Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor's "Faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home"

 

You can find this book here.

I'm old. Older than you can imagine. Probably older than I can imagine, and I have met nearly everyone in your family tree, going back well over a century" p. 7

This is an introduction to the protagonist of this novel. She is, as the title suggests, also a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home. everyone's home. At the same time. Particularly in Night Vale. 

Now, before I get on with this book; if you do not know Night Vale, let me introduce you. It started as a podcast, and has become so much more. They are all horror-style stories within the show that kind of remind me of way back in the day when radio stations used to read novels by H. G. Wells or Comics from DC for everyone to hear. It's a very interesting series that has been going from 2012. This book is based off one of those podcasts. Feel free to listen to it here. It is the second in the list.

As a head's up, I have found the book to be just as good as the podcast series. Whilst you have to subscribe to hear all of the stories from Welcome to Night Vale, you can at least borrow this book for free!

The protagonist is far more developed in the novel than the podcast. You learn to understand her beginnings from the Mediterranean in 1792 to her connections to Craig in Night Vale in 2020. I do not want to give too much away because then it will spoil the history and creepiness this novel brings about. There are also some twists in this tale that you hopefully do not see coming.

The writing is very strong and it cements a sense of place for the multiple characters you encounter. There are also strong themes in regards to relationships and humanity and what that means, particularly when it comes to the life the Faceless Old Woman leads. Oh, and don't forget the humour. There is some of that in there too, reminiscent of the podcasters. 

If you are a fan of Welcome to Night Vale already, you might not like the fleshing out of the Faceless Old Woman, because it then may take the creepiness away from her. It didn't for me, but it might for you. This also isn't a book with strong scares or horror elements, so if that is what you are after, you are missing out here. 

Overall, I liked the read. It is familiar and yet not so in the places it describes in relation to the idea of it being our world, but not quite. The characters may not necessarily be fully developed every time, but they do work for the plot. This is definitely a plot-driven novel (though the action might be a little slower). So if you like a traipse through some light history (worldly and personal), this book should be given a go.

Links for you

Novels by Fink and Cranor in the Library:

Welcome to Night Vale

Series read-a-likes in the Library:

Twin Peaks

This one isn't so much a "read" as a "Watch" a-like. There is a book on this list that will help develop the series (old and new) if you are interested that will flesh out Twin Peaks, Like the Faceless Old Woman does (in part) for Night Vale.

Stephen Aryan's "Mage born"

 

You can find this book here.

Aryan has written many books, and this, is the first  in the series Age of Dread. The Library does not have the remainging two books in this series, nor does it have the trilogy that comes before this within the same world ... feel free to request them for purchase if you like this one.

This book comes ten years after the first trilogy, Age of Darkness, and is interesting because as a fantasy novel its focus seems to be on the world being so afraid and horrified by magic that they want to eradicate it. This is about three protagonists in different fields trying to make sure the truth is known and fought for so no more people die, either from magic, or because of the fear of it. 

The book is very detailed and fast-paced (even for almost 400 pages). The characters are well-rounded, and maybe those that aren't come from the previous trilogy and are expected to be understood or known more clearly. The action is very clear and if you want to look at the differences between good and evil, this book highlights the grey in-between just as well. 

Everything was solid about this read, and leads it very open for the next two books that are coming. I recommend it, as long as you are able to get your hands on the rest of the series 😊

Links for you

Read-a-likes in the Library:

Waking land

Callie Bates

The characters in this book are fighting to save their world, even though magic is hated here too. It is strong in world-building and political intrigue as well. 

Author read-a-likes in the Library:

Chorus of Dragons trilogy (we have them all!)

Jenn Lyons

The world-building and writing style is strong; though the themes are not similar between these series. However, like all good epic fantasies, gods and humans must be involved.

Stop! Grammar time.

 

You can find this resource here.

Today we will be looking at two different kinds of nouns ... and they are fun ones too!

First up is:

Visual guide to grammar and punctuation. (2019). Melbourne, Victoria: DK Australia, 18.

As the book suggests for this type of noun, two other nouns are combined to make a new one. The reason it is therefore called a compound noun, is because two words are compounded (or combined) together.

However, it is the whole word. So, for example, superrific is not a real compound word. That is because even though it comes from superb + terrific, it isn't each whole word combined. 

Another thing to note about compound nouns is that you might join the words together without a hyphen (sunrise), but you may also use a hyphen between them (dry-cleaning). Surprisingly, they could also be neither ...

Take for example the noun Christmas tree. This is a compound word that refers to one object, even though the words are not squished together or connected by a hyphen, but when read or spoken is done so more quickly.

This makes it slightly more confusing, but also more fun! It means that a lot of the time we may be using compound nouns without realising what they are. Fascinating!

Secondly:

Visual guide to grammar and punctuation. (2019). Melbourne, Victoria: DK Australia, 19.

You can't stop the fun just yet! Collective nouns refer to a group of animals, people or things (as the description says). So, for example, if you have ten elephants, they become a herd. What I would also like to point out about this book, is that though they use the collective noun flock for geese, it's ... wait for it ... actually gaggle when they are on the ground or in the water! 

Other collective nouns that highlight the group are things like team, family and even police! See, when you say "The police are coming" it is more than one person in the car (or even multiple cars) which shows the collective group. This is the same for family, which is made up of you and however many other members.

So, start watching out for these two types of nouns. Either find them in your everyday language or look up. For example, you might know that it's a swarm of bees, but did you also know it could be a bike of bees? What about a murder of crows? 

Grammar is way too fun!

M. J. Arlidge's "Gift for dying"

 

This book can be found here.

She heard their screams

she felt their fear.

now she's their only hope ...

This comes from the cover of the book. It's a nice introduction as it shows how a young teenager, Kassie, sees the deaths of anyone she looks in the eye. This is an important part of the character, given there is a serial killer on the loose who seems to be unable to be stopped. 

The other main character of this novel is Adam Brandt, a forensic psychologist. Adam is a character who is not supposed to believe in Kassie's abilities but help her to work through her trauma. The problem is for Adam that the more he hears and sees, the more he believes and becomes involved, which has larger consequences for him than allowing a teenager to live in supposed psychosis.

The book is set in Chicago and has a great gritty feel to it. Whilst I have mentioned the above two main characters, there are other points of view littered through the novel which adds depth to situations and the concept of fate and whether choices can change fate or if free will really doesn't exist because choices do not alter the future.

This theme was the most thought-provoking in the book and was one of my favourite parts about it. Some chapters read a little slower than others, which is possibly because of the shift in points of view of the characters; but the ending is quick, suspenseful and possibly even surprising (even factoring in the strength of its theme). 

I did find some grammatical errors in this book that may be distracting if you are that kind of reader, so just be aware. 

If you are a fan of Arlidge's 'Helen Grace' series, this is definitely a detour you might enjoy. Or you might find a detour from Arlidge's norm disappointing. The only way you'll know is if you read it 😊

Links for you:

Arlidge in the Library:

Pop goes the weasel

Love me not

Author read-a-likes in the Library:

Gone girl

Gillian Flynn

This book is dark and gritty, with suspenseful endings. The focus is psychological suspense like Arlidge's novel with characters that are flawed.

You can run

Steve Mosby

The characters in Mosby's work are flawed and the atmosphere is dark, gritty and psychologically suspenseful.