Book 18 - I, Ripper by Stephen Hunter

I've had this book on my shelf for a while now and given the other Ripper novel I read prior to this one, I figured why not keep the theme going?  The author is the same who writes the Swagger series so this is a bit different for him, apparently...at least that's what I was told by an Instagram commenter.  While I've never read any of his works prior to this, it made me a fan.  I also realized I had been reading a ton of either young adult or contemporary fiction because I had to kick my brain back on with the language in this one.  None of which is a bad thing, it is just a different writing style than what I've been reading lately.  

I LOVED this book.  It's written in the form of diary entries from Jack the Ripper and as Memoirs from a journalist who came to acquire the diary and has put all of it together to form this book.  Now, sometimes that style can be tedious but Hunter keeps the pace moving along quite well.  He doesn't spend hours with one over the other, which is great because a couple of times, the diary entries from Jack almost made my skin crawl...almost.  It takes a lot to get me to shudder...I've seen autopsies and crime scene photos after all...but this one, because of just the warped psyche of Jack made me go Holy Shit a couple of times.  It was so real.  It was so real that I could actually believe, given his crimes and the mutilation of the women, that this could legit be the diary of Jack the Ripper so for that, well done Mr. Hunter. 

Like most Ripper novels, the unknown allows for liberties to be taken as to who Jack was and what his/hers/their motives were.  I suppose now I should tell you *SPOILER ALERT*.  In this version of a Ripper theory, a writer for the Star used to write on musical performances but he gets a chance to make a change but in doing so he must also change his name, and thus Jeb is born.  Jeb chooses this name because his sister could never say his name which was actually his initials, G.B. Jeb's memoirs are part of the story and he gets to tell his side of the story.  I often wondered through part of the book if Jeb was also the Ripper...no he didn't seem to fit but hey...would've been a great plot twist.  Jeb gets his own plot twist though that made me go SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!  So...Jeb gets the break and makes a name for himself so he becomes the first reporter on the scene to the Ripper's crimes and he is the only reporter allowed to actually see the bodies up close and personal.  He writes the stories which in turn sensationalizes the Ripper.  He, along with an American reporter, come up with the Ripper letter.  In this particular novel, it was all made up by the media because there had been a lull in newspaper sells when the Ripper got quiet for a bit.  They needed to sell papers so they made up the letter.  Rather than pissing off the real Jack, he's actually quite impressed.  

Around the time Jeb gets his break, he's invited to the boss' house for a party where he meets Thomas Dare...a professor who is quite eccentric and has his own thoughts on a Utopian society.  One in which language is the basis.  He theorizes that we should all speak the same language and live the same, thereby being uniform.  It's a weird theory but hey...go with what you feel.  He's also outrageous and Jeb instantly likes him.  Dare, however, knows that Jeb is the man standing in front of him.  He knows, based on the language, that the man who used to write the performance pieces is also the one writing of Jack's crimes.  Okay...I can believe that.  It's hard to switch up writing styles and patterns.  It isn't until Jack leaves his message on the brick wall about JUWES that Dare and Jeb's relationship changes.  Dare, being the linguistic mastermind, thinks Jack is dyslexic.  Jeb and Dare begin working on a profile of who Jack could really be and they come up with a military man who is dyslexic and had been in a certain area during the Crimean War and with this profile they come up with 3 suspects.  They begin sleuthing on their own to follow the men to see if any of them could be Jack.  They initially suspect a horn dog of a man but eventually it turns out not to be him.  Their suspicion then shifts to their final suspect, Colonel Woodruff.  He honestly fits the bill...served in the suspected area in the Crimean War, has dyslexia, is unassuming, and spends a bit of time in Whitechapel. Jeb and Dare believe they've found their man and they set out to make him pay.  Confrontation ensues and they believe they have killed the Ripper.  It isn't until the next day that Jeb is confronted by a man on the street holding a knife to his gut and that man turns out to be Woodruff.  

