lola_inslacks' Friends

Review: The Curse of the Blue Figurine, by John Bellairs
# 93: The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs:

Night lay over the little cluster of green-roofed cottages. Now dark clouds came rushing in to cover the stars, and it rained. Wet drops pattered on the slanted roofs and on the gravel path. It rained for half an hour, a heavy pelting downpour. Then the clouds, driven by a strong wind, blew on past over the ragged top of Hellbent Mountain, and the stars shone down once again. Instide the cabin Johnny and the professor slept on. The chain lock and the sliding steel bolt held the door fast. But what was this? A tiny tinkling sound, and the chain fell from its groove.

Synopsis: Ebil finds a new home in the soul of Johnny Dixon, a pudgy, near-orphan in 1950s Massachusetts, who stumbles into a trap laid by an evil sorcerer/Catholic priest.

( Nothing says festive holidays like a good old fashioned evil curse. )

Finishing School, by Max Allan Collins

Important to say this book was based on TV show Criminal Minds, which is my current guilty pleasure.

That being said, on with the review.

( Finishing School )

Current Mood: angry

Siphoned
'Depression is a sign of weakness'
old age is a sign of meekness
how I longed to face you
and make you eat those words
you calmly spat in my face
announcing to the world
my situation
with such subtle humiliation
it was not warranted or appreciated
only these eyes shot sparks
blinking back retorts
remaining calm when I wanted nothing more
than to flip this table
smash out every window
start a world war
walk out that door
He misses her,
yet he's never truly alone
while I'm shrugging off ghosts
blowing dust off the phone
belittle my name
telling me how I'm to blame
while relatives siphoned
all the generosity from me
forgetting all the times
they used me as some crutch
left me all alone
as they played the weekends away
So I stood my ground
feeling like I've some nails to pound
temples throbbing like a simpleton's stammer
this situation is quite damaged
need to put a damper on these feelings,
before I end up screaming
crucified on the inside,
Jesus...

mathiasthom
written 12/28/09

Sugar Spun
Imagine a meeting in the flesh
not as you are now,
but how you appeared back then
to the time of peer pressure
equivalent to standing on a precipice,
cracking beneath a hot, angry fissure
a time of unwanted leisure

He was there,
standing with his back to the wall
waiting to make his exit
this was not his game
already pegged as strange
objects exploding all around him
heading for a predetermined fall

Drawing lots is a fool’s game
when one already knows the eventual outcome
its easy to walk away from this
there's the door over there
with the hulking presence of authority
breathing down your neck
undressing you with coal black eyes
hoping to exploit perceived weakness

Disarming them all
with a saccharine smile
running around that corner
to an open doorway
beckoning with sunlight, wispy clouds
and the attention span
of a sugar spun child

Late December
when did it pass?
receded to the back recesses
fading in the forgotten smoke
this spell quite broken
with the frailty of despair
yet, I remembered you

mathiasthom
written 12/27/09

Review: Slow Dance in Autumn, by Philip Lee Williams
# 92: Slow Dance in Autumn by Philip Lee Williams:

The Blaze Motel was usually below industry-standard occupancy because the rooms were never held more than two hours at a time. It consisted of two cinder-block wings painted an appalling yellow, with a gravel courtyard in the middle. The office was in front of the building on the right. I parked and went in and took Ginny with me. Huel Toomey was the proprietor, and when I got inside, he was standing on the cluttered desk, holding a copy of Stockman's Journal and trying to squash a spider that was scuttling frantically across the ceiling.

Synopsis: World's worst PI (who has read every book in creation) skulks around Atlanta screwing up a case, banging one of the players and drinking his own liver in a blender. It's like if Sam Spade sucked at being a detective and went on a bender.

( Oh yes. You read that correctly. Like a patient etherized upon a table. Mm-hm. )

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Review: Chile Death, by Susan Wittig Albert
#91: Chile Death by Susan Wittig Albert:

"Sure, come on over," shae said, when I reminded her that our morning conversation had been interrupted. "In fact, come for supper. I made potato salad and marinated some chicken. Clyde's gonna put it on the grill so's I can take a load off my tired feet. We won't have a thing in the world to do but sit in the yard and criticize his cooking."

Synopsis: Breezy, sassy culinary mystery featuring the unsinkable China Bayles, this time helping her shot-in-the-line-of-duty boyfriend get out of his depression by assisting when he judges a chili cookoff. Which totally would have worked had someone not dropped dead in the middle of the contest.

( Yeah, I'm just going to read them in the order the library flings them at me. )

Review: Ice Storm, by Anne Stuart
# 90: Ice Storm - Anne Stuart:

Madame Isobel Lambert was exhausted. It had been a draining weekend in the Lake District--she'd played with her hosts' obstreperous children, gone on long hikes, eaten too much rich food, drank too much red wine, wrestled with her conscience and killed two men. All that without a cigarette. She was not in a good mood.

