Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) XV #ripxv

Fall is upon us. Well, fall to me means September 1st, especially now that I'm living in the north (Michigan) where fall really shows up in all its splendor. 🍁🍂

Fall also means it's time for all the scary...and that means all the scary events, including R.I.P., back for another year. Version XV.

I'm also hosting my yearly FrightFall Readathon in September and October this year (due to the hiatus of my summer readathon, High Summer, in August because of my move). FrightFall also happens in conjunction with my annual fall event, now in it's third year, Something Wicked Fall at my horror site, Castle Macabre. We are doing a read-along of Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. Click the links above to find out all the details.

So, what will I be reading you ask? I have quite a bit of reading lined up, but not sure if I'll get to everything. I'm still unpacking and arranging the new house. Moving seriously takes a chunk out of reading time. 😠

• Finishing Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff (I'm also watching the excellent series on HBO).
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• A couple of classic horror novels as of yet not decided for my True Book Talk reading group in October. Possible titles...Le Fanu's Carmilla, Lowndes' The Lodger, Benson's The Necromancers
• The Witch of Ravensworth by George Brewer
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• Snow by Ronald Malfi
• Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Watching tons of horror movies, of course. We will be having two or three horror film watch-alongs during Something Wicked Fall as well.

Join us for ALL the scary!

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Scary Fall Doings! #SomethingWickedFall #RIPXIV #FrightFall

It's that time of year again! I'm so ready for fall...the weather, the scary reading, Halloween! As usual, there are tons of fun events and challenges for those of us who love the scary, and I'm hosting two of them. 🎃

Readers Imbibing Peril XIV (RIP) is here! I look forward to this every year. It coincides well with my other scary events too.

Bonfires.

Gourds.

Sweaters and seasonal socks and candles.

Welcome to the FOURTEENTH year of Readers Imbibing Peril, or RIP, as it is affectionately called. For these many years, we here at RIP headquarters have embraced the spookiness of the seasons’ change.

The purpose of the R.I.P. Challenge is to enjoy books that could be classified as:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

The emphasis is never on the word challenge, instead it is about coming together as a community and embracing the autumnal mood, whether the weather is cooperative where you live or not.

The goals are simple.

1. Have fun reading.

2. Share that fun with others.

Sign up here.

I'm doing...

Peril the First:

Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (our very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature.
This is my for sure list of books. I'm sure there will be more.

Doctor Sleep, Stephen King

The Vampire Armand, Anne Rice

The Fall, Bethany Griffin

The Siren and the Specter, Jonathan Janz

Peril of the Short Story:

I'll be reading Poe, of course. Also, short stories by Algernon Blackwood, Nathaniel Hawthorne, M.R. James, Ralph Adams Cram, Ronald Malfi...and maybe more.

Peril on the Screen:

I'm a horror movie lover ALL the time so it's not like this will be any different, but of course, kicking things off with IT next week. We're also going to have some movie watch-alongs during Something Wicked Fall (see below). Probably The Shining to go along with our Doctor Sleep read-along, and possibly Midsommar (a rewatch for me...I absolutely loved it). 

and possibly even...

Peril of the Review:
Submit a short review of any book you read and you may see it here on the blog! 

I'm not terribly great at posting reviews of late, but I will try. 

Something Wicked Fall is an event I created last year at Castle Macabre (my horror blog)...an all encompassing event featuring a read-along, horror movie watch-alongs, Gothic and horror reads, and the penultimate FrightFall Readathon in October.

Get all the details at Castle Macabre here. I hope you will join us!

FrightFall Readathon runs all of October. Sign ups coming very soon at Seasons of Reading. Stay tuned!

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Readers Imbibing Peril 13 #RIPXIII & #SomethingWickedFall 48 Hour Kick-Off #Readathon

From the new dedicated blog...

Welcome to the THIRTEENTH year of Readers Imbibing Peril, or RIP, as it is affectionately called. For the last 13 years, we here at RIP headquarters have embraced the spookiness of the seasons’ change.

The purpose of the R.I.P. Challenge is to enjoy books that could be classified as:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.
Basically, read scary. Yay!

The levels of participation (participate in one, all, or various) are:

Peril the First: Read four books, any length, that you feel fit.

I'm doing this level. My list:

The Narrows, Ronald Malfi

A Head Full of Ghosts, Paul Tremblay

The Secret History, Donna Tartt
The Bank of the River, Michael Richan
The Vampire Armand, Anne Rice
Bird Box, Josh Malerman
Shirley: A Novel, Susan Scarf Merrell

Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury

This is more than four, but I'm working on a challenge so...

Peril the Second: Read two books of any length that you believe fit.

Peril the Third: We all want you to participate. This Peril involves reading one book that fits.