It turns out Woodruff has all of the answers.  Jack the Ripper is none other than Thomas Dare!  Honestly, I had suspected him for a time.  Woodruff and Dare knew one another, even roomed together at one time so obviously Dare would be able to develop a profile to pin the murders on Woodruff.  He knew so much about the man.  Dare, during his twisted time, had taken a woman and tried to make her into the perfect woman for himself, regardless of what it did to her.  Woodruff, not liking what Dare was doing to her, offered her a way out and she took it.  Dare considered this the ultimate betrayal and ended up actually killing her but Woodruff left before he could kill him.  So, Dare set up a way to extravagantly exact revenge by pinning a murder on him.  Which is ultimately what happened.  However, Jeb and Woodruff work together to take Dare down.  And they do.  Jeb confronts Dare and he admits to the murders.  Before he can kill Jeb, Woodruff shows up and shoots him.  It was all very much more climactic but that's what happened in a nutshell.  Jack/Dare is dead so that's why the murders stopped, but I think in his plot to get revenge, Dare would have continued to do what was necessary until Woodruff ended up hanging for murder.  The dude was wickedly twisted, guys.  He just puts off a weird vibe to me from the beginning...both as Dare and as Jack.  

I really liked this little twist on who Jack was and what his motives were.  It was a new take on things and given how many theories there are, it's often hard to make an original fictionalized Jack story.  I would recommend this if you're an avid Jack the Ripper fan!  

Oh and Jeb's plot twist...turns out he is none other than George Bernard Shaw.  😃

Book 17 - Between Two Worlds: Lessons from the Other Side by Tyler Henry

I am not an avid tv watcher.  I'm more of a wait until the series becomes available on Netflix, Amazon, HBO, etc and then binge watch the whole thing at one time, kind of girl.  However, there is one show that I DVR and watch weekly when it's on and that is Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry.  If you've never heard of it, I suggest you look into it...believer of that sort of thing or not.  

Tyler is a clairvoyant psychic medium so he sees more like images and symbols and presents that information to the person he's reading.  He just delivers what he sees and works with you to try and piece it together in a way that makes sense...to you.  He even admits that if it doesn't fit specifically for you, ask a family member because all he knows is that the message is for you or someone you know.  He is merely the conduit to allow someone to come through.  A lot of what he does is reading your energy and your body language, but also I think there's a level of legitimacy to him.  To be only about 20 to 21 years old, he has this genuine spirit about him that I find endearing.  Now, I know it's tv and some things are scripted but also, I feel like some of the reactions of these people can't be faked.  Maybe I'm just gullible.  I have to admit though, there are loved ones I've lost and it makes me wonder if I were in the presence of Tyler, would they come through and have a message for me?  It's something that crosses my mind with regularity when I watch his show.  It's actually something I long for when I watch the show.  Now that can't be healthy and I'm sure I should have been in therapy 9 years ago immediately after my father passed unexpectedly...but I like my hole in the sand thank you very much.  I've gotten good at carrying this around.    

I really enjoyed this book because Tyler explains his process, his first experience with speaking with those who have passed, and how he has tried, over the years, to gain a grip on his ability.  He provides some really great perspective on life and death, and seems to exhibit a wisdom well beyond his years.  You have to go into this with an open mind because if you don't, you'll be miserable through the entire book.  However, if you open your mind and just let yourself read his perspectives, some of what he says has some resonance.  Do I agree with everything he says?  No.  Does that make him wrong and me right?  No.  Does that make me dislike him in any way? Definitely not.  Sure we have a difference of opinion, but that's okay.  

I just ultimately really liked that he didn't spend time rehashing the episodes of the shows that I've already seen.  He provided a greater world of information and I'm glad I picked up this book.  It's definitely outside my usual niche and probably considered a little alternative for me.  However, I look forward to what the future holds in store for this young man.      

