Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

The entire title of this book is Trigger Warning:  Short Fictions and Disturbances, which paints a very accurate picture of this book.  I loved these unique short stories by master story teller Neil Gaiman.  Although I made the mistake of taking this book camping, and a few of the stories freaked me out  . . . but would be perfect to terrorize your friends around the fire.  I also loved the variety from fairy tales, horror, Doctor Who to poems; this collection has a little bit of something for everyone.

I really appreciated that Gaiman wrote a great introduction which included the inspiration behind each story or poem.  I found myself often flipping back to this section after I read the story to get an even deeper understanding.

I am going to summarize a few of my favorite stories in this collection.

The Thing About Cassandra

A young artist is given odd news when his friends tell him that they ran into his first girlfriend, Cassandra.  The thing about Cassandra was that he made her up to impress his buddies.  Who is the mysterious Cassandra?  I originally read this story in Songs of Love and Death and I’ll admit I’m still pleasantly puzzled by the end.  I’m putting this book on my husband’s reading pile so I have someone to discuss the end with.

Down to a Sunless Sea

Down to a Sunless Sea is a gritty story of a mother waiting for her young sailor son to return.  One of my favorite quotes was “Nobody drinks it, neither the rainwater nor the river water. They make jokes about Thames water killing you instantly, and it is not true.”  I cannot resist a good water quality quote.

The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains

I loved this story.  I read it twice as the beginning made much more sense once all of the pieces of the story were put together.  A dwarf seeks young Calum MacInnes to help him find a mystical mountain with a cave of cursed gold to use for the “King across the seas” cause.  Or is this his true purpose?  I loved this take on revenge.

Orange

I liked the unique format to this story, which were only the answers to an investigator’s written questionnaire.

The Case of Death and Honey

This was a very interesting Sherlock tale of him trying to solve the ultimately mystery, how to defeat death.  I quite enjoyed it.

Click-Clack the Rattlebag

This story freaked me out.  It is a scary story about an old house and what lies within it.  I liked the format of a young boy telling the story leading up to the grand realization at the end.

Nothing O’Clock

This is a Doctor Who story set during the Matt Smith Doctor Who time period.  It was a perfect Doctor Who story – interesting, a bit of humor and a bit of horror on the situation of human race after the evil Kin try to take over Earth.

Diamonds and Pearls:  A Fairy Tale

I love fairy tales.  This modified version of Cinderella was unique and very interesting.

The Sleeper and the Spindle

The Sleeper and the Spindle is a modified fairy tale mash-up of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.  I thought it was an interesting take on both fairy tales and I loved the strong female protagonist.  I would love to read more of Gaiman’s fairy tales.

Black Dog

I need to read American Gods.  Even though I haven’t read it, I still enjoyed this tale.  Shadow is in a Pub in England and gets involved with a local couple.  The man is having health problems so he helps them out.  They are followed home by the local legend, a black dog.  Shadow digs deeper to solve the mystery of this superstition. 

Overall, I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection.  I liked how imaginative they were and very original.  I liked how they hopped from scary stories to fairy tales.  These were the type of stories I especially loved as a teenager and miss reading at times.  I need to look for more like this.  Any suggestions?

Book Source:  Review Copy from William Morrow – Thanks!

Laura’s Summer of 2011 Top TV Shows

I spend most of my TV watching doing something else at the same time, particularly folding laundry when the kids are in bed or nursing Penelope. Truthfully the shows I watch in the daytime most often happen to be Dinosaur Train, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, or other such children’s fare. I relish when I am actually able to watch a show that is for adults.


I haven’t talked about TV for a while on this blog so I thought I’d do a quick summary of what I was watching this summer and my thoughts.

Falling Skies – Ben and I both loved the new TNT show, Falling Skies. It takes place after an alien invasion has destroyed the earth as we know it. The invaders harness human children for some mysterious, nefarious purpose. A group of survivors has banded together as the second Massachusetts. They are trying to survive, while also to figure out how to save the harnassed children and destroy the enemy. I’m hooked and am eagerly awaiting the next chapter next summer. Noah Wylie as Tom Mason is great, but I am particularly engaged by Colin Cunningham as John Pope the bad/good guy. He is the leader of a gang, but seems to have a heart of gold (perhaps) beneath it all.

