Well, as an unexpected tribute to motherhood, this week I’m sharing about a book my son recommended: John Dies At The End by David Wong. I guess that’s fitting since last week’s reading post was all about books my daughter suggested.
One of the perks of being a book lover who is married to a book lover is sharing that passion for reading with our children. My kids both wound up with a wide-ranging palate when it comes to books – hooray! – from historical non-fiction to some rather obsure genres of fiction.
As a family we’ve shared everything from the Harry Potter series to The Spy Wore Read (historical non-fic). But this book was a stretch for me – but that isn’t a bad thing.
John Dies At The End, falls into an obscure non-category in my opinion. I struggled to get started on this one, which is rare because my son has great taste and we often discuss the books he’s reading for pleasure or for school. The struggle was completely my own fault because I flipped through the pages rather than starting at the beginning and the scene I landed on involved a spider.
Question: What is Regan’s biggest fear?
Answer: Spiders!
As I read the passage, I remembered my son warning me about that scene, but he wanted me to read the book anyway. As much as I suddenly wanted to blame my writing schedule, I didn’t want to endure my son’s disappointment with my excuses, so I dutifully started the book.
At the beginning.
Can you say dark humor? Entertaining? Not exactly horror…
This is from the Amazon reviewer that I feel really nailed it:
If you blended the works of Lovecraft and Kevin Smith, then mixed that with about three parts pure awesome and left it to grow behind your fridge, you might get a vague sense of the genre David Wong bullseyes with this book. It’s funny enough to appeal even to non-fans of the horror genre, yet scary enough to stay with you for a long time. It’s the sort of book that can raise specters so horrible you tell yourself you couldn’t ever have imagined them, yet it keeps your faith in humanity alive with the way Dave and John (especially John) seem to casually flip off a barrage of unspeakable evil. In a book that opens fighting meat-ghosts with ’80s glam rock, you know you’re in for something special.
It’s a fast read (thank goodness, because y’know… spider scene…) and at times (because of the characters) it reminded me of the wacky, believable adventure along the lines of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
The author owns the premise and the characters drag you along for the ride from the moment you pick up the book to read the back cover. I won’t go so far as to call this one a new favorite read, but I enjoyed the book and I’ll gladly discuss and trade quotes from it with my son.
What was the last book that was a stretch for you?
Live the adventure!