Book 16 - The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Lo Blacklock is a writer for a travel magazine and she has been granted a once in a lifetime opportunity to board a luxury yacht to travel to Norway to see the northern lights.  Now, she's only been given this opportunity because her boss is pregnant, but you know...beggars can't be choosers and that sort of thing.  A few nights before she is set to leave, she wakes up with a massive hangover and realizes her bedroom door is shut and her cat is acting weird.  She doesn't remember shutting the door before she went to bed but she gets up to check things out.  Upon opening her bedroom door, she comes face to face with an intruder in her home.  They stand there and stare at each for a moment but he simply slams the door in her face, leaving her cheek bruised.  He also locks her ass in there, finishes taking what he wants, and walks out the front door.  She is, of course, traumatized and can't sleep...like for days.  She walks around in a blur always seeing the latex gloves the man wore on his hands.  It fucks with her mind and she's honestly a fucking trainwreck.  She decides to go stay at her boyfriend's house because he's out of town but she doesn't feel safe in her own space anymore.  He comes home in the middle of the night, tries to wake her up, but she's caught in a nightmare and thinks she's being attacked so she bashes him with a fucking bedside lamp.  I'm telling you...she has become unhinged.  Now...she's gotta get on a boat and try to do her job.  Before leaving to catch the boat though, her boyfriend, Jonah, tells her he turned down a job for her and that he loves her...but she's so fucked up in the head she basically just leaves.  Really bitch?!  Some of this just made me not like her.  I don't know.  I have never, thank you Jesus, been broken in on and I can definitely imagine it's traumatizing and it's an invasion of space...but I don't get her putting so much distance between herself and Jonah.  I don't get it...the man said he loves you...he turned down a job for you...and you start freaking out even though you've been together for years.  I get that you probably want your independence, God knows I love mine, but like...don't just leave the guy hanging there because you're about to lose a good man.  You've gotta learn to communicate with him and I guess maybe that's why I don't like her.  She doesn't actually talk to him about what or how she's feeling about any of it.  Anyway...so yeah...I started off on rocky ground with Lo.

She eventually boards the vessel and meets the rich motherfuckers on board.  All of them dripping in money...some snooty, some not.  And she can't relate to any of them...and now she has learned that her ex-boyfriend is on board.  Well, fuck.  She goes about getting ready for the formal dinner and realizes she doesn't have her mascara...it was in her purse...which was stolen during the break in.  She hears a toilet flush from the cabin next to her, cabin 10, so she knocks on the door to see if maybe the guest has mascara.  Lucky for her, an impatient young woman opens the door, looking a bit surprised that she is standing at her door, but ultimately giving her a mascara and telling her she can keep it.  She pushes it from her mind and gets ready for dinner.  She proceeds through the drinks, dinner, and dessert...getting a wee bit sloshed in the process and then finally makes her way back to her room.  Her ex, Ben, tries to put the moves on her and she knees him in the crotch and goes into her room.  She finally manages to fall asleep but is abruptly woken by something, she's not sure what, and then hears a splash.  She steps out onto her balcony and sees what she is sure is a smear of blood on the partition separating her balcony from the balcony of Cabin 10.  She immediately calls the 'front desk' and tells them what she has heard and they send security to her room.  Once security arrives, we learn there is no longer a blood smear, nor has there ever been a guest in cabin 10.  The guest who was supposed to be there had something come up and wasn't able to make it.

Now, Lo has to spend all of her time proving she's not crazy, meanwhile some shit keeps happening that makes her doubt even herself.  No one, except Ben, will listen to her...and to make things worse, no one from the staff or passengers is missing.  There's a lot of run around and not knowing who to put her trust in and a lot of suspects and she just can't seem to let it go.  All of which gets her ass in trouble because she won't shut up about it.  She eventually finds herself knocked in the head and held captive in a room in the lowest level of the boat.  Eventually we find out the owner of the ship, Richard, was married to a very wealthy woman who has breast cancer.  He 'accidentally' killed her...no he didn't but you know...and had his mistress impersonate her for the duration of the trip.  Well she's a dumb bitch because you know he's going to kill you too.  The wife and all traces of her must be dead and gone or else he doesn't get her wealth.  Well, when Lo saw the mistress and heard the body of the real wife being thrown overboard, she fucked up their plans.  Eventually the mistress gains a conscience and lets Lo go through yet another complicated plot and it takes the bitch a while to make it home.  At this point in the book I was like just end it already.  It was moving along steadily but once I knew what was going on, I was like okay wrap it up already.  The ending just kind of dragged along a bit too long for my tastes.  She makes it back home to Jonah and she's all don't turn down the job in New York, I love you too, let's move there together, blah blah blah.  Well glad it took you almost dying to realize what you had.  I never got around to actually liking Lo...as you can tell.

