Charnel House Reviews

Dipper and Phoebe came to visit us last Friday. Due to a possible obligation, they weren't able to stay over, but it was still an amazing evening. Phoebe got things going by showing me her new Superhero Girls toy. It's Wonder Woman on a motorcycle, and it's downright badass! She also brought Clue, but we didn't get a chance to play. The week had been rough on everyone, and we were all dying and ready for the sleep of the dead by about 9:30.

Since it was the last Friday of winter break Phoebe and Dipper had gone out around the town together. Among their stops were Barnes and Noble and Toys R Us. Dipper snagged a few graphic novels and a Gravity Falls Cinestory Comic for Phoebe, which I called dibs on after she finishes. (Phoebe liked Gravity Falls before I came along, but I suspect that she finds it even funnier now, since her dad and I are so much like Dipper and Mabel.)

Phoebe was also excited to give me the fuzzies that she and Dipper had picked out during the day. I…

Battling an invisible illness day in and day out can make work a struggle. Especially if you find some days it's harder to be around people than others. Sometimes the type of interaction with these people matters most. Others it's the degree to which I'm familiar that dictates what I can handle. The worst days are the days that don't seem to have a pattern. The days where I can't figure out the magic combination to make it through comfortably. Those are also the days I find hardest to explain to people who don't fully understand what's going on with me. That's because on those days, like today, I can't answer their questions. "What caused it?" "What if you did x, y, and z?" "Gee, I wonder why that trick didn't work this time. Do you think it won't work anymore?" Days like today, I hate to say it, but "I have no fcking idea..." is the best I can do in terms of an answer. And really, I don't know. Th…

Last year I was a little late to the party. This year? READY.



Last year I got back on GoodReads.com after a prolonged absence. I started reviewing books again, and tracking my reading progress. It also helps me keep track of books  I want to read, or have read with my brother as part of our two person book club.

In any event, I set myself the lofty goal of reading 79 books by the end of this year. Since I got such a late start last year I only projected 9, but wound up reading 59 since I count graphic novels as well. So far I'm off to a good start. As of right now, I'm at 15/79 books. They range from authors I just discovered to authors that I've been reading for years. There are graphic novels as well as regular novels represented. I'm sure that I'll also be adding in some young adult reads, since Phoebe likes when I read books that she's read. She's super into Superhero Girls and Disney's Descendants, so I know those will be among my titles for this yea…

Several friends have recommended Christopher Moore's books to me over the years. I picked up a few of his books, A Dirty Job, Bite Me: A Love Story, and Lamb. The Serpent of Venice is on the list of Dipper and my books to read. I wasn't sure where to start, so a friend suggested I begin with A Dirty Job, since I'm a fan of stories that feature the personification of death.

The story centers around Charlie Asher, a goyim who is married to Rachel, the love of his life. Moore immediately establishes a few truths about our main character. He's a beta male. He's got anxiety. He's the proprietor of Asher's Secondhand. And he's a complete nebbish. His wife dies while giving birth, and shortly after, a man in a mint green silk suit comes into the hospital room and steals Rachel's Sarah McLachlan CD. Little does Charlie realize this is only the beginning.

What seemed like a random and senseless robbery turns out to be a definitive moment for Charlie. It'…

When I finished All Souls Day, I literally couldn't wait for the sequel. Well, as it turns out, we all have to wait because it's not ready. In the meantime, author Martin Berman-Gorvine asked  if I wanted to read another book in the meantime. I chose 36 for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I'm interested in mysticism.

36 takes place in the future, after a third war has rocked the world. Eric Lonnrot, a detective heavily interestd in Jewish mysticism, has been researching people for years. He believes they are the tzadikim, or 36 righteous whose actions justify the continued existence of the world. Through his research, he notices an alarming trend - they're dying off. What's even more troubling is that they're dying off faster than they can be replaced. Lonnrot talks his friend Nahum Applefeld, who himself is a survivor of horrific genocide, to accompany him. Nahum doesn't share the same views as Lonnrot, but feels responsible since he…

From time to time, I detail my battles with anxiety and depression here. Maybe that's your bag. Then again, maybe it isn't. If it's not, I'll totally understand if you want to go and scope out a different post. It's not for everyone.

