5 Dogs Book Blog

Review by Elleanore Vance Some readers may find the following situations found in the text of the book disturbing: claustrophobia, cloulrophobia, loss of a child, nyctophobia, mental and emotional abuse of a child by a parent, sexual assault of a minor by a parent, body horror, helminthphobia, animal cruelty/danger, loss of a child. Please bear this in mind should you visit your local library for a copy I WOULD say that Spooky Season starts early in my household, but the truth is, its ALWAYS Spooky Season. House on Haunted Hill, the Vincent Price version, lulls me to sleep throughout the year. This is just who I am as a person.  So when my hubby was reccomended this new author by Stephen King himself (not a personal reccomendation, or anything), he jumped at it. When it came time to choose a new book, this one promised to be a Lovecraftian delight.  We experience the story from the perspective of a veterinarian whose brother is in a lab at the bottom of the Marianas Trench,...

Review by Elleanore Vance As an 80's baby I heard the phrase "Dont Drink the Kool-Aid" before I went to school. The older I got the more I learned that the phrase had something to do with a preacher who convinced a bunch of people to end their lives as a political statement. Then I saw the Heaven's Gate news coverage like everyone else. I had a very Webster's Dictionary understanding of what a cult was and how it worked. In my youth it wasn't really a line of inquiry I had any interst in pursuing.  I was 16 or 17 before I heard the name Jim Jones. I would be 21 before I would learn his first People's Temple had been across the street from my apartment building at 10th and Delaware in Indianapolis. But this story doesn't start in Indianapolis. It starts in a little hole in the wall  Indiana township called Crete, just east of Lynn on Highway 36; just south of Spartanburg as the crow flies.  This light in the cornfields is where Little Jim Jones was b...

Review by Elleanore G. Vance Winner of the 2016 Shirley Jackson Award, Nebula Award and British Fantasy award (just to name a few) Mr. LaValle takes us for a side trip in Lovecraft's mind, inspired by The Horror at Red Hook.  Set in Harlem in 1924, Tom is a black man doing his best keep food on the table and a roof over the heads of himself and his father. He is not picky as to how he achieves this goal. His cover is as a corner minstrel, strumming his guitar for coins. More often that not, Tom's case holds more than his instrument. One day, as Tom is getting the feel of a new corner, he is approached by Robert Suydam. Suydam offers a ridiculous amount of money for Tom to play at a party the following night. The deal is struck.  A heartbeat later, Tom is assaulted by Detective Malone and Partner. They rob him of more money than he had ever had at one time. If the names Suydam and Malone ring a bell, it's because they come from Lovecraft's Horror at Red Hook. Unl...

Review by Elleanore G. Vance Are you a Nursery Crimes reader? Did you follow the Beaudelairs on their Series of Unfortunate Events? Do you love Fairy Tales? Then i have a book for you! The first in the Sisters Grimm mysteries containing nine stories in all, we meet Sabrina (11) and Daphne (7) Grimm. They were orphaned last year and since have been kicked around to several very unsuitable foster homes. As far as they or anyone else knows, they are all alone in the world.   Imagine their surprise to be told a woman they have never met is claiming to be their Granny Relda, someone the girls believed to be dead, shows up to take them home. The authorities don't really care, they just want the Grimm Girls out of their hair. So the Sisters' new home is Ferryport Landing, New York with "Granny" Relda and Mr. Canis, her helper.   The girls' reactions are totally understandable and relateable. Sabrina is suspicious and distrustful. She clearly remembers their parents...

Review by Elleanore G. Vance I have packed, unpacked, and repacked the same abridged recording of Desperation by Stephen King and the companion The Regulators by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman. The most appealing thing about them is the cover art. Oh and Kathy Bates reads one of them. But they are among my hubby's favorite stories from his childhood. I got ambushed with Regulators immediately after Doctor sleep, when I really could have used a break from King. My first impression of this story cam be summarized by my primary query after the first listening session:  "Just how much coke do you think Steve was on when he wrote this? " Disappoiningly, the answer is none. I could summarize the story for you here,  but honestly,  if you haven't figured out what's going in by the end of chapter 5 or so,  you haven't been paying attention. So much of this book feels like an amateurs' attempt at Agatha Christie's breadcrumb technique.  I say ...

Review by Elleanore G. Vance As Jeeves might have said, I am quite fond of closing myself away with an "improving book", and The Bell Jar seemed to fit that ticket. After I watched a Ted-ed video on YouTube (link below), I knew I needed to at least make the attempt. I want to warn you straight away that if you srtuggle with your own mental health, and especially suicidal thoughts/tendencies/ ideation, please steer clear, or have someone you trust on stand-by for help when you reach difficult parts. Our story begins with Esther in New York. She has won a scholarship and is spending the summer as an intern for a ladies magazine. Its all fun and games until she goes to a party where she is sexually assaulted. She leaves New York immediately. Once home, we follow Esther as she struggles with what I personally recognize as PTSD (including but not limited to): * inability to sleep *Depression *inability to eat *suicide attempts *inability to write When Esther confides in...