Great concept, good plot...slightly poor execution of the ending in my opinion.  Maybe that's just me and there were several loose ends that needed tying up but still.  So overall...4 stars.  Not quite sure it lived up to the hype that I had heard about it...  

Book 15 - Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Two things about me...one you probably already know.  First, I LOVE Victorian London...I swear my spirit was there in a previous life. Second...I am OBSESSED with all things Jack the Ripper.  The theories, the what ifs, and the whys...I'm just obsessed with it all.  I will literally read anything involving Jack.  So if you have recommendations...comment away because I would love to read them!  

Stalking Jack the Ripper is the first novel written by Kerri Maniscalco and I look forward to many more from her.  It is also the first novel chosen by James Patterson to be part of his Young Adult publishing group.  If you ask me, it was an excellent first pick.  

Maniscalco lures you in from the very first page because she opens on someone cutting open a cadaver...well helloooo...right up my alley.  We learn that the person doing the cutting is Audrey Rose Wadsworth and the doctor overseeing her work is her uncle.  Dr. Wadsworth is a teacher at the medical institute for boys and he agrees to allow Audrey Rose to attend his classes as long as she looks the part of a boy and doesn't speak.  However, it is in her first class that she meets Thomas.  Thomas makes her heart beat fast and her palms sweat, but he's also an intelligent, arrogant ass so she's conflicted...also...it's love at first meeting :)  They just don't know it yet.  I honestly would love it if Maniscalco makes this into a Thomas/Audrey Rose series.  Anyway...

Dr. Wadsworth actually has the bodies of Jack the Ripper's first victim in his 'morgue'...his basement which doubles as his lab.  He's helping to consult with Scotland Yard in hopes of providing information that would be useful in catching the killer.  I'll spare you the details on the victims...if you've ever read about Jack, you already know about them...and if you haven't well then google.  Do a bit of research before you jump into this book.  I can say though, Maniscalco did her homework.  She wanted to be accurate with the forensics and methods of the time period and that was refreshing.  I'm glad she made sure it was consistent.  So...with Dr. Wadsworth having the bodies and helping consult, Audrey Rose and Thomas becomes his apprentices.  They begin, especially Thomas and Audrey Rose, to see if they can figure out who the killer is.  Now, early on in the book, I had my suspicion on the identity of who Jack was...at least for this book...and I thought that would lower my rating on the book if I turned out to be correct.  However, while I was correct, it didn't lower my rating because of the motive.  The plot twist thrown in there as to WHY the killer did what he did kept my rating at 5 stars.  

The list of suspects that Audrey Rose and Thomas come up with is quite lengthy honestly...and all seem to somehow be connected to the Wadsworth name.  Audrey Rose suspects her father, her uncle, and even Thomas.  She knows, though, her uncle didn't do this even though he turns out to be Scotland Yard's prime suspect.  However, if you've read anything about the Ripper case, they had so many motherfuckers in jail for the crime...they honestly had no clue.  I never once suspected it was her uncle, and Audrey Rose and Thomas are able to exonerate him and get him out of Bedlam.  I'm going to be honest, I did kinda suspect Thomas for a split second.  I didn't want to suspect him and eventually the suspicion went away completely...somehow I just knew it wasn't him.  And I honestly never even suspected her dad.  He's a jackass because of his grief of his wife passing away years prior, but he's also too much of a germaphobe to commit murder...especially the gruesome murders of the Ripper.  His wife died of sickness, thus the germaphobe part.  His attitude toward his own brother, and even his children is legit proof of why you should complete the grieving process and move on.  You can't continue to hold on to the death of a loved one...you'll never be at peace.  I'm not going to tell you who my suspect was...because as I've already said, I was right.  :)  

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It was fast paced, interesting characters, forensically accurate, details were correct...and it had an awesome plot twist as to Jack's motive...it deals with organ transplants...just to give you a hint.  It was a refreshing theory that I had not yet heard of so that really drew me in.  You really must read this if you like murder, Jack the Ripper, plot twists, Victorian London, strong willed young women who don't give a fuck what society thinks, and just good young adult books.  I'm now a fan of Kerri Maniscalco and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.  I was very impressed with the concept of this book and it was incredibly engaging.  

