The Legend of Rah & the Muggles

The Legend of Rah & the Muggles

by N.K. Stouffer

Blurb:

In another land far from the shoreline of Aura, war was raging, and Lady Catherine launched a raft with precious cargo aboard, her two infant sons. She wrapped the boys in royal blankets and quilts, and packed a jewel box filled with bright rubies and other gemstones between them. The raft drifted away with no charted destination but the babies' survival.

My Reaction:
Yet another 372-Pages read, shared with Donald, as usual.  

I'm updating my reading blog after four months or so, and I had almost forgotten this one.  How is that even possible?  

Top three things I remember about this book:

1.  You'll get whiplash from the stylistic changes in the beginning of the book.  It starts by recounting a nuclear war that causes (part of) the human race to mutate into a new species, then it turns into a wanna-be Harlequin romance, and then it morphs into a children's fairy-tale fantasy.  All within the first few chapters, if I recall correctly.  (It wanders off into something else later on, but I'll leave that for others to describe...)

2.  So many elements of the story are left hanging.  Zero payoff.  Highly annoying!  

3.  Do you vaguely remember that someone accused J.K. Rowling of plagiarizing her work with the Harry Potter series?  This is that book/author.  It's all absolute nonsense.  

Bonus thing I remember about this book:  There's a song, complete with lyrics and sheet music (though apparently it's as poorly composed as the rest of the book).  Some listeners recorded themselves playing or singing this song, and it still pops into my head from time to time, several weeks later.  Send help. 

The Last One at the Wedding

The Last One at the Wedding

Jason Rekulak

Blurb:

Frank Szatowski is shocked when his daughter, Maggie, calls him for the first time in three years. He was convinced that their estrangement would become permanent. He’s even more surprised when she invites him to her upcoming wedding in New Hampshire. Frank is ecstatic, and determined to finally make things right.

He arrives to find that the wedding is at a private estate—very secluded, very luxurious, very much out of his league. It seems that Maggie failed to mention that she’s marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a famous tech billionaire. Feeling desperately out of place, Frank focuses on reconnecting with Maggie and getting to know her new family. But it’s difficult: Aidan is withdrawn and evasive; Maggie doesn’t seem to have time for him; and he finds that the locals are disturbingly hostile to the Gardners. Frank needs to know more about this family his daughter is marrying into, but if he pushes too hard, he could lose Maggie forever.

My Reaction:

I enjoyed Hidden Pictures much more than this, which seems to be a common opinion.  I had a hard time with just about every character in this book, and some of it was just...weird.  I mean, elements of the story were obviously meant to be weird, but there were also things that I suspect were intended to be endearing or relatable that didn't quite work for me.  There were also plot elements that made no sense, unless the characters involved are particularly stupid.  

Eh, it was something to read, and it's been long enough since I finished it that I don't have much to say, specifically.  

Quiet Houses

Quiet Houses

by Simon Kurt Unsworth

Blurb:

Simon Kurt Unsworth reinvents the classic English ghost story with a portmanteau collection that takes the haunted house genre and makes it scream...quietly. Because the most terrifying screams are the silent ones.

My Reaction:  
DNF.  I just couldn't get into this one.  I read four or five of the stories, I think, but I gave up in the one about the team camping in and documenting the contents of the hotel.  It wasn't for me, unfortunately.  

The Quilting Cruise

The Quilting Cruise (Miranda Hathaway Adventures #9)

by Mary Devlin Lynch and Beth Devlin-Keune

Blurb:

A cruise for quilters? Who could have thought of such a thing? Not Miranda Hathaway. It combined her favorite hobby with her greatest fear. She was terrified of open water, well, of drowning. But, of course, her BFF Diane talks her into going with the rest of Cutler Quilt Guild #1 and, true to form, she finds herself embroiled in a mystery that involves a quilt instructor and her very dark and shady husband. They have one week to find the truth. Will they? And at what cost?

My Reaction:

Another 372-Pages book, read with Donald.  

This one felt less fun than the other in the same series that the podcast previously covered, but it still had its moments!

The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody

The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled 

by Will Cuppy

Blurb:

Ever wonder what Nero did before he began fiddling about in Rome, or wanted the bare facts about Lady Godiva? Maybe you've found the story of Lucrezia Borgia a bitter pill to swallow, or wanted the straight skinny on corpulent King Henry the Eighth, but you haven't the stomach for stuffy history books. Now these and twenty-two more of history's most famous personages are brought brilliantly to life, in this collection of unfailingly accurate yet undeniably hilarious biographies. You'll laugh while you learn about the very real people behind the legendary names, including why Montezuma was so vengeful, and why Catherine was so Great. You'll even finally lay to rest the rumor that Charlemagne was called "Chuck" by his friends.

My Reaction:

Donald and I read this one together to fill in the gaps between 372-Pages books.  I think one of us found it recommended on a list of "if you like this, try that" books/authors.  It's been a while since we read this (because I've fallen out of the habit of updating this blog in a timely fashion), but from what I recall, we thought it was amusing in parts, but also maybe a bit less funny than it could have been if we were in on more of the jokes.  I guess we just aren't big enough history buffs to get some of the references.  Anyway, it was something different to try, and we're now reading something else of Cuppy's and enjoying it more than this—so if this doesn't quite hit the mark with you, either, some of his other work might be more to your taste.