Moan! Howl! Sob! It's the end of the Readers.Imbibing.Peril season. It seemed to go by so quickly this year and I still have tons of books that I wish I had gotten to. And yet ...
Here is what I was able to read through September and October, with blurbs for the books I haven't reviewed yet and stars next to my super favorite books --
Twelve Minutes to Midnight - Christopher Edge
A Lesson in Secrets - Jacqueline Winspear
Shadows of the Silver Screen - Christopher Edge
*Constable & Toop - Gareth P. Jones
Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line - Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham
Shada - Douglas Adams and Gareth Roberts
*Murder on the Home Front - Molly Lefebure
*The Supernatural Elements - Edgar Cantero
A Blunt Instrument - Georgette Heyer
I didn't review this one because, well, it's pretty much like all of her other mysteries. There's an element of vice, a bunch of loathsome characters, and an unexpected romance. It did have a nice twist as to who the murderer was though. Still, there are better choices if you want to read a Heyer mystery.
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains - Neil Gaiman
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| Poppet and Widget, found on fanpop (artist unknown) |
I ended up doing my reread of this one as an audiobook (Jim Dale). I loved the story just as much (if not more) as I did last year. I absolutely can't wait for the movie ... and my next reread!
The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century - Harold Schechter
This is an account of the trial of Roland Molineau for the poisoning death of Mrs. Katherine Adams, landlady to Harry Cornish, recipient of an anonymous package containing a vial of Bromo Seltzer that turned out to be poison. It builds a strong case against Molineau for both this case and that of Henry Barnet, another victim of an anonymously sent poison. Because the outcome of the real-life case was not very satisfactory, this was something of an exercise in educated speculation.
*The Gates - John Connolly
*The Infernals - John Connolly
*The Creeps - John Connolly
The first two books were rereads and The Creeps is the final book in the Samuel Johnson series. I wanted to read the whole series at once and it sure was fun! These books are so well written and enjoyable. Even the side characters are interesting. The stories are a mix of fantasy and science fiction, with some real science (and lots of footnotes) thrown in for fun. And Samuel and his dachshund Boswell are so lovable that I wish there were going to be dozens more books.
The Graveyard Book, Volume One - Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book, Volume Two - Neil Gaiman
This House is Haunted - John Boyne
The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket (today on The Estella Society)
*Jackaby - William Ritter
Soul Music - Terry Pratchett
I'm about halfway through this one, the third Death novel (and my eighth read) in the Discworld universe. I'm really enjoying it (yay, Susan!) and I'll try and finish it today.
A Night in the Lonesome October - Roger Zelazny
And I'm definitely finishing this one today as it's October 31st and that's the last chapter (they are numbered, one for each day of the month). I've been faithfully reading a chapter a day and it has been quite an adventure. It wasn't until October 26th when things were really explained but I had guessed most of what was going on already. This is definitely a book for fans of classic horror and detective stories (Lovecraft, Shelley, Stoker, Doyle and more). I have a suspicion that I'll read it again next year now that I understand more of what is going on! (Thank you to Chicago Review Press for sending me a review copy to celebrate their new printing of the book.)
So, let's see how I did ... RIP Books Read: 22. Holy cow. My absolute favorites were Constable & Toop, The Supernatural Enhancements and Jackaby. I was very happy to get two non-fiction reads in as well. And, best of all, there wasn't a single dud in the whole batch so it was a great season of perilous reads! Now I'll be sad to leave RIP season behind me but I'll also be happy to pick up some of the other types of books I have queued up for the rest of fall and winter.
How was your RIP reading season? What was your favorite book?
Finally, DWJ fans, don't miss the beginning of Witch Week today! My post on The Power of Three will be up tomorrow. I've got a post scheduled with the link.
Until we meet again (on a dark and stormy night),
K
You did fantastic for R.I.P. Now it's time to count down for Once Upon a Time. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm fully aware of that. ;)
DeleteI finished Lonesome October already -- I had a hard time limiting myself to one chapter a day! The blurbs I had read sort of gave away the whole premise, which as you say was not supposed to really come to light until near the end. I wonder what Zelazny would think about that.
ReplyDeleteI really try to go into books without much info these days. It makes reading more fun (this book is a good case in point!). I still think another read will be good though now that I know what is going on. :)
DeleteWow!! How'd you manage to read 22 books for this challenge and I barely managed 2? You are a FIEND.
ReplyDeleteI did it by only reading RIP books for two months. It's easy ... you just change out the top shelf of your TBR bookshelf to all RIP reads and ignore all of the other pretty books until November 1. I have to admit that it feels really good to switch it up now though. :)
DeleteYou are the master of RIP every year and I love it!!
ReplyDeleteI really want to read Supernatural Enhancements. I'm thinking I'm going to add it to my list of books for Christmas. The Gates I still haven't gotten to (again), but I'm hoping to read it before the end of the year too. Since I didn't get as much reading in as I had hoped for RIP, I'm just going to continue with the books I set aside through the next couple of months instead.
Thank you. I'm glad you see my overachievement as a positive and not as a sign that I have a problem. ;)
DeleteAnd I have a couple that I didn't get to that I'll keep on my top shelf. If I didn't read these types of books at all through the rest of the year, my RIP months would be even more ridiculous!