So November is almost over, as in, it’s basically done in like four days. Christmas season has been thrust upon us in full force. Although, I must admit, the building where I work has beautiful Christmas decorations that even gave my little shriveled up Grinch heart a tug. Of course, I live in Vancouver and so do not have the winter wonderland that all my friends are experiencing back in Alberta, which has been pretty great. But a small part of me doesn’t feel right having Christmas without a lot of snow. We’re not even having rain.

Mitch and I are busy trying to find somewhere to live, our lease is up December 31^st which is obviously the best time to move and find a new place.

That was sarcasm.

We chose the worst time of the year.

Who wants to move on New Year’s Eve?!

We do. It’s us. 

We’re also busy watching all three seasons of American Loggers, because seriously, if you’re not watching that show…you’re missing out. Those Maine accents alone make it worth your while. Don’t role your eyes at me!

Hopefully we can find somewhere and stop my anxiety stomach monster from ripping me apart. So cross your fingers and toes for us. And hopefully we can get some bookshelves in the new place so my poor books don’t have to live in the dark recesses of our closets packed up in boxes.

Speaking of books, here’s what I’ve been reading lately; (see what I did there)

(I’d write a normal blog, but I don’t want to. So read some book reviews and shut it. Love you!)

Cinder – Marissa Meyer

First of all, I’ll be honest, if I had paid more attention and realized this was book #1 of a series, I would’ve put it down and ignored it. I’m so sick of reading series lately; I just want one whole story in one book. Stop making me have to dig around to find #2 and then waiting while my library struggles to find a copy (it’s a fire hall branch and has like ten books, it’s the worst).

But I’m glad I read this one. It seemed a little cheesy when I first read the back but it was a recommendation so I said fuck it and dove in. I was hooked within the first few pages and finished the book within three days. It’s absolutely addictive, enchanting, surprising, intense, running out of descriptive words etc. I think I recommended it to just about everyone I know, and I was only half way through the story.

Cinder herself is just this bad ass half droid, half human mechanic who lives on an earth ravaged by a highly infectious disease. It’s the story of Cinderella told in the most original way possible, complete with a very dashing and cool prince who made me blush just reading about him. There’s also the evil step mother and step sister, the second step sister is actually a total sweetheart and super cute. AND! BEST PART! There’s an evil queen who lives on the moon. And she basically hypnotizes people to control them. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT’S SO GOOD GO READ IT.

Also I know there’s like a bunch more books in the series, some of which haven’t even come out yet, but unless someone actually puts the sequel into my hands without any effort on my part, I probably won’t read it. Even though Cinder leaves you with a bit of a cliffhanger, most of the story wraps up enough that I don’t feel like I’ll die without knowing.

House of Reckoning – John Saul

He’s sort of one of my guilty pleasure authors. I’ve read quite a few of his books and they’re just good to kind of lose yourself into and finish up in a two or three days. They’re all fast paced, spooky, and have some sort of twisty type ending. They don’t leave you thinking twice about your life or questioning everything or really even feeling any emotion when you’re done, but they’re fun to read and I like getting distracted by them.

This one was about a young girl whose mother has passed away and then gets hit by her drunken dad’s truck which he is driving. Best Dad of the year amirite? He goes to jail for killing a guy in a bar fight and running over his daughter obviously. She gets sent to a foster home filled with crazy religious, slightly abusive, slightly drunk parents and their two obnoxious teens. We also follow along with this young boy whose nuts to extreme and hears voices in his head that tell him to do not very nice things and then show him visions of dead bodies. They’re probably just lonely lbr. These two crazy cats end up meeting up in school and become friends and shit goes down and it all revolves around this spooky old mansion owned by the hippie dippie art teacher who drinks weird teas and “dabbles” in the supernatural. And may I say, for someone who “dabbles” in the supernatural, she sure loses her shit when ghosts actually start fucking with her house. So basically it’s all about these three people and this house. Need a quick spooky read? Do it up. Do it up with any John Saul book tbh. He loves spooky houses and ghosts. Don’t we all?

Plain Truth – Jodi Picoult

Another one of my guilty pleasure authors. I only read her books when I’m feeling all lovey dovey about my relationship because she writes the best descriptions of people falling in love. Of course she also writes chapters upon chapters of dry and boring court scenes. But hey, they always sort themselves out in the end. This was not one of her better novels, I have to say. It felt way too long and although it was interesting to read about the Amish culture and how they would hypothetically deal with one of them being charged with murder, it felt like UGH JUST LET HER GO FREE ALREADY. You basically figured out who really murdered the baby like 30 pages in if you were paying attention.

Trapped – Michael Northrop

I actually read this book all day Sunday. Started it in the early afternoon and finished it around midnight. COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. It’s also not that long so don’t think I’m puffing out my chest and stroking my ego or anything. It’s about a town that gets caught off guard by a crazy blizzard on a Monday afternoon. And it focuses around seven children who get trapped inside their school. They battle it out with the elements, each other, and the fear of never being found for seven intense days. I can’t give too much away as it literally just picks up and drags you freaking out behind it after about page 5. Let’s just sayyyy….not all the children may make it out alive.

But there’s no cannibalism.

I was kind of hoping for cannibalism.

The Blood Lie - Shirley Reva Vernick

Another quick read but an important one. It’s set in the 1920’s and focuses around a Jewish family living in a small town in America. When a little girl goes missing one afternoon, a racist redneck points the blame towards the young Jewish son, simply to stop the cops from searching the woods so he can go pick up his illegal shipment of whiskey. An entire town turns their back on the Jewish community, all on the word of one man mind you, when they’re accused of murdering and using the blood of this little girl in one of their religious holidays. The townsfolk who only days before were friendly with these families are now tearing apart their businesses and threatening the Rabbi to find the little girl. And caught in the middle is the young Jewish teen who was blamed for all of this, and the older sister of the missing girl who’s secretly in love with the young “murderer”.

It’s an amazing novel, really heartfelt and saddening. In a way it’s deeply disturbing, especially when the town’s people start to attack the Jewish families in their home. I would highly recommend it, but beware as your heart will be quite heavy and sad once it’s all done.

CURRENTLY READING:

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry which I’ve been waiting for like two months to read but had to wait for my library to track down a copy and bring it in for me. I’m about a quarter of the way through and deeply in love already. It’s a very magical and enchanting prequel to Peter Pan. THERE’S DOLPHINS THAT CAN TALK TO HUMANS.

UP NEXT:

A Prayer for the Dying – Stewart O’Nan

One Second After – William Forstchen

Red Rain – R.L. Stine

ON THE SHELF FOR LATER:

A Good and Happy Child – Justin Evans

Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

Sophie’s Choice – William Styron

The Witching Hour – Anne Rice

The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned – Anne Rice

Breed – Chase Novak

Magic Terror – Peter Straub

The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson 

 Alright, I'm off to role around in misery because I just had a really awesome dinner with my friend Nicole and she gave me a bunch of her hand me down clothes and i'm just feeling really grateful but also really full with food and bleeehhhh. 

I'LL BE IN CALGARY IN JANUARYYYY. I can't freakin' wait to get back home and see my mom and sister and bonus dad and bonus dog and eat turkey and give them awesome presents. I also can't wait to see Oprah who I may or may not knock out and put in my suitcase and take home with me so she can live in my walls.

Actually, one more thing; hi Brenna!!! I just wanna give a little shout out to Brenna who is basically my only none work friend here in BC and she has been my saving grace in this town. I love her very much and she is the Dean to my Sam! Or maybe she'd be Sam...she's pretty smart....