What's the last book/books you finished?
What are you reading right now?
What's on your TBR?
I'm sorry I disappeared and slacked on the threads...and I swore I wouldn't too ...life has just been insanely busy with Brian deployed and the kids and school and dance and everything else. Anyway. I counted and I've read 30 books since the last thread so to keep this from being a mile long I'm only going to list the ones I really liked. I did "spooky" reads for October and has some real winners and several duds...
What's the last book/books you finished?
Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #3) by Ransom Riggs
This is the 3rd and final book in the Miss Peregrine Trilogy and I was not disappointed. I think this is an excellent YA series and really stands out from the regular "meh" stuff that's out for this reading level these days. I gave it 4 stars on goodreads.
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
I read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins last year and loved it. The Moonstone was just as enjoyable. Collins was a contemporary and friend of Charles Dickens so it's similar in that it's victorian era classical, but Collins has a very unique writing style and narration style that I really like. If you love classics you need to read this one. I gave it 4.5 stars.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
I love Neil Gaiman and can't believe I waited this long to pick up this little gem. It was exactly the short creepy read I wanted at exactly the right time. This is a middle grade story that seriously is scary as crap. The movie is not nearly as good. Read the book. I gave it 5 stars simply because I had such a good time reading it.
Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley
Susanna Kearsley is one of my "pre-order" authors..meaning that I love her so much, anything she puts out is an automatic buy for me. Named of the Dragon was published in the late 90's but this is it's first release in the US. This has been true for several of her earlier books after the success of The Winter Sea a few years ago. Her books are always going to be a good time. She is a great atmospheric writer and just a good enjoyable read. I gave this one 4 stars.
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
This was another perfect Halloweeny read for me. This is middle grade and the first book I've read by Jonathan Auxier. It was very good. I gave it 4 stars.
The Passage and
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
These have been on my TBR forever so I devoted October to them. I listened to the audiobooks for both and really enjoyed them. Looking forward to the last in the trilogy early next year and gave them both solid 4 stars.
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
This was my best read of October. Scary, great writing, cool atmosphere and the thing I loved most about it was the fact that it was written in the 70's and full cultural and pop cultural references that would be completely lost on a younger audience. Loved it. 4 stars
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
I listed to 2 audiobooks by Ray Bradbury in October...I wasn't that big a fan of Something Wicked This Way Comes, but The Halloween Tree was very good. It was narrated by Bronson Pinchot (remember Balki from Perfect Strangers??) and he was excellent..so creepy. This is a middle grade novella and just really good. I gave it 3.5 stars.
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
So David Mitchell is a unique author in that you're going along, thinking it's very much like a regular contemporary fiction type thing and then weird stuff happens and you're like..."wait, what?". I think most people really like him or really don't. I'm just kind of in the middle. I thought this was a good story, he is undoubtedly a brilliant writer...but the "weird stuff" for some reason just didn't seem to work for me. It pulled me out of the story instead of making it better and I'm not sure I'll invest any time on any of his other books.
The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5) by Diana Gabaldon
I'm slowly working my way through this series and I'm really glad I gave it a second chance. I will say though that if you don't enjoy the first few to the point of fandom..don't pick up this one because at over 1400 pages it is a tome and mostly just a minute by minute account of the characters day to day lives. Thankfully I'm in the fandom so I loved it. Just...Jamie and all the things and Jamie...just if you liked the first few then read it b/c...Jamie. I gave it 4 stars
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Somehow I made it all the way through college majoring in English and never got around to Persuasion. It wasn't my favorite Austen but still good. I gave it 3.5 stars.
The Sleeper and the Spindle
by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author), Chris Riddell (Illustrator)
When Gaiman and Chris Riddell team up it's always good. This is a graphic novel and a sort of mish-mash retelling of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. The illustrations are gorgeous but the hard cover is a hefty 21 dollars at BAM and I'm not sure it's worth that much. Still a good quick read.
What are you reading right now?
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
I'm trying to work my way through all of Charles Dickens' works. I've read a lot but there is still a lot to go. I'm about 1/3 through Little Dorrit and am really enjoying it so far.
The Werewolf of Bamberg (The Hangman's Daughter #5) by Oliver Pötzsch
I enjoy this series..it's probably not for everyone.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1)by J.K. Rowling, Jim Kay (Illustrator)
This book y'all...this book is gorgeous. If you weren't aware...Rowling and Jim Kay have teamed up to reelease the books fully color illustrated one each year for the next 7 years. This one was released in October and it is the most gorgeous thing ever. It also happens to be the perfect time for me to introduce DS to Harry Potter...he's never seen the movies, never read the books and at 10 years old is absolutely loving it. I wish so much I could go back and read them for the first time...this is like my 7th or 8th read of the first book lol but still so fun. If you are a Harry Potter superfan you need this book in your life.
What's on your TBR?
My goal in November/December is to finish this one...
S. by J.J. Abrams (Creator), Doug Dorst (Goodreads Author)
I got this one for my birthday last year and started it then but got so intimidated and didn't really know how to approach it so I put it down and haven't gone back to it.
Basically it's a book within a book. The actual physical book is a mock library "classic" (not a real classic) that is filled with ephemera and and entire other story written in the margins of the pages by the two main characters as if they were each taking the book off the shelf, writing to each other, filling it with stuff etc. I put it down b/c I couldn't decide how I wanted to approach it...read the book itself or the story in the margins or read them at the same time.
Anyway, it's on my TBR...other than that I'm going to focus on clearing off some of my kindle books b/c the number of books on there is ridiculous