Heena’s Comments (group member since Oct 13, 2014)

Heena’s comments from the RMFAO (Reading My Frigging A** Off) group.

Dagny wrote: "I have plenty of historical novels in mind, more than I can possibly find time for. One is really long: I absolutely loved The Clan of the Cave Bear when I r..."

I had no idea about this series but reading the blurb of the first book, The Clan Of The Cave Bear, made me realise that I might actually like reading about early-man-isque fiction as I have never really read anything like it before! Thanks for the rec, Dagny. I always love the books you recommend and I am really looking forward to reading this series, especially seeing how even Cheryl and Fran also enjoyed it :)

Cheryl wrote: "I just wanted to add a few items about the Historical Fiction Challenge.
The setting of the story should be set in a time in history prior to the date the book was written.
For example: although P..."

Thanks a lot for posting the thread and for the additional information. We'll add this info permanently in the thread description for next year!

Cheryl wrote: "9. Come Closer by Sara Gran
4 stars. This book might appeal to those who liked A Head Full of Ghosts, as both books have the same themes in common."

I'm adding this one to my list! Thanks for the rec!!

Fran wrote: "1.) The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires (AB) - Grady Hendrix

So, I said earlier this is a genre I most definitely avoid, but I thought I'd give this a shot (since it's been on my tb..."

I have been meaning to read this one for a while. So glad you liked it!!

Cheryl wrote: "I'm claiming this for Horror, since it's listed as such under genres:
8. The Outsider by Stephen King
3 stars. Not very scary. It could have been, but King got lazy toward the end (..."

Yes! King totally messed up this book's ending. It had such a great premise and I was so happy to meet Holly in this one, but as you said, he got lazy and totally ruined it.

Dagny wrote: "This is one of his earlier books. It took me forever to get into it as so much of it reads like a documentary and then a mission report. Also I didn't have a character that I particularly cared about for most of the book until I finally warmed up to a couple of them. All in all, it's probably not worth the time and effort although it did get quite exciting toward the end.
I usually prefer series books as opposed to stand-alones. As a fan of Frankenstein, I really enjoyed Koontz's Prodigal Son. Ditto with Odd Thomas. The next books in both series didn't interest me as much. The second in the Frankenstein series was still good though but the third was a let down. With Odd Thomas I didn't care much for the second book in that series and haven't continued.
If you like Frankenstein books, I'd so to go for Prodigal Son. "

Thanks for the recs, Dagny. I think I'll start with Prodigal Son. :)

I totally forgot about this challenge! I will begin a fresh run so that I won't get confused :D

Run #3
1. Paul Tremblay (Disappearance At Devil's Rock)

#3 Disappearance at Devil's Rock - 4/5
Thanks, Cheryl, for the recommendation - totally worth it!
My review can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#4 Best New Horror 15 - 3/5
Not a great collection. I wasted a lot of time on the bad stories in this which were literally more than half the book!

@Cheryl - I'm reading Disappearance at Devil's Rock on your recommendation and it is turning out to be great! Thanks a ton!!

@Kathy - Yes! Then ending did have that effect for me too!

@Dagny - How was Icebound? I want to read more Dean Koontz book but I don't know where to begin! There are so many!! Can you suggest something?

@Fran - I loved Piranesi. If you like magic-realism and surreal fiction then you will love it. It is a pretty short book for a fantasy/speculative book so I'd definitely recommend it!

Cheryl wrote: "Heena, I read it in 2016, so it's not fresh in my memory. I do remember that the ending was something unexpected. I'd probably have to reread it to properly discuss it.
If you like this author's writing, I'd recommend Disappearance at Devil's Rock."

Oh wow, I think I read the very old version of The Head Full Of Ghosts and it had a list of Paul Tremblay's book which had just 4 books! Lol. I now see that there are so many of his works! I will be starting with the one you suggested - it sounds compelling!!

And yes, the ending was very unpredictable. If you do read it again, do lemme know!! I still can't get the ending out of my head!
What do you think really happened? Not to give away spoilers for others, but do you think it was a possession or just some psychological condition?

#19 Piranesi - 5/5
#20 Apples Never Fall - 3/5
#21 A Minute to Think: Reclaim Creativity, Conquer Busyness, and Do Your Best Work - 3/5

OMG! Fran and Dagny, you guys are so ahead!!! Great going <3

2. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay - 5/5

Wow! This book is so freakishly mind-blowing! Let me know if you guys have read it. I am dying to discuss this book with someone!!!
Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Fran wrote: "Hi Heena. is there a way to send you a message/question about a book you read but not for this group? (Sorry, if that came out weirdish;)"

Sure, just drop me a message. I think we are friends here (as in our profiles are friends here.) Let me check, otherwise, I'll send you a request if we're not already friends then you can send me a message directly.

Cheryl wrote: "I will have to look for this short story collection."

It's a pretty good collection, though the stories are shorter than normal short stories. If that is not a problem for you then you might enjoy some of them as they are pretty good!

Cheryl wrote: "Heena, I’ve read House of Leaves a few years ago. It is indeed creepy! If it really disturbs you, maybe take a little break from it or only read a little bit of it at a time. And don’t read it bef..."

I think I'm going to leave it for now and maybe come back to it later on. Thanks :)
And this one does sound good, I am definitely keeping it on my TBR-list for this month! But will make sure to read it in the daylight! Lol.

Finished reading:

1.Blue World - 4/5
It was a slow read in spite of the stories being extremely short. Most were deliciously scary while some seemed pointless. Still, overall I loved the stories.

Reading House of Leaves and finding it weirdly disturbing! Has anyone else read it? I'm not sure I want to continue reading it as it is kind of disturbing more than scary and giving me nightmares. I still would want to push forward unless someone else has read it and they recommend not to.