From ghoulies and ghosties,
Long-leggety beasties,
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us. - Anonymous
On to Carl's RIP II challenge: This is the comment I left upon hearing of the Challenge:
I'm totally in! I'll be reading The Other by Thomas Tryon, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest and Strangers by Taichi Yamada for starters. This year, I'm back to my reading self! I even have a book from my childhood that I'll be rereading...can't wait! I'll be posting a picture of the books as soon as I get in...in a nice stack!
Well, I did it! Although I didn't read all the books I said I would...I ended up making some substitutions. Out of the original list, I read Strangers by Taichi Yamada, which I really enjoyed; to that I added The Twilight Series (3 big books) by Stephanie Meyer, and in doing so, found a new author to adore! I also read Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause and 2 short stories: "Sredni Vashtar", from the book, "More Tales to Tremble By" and "Bored Tom", from - Strange Happenings: Five Tales of Transformation by Avi.
Peril the 1st completed! Thanks, Carl, for this challenge. It was fun, and allowed me to meet interesting some folks!
This, the sixth and final book I read for Carl's RIP II challenge, was by far the sexiest: Rises The Night by Colleen Gleason.
Ooooh la la! Victoria, the heroine, ends her period of mourning (for her deceased husband) in a spectacular scene featuring Sebastian, who is the most lust-worthy thing since Professor Snape, in my not so humble opinion. I'd even go so far as to say he's stiff (oops) competition for Captain Jack Sparrow, and that's saying a lot!
Anyway, mind out of the gutter...I enjoyed this book even more than Colleen's first, The Rest Falls Away. It was more suspenseful, with bloodier vampire bites (and sexier, too...oops... slipped into the gutter again, sorry), lots of intrigue and a bit of sadness-- Victoria endures a tragic loss. The setting, nineteenth-century Rome, was fantastic, with many little details that really set the mood.
Here's an excerpt from Colleen's website:
The sea of chanting, bright-eyed faces was at her eye level for only a moment before she was dragged to her feet. Victoria had an instant to grope for her vis before she swung out at the vampires who came at her.
She kicked and dodged and punched, had the satisfaction of meeting one of them in the face, and was reaching back to pull a stake from her hair when her arms were grabbed and pulled down to her sides. Dimly aware that it had taken two vampires, one at each arm, to do so, she ducked and tried to twist free.
The grip was too strong; she couldn't break it. She couldn't get to her stakes, her holy water, her crucifix ... hands were on her everywhere, pulling at her dress, her arms, her legs, her breasts. She felt her head being jerked to one side by the hair, felt her coiffure loosen and her neck bare to the sweet-smelling room. The dull, pasty smell of blood on the breath of the vampire nearest her filled her nose, pushing away even the hypnotic scent of the incense.
When his teeth sank into her neck it was almost a relief.
Yeah, baby! Vampire bites...woohoo!
Second Book of Four, from Peril the First: Strangers by Taichi Yamada
This book was intriguing to me, in more ways than one. Yes, it's a supernatural ghost story, which I love...AND it was set in Japan, one of my favorite places. Can one fall in love with a country? Sure! But that's not the subject at hand, is it.
I think what we can learn from this book is to go ahead and make an effort to care more, to help not just strangers, but friends and neighbors (and not just help, but LISTEN to). If only he had done so, none of what followed would've happened.
An especially nice touch was that he couldn't see what was happening to himself. We never really do, you know?
Great book, give it a read!
Welcome, October!!!
For Carl's RIP II challenge, from Peril the Second, I give you: The Twilight Series (3 BIG books) by Stephanie Meyer.
Once I started reading the first book; Twilight, I realized I had to get the other two immediately; New Moon and Eclipse). Because these books just reach out and GRAB you, I wanted to fly through them, but I took my time, finishing in about a week. Yes, I know these books are BIG! The day I finished, the author was at a book signing at our local Barnes and Noble; I didn't stop by cause I felt ... like a fan girl, a stalker, and I'm MUCH too old for that ;-)
Anyway, I really, REALLY enjoyed all three books. Bella and Edward are the central characters; Bella is a human and Edward a vampire, who is, of course, HOT!!! Jacob becomes a central character rather quickly; Jacob is Bella's friend from childhood, who becomes a werewolf.
What a fun read! This is what a young adult story should be like. Bella and Edward are VERY attracted to each other, in all senses of the word; I love when Edward says how GOOD she smells (he means her blood). Edward, because he's more than 100 years old, altho he became a vampire at 17, want to marry Bella...and wants to wait until they're married before they get together. Sweet! So old fashioned, so refreshing, such a change from 11 year olds wearing mini skirts and tight tops.
I'd like to thank Carl for recommending this series in his first post about RIP II! It's always a pleasure to find a new author you enjoy!
Short Story Sunday Peril No. 2: "Bored Tom", from - Strange Happenings: Five Tales of Transformation by Avi
It's a VERY good thing that my Nana taught me that those who say they're bored are boring; as a consequence, I NEVER say I'm bored; in fact, I rarely am! Who wants to be thought of as boring? Of course, some people might think it of me anyway, but that's their problem.
Basically, this short story is a caution to children...be careful what you wish for...and also, enjoy life! Find SOMETHING you enjoy...anything...*shudder*
This was also the message of the movie, Harold and Maude...but I digress.
Short Story Sunday Peril No. 1: "Sredni Vashtar", from the book, "More Tales to Tremble By"
Who or what is Sredni Vashtar, you might ask? Well...I'll tell you a bit about him.
He belonged to a boy named Conradin. Conradin was 10 years old and not long for this world. Because of this, Conradin had quite the imagination...or WAS it imagination? Sredni, who looked like a ferret, lived in a disused tool shed, in a forgotten corner of dull, cheerless garden of a once stately home.
Mrs. De Ropp, Conradin's cousin and guardian, took only the most basic care of Conradin. SHE had no imagination whatsoever. Conradin would pray to the great god Sredni Vashtar, "Do one thing for me, Sredni Vashtar." over and over. One day, as Conradin prayed to Sredni Vashtar, long minutes passed by. Starlings ran and flew in little parties across the lawn; finally, Sredni Vashtar granted Conradin's wish.
Later that day, the maid said: "Tea is ready; where is Mistress De Ropp? Conradin replied: "She went down to the shed some time ago."
And while the maid went to summon her mistress to tea, Conradin fished a toasting fork our of the sideboard drawer and proceeded to toast himself a piece of bread. The loud, foolish screaming of the maid made him smile; then he heard someone say "Whoever will break this news to the poor child"? Conradin smiled...and made himself another piece of toast.
You wouldn't want to run afoul of Conradin and Sredni Vashtar!
First up for Carl's challenge is Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause.
Started reading this Friday night when I went to bed, read for a bit, slept, and finished on Saturday. Quick read, easy to get through, interesting. BUT...I'm surprised this book is specifically for ages 13 and up, what with all the rough sex hinted at (and not very obliquely). Hmmm...
It reminded me very much of Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire mysteries; the werewolves in those books are similar...rough, biker types, etc.
Still and all, I liked it and am interested, after reading the excerpt included in this book, another of Ms. Klause's books, The Silver Kiss, which is about vampires.