A little while back, I started what I call "Self Care Saturday", and I usually declare it after a particularly difficult week. This past week definitely qualified. Tuesday night, I thought I was straight up losing my shit. It was one of the worst anxiety nights I've had in awhile. Back to back crying jags, needy button-mashing, all kinds of things. I'm still trying to learn how to forgive myself when that happens, but as I've been told by a few people, it's a process. A war. Not a single battle.

Today I needed to hunker down and take care of myself. Recharge after a rough week. It started out with a trip to Tops for groceries. I needed to restock the meat in the house, and also grab some things for Valentine'…

The other day, I finished and reviewed Death by Diploma, by Kelley Kaye. When I reached out to her and gave her the link to my review, she told me that she had just signed on for Book 2 with Red Adept Publishing! Book 2's working title is Poison by Punctuation.

I tried to see what she'd tell me about the book, and what I got in terms of insider info is that it's going to be much more intense in terms of the theme. I can't imagine it being more intense than the first book! Loyalty and friendship are strained and tested between Emma and Leslie. Will this newest caper separate the dynamic duo? Or will they overcome the odds, keep their bond intact, and solve the murder?!

I'm going to apologize right away, because I have no idea what this post is about. I'd say it's slice of life, but it's more like random and happy babbling. If that's not your thing, I recommend that you check out the other posts, that revolve around more concrete ideas and reviews.

Lately I've been spending more and more time in the company of my Kindle Paperwhite. I'm not even kidding when I say that I take it absolutely everywhere with me. I thought I left it at home the other day when I went to work, and let me tell you, that was NOT going to fly!

I have mentioned in other posts that I have anxiety, and am trying to learn to control it better. It was suggested to me recently to have a cup of Tension Tamer tea every night before bed. My first night trying that particular trick was Wednesday night. Tension Tamer isn't a new tea to me, I used to love it when I was in high school. Although I have what feels like every tea ever produced sitting in my kitch…

I was not familiar with Eric Pigors until I met Dipper. One night at work he gave me an Eric Pigors book that he had doubles of and that was all it took. I was hooked on the creepy artwork and morbid subject matter. Last Spring, Dipper and I ordered some shirts off the website. I got a Lucky 13 Frankenstein baseball shirt, and he got a Ghastly Ones t-shirt.

For my birthday this year, Tkout spoiled me with an Eric Pigors hoodie, the new Rotting Caskets Funeral Home design. I am absolutely in love with it! The design is fantastic, and is printed on the back, hood, and one sleeve. It fits really well too. It features Frankenstein and his bride, as well as a ghost, and the usual noose imagery that I've come to expect in a Frankenstein design. As with any order, Eric also included some signed prints, business cards, and this time he sent along a die-cast sticker too. I intend to frame the artwork and hang it in the library. Everything was well packaged, and worth the wait!

Apparently goi…

I know this post is wicked late, but that's ok. Last night, I collected my Christmas/birthday gifts from Phoebe and Dipper so that I could take a picture of them. The weekend of the 13th, we celebrated my birthday, Dipper's birthday, and Christmas. It was a wonderful night! We ate pizza and wings, watched Suicide Squad, Phoebe put together LEGOS, I crocheted, and we had a blast. Present opening was funny, because we had Zelda running around the living room the whole time, and she kept trying to see what everyone was doing, without coming in range of someone being able to pick her up.

I don't mean to brag, but I'm so happy with what Phoebe and Dipper got for me that I can't help but brag about it! The only words I can use to describe it are "spoiled rotten"! I couldn't have asked for better gifts.