Synopsis: Coolly unemotional superspy Isobel Lambert takes on the job of a lifetime when she volunteers to bring in international terrorist "Serafin", a man who, eighteen years ago, she shot and killed, thus dooming herself to a life of superspyingness. Ing. Ness.

( Three guesses where this is headed. )

Got this on email - posting on in case its of interest

International Competition for Talented Directors

‘Words into action’

What are you doing over Christmas? Want to unwrap your directing future? Well grab a mulled wine and celebrate because this could be your chance…
VibeTV is offering you the chance to create your own 10 minute pilot. The best present you could give to yourself over this festive period. Entering 2010 with a bubbly bang!

VibeTV are collaborating with International writer Walter Quiroz for this dynamic and exciting project. This is a great opportunity for an unknown but talented director to produce a 10 minute pilot. ICTD aims to promote a positive industry and audience exposure for work that would otherwise not be seen.

Each prospective director, will be sent three excerpts from a script and will be asked to choose one section that they believe will best suit a 10 min pilot, and why? And to create your treatment for it. We MUST receive the treatment by 1st March 2010. Therefore, plenty of time needs to be left between submitting your entry form & admin charge and the final deadline. This will ensure that you give yourself enough time to write a treatment.

The overall winner will be announced on 2nd April 2010. The winner will be invited to direct a 10 minute pilot which will be filmed in June/July 2010.

All rules and regulations, along with more information and entry form, are available for download from www.vibetv.tv. If you have any problems downloading these files, please email editor@vibetv.tv . If the form won't download by clicking the link, please try by right clicking the link and selecting 'save link as', which will save it to your computer and should then open with ease.

So put down your mince pies and get cracking!

Disowned
A monster
that is what you make me out to be
A monster
that is what you think of me

Let’s pause for a while
this world is too fast
never finding a reason to smile
your 'darkness' is all an act

In a black mood
with a cloud to match
hovering over your head
some wild storm coming up fast

Don't need the calmness
centered in the eye
or another line
to follow suit

What's the matter with you?
is this another ruse?
just light the stinking fuse
an eruption long over due

Blow up, explode
shudder and gasp
grow up, implode
self awareness beyond your grasp

Say anything
then back peddle on it
there is always someone meddling
with their hands full of it

Misleading gestures
with a sign language all its own
there are no sign posts
when you're thrown into this world,
disowned

mathiasthom
written 12/24/09

The Sun Is Shining On Only A Select Few
I feel trapped
I am in Hell
stuck in this body
this ugly situation
should be getting better
but it has become like prison
and familiar faces have become
complete strangers to me
Am I really so different?
Walked further off the path then you
had to see the road ahead
but I might as well be dead
for all the good it didn't do

The sun is shining
on only a select few
but all I have is my poetry
I am such a tool

Now don't get upset
just talking trash
wondering how long
ill fortunes might last?
four days until another holiday
absent family will leave me alone
won't even bother to phone
never even asked me to come home
friends that mean well
are too far away
I keep on changing
this situation keeps rearranging
finding it all quite damaging
another scar for my soul
but I still have control
pushing it all away
sailing out a window
whether it is night or day
sometimes I can't even fathom
wondering why life seems completely random

The sun is shining
on only a select few
but all I have is my poetry
I am such a fool

mathiasthom
written 12/21/09

Conundrum
Sending out Christmas cards
containing visual bragging rights
an odd line that is an email address
a photograph of an imploded life

Somehow, feeling no connection
forty -two years to answer to
nothing is stable, or even vertical
there is no reason to respond to you

Such an in denial stranger
sharing the same last name
the same rushing blood
pounding through miles of veins

Looking for similarities
lost in a conundrum of complexities
this world is infertile and barren
impotent, vacant eyes duly staring

Already 2 years have passed
since the last forced gathering
hoping this silence will last
beyond the point of bickering or caring

The accumulating dust silently gathers
on the discarded envelope
destined for a cleansing by fire,
ashes to useless ashes

mathiasthom
written 12/21/09

Kiss of Midnight

Title: Kiss of Midnight
Author: Lara Adrian
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publishing Year: 2007
Pages: 402
Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle Maxwell's deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night- or this man- is what it seems. For when Gabrille witnesses a muder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never new existed- a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite. Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren. A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind- and the unwitting humans existing alongside them- from the mounting threat of the Rogues. Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but when Gabrielle is targeted by his enemies, he has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands. Here, in the arms of the Breed's formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all...

Verdict: I enjoyed this one. It was easy reading and very very hot... bordering on the verge of erotica in my books but I liked that. The storyline left me wanting a little more and the action wasn't anything to write home about. But alas it was good easy reading and I'm looking forward to continuing the series with Kiss of Crimson. The romance was the center of this book and I feel maybe to much so. The plot lacked because of the strick focus and it was a little predictable. I do love my vamp-erotica though and this book dished it out in spades! Quick, easy and HOT! read!

