HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN! Mini College Review: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Title: Carmilla
Author: J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Format: Paperback, 108 pages
Pub. Date: September 5th 2000
Source: Amazon


Book Description:

A classic Victorian vampire novella, which influenced Bram Stoker's later treatment of the vampire mythos in Dracula.

Review:

★★★★

I had to read this book for my vampiric fiction course in college.

This is a short story, with a short review to match.

I honestly had never heard of this story prior to this class, which surprised me because I've been reading vampire books since I was little. It's underrated, and I'm glad the course made me read it.

This is a short horror story with vampires that pre-dates Dracula. It's engrossing. It's a bit slow moving, but it's so the creeping, haunting tones can slowly wrap around the stories. This is a female driven book that shows vampirism in a different light than other books of the time. It's seen as queer, and beautiful, and soft, and therein lies the chill of it.

It's worth reading if you like horrors and vampires. It's only like 100 pages so it won't take very long to fit it into your reading schedule.

HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN! Mini College Review: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Title: The Road
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Format: Paperback, 287 pages
Pub. Date: April 7th 2009
Source: Amazon


Book Description:

A searing, post apocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece.

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, an when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. they have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food--and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story fo a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, The Road is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

Review:

★★★

This is a novel that I had to read for my apocalyptic fiction course in college.

Okay, so I'm the only person on the planet who doesn't like this book. Well, it's not that I didn't like it. It's that I'm utterly indifferent, one way or the other. Which is why I settled on three stars- eh.

It's boring. There's no character connection or growth. There's a lot of moments where I was left thinking "Oh something's going to happen!" but that thing never came. It's dry and vague and I don't feel like I took anything away from this book at all. I know I read it, but I can't even highlight any things that happen, because it's just not memorable.

I'm the outlier here and I know that. If you like post-apocalyptic fiction, by all means, read it. But I wouldn't have finished it, if I didn't have to for the course.

HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN! Mini College Review: Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

Title: Fledgling
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Format: Paperback, 320 pages
Pub. Date: January 2nd 2007
Source: SIU Bookstore


Book Description:

Fledgling, Octavia Butler's new novel after a seven year break, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly inhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted - and still wants - to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.

Review:

★★★

I'd like to preface this review by saying that apparently I'm the one person who hasn't read Butler's book, Kindred so I have no prior experience with this author's writing.

Moving on, this is a book that I had to read in my vampire literature course in college. I had really hopes for it. Theoretically, it's everything I love. Vampires? Good. Science fiction? Good. These two things blended together in Fledgling ? Meh. I didn't feel it.

It's kind of dull. When I think of the word vampire, I think "intensity". Whether it's a horror plot, or a love plot, vampire novels tend to be heavy-handed more than lacking when it comes to plot and characters. I thought for sure this book would be intense, because twisting together science-fiction "how did I get like this" type plot lines with the vampire mythos sounds like a fantastic time. But instead the writing is dry, uninspired.

It's also creepy. Not in the vampiric respect so much as the main character, who has the personality/mind of an adult, is in the body of like a ten year old girl. Sex and romantic interest are involved, and it's creepy. I understand that the mind is not young, but when you're playing this book in the movie theater of your brain while you're reading, it's a little girl doing very not little things with a grown man. Which... I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, ew. On the other hand, vampirism is supposed to be kind of gross, and this is just sort of a twist on the same creepy factor vamps give off. Maybe it's a wash.

Despite my lack of enjoyment in this story, our class was able to cultivate a lot of good discussions from the issues presented in this writing, on topics like what it means to be submissive, sexism, racism, as well as a bunch of comparisons to the other vampire books we read in this course (which included Dracula and Carmilla). There's a lot of good themes that are in here... I just wish it was more interesting so that I wanted to dig deeper into the text.

It's an okay book. I'm glad it's just one and not a series. If you're looking for a tame read with creepy and science fiction undertones, go for it, but I want a little more *pop* in my vampire books.

Mini College Review: Christina Rossetti by Jan Marsh

Title: Christina Rossetti
Author: Jan Marsh
Format: Hardcover, 634 pages
Pub. Date: July 1st 1995
Source: Amazon


Book Description:

This absorbing biography recovers for readers the life of the author of "Goblin Market" and "My heart is singing like a bird", and shows that, far from being a pious and melancholy recluse, Rosetti was a complex and fascinating woman whose poetry is at last receiving the attention it deserves. Photos.

Review:

★★

This is a book that I had to read for one of my poetry courses in college.

