Readers Imbibing Peril XIV – #RIPXIV

The days are growing cooler and the nights are beginning to draw in, which can mean only one thing – Autumn is on its way! I love this time of year, so what better way to mark the changing seasons than by participating in a suitably eerie Readathon? Two whole months of reading to enjoy. Want to know more about RIPXIV? Here you go…

Welcome to the FOURTEENTH year of Readers Imbibing Peril, or RIP, as it is affectionately called. The challenge runs from 1st September to 31st October. You can find full info by visiting the Readers Imbibing Peril blog.

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 goals are simple.

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

Multiple perils await you. You can participate in just one, or participate in them all. Check out the Readers Imbibing Peril  blog and pick your particular peril.

As a starting point I’ll aim for…

Peril the Second:

Read two books of any length that you believe fit within the challenge categories.

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.

Hopefully by the end of the event I’ll have managed…

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.

A Potential TBR List

I don’t have a definite reading/viewing plan at the moment, but glancing through my TBR pile/list, a few books have caught my attention, so I may read a selection from the following:

Halloween Party by Agatha Christie
Bone China by Laura Purcell
The Institute by Stephen King
Melmoth by Sarah Perry
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
NOS4R2 by Joe Hill
Dracul by Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker
Something by Shirley Jackson
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Feed by Nick Clark Windo
While You Sleep by Stephanie Merritt

Progress

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I’m really looking forward to one of my favourite reading events during my favourite season. Are you tempted to join in with #RIPXIV?

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Reading Review: August 2019

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

     

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

Total Library Books Read This Month: 2
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 2

Total Library Books Read 2019: 18
Total Own Books Read 2019: 3
Overall Total Books Read 2019: 21

MY READ OF THE MONTH

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It was such a different read, and has led to me wanting to read more by both these authors.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 8 books read. I’ve really fallen behind on this challenge at the moment, but I’d like to try and add at least a few more to this total. So far I’ve read:

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Poirot #35) by Agatha Christie
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
Taken at the Flood (Poirot #28) by Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie
The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

This year I’m having a go a something a little different – Beat the Backlist Bingo. I have no idea how many of these boxes I’ll manage to tick but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

  

Book with under 1000 Ratings on GoodReads – 830 for The Stranger Diaries at time of Completion.

Part of a trilogy – The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

New-to-me Author – Kate Mascarenhas with The Psychology of Time Travel

Cover with your Favourite Colour – Taken at the Flood (Poirot #28) by Agatha Christie

Title is a Name – In this case, the title contains the name – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie

Over 400 pages – The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly is 496 pages

Book to movie/show – Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

GOODREADS

So far this year I’ve read 21 books. I met my Goodreads challenge target of 20 books!

GOALS

• Added to my Backlist challenge.
• Discovered a new-to-me author this month in Terry Pratchett. I’d like to read more of his novels but am undecided as to whether I should start at the beginning and go in order, or whether I can pick at random and go for a story that appeals.
• Participated in the Bout of Books read-a-thon.

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So concludes August’s Reading Review. See you again next month.

Bout of Books 26 (August 2019) Goals and Daily Progress Updates

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 19th and runs through Sunday, August 25th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 26 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

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It’s time for a week of read-a-thon-ing! I’m looking forward to the latest Bout of Books as I’ve hopefully chosen some good books and I enjoy the daily reading updates on my blog.

As always I’ll be using this blog for updates during the read-a-thon.

Time Devoted to Reading

Hopefully at least half an hour each day, but ideally more…

My Goals

• To finish one book and start another.
• To keep track of my reading progress via daily updates
• To visit other blogs and comment regularly

Books to Read

• Shiang by C. F. Iggulden
• The Sword Saint by C. F. Iggulden
• A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

Updates

Monday

It’s Bout of Books time! Hopefully I’ll manage to make a good start so there’ll be something to mention in the way of progress tomorrow.

