships in a way that intertwines with their current circumstances, but never feels predictable or cliché. I genuinely did not know how the story would shake out until the main characters did. I also very much appreciated that the main characters are just friends. No shoehorned romance here! There's too much to deal with!<br><br>If you enjoy psychological horror with characters who feel very true to life, do pick this up.</div>

Wants to read The Murder of Charles the Good

Rated Seeds: One Man's Serendipitous Journey to Find the Trees That Inspired Famous American Writers from Faulkner to Kerouac, Welty to Wharton – A Humorous Literary Nature Memoir 4/10

(This is one of those times I wish I had half-stars because this is more of a 2.5)<br><br>I'm with Horan on the interesting nature of his project, and the potential it has for reforesting the descendants of old trees, as well as reminding us that some moments cannot be contained to a "sterile" museum. However, I wish <i>Seeds</i> were a better book. He needed to either go the straight history route, or — as I suspect straight history would be difficult for him to write — he needed to be more complete with the memoir side of his project. Though he says that these people were important to him, we don't know a lot about why. Bits and pieces, sure, but like I said, it's all very on the surface. I know what it's like to be engrossed in a fun, personal project, and so I want to know all that very personal stuff. So it's not that <i>Seeds</i> is a bad concept for a book; it's that I wished the approach and execution were different. As it stands, it is a decent library check-out, but likely a disappointing purchase.<br><br>(My full review appears on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2013/02/seeds-by-richard-horan.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>)<br>

Reading The Complete Romances of Chrétien de Troyes

Wants to read The Will of the Many

Reading The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and its Place in Renaissance Humanism and Art

Wants to read Serafina and the Black Cloak

Reading Of Privacy and Power: The Transatlantic Struggle over Freedom and Security

Reading The Devil in the Marshalsea

Rated Dead Man's Hand 8/10

Reading The Talisman

Wants to read Cloudthief: A Novel

Rated In the Devil Wind 10/10

Good conclusion to the series, eventful and with Stark connecting with some old friends and still getting in a bunch of trouble. I'll miss it but I'm also looking forward to [a:Richard Kadrey|37557|Richard Kadrey|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1684250711p2/37557.jpg]'s next book...

Rated Blood Sports 8/10

Rated Same Bed Different Dreams 9/10

<div>At first I wasn't sure this was for me, or that maybe I was just reading it at the wrong time in my life, but I was interested enough to keep going, and I'm so glad I did. This book is so inventive and interesting. Instead of trying to fully describe what this book is — a many layered, complex alternate-but-not history of Korea, but also the U.S.— I'll quote Alexander Chee from a recent edition of his newsletter:<br><br></div><blockquote>I made note of the many tiny connections at first thinking to use them in the review but of course not only are those spoilers, but such an effort would end up with me looking like someone in front of a murder wall, insisting on a theory held together by string and tacks and photos of people you can almost make out.</blockquote><div><br>I am sure this is a book that rewards rereading. New things to notice, new connections to be made. I can see why Park took his time writing it. What a feat.</div>

Rated Selections from the writings of Kierkegaard 5/10

<div>I am loosely trying a few reading challenges this year again (though they don't entirely dictate what I've been reading), and one of the categories in more than one of them was "A Favorite Writer's Favorite" or something along those lines. And even though I know plenty of writers and read interviews with plenty of others, of course I immediately blanked out on every book any of them had ever suggested (even though I've probably read some of those books!). So I decided to google what influenced Patricia Highsmith, and apparently (though not surprisingly), she liked a lot of existentialists and related writers, including Kierkegaard. You'd think I would've remembered this from reading a biography about her, but no! I have read a little of Kierkegaard in various classes way back when, and I knew he was readable enough, so off to Project Gutenberg I went to see what was available.<br><br>And this is... fine. Not the BEST thing you'd want to read sometimes before falling asleep, tbh, but that's on me. The man manages some breathtaking misogyny in one section, which, given that this was written over 100 years ago, makes it loop back around and is almost funny in how assertive it is? WOMAN UNSERIOUS CREATURE. MAN SO SO SERIOUS. etc.<br><br>The rest deals with Christian ethics, and he picks it apart in a way that I imagine drove some religious people up the wall, but also bolstered the arguments against organized religion among the atheists (which is perhaps what Highsmith got out of it, since she wasn't religious).<br><br>It's sort of ridiculous to give something like this a star rating because even though I wasn't overly into much of it (and the introduction written by someone else is VERY dry), I also see how other writers and thinkers took this and either said, "Yes, and..." or "This is some hot bullshit, and here's why." Existentialists! Your individual mileage often varies! Best of luck!</div>

Rated The Russian Revolution 1917-1932 8/10

Wants to read The Warrior's Apprentice

Wants to read Acts of God

Rated The Struggle for Mastery: Britain, 1066 - 1284 8/10

<div>Great overview of this period of history in Britain. Focuses primarily on political history but touches on other aspects as well like economy. Very good bibliography to dive deeper into certain topics which is another reason why this is a great intro book.&nbsp;</div>

Finished reading The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women

Wants to read The True Chronicles Of Jean le Bel, 1290–1360

Reading Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks: Dishonorable Leadership in the U.S. Military

Wants to read Too Like the Lightning

Rated Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print by Renni Browne 6/10