Christina Rossetti is one of my favorite poets. I've written on her a number of times, and I was really excited to have to read this. Don't waste your time.

It's really dragging, even for a memoir. It's over 600 pages, and it certainly doesn't need to be. Granted, there's some pages with photos on them, but that doesn't make up for the dry, student thesis paper type writing that this biography has.

It's also unreliable. The author goes out of her way to insert her own opinion, presented as fact. Such as, that Christina Rossetti had some intimate relations with a family member. There's no evidence of this. While it's acceptable to bring it up as a theory, or even to write a book about how you feel that's what her writing or actions in her life suggest, it's still not fact. Because she shows a bias to some theories and ideas and not others, it makes her an unreliable narrator, so I don't know if everything else in the book is accurate either.

Unless you have to read it for a class like I did, skip it. There's better books about her life.

Mini College Review: A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In by Magnus Mills

Title: A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In
Author: Magnus Mills
Format: Hardcover, 276 pages
Pub. Date: September 2011
Source: Borrowed from professor


Book Description:

Far away, in the ancient empire of Greater Fallowfields, things are falling apart. The imperial orchestra is presided over by a conductor who has never played a note, the clocks are changed constantly to ensure that the sun always sets at five o' clock, and the Astronomer Royal is only able to use the observatory telescope when he can find a sixpence to put in its slot. But while the kingdom drifts, awaiting the return of the young emperor, who has gone abroad and communicates only by penny post, a sinister and unfamiliar enemy is getting closer and closer...A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In is Magnus Mills's most ambitious work to date. A surreal portrait of a world that, although strange and distant, contains rather too many similarities to our own for the alien not to become brilliantly familiar and disturbingly close to home. It is comic writing at its best - and it is Magnus Mills's most ambitious, enjoyable and rewarding novel to date.

Review:

★★★★

This was a book that I had to read for my Modern British Fiction in college. I'd like to note that I have not read any other of Mills' books.

My review of it is going to be short and sweet, because I'm lacking words to describe this book. It's very unique stylistically. The plot has dark undertones but the tone is so light and nonchalant, it's a very odd mix. If a satire mated with a fairy tale and based it on the British, it would be this.

The writing is a lot of political and social commentary about Great Britain, as an American I'm sure some things went over my head. But there was a weird (in a good way) cast of characters that all circle around a ruler that is never actually in the book. It's amusing and confusing but makes you think and all and all I liked it but I can't exactly tell you why....

This is not a very helpful review, but, I say give it a go if you're thinking about reading it. It's worth it, especially if you enjoy your fantasy with large helpings of commentary.

Review: Little Fish by Ramsey Beyer

Title: Little Fish: A Memoir from a Different Kind of Year
Author: Ramsey Beyer
Format: Paperback, 236 pages
Pub. Date: September 3rd 2013
Source: Zest Books


Book Description:

Told through real-life journals, collages, lists, and drawings, this coming-of-age story illustrates the transformation of an 18-year-old girl from a small-town teenager into an independent city-dwelling college student. Written in an autobiographical style with beautiful artwork, Little Fish shows the challenges of being a young person facing the world on her own for the very first time and the unease—as well as excitement—that comes along with that challenge.

Review:

★★★

I wasn't sure what to expect going into Little Fish. It's a coming of age type memoir told in a graphic novel format. It's not something that I regret reading, but it's also not something that I'd read again either.

I appreciate the unique structure of this graphic novel. Ramsey uses a collection of old lists and blog posts in her comics to show some growth of where she's come from in life. I liked the lists aspect, because I'm a big list maker myself.

Overall though, this story was just kind of vanilla. It doesn't stand out to me as particularly interesting or eventful. I was expecting some intense drama maybe, or some huge change of life decisions but, it's a pretty tame recollection. Honestly, it seemed like I was reliving my own blog posts or my personal college experience. For some people, that's probably a good thing. It brings up fond memories, or is seen as relatable. For me, my college story is just me eating Arby's and hoping for snow days for four years. Not ultimately exciting, and I certainly don't think anyone else would care about my life at that point.

That's not to say that this book is bad, because it isn't. It tells a cohesive story, and the artwork is cute. But it's a pretty vaguely written story- there's not a lot of details or specifics about her classes, or her life, that made me connect with her.

