Sacré Bleu, by Christopher Moore

 

  

In his latest masterpiece, Sacré Bleu, the immortal Moore 

takes on the Great French Masters. A magnificent 

“Comedy d’Art” from the author of Lamb, Fool, and Bite 

Me, Moore’s Sacré Bleu is part mystery, part history (sort of), 

part love story, and wholly hilarious as it follows a young 

baker-painter as he joins the dapper Henri Toulouse-Lautrec 

on a quest to unravel the mystery behind the supposed 

“suicide” of Vincent van Gogh.

I really wanted to love this book. It’s not that I hated it, I just didn’t get it. And I kind of didn’t care about the story. It’s probably fair to argue that I should have skipped this book seeing how a subject like impressionist art movements doesn’t interest me in the least.  So my review is biased and has nothing to do with Christopher Moore as a writer because come on, I adore him.  

At some point while I was reading this book, Mr. Moore tweeted a “Chapter Guide” to Sacré Bleu. I knew then I was in way over my head. I already did not really understand what was going on, which character was which and how an entire book could be written on some Colorman dude. (There were also approximately 200 too many penis jokes). But that’s just how brilliant of a writer Mr. Moore is! He can write an entire book on the colour blue, a Colorman, a muse and the solving of Van Gogh’s supposed suicide. And most people are probably going to love it. Unfortunately, sometimes this kind of wit and humour are lost on me. But that's life and the life of a reader - not every book is going to be for me, and I'm ok with that.

What I did love about this book was the all the physical awesomeness of it. If you read this on a kobo/kindle, then you totally missed out. Not only does Sacré Bleu have the most gorgeous cover I think I have ever seen, but it’s full of coloured art work, and the print is a beautiful, very easy on the eyes to read, indigo shade. There is so much texture to this book and it just reinforced my love for physical books. 

Still Missing, by Chevy Stevens

Oh. My. God. This book was INTENSE. I read it on the flight to and from Vegas last month and I still find myself thinking about it. I have Julie to thank from Peanut Butter Fingers for this read as it was her May book club pick and while I generally already have too many other books on the go to participate in the group read, something about the synopsis of Still Missing made me really want to read it. Then I saw the book in the bargain section at Chapters for $7.99 which sealed the deal.

Still Missing is about Annie, a woman in her late twenties, who is a Realtor on Vancouver Island. One day, while Annie is wrapping up an open house, a man shows up and charmingly asks her if he could still have a quick peek at the house.  While Annie’s chatting to him inside the house, he sneaks up behind her and holds a gun to her back. The next thing Annie knows, he’s taken her back outside to his van, drugged her and kidnaps her. An unknown amount of time later, she wakes up in a cabin somewhere in the woods.  Here, she will live for almost an entire year. 

This story is recounted through Annie’s therapy sessions. So as the reader, we know from the start that Annie survives, but this doesn’t make this book any less suspenseful.  Actually, I’m not sure if my rapid beating heart could have taken it if we hadn’t known if she survives.  Chevy Stevens gets so deep into the psychological trauma and turmoil that it was hard not to think that this wasn’t based on a true story.  It took me a while to warm up to Annie because her voice is so harsh and bitter. But as you get further into her imprisonment and the brain washing that happened to her, you start to understand why Annie is the way she is now and just how powerful PTSD can be.  Even though she isn’t necessarily likeable, it didn’t make me any less invested in the book. 

The man who has captured Annie is nicknamed “The Freak” because by all means, he is a freak.  The fear and disgust that Annie felt from this man jumped right off the pages and I felt like I was playing witness to everything he was doing and saying to her. I still get goose bumps just writing about this book. The things that he says and does, to put it simply, are fucked up. This is not a book for the faint of heart reader. No little detail was spared for the sake of the reader.  In my opinion, this is what made this book so brilliant and a successful thriller. I had to keep turning the pages because I had no idea what was going to happen next.    

In the first half of the book, I was anxiously turning pages in order to find out how she survives – even though you know she survives, there was still a part of me that couldn’t believe that she really does.  The cabin that Annie is held prisoner in is so insanely secure. The Freak had thought of every little detail, right down to no springs in the mattress and nothing was made of wood that could be broken down. Anything that could potentially be used as a weapon had been altered in some way.  

In the last half of the book, just when I thought the story couldn’t get anymore dark and twisted, Chevy Stevens throws you a huge curve ball, one that I totally didn’t see coming.  At this time, Annie is trying to find closure in why her kidnapping happened in the first place. Was this a random act of violence? If not, why her? Will she ever heal from the psychological trauma she endured or is she destined to living the rest of her life a victim of her own fear? 

If you loved Room by Emma Donahue then you will most likely also enjoy this book, although there is a much stronger aspect of psychological thriller in it.  If you are looking for your next spine-tingling, goose bump raising page turner, then this is it.

6 Month Recap

I originally started this blog back in January of this year to keep track of the books I read. This was influenced by my signing up for the 50 Book Pledge that The Savvy Reader started in 2011. I stumbled across The Savvy Reader on Twitter one day and saw all the talk about the 50 Book Pledge and I was intrigued. I know I read  a lot, but what's a lot? So I decided to keep track this year. I also decided to start blogging about it because, while I do read a lot, I am terrible at describing books, and wanted to see if this is something I could work on through writing about books.

Since I don't read nearly the amount of books per month that some of my favorite book bloggers do, it never seemed necessary to have monthly recaps. Instead, I told myself I would do a 6-month recap. Here's what I've learned so far:

• I read in spurts (and I'm pretty sure I always have). I may devour a few books in a week, but then I won't read at all the next. Some days I'll be like, "oh shit, I haven't actually read anything other than other blogs since last Wednesday". I'd like to work on reading all time - meaning - consciously make the effort to read a little bit everyday. 

• Blogging is tough. Or, finding the time to blog is tough. I'm not sure which is tougher. Sometimes the words flow, sometimes not. I was so worried at the beginning about who might read my "reviews" and judge my lack of writing competency, but now I'm trying to "just write". I'm not a reviewer, I just want to talk about books. I also have to allow myself to blog more. It's so easy to say to myself, "oh you can write tomorrow...", but then tomorrow turns into a week later.

• Lastly, I don't think I like the name of my blog anymore. At first I liked it's bluntness, but now, not so much. I don't want to limit my blog to just talking about books (as evidenced by The Big Blue Dog posts), so I'd like a name that reflects more me and my life. This is code for: suggest new blog names for me please!  

Now for some reading stats (cause stats are fun guys!):

Books read this year so far: 19

The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay
The Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
From Away by Michelle Ferguson
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens (review to come)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Ethel & Ernest by Raymond Briggs
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell 
Beyond the Rear View Mirror by Shelley Streit
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (review to come)
Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore (review to come)

And yes, I did just link up every post for you! 

Number of pages read: 6416

Percentage of general fiction read: 42%

Percentage of female authors read: 68%

Percentage of Canadian authors read: 21%

This year so far has also been a year of many "firsts" for me. I listened to my first audio book. I read my first fantasy book, my first mystery novel and my first graphic novel. I received my first copy of a book from an author for review. I hosted my very first giveaway! And I've met some awesome blogger peeps on this journey. Unfortunately, I'm falling behind in the 50 book pledge (I really want to hit 50), so I need to do a little more reading and a little less time wasting! 

Thanks to my readers and followers for sticking with me and following along. I appreciate each and every one of you and your comments. 

Happy Reading!