5 Stars and 2 Thumbs Up  

      

Book 14 - Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

I don't know about you but I adore Anna Kendrick.  She's so talented with her acting and singing...and I've always wondered what she was like...not her characters...but Anna, herself.  After reading this book, she's someone that I would like to hang out with...but in small doses.  Now, that's not a bad thing.  I love the shit out of my best friend but if I saw her every single day, we would kill each other.  I kind of have that same feeling with Anna Kendrick.  

Anna gives us a little inside peak into her life, how she rose to fame, and honestly who she truly is as a person.  She's funny, witty, tells it like it is, and is a little weird...all in the good way.  She's at least honest about her weirdness and has a potty mouth so I absolutely adore her.  I found myself relating to her on several levels, honestly.  She didn't grow up rich, and she actually finds the money involved with stardom to be a little uncomfortable.  She struggled, even when she was working, and it was honestly refreshing to see that she had Ikea furniture and roommates.  It definitely 'humanized' her and took her off that celebrity pedestal...all good things.  I think that's something she wanted to convey with this book.  She's just like the rest of us and she hasn't forgotten her roots.  She acknowledges how blessed she is and she is grateful to her parents for taking her to New York every weekend so she could go to auditions.  It was just...super refreshing to read this book.  

If you've ever seen any of her films or theater, or if you follow her on Twitter...you'll want to read this book.  A few times she made me laugh out loud, and a couple of times I said YEESSSS...preach it!  I also want to attend every single holiday party she has in mind...if you read the book, you'll understand that.  I just kept thinking...YES!  That is how that holiday is supposed to go!  YES!!  

I thoroughly enjoyed this look behind the curtain at Anna Kendrick and I read this book in 2 days.  I couldn't put it down.  She provides information and detail but she doesn't drone on and on and on about shit.  She keeps the pace going and doesn't dwell to the point where you're like, fucking move on already!  She kept me turning the pages, learning more about her.  Two thumbs up from me, as far as autobiographies go.  Well done, Scrappy, well done!!    

Book 13 - Heartless by Marissa Meyer

O.M.G. SO GOOD!  I read this book in roughly uhhhh 3 days!  It was chosen for the December book for this Instagram book club (Social Book Club) I recently started taking part in.  Needless to say, I finished the book days before the first discussion was scheduled.  

A little background on the book:  You ever wonder how the Queen of Hearts from the Alice in Wonderland stories ever came to be the way she is?  You know...angry...always screaming "Off with their heads!!".  Well...Meyer gives us something to think about.  Her own twist on maybe...just maybe...what went wrong.  And I have to say, I got so wrapped up in this that it broke my heart even though I knew going in, based on the title and previous information on the Queen of Hearts, that it would happen.  You would think walking in with your eyes wide open would prepare you for the heart breaking moment, but it didn't.  My heart still hurt.  And by the way, SPOILER ALERT.  Don't read this if you don't want to know the ending...

Prior to becoming the Queen of Hearts, Catherine was the daughter of a Marques and Marchioness.  She was born into wealth and privilege and the responsibilities that come along with that...and the insufferable lack of free will.  Her mother disregards any dreams she may have, especially if they are 'beneath' her station.  Catherine has dreams of owning her own bakery...the greatest bakery Hearts has ever seen.  And she dreams of her maid being her business partner.  Her maid, Mary Ann, has a head for numbers and would be the perfect partner to make sure the business didn't go under due to financial neglect.  However, being the daughter of a Marques and Marchioness makes this impossible.  Her mother has dreams of seeing her married to the King of Hearts even though he is a foot shorter than Catherine and dim witted to boot.  Sure he's sweet and all but just ugh.  He's not a manly man and who the hell wants a pansy as a husband?  My proverbial dick is huge but my man's should be bigger...I'm just sayin'.  He's got to wear the pants, not me.  After all, pants are overrated.  Anyway...the King is an idiot and thinks throwing the next big bash will distract the people from real issues, like the Jabberwork tormenting people and carrying them off.  However, mommy dearest will accept nothing less than Catherine marrying him.  Ughhhhh.  Her mother proves this when she has Cath wear a red gown to a black and white ball, which Cath doesn't realize until she gets there.  Cath is horrified to find she's sticking out like a sore thumb, but all is exactly how her mother planned.  She'll never be able to hide from the King if she's in a red dress...

