Nightmares! by Jason Segel

Nightmares! Jason Segel, Book Journey, Sheila DeChantal

Charlie has had a fear of the large mansion like home down the road from his own.  His mother a long time ago told him to never go near the old house, and Charlie had ridden his bike by the home, but never approached it.  After his mother died, he still stayed away even thought he lady who had owned the home was also gone.

Until one day…

One day Charlie seen a car at the old house and a woman with flaming red hair and a cackle for a laugh moves into the home.  She is Charlotte Dechant, the daughter of the spooky old woman who had passed away, and as time goes on, Charlotte has her eyes on Charlies dad.

As if this was not enough… Charlie has incredible Nightmares, nightmares that feel all too real, and have to do often with the old house… and with Charlotte.  When Charlie tries to talk to his dad, his dad feels Charlie is just having bad dreams, or making stuff up to keep him dad from Charlotte…

and then his nightmares start to slip into the waking world, and Charlie has to do something and soon.

 

 

I was impressed with Jason Segel’s first book.  Obviously I am not the attended audience, but that said… I really enjoyed it and found I wanted to know what would happen next.  Well written, and as I can imagine, all very real to Charlie our protagonist. Nightmares! is about a young boy learning to conquer his fears.  But it is also more than that.  It is about grief, and about loss, and learning to move on.  This was the surprise I took away from this book.

This is more than a children’s book.  In fact some of the things in the book I would imagine would be down right scary to a very young child (this too surprised me as I imagined this would be a fun lite read).  I would say if you are considering this for your child, know that there are monsters in the book, and witches, and clowns (something that personally freaks me out).  Use discretion knowing what your child(ren) can handle without finding the book too scary.

I listened to this on audio as Jason Segel narrates.  It was a wonderful narration and I enjoyed the listen.

 

*This book is set up to be a series.  I can see that it is open-ended enough where more stories could come from this.

 

 

  • Age Range: 8 – 12 years
  • Grade Level: 3 – 7
  • Series: Nightmares!
  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Listening Length: 7 hours and 33 minutes
  • Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (September 9, 2014)

 

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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Hey there!  Welcome to It’s Monday, What Are You Reading!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too!  As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Fair warning… this meme tends to add to your reading list! 😉

I was just looking at last weeks post and remembered I was typing up the last few sentences of that as I was on my way out of the hotel in St Paul Minnesota  on my way to Opus and Olives – the BIG author event of Minnesota.  I recall that I had super cute shoes with me, but had neglected to remember that the last time I wore that pair I had been standing and rocking back on the heel (bad habit but I do this) and one fo the heels became lose.  As I put the shoes on last Sunday I recalled that I never had the shoe fixed.  Thank goodness I am an over packer and had a back up pair (yes… that may be odd but it is how I roll), not as cute, definitely more comfy, and they did the trick.

Anyhoo… it was a great event, I still need to post pictures; but it started off a good week that then led into seeing Gone Girl at the theater and book club.  Here is what I posted this past week:

 

Burn by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Gone Girl book VS. Movie

Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cummings

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer (I LOVED this one!)

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote – Bookies Book Club Review

Choose Your Own Adventure by Neil Patrick Harris

 

I think it was a good reading and listening week. I had quite a bit of audio time this past week and then after yesterdays readathon, I currently have 2 books and 5 audio book reviews to catch up on.  NICE. As for this week, here is what I am thinking…

For My Ears

the vanishing, wendy webb

Recently widowed and rendered penniless by her Ponzi-scheming husband, Julia Bishop is eager to start anew. So when a stranger appears on her doorstep with a job offer, she finds herself accepting the mysterious yet unique position: caretaker to his mother, Amaris Sinclair, the famous and rather eccentric horror novelist whom Julia has always admired…and who the world believes is dead.

When she arrives at the Sinclairs’ enormous estate on Lake Superior, Julia begins to suspect that there may be sinister undercurrents to her “too-good-to-be-true” position. As Julia delves into the reasons of why Amaris chose to abandon her successful writing career and withdraw from the public eye, her search leads to unsettling connections to her own family tree, making her wonder why she really was invited to Havenwood in the first place, and what monstrous secrets are still held prisoner within its walls.

 

 

Nightmares, Jason Segel, segal

Sleeping has never been so scary. And now waking up is even worse!

Charlie Laird has several problems.

1. His dad married a woman he is sure moonlights as a witch.
2. He had to move into her purple mansion, which is NOT a place you want to find yourself after dark.
3.He can’t remember the last time sleeping wasn’t a nightmarish prospect. Like even a nap.

