Book #10: Blockade Billy by Stephen King

Stephen King is known for his very long, horrifying novels (or his horrifyingly long novels).  Blockade Billy may be the antithesis to that.  It is a mere 112 pages long (and a few of those pages either have an illustration or are blank).  I knocked this one out in about an hour.

Personally, I am not a fan of baseball and wouldn't normally select a book about baseball, however, I am a fan of Stephen King, so I gave it a shot.  I was not disappointed despite all the game details included.  The story is about a ball player who is called in to help out the NJ Titans' 1957 team when they lose their two catchers for the season and are desperate for a replacement at the last minute.  From the very first game, the reader knows that something is not at all "right" with the lead character but up until the very end we don't know what it is, just that something big and bad is going to happen.  The foreshadowing is phenomenal without giving anything away.  It is written in an interesting style as well:  from the point of view of a teammate speaking directly to none other than Stephen King himself, many years after the fact.

Since I hate it when someone gives something away in a story (as my husband would attest), I will not give anything away either.  You will just have to read it yourself!

Blockade Billy Promo

Blockade Billy

Stephen King: The Official Website

Book #9: Elephant Girl: A Human Story by Jane Devin

Since purchasing my Kindle, I have taken to downloading massive numbers of free books that look interesting in one way or another at first glance.  I figure I'm not losing any money and if the book isn't any good I can just delete and move on to the next one.  Elephant Girl was one of those freebies.  When I first started reading it, I almost stopped due to the graphic nature and topic, thinking that it was fiction.  After taking the time to look up the book online, I discovered that it is an autobiography, so I decided to continue.

The book details the author's abusive childhood and less than pleasant early adulthood.  It shows the importance of early intervention in the life of abused children and the need for counselling and lots of love.  Jane's life was thoroughly harsh and unimaginable for the average person.  It is good to see that she seems to have overcome her past hardships through no easy feat although it took her over 46 years to do so.

That being said, Elephant Girl is not an easy read.  The story sporadically jumps around in time including early childhood, teen years, young adult, and older adult.  There doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason to the order that she tells her story and is confusing to keep up with what time period she is writing about at any particular juncture of the book.

While I don't recommend this, her first book, Jane Devin currently has a blog that is much better written, and I believe that over time, future books of hers may be worth a read.

*WARNING* If you are a survivor of child abuse or sexual abuse, Elephant Girl contains many possible triggers, so you might wish to avoid this book.

Elephant Girl: A Human Story

Jane Devin's Personal Blog

Jane Devin's Blog on Huffington Post

Book #8: Don't Put Headphones on the Cat and Other Life Lessons by Rose Godfrey

Rose Godfrey, a mother of 11 and former speech pathologist, writes humorous anecdotes of her experiences in parenting and ends each chapter with a question or comment designed to make you reflect on your own life related to that chapter.  This book is an easy, quick read.  It is very amusing and thought provoking without being particularly "deep".  Any parent can relate to and appreciate the author as she tells her tales.  One of my favorite chapters is the one about her Louisville Slugger.

Don't Put Headphones on the Cat and Other Life Lessons