R.I.P. IV

It's that time of year again. It's time for Carl's R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge. I love being part of it. I've stretched into a new genre of stories by being part of this group.

This year I'm going to do:

Peril the First:

Read Four books of any length, from any sub-genre of scary stories that you choose.

The Challenge is from September 1st to October 31st. I think I can manage to read 4 vampire/supernatural books by then, baby or no baby.

My pool of books include:

The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine, (currently on my nightstand) a vampire story
Spectre by Phaedra Weldon, (also on my nightstand) a supernatural story
Strange brew, edited by P.N. Elrod. (on my nightstand---ok, so it seems I have been gravitating in this direction lately) Witchy short stories
Pride and prejudice and zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.by Grahame-Smith, Seth (sigh, also on my nightstand and the one I'm going to read first, as it is due back to the library on the 2nd) Zombie story
City of bones by Cassandra Clare (in my library queue) Supernatural/demonology story
Dates from hell by Harrison, Kim (also in my library queue) Supernatural short stories.

I'm looking forward to seeing what other people are reading in the challenge, so I can find some new scary books to read.

R.I.P. III is here!

It's that time again. Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings has issued his fall Challenge and I again am taking him up on his offer. I just love to torure myself. It's not the scarey stories, which I like to read in the fall, its writing the reviews. But, to grow we must be challenged, so write them I will.

I'm going with:

Which is: Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

The Gothic/Horror/Suspense genre isn't something I normally read, although I do like the ghosty fansty/sci-fi. So I've been looking at the other blogger's lists and I've come up with a list of my own. The first two Carl pointed out and they intrigued me. I love the title of the 2nd one.

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• The Ghost In Love by Jonathan Carroll
• Underground by Kat Richardson
• The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson-- not sure if this one fits in the genre, but it looks good
• Touch the Dark by Karen Chance
• Glass Houses - Rachel Caine

And what ever else I find. One of the best things about the challenge is all the new books the other blogger's bring to my attention.

The Once Upon a Time II Challenge

Yay! It's that time of year again, it's the start of -The Once Upon a Time II Challenge!!! I did this Challenge last year and I found so many new authors to read, so when Carl V over at Stainless Steel Droppings made the announcement, I started compiling my list.

I'll be doing Quest the Third which is:

Fulfill the requirements for Quest the First or Quest the Second AND top it off with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Quest the Second is: Read at least one book from each of the four categories. In this quest you will be reading 4 books total: one fantasy, one folklore, one fairy tale, and one mythology.

So my list of books (which I reserve the right to change up at any time) are:

1) Fantasy-Magic bites by Andrews, Ilona

2) Folklore- Swimming without a net by MaryJanice Davidson, a modern mermaid story.

3) Fairy Tale- Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, I've read another of her stories for the 1st challenge

4) Mythology- Legend by David Lynn Golemon, is a stretch, it's a thriller about the search for El Dorado. I may replace this if I find something not set in today's world....but I'm excited to read this one.

I'm so looking forward to everyone's review and find new great reads.

RIP II Review of the week

I've been a busy reader this week, well, I should say the last 10 days. I've read 7 books in the since 9/10, three of which were part of my RIP II challenge.

1) Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. I didn't care for this book. I know I've been saying that a lot lately, but, to me, this book was meh. It didn't draw me in and force me to read it. It was a well written book, it had all the elements of a story that I would like, except for one thing. I didn't like Vivian, the lead character. She was never lovable to me, so it was hard to care about her plight. I also thought the story was to be a Romeo & Juliet -type, from the blurb on the cover, but it really wasn't. So I was disappointed in the book. I'd like to see the movie, to see if it leaned more toward the Romeo & Juliet-ness.

2) Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn. I loved me some Kitty. This book had a heroine I could like. I read it in a couple of hours over the weekend, It drew me in and kept me hooked. I mean, really, tee-hee, a werewolf named Kitty. Snicker, snicker. The appeal to my sense of humor was the hook that caught me. The writing style of the story reeled me in. I am looking forward to finding out what happens next in the life of Kitty.

3) Storm front #01 by Jim Butcher. Another enjoyable book. A little dark and creepy, with bits of humor creeping in. I can see why it was made into a TV show. I wish I had caught an episode of the show. I am definitely going to read more books in this series.

