R.I.P. Challenge Wrap-Up

October has faded, and we're now into another November, which means the R.I.P. Challenge has come to an end.

This was my first year participating, and I kind of took a loose approach to it. I did read several books that fit into the challenge's parameters:

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

My Review

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (audio)

My Review

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (audio)

My Review

The Gunslinger by Stephen King (Dark Tower I)

My Review

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King(Dark Tower II)

My Review

As I've posted before, I think reading books set in the same season/mood as you're in can not only enhance the story for you, but also emphasize your surroundings - which is why I absolutely wanted to include myself in a challenge based on that same principal. I had fun, and really enjoyed the books I read in the last two months. I look forward to participating again next year :-)

Photo Blog: Seasonal Reading??

There is nothing better than a bouquet of freshly picked flowers for your house in the springtime --

Or feeling the cool grass between your toes in the summer.

The humble smell of heaters turned on for the first time, and fireplaces burning is the smell of October--

A Warm cup of cocoa never tasted as good when the snow is falling outside your window.

For me, similar sentiments can be had with books.

In the summertime, the books I want to read tend to be lighthearted, funny, and relatable. Humor and Romance genres are my GOTO summertime/warm weather reads. There is a reason there is practically an entire genre dubbed beach books.

Once the temperatures start to drop, the trees begin to turn their beautiful autumn colors, and I want to start reading more serious books. Autumn is the time to get some of the warmer weather books finished and start lining up the cool weather books I want to read (and that exact opposite for spring).

Cool weather time is the perfect time to read bleak and abstract literature -- literature you don't necessarily relate to. Wartime books and Russian literature usually appeal to me this time of year. Most classic novels also fall under the cool weather time-frame for me, depending, obviously, on subject matter.

While I'm not completely driven by these 'weather criteria', I think it does have a big impact on what I finally decide on reading -- but at the end of the day, I read what I feel like reading. Too much planning always puts me off....

* Speaking of which: An occasional challenge (a very loose-ended, or very specific one book challenge to be specific) is alright every once in awhile. But my favorite are the seasonal book challenges, like the R.I.P., which is why I decided to go ahead and participate - it is exactly my kind of challenge :-)

Do any of you find yourselves reading certain types of books at certain times of the year? 

How does it compare?

Disclaimer: None of the photos in this post were taken by me, though I did put the Seasonal Reading Collage together :-) 

A Voice to Soothe You to Sleep

The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman

Fiction/Young Adult

To Buy Amazon - Barnes & Noble

I'd first heard of The Graveyard Book as I was browsing for another of Neil Gaiman's books, and stumbled across a 'meet the author' video interview on a bookseller's website. The interview was about his then-new book, The Graveyard Book. A play on The Jungle Book(s), The Graveyard Book tells the tale of a boy not raised by animals in a jungle, but by ghosts (and other paranormal creatures) in a graveyard.

Originally I was under the impression that it was a children's book. I actually continued to think that as I picked it off the shelf of my local library (audio-book form, narrated by @neilhimself), but chose it anyway, because what the hell, nothing else looked better, and I know I loved Stardust (movie) and Neverwhere (audio, review a few weeks ago), so it wasn't really a risk.

The book begins with murder. Actually he's killed everyone just before the book begins, but there is intention for more immediate bloodshed. Red Flag. Doesn't seem like a children's book after all. Don't be put off, it isn't all completely evil and terrifying - it is actually the tale of the boy he intended to kill, but couldn't find - Nobody 'Bod' Owens - The Graveyard Boy. 

I've gushed about Neil Gaiman's narration before, but seriously guys, if you like his stuff...have him read it to you (this is where free library lending comes in handy...audio-books are expensive). As usual, Gaiman's writing is dripping with Gothic style writing, and is driven by plot. It reminded me a lot of Neverwhere actually, though they are definitely different stories - they had a lot in common (though maybe it is just his particular style of writing and taste in stories).

Interesting fact (hold your breath): About half through, the story gave me a MAD craving for some Harry Potter....

The Graveyard Book is about a boy. The boy has mentors and makes mistakes. He is not thrown, in this case, into a world he does not know, but he is curious about it, and slowly ventures outside of his own (despite many warnings). He has a safe haven, and there is something evil after him. There is magic and ghosts and bullies and friendship. This isn't a rip-off of Harry Potter, many of these traits are of young/adolescent boys anyway, and the other traits are of interesting plot. It's just a good story. 

Since there are some things in this book that could be frightening, I recommend it for people thirteen and older, though it is always a personal decision. If you are thirty and still get nightmares from images of ghouls, you probably shouldn't read this. If you have a nine year old who eats ghouls for breakfast, by all means...

You get what I'm saying...

Read this one, or read something else - but do yourselves a favor and read something.

In My Mailbox, September

My first, and hopefully last [for a long while anyway] in my mailbox entry. This month I only placed ONE book order for the whole month, and one trip to the thrift store. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??