Tuesday (Monday’s Progress)

So, how was your first day of the read-a-thon?
I started Shiang and managed to read the first 50 pages. It’s a while since I read the first book in the series, Darien, but so far I’m really enjoying this one. I can’t believe it took so long for me to pick this up, and I already have the following book, The Sword Saint, just waiting for my reading attention.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  50
Total number of pages I’ve read:  50

Wednesday (Tuesday’s progress)

More progress on Shiang. I’m enjoying this book so far. If I do manage to finish it during this Bout of Books I’ll probably move straight on to the next in the series.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  65
Total number of pages I’ve read:  115

Thursday (Wednesday’s progress)

No reading progress to report today.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  0
Total number of pages I’ve read:  115

Friday (Thursday’s progress)

After a day of no reading I made better progress. I’ve finished A Head Full of Ghosts. I’ll probably post more on this book once Bout of Books is over.
For now, it’s back to reading Shiang.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  75
Total number of pages I’ve read:  190

Saturday (Friday’s progress)

Another day with no reading. Not good.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  0
Total number of pages I’ve read:  190

Sunday (Saturday’s progress)

Another 50 pages read. Not sure whether I’ll finish my latest read before the read-a-thon ends but I’ll have a go.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  50
Total number of pages I’ve read:  240

Monday (Sunday’s progress and final thoughts)

Final Summary posted HERE.

 

Reading Review: July 2019

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

     

A Book of Bones by John Connolly

Twisted by Steve Cavanagh

Total Library Books Read This Month: 2
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 2

Total Library Books Read 2019: 16
Total Own Books Read 2019: 3
Overall Total Books Read 2019: 19

MY READ OF THE MONTH

I think this month it has to be Twisted by Steve Cavanagh. I found it really hard to put this book down, and every time I thought I’d worked out who/what/why, the story went off in another direction that I’d never thought of.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 7 books read. I’ve really fallen behind on this challenge at the moment, but I’d like to try and add at least a few more to this total. So far I’ve read:

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Poirot #35) by Agatha Christie
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
Taken at the Flood (Poirot #28) by Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie
The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly

This year I’m having a go a something a little different – Beat the Backlist Bingo. I have no idea how many of these boxes I’ll manage to tick but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

  

Book with under 1000 Ratings on GoodReads – 830 for The Stranger Diaries at time of Completion.

Part of a trilogy – The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

New-to-me Author – Kate Mascarenhas with The Psychology of Time Travel

Cover with your Favourite Colour – Taken at the Flood (Poirot #28) by Agatha Christie

Title is a Name – In this case, the title contains the name – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie

Over 400 pages – The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly is 496 pages

GOODREADS

So far this year I’ve read 19 books.

GOALS

• Discovered a new-to-me author this month in Steven Cavanagh.
• I’ve posted my reviews quite promptly throughout the month, even though there haven’t been many as I’m reading quite slowly lately.
• I’m keeping up with my monthly update posts to keep track of my reading.

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So concludes July’s Reading Review. See you again next month

Reading Review: June 2019

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly

The Furies by Katie Lowe

Total Library Books Read This Month: 2
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 2

Total Library Books Read 2019: 14
Total Own Books Read 2019: 3
Overall Total Books Read 2019: 17

MY READ OF THE MONTH

The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly. This was my introduction to the Charlie Parker series. I’m very late to the series but I’m glad I found it through this book. I didn’t feel lost by making this my starting point, and it did set me up for the next book in the series, A Book of Bones.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 7 books read. I’ve really fallen behind on this challenge at the moment after receiving an influx in brand new library books, but I’d like to try and add at least a few more to this total. So far I’ve read:

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Poirot #35) by Agatha Christie
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
Taken at the Flood (Poirot #28) by Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie
The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly

This year I’m having a go a something a little different – Beat the Backlist Bingo. I have no idea how many of these boxes I’ll manage to tick but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

  

Book with under 1000 Ratings on GoodReads – 830 for The Stranger Diaries at time of Completion.