Peril of the Short Story: Self explanatory...read short stories.

I'll be reading Gothic short stories in September during my Something Wicked This Fall Comes event at my sister blog, Castle Macabre. 

I'll be picking choosing stories from the following:

Edgar Allan Poe (of course)

M.R. James

Shirley Jackson

Algernon Blackwood

H.P. Lovecraft

There's a great list of Gothic fiction on Goodreads here.

Peril on the Screen: Again, self explanatory...watch scary TV shows/movies.

Horror movies and shows are my favorite so this is a no-brainer!

Movies/Shows I will be seeing/watching for sure...

Halloween

The Nun

The Haunting of Hill House (new series)

Peril of the Review: Submit a short review of any book you read (they may even post it on the blog).

I'll try!

I've participated in this challenge since 2009, so 10 of the 13 years. I'm stoked, and it goes along nicely with my scary Fall event at Castle Macabre and the FrightFall Readathon in October at Seasons of Reading.

Coming to Castle Macabre tomorrow...Something Wicked This Fall Comes! We are kicking off with a 48 Hour Readathon hosted at Seasons of Reading. Find out all the details for the Fall event here. Sign up for the 48 Hour Readathon here. 

I'll be reading scary books from my RIP list above. Will probably start with The Narrows, but not sure. 

Hope you will join us!

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A Reading Life (49) - Fall Reading! #RIPXII #FrightFall #GothicSept #WitchSeasonCM

Here we are again...coming up on my favorite time of year (well, one of them anyway)! Fall, which leads into winter with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yay! Right now though, it's time to focus on the fun, spooky fall reading events starting with...

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XII

Hosting are Heather at My Capricious Life and Andi at Estella's Revenge. Head over to either blog to sign-up. From the sign-up post:

The purpose is to enjoy books that could be classified as...

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Dark Fantasy
Gothic
Horror
Supernatural

The emphasis is never on the word challenge, instead it is about coming together as a community and embracing the autumnal mood, whether the weather is cooperative where you live or not.

There are two simple goals for R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XII:

1. Have fun reading.
2. Share that fun with others.

There are multiple levels. Read more at the sign-up post.

My levels...

Peril the First:
Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (our very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be Stephen King or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shirley Jackson or Tananarive Due…or anyone in between.

Between reading for this, my other fall reading events, and my FrightFall readathon, which is the entire month of October, I'm hoping to get a lot of horror reading done. I may not get to all of them, but I'm sure going to try. This is the list I will be working on:

Exorcist Falls (including the novella, Exorcist Road) - Jonathan Janz
We Are Always Watching - Hunter Shea
Becoming - Glenn Rolfe
The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned - Anne Rice (read-along at Gather Together and Read)
The Witch of Ravensworth - George Brewer (novella...for Season of the Witch at Castle Macabre)
Hunter of the Dead -  Stephen Kozeniewski
Savages - Greg F. Gifune
The Awakening - Brett McBean
Vyrmin -  Gene Lazuta
Renovation - Sara Brooke
Dream Woods - Patrick Lacey (novella)

Peril of the Short Story:
We are fans of short stories and our desire for them is perhaps no greater than in autumn. We see Jackson in our future for sure! You can read short stories any time during the challenge. We sometimes like to read short stories over the weekend and post about them around that time. Feel free to do this however you want, but if you review short stories on your site, please link to those reviews on our RIPXII Book Review pages. 

Edgar Allan Poe short stories (for Gothic September):
Berenice: A Tale
William Wilson: A Tale
The Imp of the Perverse
A Descent into the Maelstrom

Short stories for Season of the Witch at Castle Macabre:
Ancient Sorceries - Algernon Blackwood
 The Witch - Shirley Jackson

Peril on the Screen:
This is for those of us who like to watch suitably scary, eerie, mysterious gothic fare during this time of year. It may be something on the small screen or large. It might be a television show, like Dark Shadows, or your favorite film. If you are so inclined, please post links to any R.I.P.-related viewing you do on our book review pages as well.

There are a ton of new scary movies I'm looking forward to this fall, not to mention scary shows...one of which I'm watching right now as I type this up..American Horror Story: Cult. 

The two movies I'm most looking forward to are IT and Mother! I'm going to see the former this weekend and the latter next weekend. Can't wait!

 

Join me for my fun, and scary, fall reading events!

 

Info and sign up here 

 

Info here

 

Coming in October to Castle Macabre

 

Info and sign up here

 

What's going on in your reading life?

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A Reading Life (45) - #TopTenTuesday #RIPXI #Bloggiesta

Scroll down for Bloggiesta wrap-up.