Maybe teenagers or those ready to go to college would appreciate this book more than I did. It's not a bad book, but it's not something I'll keep to reread later.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Mini School Review: Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris

Title: Clybourne Park
Author: Bruce Norris
Format: Paperback, 210 pages
Pub. Date: Published 2011
Source: SIU Bookstore


Book Description:

CLYBOURNE PARK spans two generations fifty years apart. In 1959, Russ and Bev are selling their desirable two-bedroom at a bargain price, unknowingly bringing the first black family into the neighborhood (borrowing a plotline from Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun) and creating ripples of discontent among the cozy white residents of Clybourne Park. In 2009, the same property is being bought by a young white couple, whose plan to raze the house and start again is met with equal disapproval by the black residents of the soon-to-be-gentrified area. Are the issues festering beneath the floorboards actually the same, fifty years on? Bruce Norris's excruciatingly funny and squirm-inducing satire explores the fault line between race and property.

Review:

★★

I had to read this play in one of my American literature classes in college. It was my least favorite piece of literature of the semester.

The book is a sequel of sorts to Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun". For the record, that's not one of my favorite plays either. I know it's a classic, but I went into reading "Claybourne Park" without the expectations that other people who loved Raisin in the Sun did.

It's boring. I know that's the least helpful word to describe a book, but it's what it was. It was loud, full of people talking over each other but not really going anywhere. While this made it easy to read in class, it's really easy to struggle with set, the bigger plot, and even character descriptions because that's not really what the constant talking is about. The jokes (yes, there are some) aren't funny. The drama seems anticlimactic. The characters seem no different from characters I've seen before, which makes this book/play pretty forgettable. Like a show on TLC I don't want to watch: generic people yelling at each other

I understand the message and the point the play is trying to make, and I appreciate it. But when it comes to the actual piece, not for me. Maybe if you enjoyed "A Raisin in the Sun", or actually get to see this played out on stage, you'll have a better time with it than I did.

Review: Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks

Title: Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks: Create Extraordinary Dishes from the Ordinary Ingredients in Your College Meal Plan
Author: Priya Krishna
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: June 3rd 2014
Source: Netgalley & Storey Publishing

★★★

Three stars.

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I have to say that I was really excited to pick up Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks. I live on campus at my university, and the same fifteen scheduled meals get old very quickly. I was really hoping that this book would be my new favorite thing, but unfortunately, I am not in the percentage of students that can benefit much from this collection.

Almost all of the recipes that are included in this book require some sort of outside equipment, such as microwaves and panini presses. The dining halls at my school don't have any of this equipment, save for a waffle iron that we're explicitly not allowed to put anything in other than plain batter. In addition to the lack of equipment, I had issues with the ingredients used. Of course everything is subjective and easily enough substituted, but even so, my dining halls don't regularly have a lot of these items.

That being said, the smart, easy recipes in this book are all no-brainers and sound really delicious. If you live in a student apartment, or if you're even just new to living on your own, I think that this book is more geared towards you.

I would not recommend this book if your dining hall is anything like mine. However, if you live in student apartments or if your dining hall has more variety in ingredients and more usable equipment for its student customers, than I do think this book can seriously help you break away from the mundane food there. Thanks to Netgalley & Storey Publishing for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Saugatuck Summer

Title: Saugatuck Summer (Saugatuck #1)
Author: Amelia C. Gormley
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: May 19th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Riptide Publishing

★★★★★

Five Stars.

---

Topher Carlisle is a twenty-one year old mess. He has a really bad family history of a broken home, is on the verge of losing his college scholarship, and is trying to come into his own as he stays in his best friend's summer house in Saugatuck, Michigan for the summer. Unexpected kinks get thrown into his plan when he has an affair with his best friend's straight and married father, and meets a sexy artist named Jace. Topher has to figure out who he really is and who he wants to be in the whirl of one fabulous roller-coaster ride of a summer.

To be honest, my blurb doesn't really do this book justice. The thing is filled with drama and feelings from cover to cover, and I mean that in the best and most positive way. There were times that I laughed out loud, there were times when I got really angry, and times when my heart broke for Topher. Being a 22 year old queer kid in college from a broken home, I felt that I connected to him on an emotional/mental level and it made me cling to his story from start to finish. I really admire the depth that Gormley gave to her characters without making them seem too cliche.

I'll admit to you all, I picked up this book because I used to go to Saugatuck in the summers of my youth. For me, the setting helped a lot with my enjoyment of this novel. We spent a lot of our summers up near Traverse City, Michigan, stopping at several towns along the way, and while we were there, so when Gormley mentions these towns, I've heard of them and can happily picture them in my mind. Plus, Topher's partner Jace is from Chicago like me, so the references to things like Boystown again helped me to relate to the story.