Doctor Who – Ben and I love Doctor Who, but I’ll admit that we are very behind. We just watch the 2010 Christmas episode and have yet to watch this year’s episodes. Matt Smith as the new Doctor and Karen Gillian as Amy are interesting, but I don’t like them as much as David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose. I loved Russell T. Davies scripts, and haven’t been caught up as yet in the new writer Steven Moffat. I still hold out hope for this year’s episodes.

Outcasts – This show was sadly cancelled in Britain after one (short) season. Unfortunately we’ll never know how it ends. Ben and I both enjoyed the show, but felt it faltered near the end, which could be why it was not picked up again. It had an interesting concept where the Earth has been destroyed by some unexplained mishap and a group of survivors is trying to make it on another planet. Great actors and interesting plot lines started the show. It was worth watching.

Camelot – I am a great fan of Arthurian legend and love to watch movies, mini-series, and shows about Arthur and crew. I made it through the pilot and one episode of Camelot and was done with the show. I thought Jamie Campbell Bower as Arthur was insipid and weak, which is a problem when he is the lead actor. I loved Joseph Fiennes as Merlin and thought he held some promise. I was annoyed by the changing of the legend, particularly that Guinevere was married to Leontes, (a new member of the round table not included in the legend as a knight who saved Arthur’s life) and cheating on him with Arthur. There was already a great love triangle in the legend and it included LANCELOT. For a great way to show the heartache of this love triangle, read Persia Woolley’s brilliant Guinevere trilogy and skip this show.

The Tudors – I love period costume dramas. I don’t have Showtime, so I was happy when BBC America aired Seasons 1 and 2 of The Tudors this summer. While this show isn’t the most historically accurate, I loved it. The Tudors are an interesting family and I loved the actors, outfits, and drama. I enjoyed that the version I watched was censored to not include that many love scenes – but just enough. I really hope BBC America airs the next couple of seasons soon.

Pillars of the Earth – I enjoyed the novel more, but The Pillars of the Earth mini-series was pretty good. My only complaint was that the actors never seemed to age through the 20 odd years that the show takes place. I particularly loved Rufus Sewell as Tom the Builder. It was certainly an interesting period of history and I do love historical dramas!

Masterpiece Mystery – I enjoyed watching Hercule Poirot and Ms. Marple this summer. Zen was also a great series. I’ll admit that I didn’t watch Inspector Lewis. I love Masterpiece Theatre, and look forward to Sherlock returning to Masterpiece Mystery next season.

How the States Got Their Shapes – The History Channel has angered me in recent years by never actually showing any history. While Ben and the boys enjoy Ice Road Truckers and the like, I do not. I used to be able to just turn on the History Channel and leave it on enjoying the programs, but those days are long gone. I was more than a little excited by this new show. I like host Brian Unger’s quirky humor as well as interesting history lessons about how the states were formed. I really liked the Green Bay, Wisconsin segment!

Inspector America – Has this show been cancelled? There were about six episodes or so at the beginning of the summer and my sons loved them! As an engineer, I appreciated the call to arms to repair this country’s infrastructure. The boys and I enjoyed watching this show and hope it continues!

Now that summer is over, I’m happy checking out new shows and returning favorites. Hopefully I keep more up to date on my blog and will at least post an update every few months on favorite shows!

What were your favorite shows this summer? What are you excited to watch this fall?

Doctor Who

Does anyone else love Doctor Who? Ben and I really enjoy it. We got a bit behind on watching Season 2 and just finished it up this past weekend (got to love DVRs - I know I wouldn't watch quite as much TV without it!). I love it's quarky British humor. I was a bit sad at the start of this season since there was a new Doctor and I loved the old one so much. The new Doctor though is pretty funny in his own way and I've grown to enjoy watching him.

Now my new sadness at the end of Season 2 is how the show is going to go on without Rose and her cast of supporting characters (Mickey, Mom, Dad). I loved Rose!! I know that Billie Piper wanted to move on, but what was not to like about becoming a star in England from being on Doctor Who? I love Masterpiece Theatre and I'm thrilled to see that Billie Piper is in a lot of different past and upcoming productions, but I would have much rather had her stay on Doctor Who. Oh well!

I guess it's a testiment for how good the show is that it can replace the lead characters and continue on, and I still enjoy watching it.

Are there any other Doctor Who fans out there?