Throwback Thursday # 8 – 11/22/63

Posted August 12, 2021 by elzaread in Throwback Thursday / 26 Comments

 You guys! It’s the middle of August and it’s only our third Throwback Thursday post we manage for the year. Good grief. I don’t know if that is sad, embarrassing, or just plain bad luck. Wednesdays and Thursdays tend to be very hectic and school for my Mommy and I guess that is the actual main excuse.

My Mommy has spend quite a lot of time sorting out our bookshelves, Kindle and TBR file on Goodreads lately. But the best way to keep it sorted, is of course by staying on top of it. And how do we stay on top of it with firmer grip than a tiara on wet hair?  By tracking it on the blog of course. And for that, we need clever people like Davida to host fun memes to guide us in the right direction.

  • The Chocolate Lady’s #Throwback Thursday takes place on the Thursday before the first Saturday of every month. Yes, there is a linky and it will remain open until she uploads the new one. Thank Goodness. My first and last sometimes gets very confused. 
  • Your post must highlight one of your previously published book reviews and Davida encourages other participants to do the same. 
  • Add the link to your post and remember to link back to The Chocolate Lady’s Book Blog And do not forget to #ThrowbackThursday!
 
We tend to not always play by the rules, but we do try our best to at least be part of the game. As this is our 8th Throwback Thursday, Mommy is looking back at the 8th review that she’s written.
I love reading my Mommy’s earlier reviews. Mostly because it provides the ultimate comic relief. My Mommy sure is a very enthusiastic blogger and I really sometimes wonder where she got all her ideas from. Her current inspiration is me of course and that I think it shows.
Five years ago, my Mommy was crazy about the following book:

 

Title11/22/63

Author: Stephen King

Published: November 2011
Pages: 849
Forrmat: Kindle

Rating: 

Content: It’s Stephen King. Somewhere, something is going to be weird

Synopsis: Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

And then she wrote this crazy review:

 

Who writes a review like that! You are welcome to read her full review by clicking on the link above. Here are a few of her crazy reasons:
1. It’s a new spin on an old history lesson
2. It’s infinitely Google-able
3. Time Travelling at its best
4. You can use the book as a doorstop
5. It’s the perfect book for the indecisive reader

 

As always, I have asked her a couple of questions regarding the review:

 

  1. When was this review first published? – 26 June 2016
  2. Did you have any idea what you were doing? – I actually did, yes. I had fun!
  3. Will you re-write this review? – Nope. It’s a bit of a different way to write a review sure, but I will probably never have that burst of creativity again. Not sure if that is good or a bad thing.
  4. Did you tweak this review? – A bit yes. Changed the info and most of the graphics got lost in Blogger updates, so I had to redo them.
  5. Will you re-read the book? – Most definitely.
  6. Will you recommend others to read this review? Go ahead, see if my 10 reasons inspire you to read it. That’s if you haven’t read it already!

 

 

 

We love to combine Throwback Thursday with  Books from the Backlog, hosted by Carole’s Random Life of BooksTwo birds with one stone. Sorting out the blog reviews, plus sorting out our TBR pile.
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.
Remember earlier in the post I told you that my Mommy is busy sorting out her TBR, bookshelves and Kindle. By sorting out, I didn’t mean she’s done by a long shot. But at least there is some order and from that we can work.
The 8th book on her newly organized TBR pile is:

Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram,* “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island’s Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl’s fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.

 

I can already hear my Mommy going on and on about this book. Right up her ally and then everyone is going to be told that they have to read it. Have your read Ella Minnow Pea? And 11/22/63?

Please remember to link your Throwback Thursday and your Books from the Backlog up to the two lovely hosts and share your books with us too!

 

Lots of Love,

 

 

 

Share the Meows
RSS
Follow by Email
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Instagram

26 responses to “Throwback Thursday # 8 – 11/22/63

    • elzaread

      I still haven’t read it yet! One of these days I will be a very dedicated buy-no-more-books, only-read-the-TBR patron. Maybe I must make it my reading challenge for next year…. Scary to think we are starting to plan for 2022!

  1. I totally read this book. And it was the most memorable book of stephen King's i've read. I love the concept and structure. I love that we get to see the killer in a different light and I still remember some very encentric details about the CIA, and their search into his life.

  2. The review of 11/22/63 made me laugh! I haven't heard of Ella Minnow Pea but you've got me curious. Read it and tell me if I need to read it!

    • Glad I could bring a smile to your face! I loved writing that review. Sometimes I think I was more creative on my previous blog, but then again – I love the Elza 'voice'.

    • I promise you can read this one Debbie. It's not a scary read at all, it's just a bit long. But it doesn't feel like it!! I'll vouch for it for sure.

  3. Goodness, I finally discover the creator of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." I used to download free fonts for websites — and you know how they always carried this sentence to showcase all 26 letters. Thank you, I found out something very valuable today. 🙂

    • Hi Lex! Don't worry, I also didn't know that and I am also one of those people who type "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" to see what all the letters look like!

      I'm looking forward to reading the little book for sure.

  4. I haven't read either of these books. The King book appeals the most to me – I do like his books! So that's definitely one to look out for – and I really enjoyed your post with its 10 points!

    • Hi Margaret! 11/22/63 is my favorite Stephen King book for sure! Loved it and will recommend it to just about anyone. Glad you enjoyed the quirky review style!

    • I only discovered Stephen King much later in life and I'm not the biggest fan of horror, so it was delightful to read books by Stephen King that is not going bump in the night. Loved this one!!

    • Hi Emma! I also don't like horror all that much and this one by Stephen King is not scary at all. It's a really good read! I must still read his essays, I've heard it's brilliant yes.

      So glad to hear you have enjoyed Ella Minnow Pea so much! I'm going to read your review now.

  5. I've been meaning to read that Stephen King for a bit. That is cool about Ella Minnow Pea (LMNOP, LOL) and the way the letters drop out of the book when they drop off the sign.

    Good luck with the shelving project, Elza!

    • 11/22/63 is a big one, but it reads very easily and I think it's one of his best novels.

      I am looking forward to starting with Ella Minnow Pea!