Books Count 2010: N/A

Current Mood: accomplished

ingenue
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Current Music: BSA - Brian jonestown massacre

Review: The Bedlam Boys, by Bonnie Morse
#89: The Bedlam Boys, by Bonnie Morse (

bonnybedlam)

Julian Work was waiting at the entrance to the auditorium, a tall, slim island in a sea of people who, without exception, managed to pass by without touching him. He wasn't the public ace, either officially or unofficially, but something about him, maybe his confidence or the fact that he obviously didn't belong there, told even the most ignorant that he was one of them and therefore to be avoided. There was a policy in place, unofficially, that prevented the Boys from carrying guns into schools, but it was lifted today and Julian had two. Neither of them showed anywhere but in his eyes; there they were very plain.

Synopsis: The Bedlam Boys make sure Mt Riley, Oregon is a great place to live by doing all kinds of not-so-great things, like blowing up meth labs and putting lots of holes in anyone who disagrees with them. Thanks to Nikki Beck, the system is functional and airtight...right up until he falls in love, and all kinds of things hit the fan. Shit being just for starters.

( Should we talk about the rash of suicides? )

Untamed

Untamed
P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
YA fiction; fantasy
338 pages

Life sucks when your friends are pissed at you.
Just ask Zoey Redbird – she’s become an undisputed expert on suckiness. In one week she has gone from having three boyfriends to having none, and from having a tight-knit group of friends who trusted and supported her, to being an outcast. And the worst part is, she knows it’s her own fault. Speaking of friends, the only two Zoey has left are undead, unMarked, and unable to stop bickering with each other. So who can blame her for befriending the House of Night’s newest transfer student, the majorly hot Olympic archer, James Stark?
Meanwhile, Neferet has declared a war on humans after it appears that the People of the Faith have murdered two vampyres. But Aphrodite’s latest visions show a world completely different from the High Priestess’s promises, a world full of violence, hatred, and darkness, all because of Zoey’s death—and the only way it seems she can prevent it from happening is to make things right with her friends. Zoey knows in her heart that fighting with humans is wrong. But will anyone listen to her? Zoey's adventures at vampyre finishing school take a wild and dangerous turn as loyalties are tested, shocking true intentions come to light, and an ancient evil is awakened in PC and Kristin Cast's spellbinding fourth House of Night novel.

This is probably my least favorite book in the House of Night series so far. It still is a captivating story but I didn't care for the plot line in this one quite as much as the other three. However, it it still very entertaining and I cannot wait t o read the rest of the series! I also just found out that there is going to be a new book released in May! They write these so fast haha!
Books read this year: 50/50--I finally made my GOAL!!!!!!! :)

Chosen

Chosen
P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
YA fiction; fantasy
307 pages

Bloodlust and dark forces are at work at the House of Night…
Fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird’s adventures at the school are about to take a mysterious turn. Those who appear to be her friends are turning out to be enemies. And oddly enough, sworn enemies are also turning into friends. So begins the gripping third installment of this “highly addictive series” (Romantic Times), in which Zoey’s mettle will be tested like never before. Her best friend, Stevie Rae, is undead and struggling to maintain a grip on her humanity. Zoey doesn’t have a clue how to help her, but she does know that anything she and Stevie Rae discover about the secretive and sinister power that’s turning dead fledglings into bloodsucking monsters must be kept secret from everyone else at the House of Night, where trust has become a rare commodity.
Speaking of rare: Zoey finds herself in the very unexpected position of having three boyfriends. Mix in more than a little forbidden desire to the equation and the situation has the potential to spell social disaster of massive proportions. Then, vampyres start turning up dead. Really dead. It looks like the People of Faith, and Zoey’s horrid step-loser in particular, are tired of living side-by-side with vampyres. But, as Zoey and her friends find out, things are not always what they seem…

I really liked the third installment in the House of Night series. I know that these are YA books, but I can't help but be engrossed in the storyline. The plot twists are so exciting and interesting that it is difficult not just to read through this whole series in one day! The story seems to be getting darker and darker as the books progress, which makes me like the stories that much more. I can't wait to read Untamed and see what happens to Zoey and her gang!

Books read this year: 49/50.

Disconnected
I feel disconnected
to everything around me
somebody once said I was rather neutral
but he couldn't be further from the truth

Feeling too much
to the point of saturation
another emotional crutch
leading to bouts of frustration

Dead end streets
with no secrets left to reveal
all these closeted freaks
trying to convince they're the real deal

How can one straddle a side?
Doesn't it make you feel
so dead and empty inside?
I don't want to be
anyone’s final appeal,
or last meal,
for that matter...

Had an honest dream
one that was really simple
reality popped it
like a teenager's angry pimple

Did you honestly cringe
when you read those words?
well I live it most every day
under fire, in every conceivable way

Still finding reasons
attempting to smile
fighting back their reasoning
because I'm on trial

People I cared about
have turned their backs on me
treating me like the enemy
how's that for rationality?

mathiasthom
written 12/19/09

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