Category: Ruminations

Out of the Shadows…

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

lavinia-portraitRIP1Happy Halloween!  Beware of ghosts and ghouls! 🙂

The end of October also marks the end of the Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) Challenge.  This two-month challenge focuses on horror and mystery…and while I don’t usually consider those my top genres, I always have fun with it!

Here’s the list of what I watched and read from the darker side…

  1. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
  2. The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
  3. Rivers of London/Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
  4. Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Peril on Screen

  1. Jane Eyre (1983 BBC Miniseries)
  2. The Invisible Man (1933)
  3. And Then There Were None (1945)

I seem to have trended towards the classics…which I can’t say really surprises me!  It’s been a fun and shivery fall, and now I’m looking forward to some sci fi for the winter…and I always look forward to fairy tales in the spring!

More immediately, the end of October also means National Novel Writing Month begins tomorrow.  I’m planning to participate for my third year, so come back tomorrow for my launch post, with some sneak peeks at writing plans.

2014 Reading Challenges, Three-Quarters Update

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations3 Comments

It’s the beginning of October, and that means time for another update on Reading Challenges!  I have to admit that I have not been paying a lot of attention to this over the summer…but I’ve managed to make at least some progress anyway.  I’ve grayed-out books read in the first half of the year, to make it easier to see recent updates.

Fairy Tales RetoldFairy Tales Retold Challenge

My goal here was 7-9 books for the official challenge (which only counts YA and Middle Grade), and 12-15 as a personal challenge, to leave some open slots for grown-up retellings.

  1. Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde (MG)
  2. Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley (YA)
  3. Enchanted by Alethea Kontis (YA)
  4. Hero by Alethea Kontis (YA)
  5. Half Upon a Time by James Riley (MG)
  6. Cress by Marissa Meyer (YA)
  7. Jack the Giant-Killer by Charles de Lint
  8. Princess of the Wild Swans by Diane Zahler (MG)
  9. The Castle Behind Thorns by Merrie Haskell (YA)

Not much going on with this one…something to focus on for the fall, clearly!  Anyone with a good recommendation on a retold fairy tale I should explore?

Continue reading “2014 Reading Challenges, Three-Quarters Update” →

Blog Hop: Reading a Hundred Years From Now

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop17 Comments

book blogger hopTime for another Book Blogger Hop question: How will we be reading in 100 years’ time? Will there be any printed books left? How about ereaders? What might they look like?

Such an interesting question!  I am sure much has been written on the subject by people far better informed than I, but here’s my particular theory on it… Continue reading “Blog Hop: Reading a Hundred Years From Now” →

Weighing Down the Shelves…

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations14 Comments

Before I get to the actual focus of this post, just a note about novel news!  Last week I told you The Storyteller and Her Sisters was available for pre-order on Kindle.  If Kindle’s not your thing, you can now pre-order other ebook formats through Smashwords!  All ebooks will be delivered, and the paperback will go on sale, on October 10th.

Now on to other business…

I’m really dreadful at keeping up with Top Ten Tuesday (even though it’s such a cool meme!) but every so often I see that they’ve done a neat topic I’d like to write on…so even though it’s Friday, and even though this was the topic for several weeks ago, today I’m going to write about the Top Ten Authors I Own the Most Books By.

1) Edgar Rice Burroughs: 56
It helps that he was extremely prolific.  There’s probably still a good 15 books I don’t own.  Though perhaps I should point out, of my 56, 54 of them work with the same two plots: the hero is castaway or the heroine is kidnapped, or both.

2) L. M. Montgomery: 47
You expected this one, right?  That breaks down into 21 novels, 12 collections of short stories (200 total stories), 6 volumes of her journals (7, but one is an abridged version of 2 others), 3 books of letters, 2 books of poetry, 2 collections of early writings, and 1 autobiography.  And…that’s going to stay as-is because there’s nothing else to buy, until someone digs out another archive and publishes something new.  (Though I also have two biographies and two collections of critical essays…) Continue reading “Weighing Down the Shelves…” →

Fall Reading and R.I.P.

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

lavinia-portraitRIP1It’s still hot where I live, but Autumn will soon be upon us…and that means it’s time for the Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) Challenge.  This is another seasonal/genre-focused reading challenge hosted by Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings.  In keeping with crackling leaves and dusky breezes, this challenge focuses on horror and mystery and stories that make you shiver!

I am very late signing up this year…  The challenge began September 1st, and I only just realized it.  I get distracted for a week and see what happens!  In my defense, although I love all of Carl’s challenges, this one is a distant third.  The spring Once Upon a Time challenge?  Yeah, I may be guilty of checking for the sign-up post multiple times a day as the date approaches… 😉

Even if this one is not quite so beautifully-aligned with my favorite genres, I still always enjoy a walk on the darker side with this challenge.  And I may have been subconsciously preparing for this after all!  I just completed an Agatha Christie audiobook (finished September 3rd) and then began a listen to The Invisible Man, which strikes me as horror.  So you can expect those two reviews soon, and I also just put a Sherlock Holmes novel on reserve at the library, because I always like to get some Holmes in during this challenge.

Beyond that?  The Invisible Man has put me in the mood for old classic horror films, so I may be hunting down a few of those…  And beyond that?  I think I’ll just see how the wind blows!