Category Archives: Bedtime Stories
Bedtime Stories: One for the grown-ups
Post by Mark T. Locker.
Lexicon by Max Barry
If you’re into non-stop action and sci-fi-y stories, but also appreciate a well-written novel, you ought to check out Lexicon by Max Barry. Two stories, set at two different points in time, dance around each other before slowly converging.
One plot line is about an Australian carpenter named Wil Park who has found himself caught up in some very unbelievable circumstances. A bunch of people are after him and he doesn’t know who they are or what they want. The ones who are trying to protect him seem as unpleasant as those trying to intercept him. A woman, barely alive, utters a series of strange words and instructs one of the men to kill himself. And he does. That’s when Wil realizes something serious is happening. And it all points back to a secret locked inside Wil’s brain.
Emily is a clever street kid in San Francisco. Her knack for persuasion has caught the interest of an unusual organization. After proving herself worthy, if just barely, she is taken to an academy to learn a secret science of persuasion. She learns there are certain words that drop peoples’ defenses and open them up to obeying the commands of others. Those who have mastered this skill are called Poets (because of their mastery of language) and take on a poet’s name.
While this method of storytelling can fall flat (I always get irritated when I have to shift gears like that) Barry pulls it off with ease. It’s a difficult story to summarize but a fun and interesting book to read. It’s interesting, constantly moving, and totally unique.
Bedtime Stories: You Don’t Have to Wait for Halloween
Post by Mark T. Locker.
The Ghost of Graylock by Dan Poblocki.
I know spring is not the time of year people think of creepy, haunted sanitariums. But sometimes, on a stormy spring evening, when the wind is throwing the rain and cherry blossoms everywhere, curling up under a light blanket and a spooky book is just the thing. I have had this ghost story sitting around for a while but finally picked it up. Neil and Bree are siblings in the midst of personal turmoil. Their dad has left for the west coast and their mom is struggling with a nervous breakdown. In order to give her space to recover, the kids are sent to their aunts’ house in a small town in upstate New York. Quickly, they discover that one of their neighbors in the vast and ghastly Graylock Hall, an abandoned sanitarium, supposedly home to the ghost of the wicked Nurse Janet, believed to have drowned more than one patient from the hospital. Naturally, they want to explore; what they don’t plan for is that something would follow them back.
Tormented with visions and feelings, the children begin trying to unravel the mystery of who is haunting them, and why. Is it the malevolent spirit of Nurse Janet, seeking new victims? Or is it one of her victims, seeking justice? Dan Poblocki continues to deliver spine-tingling fun for young teens and grown-up kids at heart alike. Fun book to pull out on a rainy night or a spooky campfire read.
Bedtime Stories: Celebrating National Poetry Month
Post by Mark T. Locker.
April is here! Spring is in the air and it’s time once again to celebrate National Poetry Month! It’s the one time each year that bookstores dust off their poetry collection and put their Tennyson and Dylan Thomas books out for display. I have a love/hate relationship with poetry. Bad poetry, in my opinion, is the most painful thing to read. But good poetry! O! Tis the sweetest nectar ever drunk! I read a lot of poetry to my son, from Shel Silverstein to Kenn Nesbitt & Jack Prelutsky. Jack Prelutsky is a bit tricky at times; he uses some pretty sophisticated language, which I think takes from my son’s appreciation of the poems.
I love poetry that rhymes. Children’s poems, grown-up poems, you name it. If it rhymes I am way more likely to enjoy it. From Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s eerily weird “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” to Dylan Thomas’s beautiful “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” I love the cheerful lilt of the poems, especially when juxtaposed with a solemn subject (Poe, for example).
Here are a few of my favorite collections of poems, some for grown-ups, some for kids, some for everybody.
Bedtime Stories: Travel Tale for Adults
Post by Mark T. Locker.
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is one of those authors who can (and usually does) write about just about anything and make it remarkably interesting. He can make you chuckle at the most unlikely subjects or give a murmur of wonder at what always seemed so boring. Upon finishing a chapter in this book all about hallways, I felt terrible for how I’d been treating them all my life! He has written about language, travel, history, science, and a memoir. It seems there isn’t a subject that doesn’t interest him nor one he’s not afraid to tackle.
In a Sunburned Country is one of his travel books, which are my favorite of his multitude of genres. In this one, he travels to Australia to explore geography, culture, and history, always keeping an eye out for things that make him (and probably you) chuckle. Full of interesting and quirky facts (did you know Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared in 1967 after a spontaneous swim?) historical tidbits, and thought-provoking insights all rolled into one book make for an intriguing read. What I like about Bryson’s travel writings is that in any cultural confusions or misunderstandings, he is more than happy to turn the pen against himself and illustrate his own shortcomings in the situation. If he makes amusing observations about Australia, the ones about himself are twice as ruthless. So you never feel like he is being mean or culturally insensitive. In fact, he makes it clear just how much he loves this country.
He makes me love Australia too, and though I’ve never been, this book makes me want to book a flight right away. Nobody writes with the same wry insight, silly humor, and serious introspection so deftly as this.
Bedtime Stories: Just Joking
Post by Mark T. Locker.
Just joking : 300 hilarious jokes, tricky tongue twisters, and ridiculous riddles
The National Geographic Society is not just about publishing the once-monthly gold-bordered glossy magazines full of beautiful photography and intriguing articles. Now it is the purveyor of knock-knock jokes and other groan-inducing riddles. I bought this one for my son with a pretty good sense that I would quickly regret this particular gift choice.
Turns out, I don’t really regret it at all. I have long been a fan of cheesy riddles, annoying knock-knock jokes and anything even remotely resembling a pun. The hardest part for me is deciding whether to pretend that I don’t know the answers to these jokes after being asked them 50 times or always give him the joy of the delivery. Right now, I’m at about 50/50. Here are a couple examples of what you will be in for:
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Who.
Who who?
Is there an owl in there?
Q:Who robs you when you are in a bathtub?
A: A robber ducky!
You get the idea. There will be no learning useful facts. There is no thought-provoking journalism. Just three hundred achingly terrible jokes. I highly recommend it. Any kid with a sense of humor will be well served by having this collection in their arsenal.
