hippieed perceptions

I didn't love it or hate it, but I have no real intention to bother devoting any time to see if it gets better in the next 13 books.  I think maybe if I would have came into this series a few years ago things may have been different, especially considering a vast majority of the reviews for this series are good.   There just wasn't anything that jumped out and demanded that I continue on with this series.  

That was definitely not what I expected going in to this book.  I actively avoided reading any reviews or anything other the synopsis because I wanted to go blind into this one.  I'll admit that when I found out this was a sequel to The Shining, I was expecting something scary, or at the very least edge of your seat thriller the entire time.  I didn't get that at all with Doctor Sleep, but you know what...I'm okay with that. 

It was weird for me while reading this, initially I was a little bummed out because I knew a quarter of the way through that this book wasn't going to play out like I had thought it would (really, could the True Knot be any less scary? Not really, no), but as the story in itself came together, I appreciated where King had decided to take Dan's story.  Seeing him come full circle to follow along in Dick's footsteps, albeit less dangerous footsteps, just gave you a sense of fulfillment.  The icing on the cake, though, was that scene on the roof of the world, if you've read it you know the one...

So, yes.  It was nothing like I imagined and nothing that I thought I would have wanted with this book until it was over either.  

Funny how that works out sometimes.  

This hasn't been at all what I expected it to be.  With all of the build up going on, I'm expecting (hoping) it is going to get insane though.  

I'm just going to leave this here.

*happy dances away throwing rainbow confetti*

Finished Glass Houses and moved on to The Dead Girls Dance..

Glass Houses was okay for a first book, though it could have stood for more world & character building. We just got tossed into Morganville, right in the middle of all of the action right along with Claire and then the book was over.  It works for what it is, but I would have still liked to see more.  

I like Claire though. She owns the naive, self-depricating genius thing.  

“I had all the characteristics of a human being—flesh, blood, skin, hair—but my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that my normal ability to feel compassion had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. I was simply imitating reality, a rough resemblance of a human being, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning”

Well, I finished it.  And I kind of wish that I could erase all memories from it. 

I'm kind of in an odd mix of opinions about this book.  Part of me sees the genius behind it.  The look into excess, the pitfalls of capitalism, the inhumanity of humanity, (blah blah) through a (delusional?) yuppie serial killer is fascinating.  However, there were parts of it that were miserably dull. Does ANYONE need to read endless diatribes about Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis & the News, or overly descriptive details of every item purchased by pretty much the entirety of Manhattan? No, no we don't.  I don't even know how to process my thoughts on Bateman's murder scenes. But again, Ellis was able to write them in such a way that you could visualize everything. Everything.  The electrocuted breasts, exploding vaginas (eyes, breasts, stomachs, etc. if it could explode, he exploded it), chewed off nipples, fingers... Just no.  As Patrick's mania escalated, so did everything else and it just got to the point where it just got too excessive even for a book about excess.  There is no denying the Ellis' skill level though.  

So, would I recommend this? I have no clue.  There was something oddly fascinating about it and I think the idea behind it is incredibly smart,  but it isn't exactly a book that I could ever actually recommend anyone to read.  

Bateman out. 

Side note.  How ridiculous is it that Gloria Steinem's step-son starred in a movie in which the main character completely dehumanizes and viciously rapes and murders numerous women?  What did you do today, Christian?  "Oh, I just acted out a scene where I picked up two hardbodies, had a threesome and then brutally murdered them, raped & ate their corpses.  You?"

Oh wow.  I actually gagged a little reading the most recent scene.  And hugged my breasts  while being incredibly grateful that they haven't been electrocuted so much that they exploded, splattering fat all over my blinds.  It was an awkward moment.

Since we've had a massive followathon lately, I'm joining the crowd and doing a semi brief introduction.  

Hippieed or HP for short here.  Or Erika for those curious.  The name comes from a play on hippie with my initials on the end because despite my husband wondering if I am a closet serial killer I am actually a flower child stuck in the wrong era.  My list o' interests include reading, music and collecting vinyl of all kinds, tattoos, shopping, running, Disney World, my kids, kitties and Jim Morrison.  

I'm sporadic on my choices in books and what I end up reviewing.  I don't really stick to any genre, but I'm one of those people that when I find something that I enjoy I end up sticking with it so long that I overdose and then avoid for a while because of that.  I currently ODed on contemporary romance, so it will probably be a while before I can convince myself to go back to that one.  Right now thanks to fellow booklikers, I'm on Ilona Andrews and won't stop until I've read everything they ever wrote.  Kate Daniels for the win!  As for reviews, I don't really review, more like just ramble on and occasionally throwing in a gif when I feel like it.  I tried for a while to be more technical with my reviews, but I didn't really enjoy it so now I just talk about books like I would with my friends.  