Seems I'm in a blogging rut of a sort. I post reviews and Cat Thursday, but nothing much else. Trying to get back into the swing of things. I have Banned Books Week at the end of the month so want to be in a better frame for (almost) daily posts that week.

I decided to participate in Top Ten Tuesday this week. It has been a while. I actually like making lists so not sure why I don't do this every week. Here are my top ten favorite literary fiction novels (these may also fall into other categories):

In no particular order...

1. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger - I loved, loved, loved this book. Even after seven years, it still stays with me. It was actually one of my first reviews on this blog (HERE).

2. The Keep, Jennifer Egan - This book blew me away. It was utterly what I was not expecting and that made it all the better. If you haven't read this...well, you really should.

3. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold - This was another of my first reviews on this blog (HERE). I liked this because of it being a cautionary tale, but also the story was incredibly poignant.

4. The Color Purple, Alice Walker - Not much explanation needed here. The movie is actually one of my favorites. I read the book years later and loved it even more. Brilliant story. (Review here)

5. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro - Ishiguro is a brilliant writer. He knows how to get to the meat of what makes people tick, and it's not always pretty, or ideal. He is one of my favorite authors which is why he makes the list twice...

6. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro - This is a book not to read if you don't want to sob uncontrollably. Also, don't go watch the end of the film after reading the book. More uncontrolled sobbing. The movie was good. The book is better. The book makes you think...really think...which is my favorite kind of book. (Review here)

7. The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd - A wonderful book, based in fact, about the strength of the human spirit and bonds that can't be broken.

8. The Mountain Story, Lori Lansens - I actually just finished reading this a couple of weeks ago and haven't even had time to review it yet. It is not just about being stranded on a mountain, but about people...what they do to each other and how they love each other in spite of it all.

9. The Gift, Cecelia Ahern - I know Ahern is categorized as a "chick lit" author, but this book is not chick lit. It was a great book to read at Christmas because it has a message, but would be good to read any time of year. Another "will have you sobbing" book.

10. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak - I think everyone has read this so it will be apparent why it's on the list. A book about human bonds, love, tragedy, and how books can bring people together. (Review Here)

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI

11th year! So glad to have Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings back hosting again. I'm a bit late with this sign-up, but I have a ton of spooky reading going on this Sept-Oct. Yay!

My levels of participation:

Read four books, of any length, from the very broad categories earlier defined as perilous. They could all be by the same author, a series of books, a random mix of classic and contemporary or whatever you like.

Here's what I have on my plate:

• The Night Parade, Ronald Malfi (currently reading)
• The History Major, Michael Phillip Cash (currently reading)
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs (currently reading, hosting read-along at Castle Macabre)
• Salem's Lot, Stephen King (read-along in Oct. for TuesBookTalk & the Stephen King Challenge)
• The Kept Woman, Karin Slaughter
• various other horror novels

Short story read-alongs at Castle Macabre for Season of the Witch:

Edgar Allan Poe:

The Mask of the Red Death 
The Pit and the Pendulum

H.P. Lovecraft
The Dunwich Horror
The Dreams in the Witch-House

I've already seen Ghostbusters and The Disappointments Room and I have to finish watching the last few episodes of Stranger Things. American Horror Story's new season starts tomorrow!

Movies I'm also planning to see:

Morgan
The Blair Witch
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
The Girl on the Train
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Rob Zombie's 31
Rings

and tons of scary movies and paranormal/horror TV shows on television!

BLOGGIESTA!

Goals:

• finish working on the new community reading site I've been promising since August :(
  completed site url: http://www.gathertogetherread.com/
• finishing touches on new perpetual reading challenge accompanying the intro of new site
• sign-up post for FrightFall Read-a-Thon
• create button for new reading challenge to start January 1, 2017
• visit other participants
• work on book catalog and my home library site (A Library, Collected), if I have time
• ...if I think of anything else
• mini-challenge at Guiltless Reading - create a book map Done. Here: http://www.truebookaddict.com/p/my-book-map.html

I accomplished a bit...not a ton, but I'm satisfied. :-)

Recent book acquisitions...

from Goodwill:

Treasured Stories of Christmas (from Norman Vincent Peale, Helen Steiner Rice, Pearl S. Buck, and more)
The Curious Cast of Benjamin Button, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The American Senator, Anthony Trollope
Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History, Fawn M. Brodie
Redcoats & Rebels, Christopher Hibbert
The Light in the Ruins, Chris Bohjalian

What's going on in your Reading life?

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R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril X! #RIPX

I look forward to this every year! I kept checking over at Carl's (Stainless Steel Droppings) site because he usually posts before the end of August and I wasn't seeing it. I was so worried that it wasn't happening this year. Carl, in honor of R.I.P.'s 10th illustrious year, decided to ask the lovely ladies at The Estella Society to host, and they accepted! So, it's on!!!