Part of a trilogy – The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

New-to-me Author – Kate Mascarenhas with The Psychology of Time Travel

Cover with your Favourite Colour – Taken at the Flood (Poirot #28) by Agatha Christie

Title is a Name – In this case, the title contains the name – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie

Over 400 pages – The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly is 496 pages

GOODREADS

So far this year I’ve read 17 books.

GOALS

• I’m keeping up with my monthly update posts to keep track of my reading.

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So concludes June’s Reading Review. See you again next month

Reading Review: May 2019

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

     

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie

A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher

Total Library Books Read This Month: 1
Total Own Books Read This Month: 1
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 2

Total Library Books Read 2019: 12
Total Own Books Read 2019: 3
Overall Total Books Read 2019: 15

MY READ OF THE MONTH

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher has to be my choice for this month. What a great read. I loved every page and was sorry to reach the end, even though I found it tough to tear myself away from reading just one more chapter. Definitely one to consider if you’re in search of something good to read.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is currently 6 books read. I’ve really fallen behind on this challenge at the moment after receiving an influx in brand new library books, but I’d like to try and add at least a few more to this total. So far I’ve read:

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Poirot #35) by Agatha Christie
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
Taken at the Flood (Poirot #28) by Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie

This year I’m having a go a something a little different – Beat the Backlist Bingo. I have no idea how many of these boxes I’ll manage to tick but it’s a little extra to add to my challenge.

 

Book with under 1000 Ratings on GoodReads – 830 for The Stranger Diaries at time of Completion.

Part of a trilogy – The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

New-to-me Author – Kate Mascarenhas with The Psychology of Time Travel

Cover with your Favourite Colour – Taken at the Flood (Poirot #28) by Agatha Christie

Title is a Name – In this case, the title contains the name – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie

GOODREADS

So far this year I’ve read 15 books.

GOALS

• I participated in Bout of Books. I always enjoy a good read-a-thon.
• I’m keeping up with my monthly update posts to keep track of my reading.

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So concludes May’s Reading Review. See you again next month

Bout of Books 25 (May 2019) Goals and Daily Progress Updates

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 25 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

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It’s Bout of Books time again! I always enjoy a read-a-thon, so hopefully this should be a good week of reading and blogging.

Time Devoted to Reading

I usually say half an hour per day, but hopefully just a starting point. I’d really like to read more.

My Goals

• To continue reading A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher
• To take part in Top Ten Tuesday this week, which has a page to screen theme
• To start another book, possibly one of the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly
• Keep track of my reading progress via daily blog updates
• Visit other blogs and no doubt add to my endless TBR list

Books to Read

• A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher
• A Book of Bones by John Connolly
• ???

Updates

Monday

I’m looking forward to sharing this week of reading and blogging during Bout of Books. I have a current read that I’m really enjoying, so that’s a good start. Let’s see how it goes…

Tuesday (Monday’s Progress)

I managed to get some great reading time in and read 50 pages of A Boy and His Dog… It’s a really great read, but there’s a note at the beginning asking that readers don’t give away any of the secrets so I’ll say no more for now.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  50
Total number of pages I’ve read:  50

Wednesday (Tuesday’s progress)

A day without reading? Not good.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  0
Total number of pages I’ve read:  50

Thursday (Wednesday’s progress)

Had a better day of reading and managed 40 pages. I don’t want to rush my book because I’m enjoying it so much. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  40
Total number of pages I’ve read:  90

Friday (Thursday’s progress)

Had a great time lost in my latest read. I think I’ll probably finish A Boy and His Dog… maybe today and I’ll definitely be sad to see it end. It’s been such a good read. Hope whatever I chose to start next proves to be just as good.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  75
Total number of pages I’ve read:  165

Saturday (Friday’s progress)

I’ve finished A Boy and His Dog… It was a great read. I didn’t know whether I’d have time to start a new book during this read-a-thon but it’s looking good.

Number of pages I’ve read today:  50
Total number of pages I’ve read:  215

Sunday (Saturday’s progress)

Oops, another day with no reading done!

Number of pages I’ve read today:  0
Total number of pages I’ve read:  215

Monday (Sunday’s progress and final thoughts)

Final Summary posted HERE.