Weekly Wrap Up – October 15 – 21

Well….. this was a weird reading week to say the least! It was productive (as I managed to finish 2 books!) but the books themselves were totally messed up! Creepy reads that begged to be read in the chilly month of October. One I liked, and one I didn’t like at all. Both of these books I thought I would love, but it was just a MEH kind of experience. Here’s what I read this week:

BOOKS I’VE FINISHED THIS WEEK:

HAUNTED by Chuck Palahniuk
……. I just…… I don’t have words for this book. At all. I went into not knowing what to expect. I’ve had so many people tell me that I HAD to read something by him, and the premise of this one spoke to me the most. A group of people decide to seal themselves away from public as a writers retreat. No one knows where they went, if they’re ok, and if they’re coming back. It’s told from the perspectives of the people at the retreat. Interesting right? Well yes……. but the execution of this book caught me by surprise and not in a good way. This book was gross. For me to say that – it means a lot! People were cutting their own fingers off and everything! But the whole time I was reading, it felt more like it was trying to get the shock value with no purpose or intention. I was just confused and wondering WHAT? literally the whole time. I like weird, creepy, gore, and tension, but it needs to make sense and have a purpose. There was none of that so I rated it 2 stars.

THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Paul Tremblay
This one was also a weird experience but at a little more direction. It was a very creepy, and tense read, but also not what I expected. A Head Full of Ghosts by the same author is hands down my favourite horror novel ever! But this didn’t come close to that. It was good, but not even close to the perfection of his other book. Full review to come tomorrow.

BOOKS I’M CURRENTLY READING:

Technically I’m not reading anything right now. Anxiety has put me into a bit of a slump this weekend. But, when I do decide what I’m going to read next, it’s between these two. Hexed is a series continuations, and Empress of all Seasons is an advanced copy that I need to get to for the blog tour (my tour stop is on November 7th!). If you follow me on Goodreads, you’ll know which one I’ve decided to start 🙂

OTHER BOOKISH NEWS:

TOP 5 TUESDAY

This week was a little controversial and I LOVED it! lol We talked about the Top 5 books that didn’t live up to the hype and there was a lot of different opinions. Just goes to show that there is something out there for everyone! Next weeks topic is one that I’ve been dying to get to and that’s the top 5 books with magic!!! I know what’s making my list already!

I WON A GIVEAWAY!

Oh my goodness I squealed! I recently won a gold collectors edition of The Hate You Give! One of my favourite books of all time! I couldn’t be happier! Thanks so much to Indigo Teen! I also hope to take my daughter to see the movie this week. Her favourite actress plays Starr and I can’t wait to see how she reacts to the story 🙂

LIFE UPDATE AND ANXIETY

Ok. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but I haven’t been around as much as usual. My twitter posts are sporadic, Instagram is almost non existent, and it’s taking me a while to get to comments. My anxiety has been crippling. I recently had an ultrasound and it suggested that I follow up with a CT scan. It’s in my neck so I’m terrified that the cancer is back. Or worse, that it’s something else. It has to do with my lymph nodes so it could be anything. Something series, or something simple. I don’t know and that’s the problem – the not knowing, the anticipating, and the fears that can take over your mind during that down time is crippling. It has taken all of my energy just to cook or clean, or even smile with my kids. I had the CT scan on thursday, and my follow up appointment is on the 24th. Like I said, it could be simple and I’m worrying for nothing! But at the same time my anxiety brain takes me to a dark place of fear. Please. I don’t like to ask this, but if you could, send me some happy positive thoughts and think positive that they will have found nothing. I’ll update you all after the 24th and will try to be around a little more often until then. Thanks

This was the week of fear, good and bad reads, and a super exciting win! I hope you all had a fantastic week and and even better week to come!

Until next time, happy reading!