Anyhoo.  That's it for now but I'm going to leave you with my favorite Jim gif ever.  Long hair don't care.  

God, I love him so much.  If I had a time machine, I have no shame in admitting it would be taking me back to 1967 era Jim, you know before he went completely off the deep end, though I love that Jim too.  I love all Jim really.   Jim.  

I read both of these yesterday, because who needs to ever sleep. 

Despite being short, there was still great world and character building.  Sweep in Peace was a little too abrupt for me, but given that it was written as a kind of online serial, that is to be expected.  I'll probably read it again once they pull it to publish to see if they did anything else with it.  

But overall, it was a good couple of quick reads to use to bide my time until my order of the Edge series and Burn For Me gets here. 

I've hit that moment where the fact that I have been obsessively reading for the last 5 days and now I'm done and I don't know what to do with myself.  I can't even form full thoughts anymore.  

I wish I could give all of you people that have been following this series for years a hug. Such patience you guys have.  I'm already having some minor Annie Wilkes thoughts and I only have to wait until August for the next one.  I don't even want to think about the ones after that. 

So much anger right now. So much. I get the reasoning. I get it. Really. Yeah, no I don't. Kate is a far better and more understanding person than I am.

This really was not my favorite in this series, probably for highly irrational reasons.  It's probably a sign that you have gotten far to attached to a character when you feel like you are wading through pits of despair right along with her. The nice little bow on that got put on the end letting us know the reasoning why didn't really help.  

But I guess that shows the level of writing this couple has achieved with this series, when you can hit levels of unremitting anger such as this.  I'll get over it.  Eventually.  

I've been holding out on 5 stars for this series because I wanted to save it just in case.  I have reached my just in case.  Seriously, if the rest of this series actually gets better, I may actually implode from joy.  

See what I did there?  Ha. Anyhoo, not literally.  But still.  I love Kate so much.  So much.  Who else would do something like this to the Beast Lord of a pack of over 1500 shifters? 

"Yes I can," he snarled. "Listen: this is me telling you what you will not do."

I raised the cookbook and tapped him on the nose.  Bad cat.  

No one, that's who.  I can't even.  

Off to obsessively read the next two books so I can then proceed to impatiently wait for the next one.  I'm thinking I probably should have held out until the series was done.  

I made it to the end of the prologue and now I can't decide if I want to keep reading and chance being up all night (again) or just quit now and pick up tomorrow.  Except I really can't just stop after that, so I've pretty much backed myself into a corner.  

I'm not sure whether I want to kiss or kick all of you that recommended this to me.  Or maybe just myself for starting this in the middle of getting ready for finals.  

I hit my first detailed murder scene finally.  I actually had a moment of shock when I read all of the details, which oddly enough makes me happy.  I'm not shocked by much anymore but it played out so vividly in my head it was like I was watching it.  Kudos to Bret Easton Ellis for that one.  

When you find yourself thinking, God Joe, you are so right, collapsible table trays really are the saddest purchase next to C&C Music Factory's greatest hits CD. Or, yes Joe she just really doesn't understand that you did it all for her because you love her so much. Or, yes Joe I completely understand and agree with you saying that Prince is the greatest poet since e.e. Cummings. I just listened to Purple Rain 24 seconds and 3 days ago. Or yes Joe, Kindles, Dan Brown, Stephen King and "prequel" fans are going to ruin the book world (even if you secretly loved The Da Vinci Code despite the ridiculousness of it (But You did too Joe), read tons of Stephen King and own an ereader)

Thus is the power of Caroline Kepnes.

Shelfies are my favorite.  

When the husband decided that he wanted to buy a house at our next duty station, I conceded but said that I would only do it if I could have my own library in it.  It's still a work in progress because I have very much outgrown my bookshelves, but there isn't a room in my house that screams Erika more than this one.  I have a strictly school related bookshelf also, but I was generous enough to not include it in the picture.  It's slammed full of textbooks, medical dictionaries, anatomy stuff and crap tons of notebooks because I'm a hoarder and can't part with any of it just in case.  You never know when you'll need to have in depth knowledge on how to dissect a cadaver or something along those lines.