Tag: #book

The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock Review

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I wanted to love The Devil All the Time. I tried so hard to love it, and I did in the beginning. However, things fell apart pretty quickly.

Set in 1960, Ohio and West Virginia, The Devil All the Time follows a unique cast of characters. Willard Russell returned from World War II tormented by the carnage. But the hardest thing he will ever face is the death of his wife. He prays and offers sacrificial blood, but nothing calms the cancer. Then there’s Carl and Sandy Henderson who travel the country looking for models to feature in their deadly photographs. You can’t forget to mention the spider handling preacher and his sidekick who are running from the law. Finally, there’s Arvin, Willard and Charlotte’s orphaned son, who grows up in the thick of it all.

The Devil All the Time starts well. It’s atmospheric and gritty. It has the promise of a great story. In the beginning I was hooked.

Unfortunately, the more I read the less interested I became. I could care less about most of the characters. I also thought Arvin would be more involved. He really didn’t become prominent until the end.

Basically, everything happened at the end. The pacing felt off and the payoff comes late. It just kept building and build. And frankly, I got bored. In the last few pages everything finally started to come together, but by that point I’d lost interest. I’m bummed that I didn’t like The Devil All the Time more. I had high hopes for it.

My Rating: 2/5

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The Book Room Diaries, Part 1: Chaos

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When I started Reading in the Wildwood, I had no real working space. I worked mostly from my living room couch. I also didn’t have shelves. As you can imagine, that was a huge problem for an avid reader. I had books everywhere. It was getting out of hand. So this year my husband and I decided to turn one of our extra bedrooms into an office/book room.

That wasn’t as easy as it sounds. The bedroom we chose had some moisture damage, so we basically had to start from scratch. And by scratch, I mean we had to rip out all of the walls and the carpet. When we got the carpet ripped out we noticed that there was some damage to the subflooring as well. So, of course, that had to go. I’m not exaggerating when I say that we basically started from the ground up.

Right when we decided to do this my husband’s job started to pick up, which is a total blessing. However, he is the construction master of this marriage. I know nothing about it. I just wanted to get past this part, so that I could pick out paint colors. Luckily, my grandfather has a construction company. He came and put my floor and walls back together. Let me just tell you. That was a process, but we got through it.

After the Construction

So now the walls are painted and the flooring is down. This is where I come in. This is what I’ve been waiting for. It’s time to turn this room into my dream room.

Piece by Piece

My husband bought my this awesome antique roll top desk for Christmas(below). This was the first piece of furniture to go in this room. Now I’ve got a little recliner for reading in the corner of the room. It’s right next to a window with a beautiful view.

Slowly, the pieces are coming together. Last night we brought in my shelves and my books. I’m going to find some contact paper to wrap the white shelf in. It has some damage and since it’s not real wood I can’t paint it. But I think contact paper will work just fine.

Today, I’m organizing my shelves and getting everything into place. I still have a few more pieces of furniture that I need, but it will all come with time. I’m so ready to start decorating, and I’m ready to finally have the book room of my dreams. I’m so thankful and I’m definitely blessed. I can’t wait to share the finished book room with y’all!


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