What Charlie doesn’t know is that his problems are about to get a whole lot more real. Nightmares can ruin a good night’s sleep, but when they start slipping out of your dreams and into the waking world—that’s a line that should never be crossed.

And when your worst nightmares start to come true . . . well, that’s something only Charlie can face. And he’s going to need all the help he can get, or it might just be lights-out for Charlie Laird. For good.

 

 

 

Jodi Piccoult, Leaving Time

For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe that she would be abandoned as a young child, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.

Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest. The first is Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons—only to later doubt her gifts. The second is Virgil Stanhope, a jaded private detective who originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.

As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish.

 

 

For My Eyes

Khristine

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie are looking forward to two days of boys, booze, and fun-filled luxury. But what starts out as fun turns twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. And things only get worse from there.

With a storm raging outside, the teens are cut off from the outside world . . . so when a mysterious killer begins picking them off one by one, there’s no escape. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on one another, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

 

 

KW1

In the lakeside resort town of Port Manitou, Michigan, dedicated teacher and running coach Neil Kazenzakis shoulders responsibilities that would break a lesser man: a tragic accident has left his wife seriously debilitated, he cares for his mother-in-law who suffers from dementia, and he’s raising his teenage son, Chris, on his own. On top of all that, he’s also secretly been seeing Lauren, his mother-in-law’s caregiver.

When Neil breaks up a fight one day after school, he doesn’t give the altercation much thought. He’s got bigger issues on his mind, like the fact that Lauren is ready for a commitment and he has to figure out a way to tell Chris that he’s in a serious relationship with someone other than the boy’s mother. But when an anonymous person uploads a video of the fight to YouTube, the stunning footage suggests Neil assaulted a student. With his job, his family, and his reputation suddenly in jeopardy, Neil must prove his innocence and win back the trust of the entire community—including his son’s.

 

 

I think that is where I am.  How about you?  How is your reading going this fall?  Please add your link to What Are You Reading below where it says click here:

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For those of you who read mainly children and middle grade books, please also feel free to add your link here:

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BEA: Author Breakfasts

BEA BUZZ

The continuing Book Expo 2014 posts.  If you missed any the others were: Blogger Con/BEA Bloggers,   Harper Collins Gathering and Party

 

One of the little bonuses of the Book Expo is you have an opportunity to attend Author Breakfasts.  These breakfasts are charged above the Expo fees, however if it is an author that you are really interested in, it is a fun time.  You can pay a breakfast that includes seats that are closer to the front, or you can pay a smaller price to sit in the farther back seats without a breakfast.  When I go, I sit in the farther back seats as to get good seats at the breakfast you need to wait in a line for an hour or more and I am just not that great at line waiting 😀

On Thursday Morning, the breakfast line up was Neil Patrick Harris (the draw for me), Angelica Huston, Tavis Smiley, and Lisa Scottoline.  Neil. was incredibly funny and engaging.  He was everything I felt he would be so really made this breakfast pop:

Really, take the time to listen to this clip – it is AWESOME.

When you attend these breakfasts, you usually get a copy of some of the speaking authors books and this breakfast included:

Neil Patrick Harris, Sheila DeChantal, Book Journey, Book Expo
We did not receive the whole book, it was a small sample of the book but one I will be interested in when it does come out in all of its glory 🙂

 

Angelica Huston, book expo, Sheila DeChantal, Book JOurney

On Friday, I attended the Children’s Author Breakfast.  I know right?  Why would I attend the Children’s Author breakfast?  I review few children’s books, I have no small children at home…. oh… I know why….

Jason Segel.

Do not judge me…. 😉

Another one worth watching.  I will wait….

……….

Ok, awesome right?

The books included with this breakfast were:

Jason Segal book, Nightmares, Book JOurney, Sheila DeChantal, book cover
Cute right???

 

baby bedtime, mem fox, Sheila DeChantal, book journey

And, I have to plug one more author, Jeff Kinney who is the author of The Wimpy Kid series.  Now these are not books that I have read, but after listening to Jeff talk at the expo – delightful, funny, and a bonus surprise for me… I may need to start watching his books.

Grad another cup of coffee… this one is well worth the watch as well:

 

Do I recommend the breakfasts?  I do.  If you are interested in any of the authors who will be speaking, you get a great seat to hearing them chat about their books and you get to hear some great insights into their lives (seriously, listen to Jeff’s BEA talk above… at the end he has some pretty amazing plans that all stem around his love of books).