Monday, August 20, 2007

CHALLENGE: 2007 RIP II ((Readers Imbibing Peril)

Then the shadows began to gather; first little furtive ones under the table, and then bolder ones in the dark panelled corners…~H.P. Lovecraft (The Strange High House in the Mist)



Carl says: Time for gothic tales and things that go bump in the night.
I've been looking forward to this challenge, and have been planning some books to read. There are several perils you can take for this one. This is part of what makes Carl's challenges so much fun; it's an adventure just deciding which peril to take.

A man [Ed. note: or woman] who limits his interests, limits his life.~Vincent Price (editorial addition by Carl V. Anderson)

I'm chosing Peril the First, read four stories of your choice. I had planned to read:

I also thought I'd read Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, which turns out to be An Additional Peril. It is being released as a paperback in Canada on September 19. Perfect. Aaand, I am considering reading that giant tome, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke for an online reading group, which almost becomes Peril the Third, a scary sandwich peril. I don't want to commit to that, as I may be committed trying to read that giant book. But I might. The option of a book list, with choices, is there too. I am in favor of this, because once the reviews start, I will see books I really want to read, and I want to be able to change my mind.

The book list of choices right now will include:

  • Twilight by Stephanie Myers
  • Never Let Me Go by Kazou Ishiguro
  • The Talented Mr Ripley
  • The Road by Cormac McCarthy
  • Lisey's Story by Stephen King
  • The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
  • Everything's Eventual by Stephen King

So, four books it is, plus Fragile Things. Let the spooky fun begin!

16 comments:

  1. Mr. Ripley and Shirley Jackson are on my list too!

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  2. You definitely should read The Thirteenth Tale and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell at some point, even if it isn't for this challenge. I've read them both and enjoyed them immensely.

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  3. Another The Thirteenth Tale reader. I really liked that book and I read it last year.

    Good luck on the challenge!

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  4. Oh...those are some great books!! I read Never Let Me Go last year. Very weird and strange....but good!! I'm so excited for this challenge!! I'm really looking forward to all the great book reviewst too!

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  5. gals - I've been waiting for this challenge too, and to especially read The Thirteenth Tale. I'm not sure if I'll get to Jon Strange...it looks so large. I hope to get to a lot, but there are only 2 months for the official challenge. The books all look so good. I haven't even checked out other lists yet!

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  6. Oooh, good choices. I've read The Talented Mr. Ripley - both the book by Highsmith and the screenplay. It's really creepy in both cases.

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  7. 'The Haunting of Hill House' has been a favorite of mine for years! I thought about adding it to my list for this year, but I felt it would be cheating, so I decided to read some of Shirley Jackson's short stories from 'The Lottery' instead. Look forward to reading your reviews!

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  8. bookfool - I hope I get to Mr Ripley, but I will eventually

    ex libris - I loved The Lottery story, so hopefully I'll like this too. I hope I'll get to it

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  9. I'm hoping to read the Montgomery book for this challenge as well, if I can get my hands on a copy of the book while the challenge is going on. :) Can't wait to read your reviews.

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  10. Great list! I've been curious about Among the Shadows and about The Thirteenth Tale, so I'm looking forward to your reviews.

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  11. I still need to put together my list and decide which peril to do. Isn't Carl creative? Your list looks great.

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  12. court - I love Montgomery, so the chance to read a spooky one was great. LM was quite tormented in her life.

    robin - I've got a friend who's been raving about The Thirteenth Tale, I can't wait to read it.

    booklogged - I've been planning already, that's why I was ready so fast. Carl is great!

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  13. I've got three of your four choices on my list as well. I've not heard of the LM Montgomery book. she is one of my favorites so I'll look for that review along with a chance to compare notes on the other three.

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  14. framed - I saw your list and was going to say 'copy-cat'! I was so excited to see a Montgomery book that fit this challenge. I'll check back to see how your reviews are going.

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  15. Nice list. I just finished reading The Thirteenth Tale last month and I loved it!!!

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  16. Thanks for posting a comment on my site, I meant to add your blog to mine (since I found yours early on)...I've added RIP ll to my site as well, and cheated - I read the Historian last month, so I added it to my challenge list! :-) By the way, I've read The Haunting of Hill House, it is one of my favourite scary books of all time, but as I said in my blog, I've lent the book to a friend and I can't remember who......thanks for welcoming me into the book blog world! And it's great you're Canadian too! I've only made it as far as New Brunswick so far, but one day hope to get to PEI - home of my favourite heroine growing up , yes Anne of Green Gables! which is probably going to go on my Canadian Book Challenge.

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Thanks for commenting, so nice of you to visit.

(I'll try without the letters for a while - so please dont be a spammer! Let's try no anonymous users)