...Yes, you probably can, since I've only had this blog set up for about one month anyway. You just have to believe me when I tell you that I have a book buying addiction. When I moved out of my mother's house two and a half  years ago, I only had a handful of books. Maybe twenty, max. To put that in comparison, I bought nearly that many just this month, and I consider that considerably better. 

I am trying to stop buying so many books, at least until I get a good chunk of them read, because honestly, I'm running out of room, and most of the books on my shelf are unread. I'm trying to put together a self-challenge that will help motivate me to read what I already have. I was thinking about some sort of alphabetical thing, but then I realized I have multiple books for quite a few letters that I want to/need to read and for several other letters, I have no books and would have to end up buying new books anyway, completely defeating the purpose. I thought about reading by 'theme' also, but eh, I don't think that would work long term either. I think for now, I will just stick to buying few, if any, new books so I have to read the ones I have. This ban will continue at least until we move somewhere more permanent, because moving all these boxes of heavy books is probably not going to be very fun. 

On to my new books!

Amazon:

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath - Been meaning to read this since I was 15.

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour an Introduction, J.D. Salinger - Salinger. How could I resist.

The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides - Loved Middlesex, so I'm curious if I'll love all of his stuff, or just that book.

American Gods, Neil Gaiman - I just listened to the audio book of Neverwhere, and loved it. Hopefully this is as good [or better, I will always take better].

When You Are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris - I'm reading this now. It's hilarious and touching at the same time. I've also read Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, by the same author.

The House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski - An assortment of pages, Blair Witch style, that is supposedly, like, the scariest book ever. Hoping to start it this month.

Persuasion, Jane Austen - Planning on reading Emma as my first Austen, since that is my name! But I figure I'll have to read them all sometime.

Five Quarters of the Orange, Joanne Harris - Read a review on this, and now I can't remember what it said, but it made me want to buy it myself!

The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov - forgot I had this and accidentally bought a second copy.

Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut - Bought because of THIS review on youtube.


Thrift Store:

The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen - Heard a billion things about this book after it came out, and I found it for three dollars. Can't beat that.

In the Devil's Snare, Mary Beth Norton - A story about the Salem Witch Trials. Supposedly encompassing more history of the time than anything previously. Should be interesting.

The Invention of Air, Steven Johnson - Something about Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America.

Look out for reviews on them [sometime in the next year, or few! :-( ]

Tell me if you guys prefer pictures

The Saga Continues....

The Drawing of the Three

Stephen King

Thriller/Fantasy/Western

To Order: Amazon - Barnes & Noble

All right Guys and Dolls, I just finished the second installment of The Dark Tower Series, The Drawing of the Three. Since my last review followed this same series, and I let my Stephen King power crush shine a little too brightly before, I'll just highlight the differences here. 

This is a better book than The Gunslinger, but it would not have been half as good without the foundation of the first novel. This book is probably twice as long, and has three or four times as much action (and characters for that matter). Instead of only hints of other worlds, we get to visit them in this book, look around, and get into trouble (of course!), before having to make a hasty escape. There are still a great many loose ends to tie up, but now the tribulation (team of three...that's what it means, right?)  has been formed, and they are ready to embark on the next leg of the journey. A young man, Eddie, who has broken his various dependencies and has joined The Gunslinger as a quasi-brother-in-arms; a young black woman, Odetta - 'Detta, who has struggled with serious self-identity issues and finally comes into her own. And Roland - The original Gunslinger, disciplined, focused, and totally bad-ass.

I can see the strategic placement of these first two books when I take a wide view the series told in a dozen volumes. The first, the leader, the foundation, the spark of interest. The second, the gathering of a team, growing familiarity with characters, budding-taste-of-action, and reiteration of the true goal, not just survival, but The Tower.

After reading the first two books of this series, basically in a row, I've decided to take a break from it. It will probably be a few months before I read the next Dark Tower book, but I do plan on reading the entire series...before I die (morbid?). 

This book is going to count towards my R.I.P. Challenge, even though I was technically already reading it when I signed up for the challenge. I think it ties in nicely with a thriller/dark/chilling mood (probably should have read it closer to Halloween), and it was written by the Horror king himself. 

I haven't quite decided what my next book will be for this challenge, but you'll see the review soon enough!

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril

Challenge Time!!

I stumbled across a magnificent challenge today browsing blogs, which I intend to embrace. It is an autumn challenge encouraging people to read Gothic, mystery, suspense, thriller, horror, or supernatural books of any kind or length, to fully indulge our inner all hallows eve spirit as the temperatures cool and the leaves begin to fall and eventually crumble. I'm looking forward to autumn this year more than years previous for some reason, and I am already reading The Drawing of the Three by horror/suspense/supernatural nobility Stephen King. (You can even read with a group, or watch a scary movie!)

Oh, and also, the image to promote the challenge is totally wicked:

You can find information on the challenge here.

So, you will see my  name listed among those participating, and the reviews you will find here will correspond with the genres promoted in the challenge. I encourage all of you to get active and embrace the spirit of the coming season.