I thought this deserved a post of its own. I joined another challenge. I couldn't resist, as it combines two of my favorite things: reading, and Halloween. Halloween is my favorite holiday by far. So the idea here is that you read books that are creepy or scary or generally halloween-y. A much better explanation can be found here: http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/?p=745
These are the books I have chosen for the challenge (which--yikes!--started Saturday), along with a brief (very brief) explanation of why I chose it (in no particular order):
The Door to December by Dean Koontz.
I chose this book because it was on my bookshelf, had never been read, and fit the genre. I've never actually read Koontz, so I'm hoping it doesn't suck. 510 pages of suckiness will be rough.
Valiant--A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black.
I wanted to find a young adult book that I could recommend/share with my students. It looks interesting: a teenage runaway living with squatters under the NYC subways. We'll see...
The Regulators by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King)
There is not much King I haven't read, but this is one of the few.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
It is embarassing to admit that I have not read the Harry Potter series. I read the first one, and I might have read this one too but I can't remember. So if I did I will switch it for the third. I wasn't as enthralled by book one as the rest of the population, but I think that's because I'm a Chronicles of Narnia snob. So I'm going to open my mind a bit.
So that's the plan! All four must be read by October 31, which means I've better get cracking! That's about 1700 paperback pages...
These are the books I have chosen for the challenge (which--yikes!--started Saturday), along with a brief (very brief) explanation of why I chose it (in no particular order):
The Door to December by Dean Koontz.
I chose this book because it was on my bookshelf, had never been read, and fit the genre. I've never actually read Koontz, so I'm hoping it doesn't suck. 510 pages of suckiness will be rough.
Valiant--A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black.
I wanted to find a young adult book that I could recommend/share with my students. It looks interesting: a teenage runaway living with squatters under the NYC subways. We'll see...
The Regulators by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King)
There is not much King I haven't read, but this is one of the few.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
It is embarassing to admit that I have not read the Harry Potter series. I read the first one, and I might have read this one too but I can't remember. So if I did I will switch it for the third. I wasn't as enthralled by book one as the rest of the population, but I think that's because I'm a Chronicles of Narnia snob. So I'm going to open my mind a bit.
So that's the plan! All four must be read by October 31, which means I've better get cracking! That's about 1700 paperback pages...
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3 comments:
Welcome to the challenge, so glad you are joining in.
I wouldn't be embarrassed about not having read Harry Potter, you are not alone, I haven't read a word of any of them.
This should be a fun challenge. You asked about blog suggestions, and the best one I can give is to visit other book blogs...that is the best way to increase traffic to your own site.
Another way is to make sure you post links to your R.I.P. book reviews on the review site...people will come. It is always a slow process building up a group of blog friends, but it is a satisfying one.
If you need any other help, don't hesitate to ask. I'm no computer genius, but I do know some stuff.
Oh, and by the way, as far as Valiant goes, I would definitely read it BEFORE recommending it. I read the first book in the series, Tithe, and enjoyed it well enough. It did have some sexually disturbing stuff in it that may or may not be appropriate for teens, it obviously depends on what one thinks is appropriate. When I picked up Valiant I got a few chapters in when I decided it just wasn't something I cared about. The stuff that happened in the opening chapters just didn't make me want to read the rest of the book, which is a shame because I think Black is a talented writer and I really loved her work with Tony DiTerlizzi on The Spiderwick Chronicles. Again, it is all a matter of opinion. There is certainly a good deal of sexual subject matter in Blood and Chocolate and Annette Curtis Klause's newest books Freaks, both of which I really liked. I guess the darker element of it in Black's books just didn't appeal to me.
You may still like Harry Potter. I read #1 when it came out and was not impressed and then it wasn't until the 3rd one came out that my stepmom convinced me to give them another shot. #2 is much better than the first and #3 got me hooked.
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