This challenge fits in nicely with my reading plans this Fall, as I'm hosting FrightFall Read-a-Thon in October (its 5th year!), Gothic September at Castle Macabre with Edgar Allan Poe short story read-a-longs, a read-a-long of Anne Rice's The Wolf Gift at my Anne Rice challenge blog, a read-a-long of Salem's Lot at my Stephen King challenge blog in October AND Season of the Witch at Castle Macabre in October with a read-a-long of a witch themed book (title to be determined and read-a-long will be in conjunction with TuesBookTalk). I'm insane, I know! Can you tell I love Fall/Scary reading? No way!

Here are some general guidelines and (non) rules, as outlined by Carl, and now, TES:

***********
Without further ado, pick your poison, won’t you? September 1st is here, and we’re ready to begin!

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.

That is what embodies the stories, written and visual, that we celebrate with the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event.

As time has wound on, we’ve discovered that simple rules are best:

1. Have fun reading (and watching).
2. Share that fun with others.

R.I.P. X officially runs from September 1st through October 31st. 

***********

I normally do my sign up posts for reading "challenges" at my challenge blog, but I've decided to do shorter term challenge sign-ups on this blog and then add a short post over there just as a record of all challenges I've participated in.

There are various levels of participation. Here are the levels I'm planning on doing...

Peril the First: Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) ofR.I.P. literature.

The Wolf Gift, Anne Rice

Salem's Lot, Stephen King

Night Chill, Jeff Gunhus

Tortures of the Damned, Hunter Shea

*Witch themed book to be determined*

Peril of the Short Story:We are big fans of short stories and the desire for them is perhaps no greater than in Autumn. You can read short stories any time during the challenge. (since I just happen to be hosting read-a-longs of three Poe stories at Castle Macabre this month!)

Edgar Allan Poe short stories:

Ligeia 

The Cask of Amontillado 

The Fall of the House of Usher

Peril On the Screen

I love horror films and shows year round, but OH the horror movies I will be seeing this Fall! I'll be starting things off with The Visit (M. Night Shyamalan, one of my favorite filmmakers!) releasing September 11th. And next will be Eli Roth's The Green Inferno on September 25th. I know there are tons more coming out, plus all my scary shows will be starting back (The Walking Dead and American Horror Story, to name a couple). Right now, Fear the Walking Dead is running and it is GOOD!

Are you doing R.I.P. X? Feel free to join me for my plethora of events linked up in the paragraph above. As I always say...the more, the merrier!

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Wheel of Fortune Spin and R.I.P. VIII Lists

We are doing what is called a "Wheel of Fortune Spin" in my Fantasy Project challenge (thanks, Classics Club for the idea!). We make a list of 15 books from our lists and I will draw a number randomly tomorrow. Here is my list:

1. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, Amanda Grange
2. The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
3. Sunshine, Robin McKinley
4. Season of the Witch, Natasha Mostert  My spin selection
5. Prophecy of the Sisters, Michelle Zink
6. The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong
7. Marked, P.C. Cast/Kristin Cast
8. Blue Bloods, Melissa De La Cruz
9. Nightwalker, Jocelynn Drake
10. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
11. Good Omens, Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett
12. Dead Witch Walking, Kim Harrison
13. Blood and Chocolate, Annette Curtis Klaus
14. Evermore, Alyson Noel
15. Book of Lost Things, John Connolly

Check out my entire list for The Fantasy Project HERE. Check out the The Fantasy Project challenge HERE.

Click image for details and to sign up

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril, VIII

Read two books of any length that you believe fit within the R.I.P. categories.

I'm going to read at least two (plus the group read):

• Joyland, Stephen King
• Wheel of Fortune Spin selection- Season of the Witch, Natasha Mostert (curious? Look here)

This is for those of us that like to watch suitably scary, eerie, mysterious gothic fare during this time of year. It may be something on the small screen or large. It might be a television show, like Dark Shadows or Midsomer Murders, or your favorite film. If you are so inclined, please post links to any R.I.P.-related viewing you do on to the Review Site as well.

Insidious 2, anyone? I'll be seeing it the first weekend it's out. I can't wait! I'm also hoping to see a film called We Are What We Are. See the trailer HERE. It looks off the hook! I'm sure I will be watching more scary, as I LOVE horror films and anything remotely scary or creepy.

Finally, there's this...

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. This will be a re-read for me, but it's one of my favorite books and I've often thought I would read it again someday. Why not join in with others in reading it this time? Too right!

This goes perfectly with my Gothic September and Season of the Witch over at Castle Macabre this Fall!

Thanks to Carl for hosting once again. I look forward to his "challenges" every year!