Opinions of a Wolf

Carl‘s RIPVI is officially over. Sadness!  I love celebrating the crisp, fall air with some deliciously frightening reads.  As I promised, I did much better this year!  I signed up for Peril the First for which I had to read four books.  I read:

1. Hunt Beyond the Frozen Fire by Gabriel Hunt (review)
2. The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler (review)
3. My Life as A White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland (review)
4. Symphony of Blood by Adam Pepper (review)
5. Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge (review)
6. Horns by Joe Hill (review)
7. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey (review)

Wow!  Not only did I do better this year, but I almost doubled my goal!  Plus, every single one of those books came straight from my tbr pile, so the challenge really helped out with getting that smaller as well.  Of the books read for the challenge, I have to say that my favorite was The Monstrumologist.  It went straight to my keep forever bookshelf after I finished reading it.  I almost made it to eight books, but alas, I will be finishing Anne Rice’s The Mummy today. A bit late. ;-)

I also really enjoyed visiting other blogs to check in on what people thought of various spooky books I’ve read over time.  I think the most controversial one was probably The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James.  People seem to either love or hate the ambiguity in that book.  Also, I didn’t count or anything, but a ton of people seem to have read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.  It’s on my wishlist, so I didn’t visit the reviews, but it was fun to see a random spooky book get so many reads.  I’m sure that pleased the author and publishers as well.

RIP is everything that’s great about a reading challenge.  Loosely structured but with a theme and community and with multiple participation levels so everyone can get involved.  I can’t wait for next year!