The Dead Zone By Stephen King

Years ago I had happened to catch the premier of this TV show on air. And really who is not a die hard Anthony Michael Hall fan? (if you just said you weren't its called denial, honey.) So OBVIOUSLY I am going to read this book, like, right now. Just to see who got it better...
Powered through half the book with eagerness, loving the characters, the plot, the sadness... I really do feel for the guy. Being in a coma for 4.5 years then the surgeries afterwards AND this ridiculously powerful "gift" of being able to sense things through objects/ physical communication. Don't sign me up for that one.
And of course Johnny (John Smith that is) is tormented and troubled in an achingly relatable way, with his lost love and loss of his mother, yet he uses his "gift/curse" to help people and even catch a serial killer. So far so good.
THEN the book takes a drastic political turn. Now I am sure if you are one who loves politics or hell even LIKES it, then you will continue to love this book the whole way though. However, being one who greatly dislikes politics in general (and HATES reading about it) I found the second half of the book incredibly dull and slow paced.
He becomes obsessed over this congressman Stillson when he shakes his hand at a rally and sees (essentially) the nuclear holocaust. Over the rest of the book it is essentially nothing but this politicians campaigns, strategies, actions, etc. all revolving around a convoluted mass of political information with a very drawn out moral dilemma over what/if something could be done about it.
I won't ruin the ending for you, as much as I would LOVE to, but it was not what I had expected and was perfect. Altogether I thought it was a good read (though not one I would be reading again) and if it had stayed on one track, and avoided the whole political business, I would have truly loved it. Especially for the ending (what a twist!). Even though this is one of  Stephen King's earlier works, I was still a little disappointed in it to be frank.
SO! All you folks who follow all those politicians and their shinanigans and are looking for a book, here it is! For all of you, like me, that don't feel the need to read about all that Bull**** (even if it is fictionalized), probably not the book for you.
Happy Reading!

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

"A true story of men against the sea."
In case you live under a rock and have not heard of this book, or the movie that followed it, this is the story of the Andrea Gail and its crew of 6 who went down in the "perfect" storm in October of 1991. Or should I say its the story of the storm that took down The Andrea Gail and its crew of six in October of 1991.
Sadly I saw the movie (starring George Clooney, so you really can't blame me too much) before I read the book and its like comparing peas and carrots. With the notion that I was about to read a book about this ship that went down, and as a former sea scout I have a deep respect and love for the sea, it was only when I got a few chapters in that I realized that the focus of this book was not the Andrea Gail but the whole storm system itself. Which looking back makes far more sense.
Sebastian Junger did a FANTASTIC job at recreating the hypothetical events that took place on board the doomed ship, though obviously it cannot be said whether or not it actually did occur, he interviewed friends and family of the crew and did his research into each of the men, the ship, the storm, everything he could surrounding the events around the sinking of this ship.
At first I was let down but as I continued to read I found myself glad of how he went around this book. It is a respectful book, honoring those men in the only way they really could be, and well versed in its nautical aspects and deeply researched and thought out.
No one will ever really know what happened out there in the Grand Banks but reading this book was a pleasure and I would gladly do it again. I really felt like I knew the characters and their mannerisms, could agree with what they probably would have done in their situation and I really felt as though I were involved in the events occurring in the pages.
Thoroughly recommended to anyone who has a love for the sea (or has a slight obsession with the deadliest catch) just remember its about the storm (which happened the month I was born!) and the sea, not so much the Andrea Gail herself.

Pompeii by Robert Harris

As one of the most fascinating events in history, I was over the moon when I found this book. A fictionalized account of the events leading to and during the legendary explosion of Mount Vesuvius which, as we all know, buried the city of Pompeii and its inhabitants on August 24 in the year 79 A.D.
I will give the author his due credit for originality and research well done, though I must admit... I HATED this book. It was such an utter disappointment. The story progressed following the warning signs of the eruption, mainly to do with their water supplies and the aqueducts, until FINALLY the explosion occurs and after reading over 200 mind-numbingly boring pages with an overly whiny and altogether annoying character (I am speaking of Marcus Attilius Primus, or Attilius the engineer) it was anticlimactic and though an obvious effort was made, poorly executed.
I think I can speak for more than myself when I say that when I see a book about Pompeii, I expect to see a lot of action, some terror, a hell of a lot of lava engulfing everything, and most of all, I want to read about POMPEII and MOUNT VESUVIUS. I don't want a lesson on aqueducts (though I can confidently say that I am well versed on how they work now) but I want to know about the city that was lost, its people, culture, the ruins, this incredible piece of history with a story surrounding the facts that we know through science and discovery. I suppose I would compare it to reading Jurassic Park, and finding out its not about Dinosaurs (though don't worry...it totally is).
This was such an original and creative idea (at least I had never heard of anything like this before) and it was dry and utterly wasted. I am actually quite proud I even finished it. Perhaps he should have written a non-fiction book about the aqueduct system and its reservoirs as it is an apparent interest (or mild obsession) of his.
Better luck next time.

P.s. I just saw they are making a TV mini series about this?! Good lord.. this is exactly why I don't have cable.