Graveyard Print- Dipper got this awesome little print offline. I intend to frame it and then hang it on the side of the basement where my library is, as well …

Facebook has been buzzing about a new show called Santa Clarita Diet. Truth be told, up until last night, I didn't know anything about it except that it starred Drew Barrymore. In many ways, I'm tapped out on horror-themed shows. They're starting to run together for me, which is why I've detoured into Rick and Morty recently, which is satirical and funny and dark enough to get me through watching it. (Which, by the way, I will definitely recommend watching, though not with your kids. Unless you like answering questions about subjects not for polite company. If you do, well, your funeral. You know?)

Anyway, my friend Suzanne recommended I start watching it sooner rather than later. I've been working on an afghan for one of mom's friends, and since it's just a granny square pattern, it's not very complicated. That means I can start new shows or movies while working, otherwise I'd have to pay too much attention to the pattern. In any event, I figured la…

I was approached by Kelley Kaye with a request to review her novel Death by Diploma. I have to admit, I didn't read the book description that she linked. She found me through our mutual friend, Stephen Kozeniewski. I decided to give it a go based on his recommendation.

I am extremely glad I went with the recommendation! Death by Diploma is not my usual type of book. It's a straight up mystery with no paranormal aspects. Whatsoever. However, what it does have is a rock-solid murder plot, two plucky and lovable heroines, and a whopper of a mystery. When it all fell into place, I was completely gobsmacked. I had no idea that's the direction in which the story was moving. The clues were easy enough to keep track of, but there were so many possibilities, I actually wasn't even able to begin guessing.

When the book first began, I thought it was a little rocky. When I perused the beginning of the book after I finished, I realized what I thought was rocky. The two main character…

Before I start this review, there's a little bit of a disclaimer I need to go into first. Part one is that when Stephen was writing Hunter of the Dead, he crowd-sourced names off Facebook through a random draw on a post. I figured what the hell, and did it. I was one of the people picked. Therefore, should you take my sage advice and read this book, I'm one of the characters. When I was chosen, he contacted me, and asked if I had any requests. As I recall, I told him not to make the character suck (as if that were ever a remote possibility!)

The second part of the disclaimer is that I was approached to write a review, and gifted a copy. The price, was that I had to write an honest review. That's always a piece of cake with Stephen, because his books are fantastic.

All of that being said, I had no idea where the story was going when I started. I was pretty sure it was about vampires, and an elite vampire killer. But the story started off with what I thought were zombies. As i…

I've been working with Dipper and Tkout to show Phoebe iconic movies since this summer. I'm starting to run out of titles that are largely free of major objectionable material, so I'm branching to classics in general. Before venturing further, I should probably clarify, since Texas Chainsaw Massacre, John Carpenter's The Thing, Alien, and JAWS have all been shown. (If you're curious as to the criteria that selects these movies for a 9 year old, check out this post.)

When I was a kid, I loved Indiana Jones films. They had action, scares, excitement, and my first Asian crush, Short Round. When I found
out that Phoebe had never seen any, I almost fell off the couch. I decided to start with Raiders of the Lost Ark, in no small part because Marion is kick-ass. She holds her own in fight scenes, outsmarts the bad guys, smarts off to Indy, and is nobody's damsel in distress. I (correctly) guessed that Phoebe would find her a kindred spirit.

When I started the movie, Phoe…

When I sat down to blog, I wanted to finish recording Phoebe and my recent movie-spree. However, as I continued, I found myself defending my choices, which took away from the post too much. I also realized that I subconsciously had a rubric I ran the movies through before suggesting them to Dipper. I decided that instead of bogging down the other post, I would make this one separate.

There have been people who have questioned my choices, even though Dipper has approved them all. It may not seem like there is a system at work, but truly, there is. You see, I love Phoebe very much. I don't think I could love her more if she were truly my flesh and blood. For all intents and purposes, her and Dipper are Family. And I would die for either of them, just as quickly as I would die for Tkout, my husband. I realize that since Dipper and I are so close, and she and I are so close, I'm one of the people she looks to as a role model. When I struggle with my depression and anxiety, she'…