Readers Imbibing Peril 13 - Book Recs so Far

Usually in the Fall my reading turns in a more focused way to thrillers and horror. I actually read them all year around. I also wear skulls and raven jewelry all year around, too, but it just becomes more concentrated in September with a slight fading by January. 

Anyway, this year I learned of something called Readers Imbibing Peril from my good reading buddy Sarah Says Read and figured I’d sign up. I love signing up for things that I already planned to do!  

I've read six books so far that I'm going to count, with two in the works. Here’re a couple of good ones I’ve read so far, not counting A Study in Scarlet Women, which I talked about in my last summary post and really enjoyed.

What I've Been Reading: September Reads

I don’t think I’m too late to talk about my September Reads, am I? Haha! I don’t care what you think! I’m gonna do it!!

One of the things that I notice about my reading is that when I am busy, I tend to read more audiobooks with fewer print books completed. And September includes 11 days of Rochester Fringe Festival! Which is AWESOME!! Here’s some pics!! At the end of September, I had 3 books that were just hanging out on my “currently reading” shelf.  None of them were bad, they just weren’t calling me back to them after I got distracted. I’ve moved them all off the shelf and returned them to the library. Maybe they will find me again when I’m a person who can appreciate them.

Let’s see… The good, the bad, and the I only read this because book club made me:

Series Review: Jasper Dent by Barry Lyga

I kicked off the Horror-tober reading a day early with I Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent #1) the last day of September. Here’s that review.

I finished the second and third in the series and figure I would review the series, which I usually don’t bother with. But I usually don’t read a series all at once, either, so I guess we’ll see how it goes. I’ve tried to be spoiler free but I’m not sure I actually know how to do that. If you are worried about that, do not collect $200. 

In summary, this story is about Jasper Dent, the 17 year old son of the world’s most notorious serial killer. Good ‘ol dad, Billy, raised Jasper with a health respect for cops, a disdain for the media, and Billy’s intrusive thoughts about how to tie up and kill women. The details related to the murders in this series are graphic but it’s really the way that Jasper and Billy think/ talk about humans and their bodies that send shivers up your spine. If you shy away from gore and the range of terrible things that people do to each other, don't read this series. 

Book Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (Horror-tober)

If I could stick with a theme for a whole month it would definitely be Spooky October or something. Horror-tober! And this book would fit right in. But let’s not get carried away. You know as well as I do I will forget any plan to focus on scary/ horror books this month. My attention span just isn’t that long. But, here’s a review anyway!

The Goodreads summary:

What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

What I Had to Say About it:

If I die before reading all these books - Books in Progress (#NaBloPoMo)

A few years ago, I heard someone say something like: After a person dies, you can tell what they loved by how they spent their time and their money. I was already a pretty active volunteer at that time (I think I was at a Girl Scout event) but I also set up a few automatic charitable donations shortly thereafter. I realized that I didn't want the useless junk I buy for myself to speak louder than the causes I care about. Thinking about that today, before I head into surgery, led me to thinking about what my current Books in Progress would tell someone if they were looking after I died. Just to clarify, though, I have no worries that this surgery is going to go badly and I know I'll be super healthier once my defective uterus is feeding the fishes. So to speak.

Anyway, Here's what I'm reading... kind of.

Clockworkers by Ramsey Isler. Now, I added this book to my #TBR list at the end of 2014. And the last time I posted that I was supposedly reading it was August 2015. The problem is not the book. I really like this cute story (it's cute so far) about a girl who finds out her father new elves. Suspicion and high jinks ensue. It would be a quick read if I would just sit and read it. I have it on my kindle app on my phone and have been slowly working my way through it whenever I am stuck somewhere without a regular or audio-book. But I ALWAYS have a book, so it's like the pretty girl at the dance with an empty dance card. I will read this. I will. I've nominated it a couple of times for the #BlerdBookClub chat just to give me a deadline!! It didn't work.

The Pox Party: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson. Matt is a writer I admire for his work but also for his way with the kids. But this audio-book is kind of boring. I'd tried to read it in print form and that was kind of boring, too. I think it's because of the style of the language. The shitty thing, for me though, is that I really want to know what happens!! Again, I like his style and his stories. I'm just not that into Octavian.

The Child Thief by Brom. This book has been getting a lot of buzz, lately. Or maybe that's just in my world. I've only made a small inconsequential dent in this massive tome. Massive. It's almost 500 huge pages. It's a Peter Pan horror retelling and I really like it so far. The author is also an artist and the pictures in the books are beautiful. But it's too big to carry around for general purpose. I'm taking it to the hospital with me. 

So basically, if someone were to take a look at my reading in progress, they'd think I was into fairy tales (true), have trouble finishing things with no clear deadline (true), and love reading (true). Maybe they would see me as whimsical, a fun- loving kind of gal. I think those are the nice words for Heads in the Clouds and immature, right? The thing about being judged is that judgments really tell you as much about the judge-r as they do about the judge-ee. 

Ultimately, and most importantly, if I ever don't make it home for whatever reason, someone please return my library books!!