The Illustrated Man By Ray Bradbury

Like Stephen King, I believe Ray Bradbury is an iconic author, and one whom I personally adore. I must admit I am a bit biased as I grew up with his stories and studied more than a couple in school.
My sister first told me about this book when I was in elementary school, and I had never been able to get my hands on a copy until now. As you can imagine a man whose skin is covered in stories that actually move and tell tales is more than appealing to someone of that age.
When I first started this book it was everything I had ever hoped it to be and more. Once again Mr. Bradbury manages to spellbind with his descriptions of both character and his depictions of a possible technological future.
He has a particular talent with engaging technology in an overabundance and having it shrink the people into themselves as somewhat lesser beings for their dependency on such things as a "shoelace tier" and a table that produces meals from itself.
Though I did not know upon starting the book that it was a collection of short stories (which was a bit of a let down to be honest) I immediately was captured by each story in turn. Most having to do with space travel and Martians of one being or another. Such as the story of the men walking through the never ending rains of Venus that wash away the color from your being and drives you mad, or the nursery whose walls come to life with the imagination of its inhabitants (thus being
lions in Africa whom you can smell and feel the heat), or the Martians who are really the souls of men floating around as glowing blue orbs. Some of these stories I wished would be longer and had more to them, simply because it was so interesting and I hate to end a story (I never have been a huge fan of short stories) though some stories were so similar in the sense of flying in a rocket to mars, that it seemed redundant but each storyh had such unique characters and themes so different that I feel as if I need to go on a Bradbury-Bender and reread all of his works.
What really fascinates me about Mr. Bradbury is that he wrote the majority of his works in the mid 1900's. The illustrated Man was published in 1951, and yet they take place in what would now be modern times or in the near future. Yet these things he writes about (which I believe He believed would be happening around this time era) have not occurred, really at all. Space travel is nowhere near beign commercialized, life on other planets is still HIGHLY controversial with "no proof" and no communication, not to mention interplanetary travel. Yet it is still written as if it could occur and with strong conviction.
There has been no author that has come close to the originality and conviction of his works in this genre and to me he is, and remains so, the leader in the science fiction department.

Rose Madder by Stephen King

I should start by mentioning that this book is my mom's favorite book, which was both the reason I read it and the reason I put off reading it for so very many years.
She read this book when my dad, who has a not-so-nice alcoholic, had left us and for the first time in twenty years she was on her own. Not to mention she was now a single stay at home mother of four angry kids whose father had just walked out on them. It was a vey hard time all around.
I don't know how she got a hold of this book or precisely when, but what I do remember is seeing her carry it around reading it every spare moment she got. I should note that before this time I had never REALLY seen her read a book. Sure, she would read us books aloud, read a magazine here or there, but I had always found it so strange that my mom, who had raised 2 book-addicted daughters, and had a fairly impressive (and very eclectic) book collection, never seemed to read, which made this book, Rose Madder, a baffling mystery in my mind.
She had told me the basic rundown of the story over the years (and the multiple times she had read it), so I begrudgingly picked it up at a thrift store a few months back to "one day" read it and possibly get an answer to the mystery of the book my mother took refuge in all those years ago. (my curiosity won out only a few days after I had purchased it)
If you have not read this book, which I strongly recommend you do, you will be absolutely hooked in the first paragraph. We all know Stephen King is one of the best and most terrifying authors ever known (well at least I know this) and has a knack for these kinds of things, but I must say, I was caught, hook line and sinker, on page 1 and I feverishly read this book in a couple of days and was absolutely pained when it was over. 
"She sits in the corner, trying to draw air out of a room which seemed to have plenty a few minutes ago and now seems to have none."
This is how you meet Rose and her abusive husband Norman. A real sick son of a bitch. You follow Rose as she endures his abuse, even through a startling miscarriage, until she puts her foot down and numbingly runs. I found myself rooting for her, crying with her, and feeling her RAGE, through all her struggles in rebuilding herself in everyway you possibly could and escaping a past that never had any intention of letting go. You fall in love with all the other battered women she meets and find yourself locking your door when Norman is around, cringing as you hear his thoughts and see what ghastly things he does to people. Like I said, a real sick son of a bitch.
In the end I was left breathless with an aching heart, feeling emotionally exhausted (I had to take a couple days off reading just so I could recover), empowered, and satisfied: The mystery of Rose Madder was finally solved.
If you have ever been abused mentally, or physically, you understand when I say that it is always comforting to know you are not alone in your pain. For my mother I can see why this book would bring her so much comfort and why she clung to it so. It was hope that she can pull through just as Rose does. That one day she will be free of all her suffering and burden and have a new life and quite simply: move on.  Now she owns a home out in Santa Barbara with her new husband and all kids have flown the nest and are out living their own lives. Just like Rose, she has a new life, new city, new job (she actually has2!), and has put the past behind her. though as far as I know, she did not have a magic picture to help her along the way..
It is hard for a book to connect to its readers so completely but Rose Madder is one of those books, and has helped at least one woman escape an abusive marriage and though I will never tell her this, I am proud of my mom and I understand now how hard it was all those years ago and I am sorry you went through that.