It is at the black and white ball that Cath meets the love of her life...she just doesn't know it yet.  Jest is the new court joker and his stunt at the ball is entertaining and magical.  Every eye in the place is on him, especially Cath's.  Following the joker's performance, Cheshire shows up to tell Cath of the King's intentions to propose to her.  Cath absolutely freaks out and begs the Cheshire to create a distraction so she can get away and put off the King's proposal for at least another little while.  The Cheshire pulls a stunt by landing on a girl's head and Cath uses the distraction to run out into the gardens....where she promptly faints from her corset being too tight...too much sampling of her own baked treats.  Jest revives her and they have a pleasant conversation and he eventually escorts her to a carriage which takes her home.  It isn't until hours later she is awoken by her parents coming home freaking out because there was a Jabberwork attack on the palace and no one could find Cath.  She doesn't mention meeting Jest or knowing anything about the King's intentions.

Over the next few days (weeks, months?), Cath must attend certain teas and garden parties at the palace because of her mother, but all she can think of is seeing Jest at each of these events.  They convince the King...who remember is quite dim...that a lady should be courted rather than straight out proposed to, no matter how much power one's station holds.  Yes it means she still has to suffer through interactions with the king, but she gets to see Jest on those occasions and it buys her some time.  Jest is doing a little courting of his own...with her.  He gets her to sneak out with him one night and they go to visit Hatta....the Hatter...who hasn't gone Mad yet, but Time is catching up to him and he's well on his way.  So everything is going great for Cath and Jest...if only she didn't have to marry to the King.  

We eventually learn that Jest is a Rook from Chess...a guard to the White Queen and he was sent to Hearts to steal the heart of the Queen.  Problem is, he actually loves Cath and she loves him.  This has doomed written all over it.  They eventually decide to run away to Chess together and on their way they arrive at a room with a looking glass that will take them to Chess, but there's also a door back to Hearts...and through the door Cath can hear her maid, Mary Ann screaming.  Along the way of Catherine and Jest's love affair, Mary Ann betrayed Cath...but she was still once upon a time her best friend so she tells Jest and Hatta to stay where they are and still will go check on Mary Ann.  The door opens into a pumpkin patch...that of Sir Peter...a vile man.  You remember the nursery rhyme...Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, had a wife and couldn't keep her...Well he's in this story.  And he's the bad guy.  Cath tries to find something to get Mary Ann out of the pumpkin but Peter shows up and then the Jabberwork shows up.  Turns out, the Jabberwork is Peter's wife...bitch ate a lot of bad pumpkins and it turned her into the Jabberwork.  A clusterfuck ensues, Jest and Hatta show up despite warnings that if they crossed through a door Hatta would go mad, and Jest would die.  

And that's exactly what happens...Peter kills Jest...dun dun dunnnnnnnn.  Fucker.  I knew something bad was going to happen but fuck.  It still hurt my heart when this bullshit happened.  No wonder the Queen of Hearts is so hateful.  Cath walks around being hateful and cold to everyone.  She agrees to the marry the King because what else is she to do?  It isn't until her wedding day that her parents think to ask her what would make her happy.  If only they had asked that months ago.   

The only silver lining in her new station as Queen is the power to bring Peter to justice.  Eventually Peter is brought in, and for the first time, at least in regards to a human, she gives a decisive "Off with his head!".       

This story was a fantastic twist/retelling.  I think there are so many tales and alterations of Wonderland, but this one was completely refreshing.  I loved that there were some of the same characters, but there was no Alice!!  Meyer is a wonderful story teller and she keeps it fast paced.  Of course I have left out loads of details and plot.  That's for you to go read about!!  I blew through this book and highly recommend it.  Not just to young adults but grown ass folk like myself.  This book has spurred me on to go read the Lunar Chronicles, also by Meyer.  I absolutely LOVED this book, even though it made my heart hurt. 

5 STARS AND 2 THUMBS UP!