July’s Reading Round-up: Location, Location, Location

Once again, I found myself tumbling into a curious reading theme in July. This time many of the books I picked up had troublesome buildings playing a key role in the story.

From the possessed printing office of The Stranger Times to the dark demons haunting Gil’s All-Fright Diner to the tragic event outside The Dakota in The Final Days of John Lennon, plus a couple other examples, I read a very “structured” set of books in July.

So, if you can stand another round of rambling from yours truly, here’s me babbling a bit about my July reads…

Note: If you don’t see the YouTube player above, you can click HERE to watch the video.

My Indie Pick of the Month

• The Stranger Times by CK (Caimh) McDonnell

Looking for something quirky that’ll make you laugh out loud? Then get your ink-stained paws on a copy of The Stranger Times.

You’ve got a wacky newspaper staff (at an even wackier newspaper), you’ve got odd creatures stalking the night, and you have a printing press that may or may not be possessed. It all combines into a can’t-put-it-down-No-wait-i-have-to-put-it-down-because-I’m-laughing-too-hard start of a new series.

My Top Reads from July…

• The Stranger Times by CK McDonnell (see above)
• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (audiobook)

I wasn’t expecting much from this, just maybe a recitation of old myths. Instead, it turned out to be a fabulous re-telling of old stories by THE master of storytelling (I know, why did I expect any less? Stupid me). If you can, find the audiobook (read by Gaiman himself). It’s makes this great collection utterly fabulous.

• Tell Me Where it Hurts by Dr. Nick Trout, DVM (audiobook)

Trout takes you through a day in the life of a vet, starting with a 3am emergency surgery…the touch-and-go results of which you’re teased with throughout the book. I did get a little annoyed by the overuse of metaphors, but the stories he relates had me racing through the book.

• The Last Days of John Lennon by James Patterson (audiobook)

I surprised myself by devouring this book in only a few days. It goes back and forth between Mark Chapman’s plans to kill Lennon and the founding of the Beatles through their career and (as the title says) to the final days of John Lennon.

The parts with Mark Chapman do feel a bit forced, but the parts about the Beatles’s career was amazingly well done and you really get a feel for the boys’ love for each other and their craft and how the eventual falling apart of the band affected them. And even though I knew it was coming, the death of Lennon struck a nerve.

And the Rest of July’s Reading List

• Gil’s All-Fright Diner (audiobook) by A. Lee Martinez – Pure hilarity with an unlikely buddy story…Bloodier than Fried Green Tomatoes! Funnier than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!
• It Takes Two to Mango by Carrie Doyle – An okay story, but the dialogue made me cringe.
• If It Bleeds by Stephen King – I’m growing more and more of the opinion that King’s editor is afraid to suggest anything him.
• Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman – A short story collection. Some were great, some were just okay.
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – I feel like I should have liked this, but I just couldn’t get into her writing style.

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Have you read any of these? What did you think? Which books did you love this month? Or…maybe tell me which ones you hated so I can avoid them! 

Be sure to grab your copy of The Undead Mr Tenpenny for only 99c (US, UK, EU, CA, NZ, AU)!!!

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