100 Ghosts, by Doogie Horner

When Quirk offered me a chance to review this book, my inner macabre child jumped for joy. This book is pretty simple, and what you see is what you get. 100 adorable drawings of ghosties. You'll definitely be able to pick out the one that haunts your house. It's a great coffee table book, very good for starting up conversations.

There is the slight matter of the $10 price tag, which, at first, I thought was a little unreasonable. But when you look at the quality of the book, you'll understand why it's there, and why it's so worth it. Instead of an abundance of book glue, the pages are actually attached with string. The paper and ink quality are superb, which is really a necessity for a book like this. No matter how much time you spend flipping through it, the ink doesn't bleed onto your fingers.

I'd recommend this book for all lovers of adorable ghosties. You really need this book, especially if your inner macabre child is anything like mine.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

First off, how could you not expect an awesome book by a person named Ransom Riggs? That’s a pretty cool name.

Quirk was amazing to send me a copy of the paperback to review here on Rather Be Reading, and I couldn’t wait to start it.

I hadn’t realized, for some reason, before I started the book, that it was classified as a YA novel. I haven’t been reading a lot of YA lately, and I was a little concerned that this wouldn’t be the mature, mysterious novel I was looking for for. Luckily, my concerns were completely unfounded! This was a very atmospheric, engaging story of a hidden world, and the amazing people who inhabit it.

There was plenty of darkness in this story, with the super creepy hollowgast and the brutal deaths they cause. However, the beautiful photographs and the peculiar children with their peculiar talents lend the story a certain whimsy, the kind that goes hand in hand with darkness. Which is something I enjoy in a story. and in the midst of all the danger and beauty, there is a story of self-discovery, the kind that makes you think, and makes you feel for the protagonist, without it being overdone.

the best thing about this book is the way it uses pacing. There is some very exciting stuff toward the beginning, and then the story slows down a little, as we learn about the world and the peculiars. In stead of being a blank, boring space in the story, however, as it might be in some, it’s a part of the story that is filled with meaning. Whereas some reviews might tell you that the story tapers off at this point, listen to me when I tell you that that’s it’s only just beginning. While not filled to the brim with dark atmosphere or chilling encounters, it is, quite possibly, the most important part of the story.

I really enjoyed Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I’m looking forward to its sequel, Hollow City, due out next year.

Keep reading, fellow bibliophiles!

The Resurrectionist, by E. B. Hudspeth

The wonderful people at Quirk sent me a copy of the gorgeous book to read and review, so let’s not waste any time!

Just like the information on the book says, it’s really two books in one. The first half of the book is a biography of fictional scientist Spencer Black. (He has a brother named Bernard Black, and all I can think of is the BBC comedy Black Books.) The biographical information is presented so well that sometimes I had to remind myself that I was reading about a fictional person.

In full disclosure, I have to say that I was a little disappointed by some of the story’s progression. Without spoiling anything, I can say that things lean persistently to the scientific angle, and less of a fantasy angle. This is not bad, just not what I was expecting.

The second half of the book, Spencer Black’s Codex Extinct Animalia, is really the selling point of the book. The illustrations are amazingly beautiful, and look just like anatomical illustrations. They look as though they could be plastered around a doctor’s office, right at home with a drug label on them.

But what is possibly the best part about the illustrations is that their realism can be seen as a resource. Artists and authors could find them very useful in giving their art and stories a little more practicality. It is from this that Hudspeth’s books gets its real beauty. After finishing the book, I feel as though my knowledge has been expanded, and what I read really matters.

The only real problem I had with the book was some lack of detail in the biography. I feel as though some aspects weren’t explored as well as they could have been. Hudspeth has a neat trick for leaving out some of the details – he chalks it up to lack of historical evidence. It works well for the story, but it still leaves me feel as though there’s more to know. it could even be on purpose. I would definitely buy a sequel, were one to be written.

The bottom line is this: The Resurrectionist is a beautiful book with an engaging storyline and in depth, realistic illustrations. All lovers of books, fantasy, and mythological creatures, need this on their shelves. I’m very proud to give it a home in my collection.

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

 

Summary from Goodreads.com - Alex and Susan Wendt are the perfect couple in search of the perfect brownstone-and they find their dream house in the heart of Brooklyn Heights. Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric, and the handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the previous tenants. But the rent is so low, it's too good to pass up!
Big mistake: Susan soon discovers that the brownstone is crawling with bedbugs . . . Or is it? She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. Exterminators search the property and turn up nothing. Neighbors insist the building is clean. Susan fears that she's going mad-but as the mysteries deepen, a more sinister explanation presents itself: She may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from hell.

Rhia’s Review - *Shudder* This was a really great book.

Susan, our protagonist, was not a character; she was a person. She was so real, and I related to her very easily, despite the fact that she's a married woman with a child, and I'm a 19 year old girl without a current boyfriend. All her feelings are still very real, and felt by everyone at some point or another. Because I knew Susan so well, her slow descent into madness as she struggles with her insect tormenters really affected me emotionally. I was rooting with her all the way, fighting with her. You don't always get such a relatable character - I mean person - in books these days. How much I related to Susan struck me for some reason, so I had to express that here.

The storyline itself moves a little slowly in the beginning, but there is a slight sense of foreboding, because we all know *something* is going to happen, but getting there is half the fun. There are plenty of creepy and mysterious moments in the book as we meet all the characters, but in the climax of the story, Winters goes full on horror movie. It was perfect; just disturbing enough that I'll remember it, but not so disturbing as to downgrade my opinion of it.

Bedbugs managed to surprise me; I didn't have it all worked out by the end of the first half of the book. Of course, where I usually pause to think about it and guess, Bedbugs was so interesting, I was too busy reading to make any predictions.

This is one of those books that, as you are reading it, it actually plays out like a horror movie in your head. When all is said and done you think 'this would make a great movie,' but then you realized that just watched it in your head, and instead you hope Hollywood never ruins it. It was so well written, that no studio could ever do it justice.

The Recommendation -  I’d recommend this book to any fan of suspense and horror stories. It's just a fantastic book!

the Other Books -  Ben H. Winters is also the co-author of Quirk Classics Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, which I am currently reading, and Android Karenina, which I have reviewed previously on my blog. (link) Ben's purse talent really shined through in this novel, and I'm definitely looking forward to his future offerings.

The Vitals – Bedbugs is available in paperback for $14.95 starting today, and I highly suggest you all go get a copy.

New Arriva! Bedbugs!

Today my copy of Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters arrived from Quirk books! I can’t wait to read and review it!

Big thanks to Quirk Books for sending me an ARC to review!