Monday, August 19, 2013

Home Sweet Own Book 27


Another book down! For Horror I read Call of the Jersey Devil by Aurelio Voltaire. Five gothic mall rats and a washed up Goth singer discover two things in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey: 1) The Jersey Devil is real and 2) As many already suspected, the gateway to Hell really is in New Jersey.

Voltaire spent most of his young life in New Jersey and has a love/hate relationship with the place. This was originally a screen play but the movie Voltaire would have wanted hasn’t been made since the 1980s (‘Hell is some red light in a barn’) so he changed it into a book.

As with any good horror story there were several gross out moments. From his music I knew Voltaire wasn’t the poster child for rainbows and kittens but he is one twisted individual. Fortunately there was a bit of humor to help balance out the gore. The narrative dragged a little here and there but overall it was good.

One thing I really liked was the extended acknowledgments/bio in the back. Having heard Voltaire speak at Wicked Faire in February, I enjoyed the book more. It made it more personal, especially since he admits that there are still parts in this that make him cry “and I fucking wrote it.” I think I would have liked the book less if there hadn’t been that much background to it.

1) Fiction – A Once Crowded Sky by Tom King
2) Nonfiction – The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
3) Sci-Fi – Redshirts by John Scalzi
4) Fantasy – The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
5) Mystery – Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer
6) Horror – Call of the Jersey Devil by Aurelio Voltaire
7) Memoir/Biography – Data, A Love Story by Amy Webb
8) Chick Lit – Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter
9) Feminist – Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
10) Teen – What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
11) Holiday 
12) Essays – What Was I Thinking? ed. by Barbara Davilman & Liz Dubelman
13) Short Stories 
14) Library 
15) Animal 
16) Book about Books – Judging a Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto
17) New – Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin
18) Old – Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod
19) Pop Science – Why Men Fake It by Abraham Morgentaler, MD
20) Near 
21) Far 
22) Graphic Novel – Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Thomas F. Zahler
23) Reread – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
24) Wild Card 
25) Otherworldly Creature 
26) Free – Point Your Face at This by Demetri Martin
27) Noteworthy 
28) Bestseller – How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
29) Themed Anthology – Red edited by Kris Goldsmith
30) Steampunk – The Immersion Book of Steampunk edited by Gareth Jones and Carmelo Rafala
31) Movie-Book 
32) Media – Doctor Who: Touched By an Angel by Jonathan Morris
33) Travel – Love with a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche
34) Food 
35) Classic – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
36) Humor – Sleep Talkin’ Man by Karen Slavick-Lennard
37) Poetry 
38) Past – Stasiland by Anna Funder
39) Future 
40) Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic 
41) Zombie 
42) Sports – Red Rising by Ted Starkey

Music: Hell in a Handbasket by Voltaire

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