And then, of course, I have to talk about the sex. This book is the hot, steamy kind of read that is best enjoyed on the beach or by the poolside in the bright summer sun while sipping on something cold and fruity, ideally with a plastic sword of fruit wedged into it. The adult scenes were well-written and detailed without being overtly crass, which in my opinion is a hard line to toe regardless of genre of erotic romance. Another important note is that this book is not about sex. That is, there is plot and rising action and all those things, that just happens to have some intense and smoldering sex scenes peppered throughout.

This book is a fairly rare five out of five stars from me. In a nutshell, the gorgeous Michigan beach setting, the amount of drama, the hot sex scenes, and the likable, relatable characters all meld together to create one really addictive summer read. This is a book that I will need a physical copy of at some point. BUT be warned; this book contains homosexual sex, graphic language, and potential triggers for abuse. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Riptide Publishing for my chance to read this one.

Review: 77 Things You Absolutely Have to Do Before You Finish College

Title: 77 Things You Absolutely Have to Do Before You Finish College
Author: Halley Bondy, James Lloyd
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: March 11th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Zest Books

★★★★

Four stars.

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The point of this guide is fairly obvious: this is a list of things every collegiate student should do before they graduate. Being in university myself, I had to pick this up to not only see what else I could be doing to make the most of my experience, but to also see how many of them I had already done. I'm happy to say, by the way, that I have done a fair few.

I strongly agree with many of the items mentioned in this book. For example, that you should make your dorm room into a homey, personalized space. My first year I didn't bother, and I hated being stuck there to sleep and study. The next year I went all out, getting rugs and wall decs and things like that, and my dorm has become my favorite place to be. Another great example of advice from this book is to spend time in your library without doing homework. The library holds far more than you realize, and it's a great resource and honestly just a cool place. (And I say this not biased as a future librarian.)

I did find some of the advice to be a bit less helpful, or at least inapplicable. For example, exploring your town without a goal or destination. My town isn't always the safest, and I would never consider just aimlessly wandering. I might find something cool, but I could also get myself into trouble. Another one is that you should rent an apartment on your own. I wish, but financially, it's not in the cards. My loans are great at covering on campus housing, and that's where I'll stay.

All in all though, this is a solid guide that I would recommend that any high schooler or current college kid take a look at it. This is the kind of manual that would make for a great graduation gift or last minute advice- so much of it is useful. Thanks to Netgalley and Zest Books for the chance to read this.

Review: College Cooks

Title: College Cooks: Simple Ingredients, Easy Recipes, Good Tasting Food
Author: T.C. Stephan
Editor: Danielle Carlson
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: September 1st 2012
Source: Netgalley/Cool Eatz Publishing

★★★★

Four stars.

This cookbook is geared for readers who are either going off to college for the first time, or are at least on their own for the first time. Using the back story of how these six collegiate friends started learning to prepare food for themselves, this is a lightly written collection of simple, easy to follow but nonetheless delicious recipes for those of us who are afraid of burning or slaughtering something as simple as Ramen.

Even in the introductory pages, there is a lot of useful information. One of the things that I thought was a good idea was the recipe key, or the little symbols posted at the top of the recipe that easily identify it as cheap, vegetarian, and things of that nature. They also go over measurements, how long it's safe to keep certain foods, how long to cook meats, culinary terminology and even a section on microwave safety. All in all, the intro is a great 101 class for those who don't frequent cooking.


And then of course, there are the recipes. They're divided into categories: Breakfast, Sandwiches, Salads, Soups, Pastas, Dinner Entrees, Roasted Chicken (10 Meals), Side Dishes/Veggies, Desserts, Salad Dressings, Dips/Spreads, Sauces, and Marinades. There's also a final section of sample menus. They vary from easier dishes, such as pancakes and BLTs, to more laborious foods like lamb chops and risotto. A picture is included of each recipe, which is a huge plus for me. I hate when I can't get a glimpse of the end result for some comparison.

The recipes are easy to follow and well written. They also do a great job of discussing how and when you can use your left overs to make a new meal. The book is also peppered with (no pun intended) tips and tricks on how to elevate or ease the cooking process.

As a college student myself, I have to say that this is a solid guide for those who are just realizing that they have to, in fact, learn to cook for themselves. I'll be keeping this nearby on days where I can't be bothered to go to the dining hall. I did find a few of these recipes to be too simple, but I'm biased. I'm not new to the kitchen, and I respect that a lot of people who'd pick this up are. So if you're moved out and wanting to learn how to make tasty, simple things so you don't starve or overdose on Ramen, this is the book for you. If you're a well seasoned cook, there's no need for this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Cool Eatz Publishing for my copy.