The other books I've been reading have been by Tamora Pierce. I discovered her during the Last Challenge that Carl hosted. A big Thank YOU! To whoever recommended her. I am absolutely in love with her books. I just finished The Circle of Magic quartet which is 4 books of course. Yum. Yum. Her books are devouring books. They are children's stories, so they are fairly short, but oh, what great stories they are! I've been getting each quartet out of the library at the same time, so I don't have to wait to get the next book in the series. I'm impatient that way. Right now, I'm counting down the minutes until I can leave work and go to the library to pick up my next fix of her books The Protector of the Small quartet.

1st RIP Review

Hubba-hubba! You just have to love this cover! In fact, this turned out to be a rather steamy read. Colleen Gleason's Rises The Night is the 2nd in The Gardella Vampire Chronicles. The 1st book in the series The Rest Falls Away was an OK read. It was good enough that when Rises The Night came out, I put it on my library list, but not good enough to buy the series.

Rises The Night has me pleasantly surprised. I still found it a slow read, but by the end, it really had my attention. The story-line had my attention, I just think that writing could have been a little more in-depth, a little more fleshed out. Gleason's sex scenes and her interactions between Victoria and Sebastian were the best in the book. It show cased her writing talents well. I just wish the rest of the book was as good.

R.I.P. II Autumn Reading Challenge!

Yay! Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings has issued a new reading Challenge. In honor of the approaching Halloween season, Carl has open the flood gates to register for the R.I.P (Readers Imbibing Peril) Autumn Reading Challenge. I'm all kinds of excited, because my reading list has turned down a dark a spooking path (Mostly filled with Vampires) which is right in line with the challenge. Officially, the challenge starts September 1st and runs until October 31st. The rules of the game, per Carl: The Perils:

(Choose one, or more than one if you are feeling adventurous)

Peril the First:
Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

Peril the Second
(Otherwise known as the Obese Book Peril):
As you may know, some books are scary not just because of their subject matter but because of their size. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna
Clarke is 737 pages of small type, for example, and Gordon Dahlquist’s Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is 637 pages long with type so minuscule it makes Strange’s look like large print!
For this peril simply read two weighty tomes during the challenge period.

Peril the Third:
If you think you have it in you, this third choice of perils is the Scary Sandwich Peril…choose two large books like those described in Peril the Second and read a
smaller qualifying tale in between.

Peril the Fourth
(Otherwise known as Just a Bit of Peril):
Some of you wonderful readers, or would-be readers, may have a tendency to shy way from this genre, thinking it is just not your cup of poisoned tea. However, it
wouldn’t be a challenge if I wasn’t challenging you. This peril is for those of you who want to take a chance. Simply choose one book that you feel meets the criteria for Readers Imbibing Peril II and, well, imbibe it!

This Challenge couldn't come at a better time for me. I had just finished ordering library books before reading Carl's post. Just about everything I ordered falls into the Gothic horror genre. So I'm going to do Peril the First x two. That gives me a little over a week per book. Easy peasy. As long as I don't scare myself too much!

My reading list, so far:

Poltergeist by Kat Richardson
Rises The Night: The Gardella Vampire Chronicles by Colleen Gleason
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) by Jim Butcher (if I like this one, I'll read the whole series)
I need to add two more to my list, but I'm going to hold off until I see what the other people doing the challenge pick. I'm sure to find a new author that I've never heard of, with a book I'm dying to read.

I'm doing the Once Upon a Time Challenge.

Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings has issued a reading challenge.

The Challenge as issued by Carl:

"Once Upon a Time…all the great ones begin that way, don’t they? At least in our
recollection? Hearkening back to childhood, those four words represent the
foundation upon which story is built. In that same way, these four types of
story, Mythology, Folklore, Fairytale, and Fantasy, form the very foundation of
storytelling itself. It is from the roots of these genres that our latest
challenge grows...."

He has offered up 4 Quest of varying difficulty...I am accepting Quest 1. Which is to read at least 5 books from any for the 4 genre.

I'm an avid reader of that type of book anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard. I've been looking at the other player's choices for suggestions and books I haven't read before. I'm having a tough time choosing, so...

My book choices:

Mythology:

1. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Folklore:

1. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Fairytale:

1. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

2. Widdershins by Charles de Lint (I love Charles de Lint, this one is already on my library request list.)

3. Tithe by Holly Black

4. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

5. Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

Fanatsy:

1. Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip

2. Eldest by Christopher Paolini

3. Greywalker by Kat Richardson

4. Something Rotten by Jasper Fford (I've read the others and love the cheekiness of them)

I think I've chosen enough books for now. This should last me until June. If not, I'll be sure to add more!