TTT: Halloween Freebie

Top Ten Tuesday is a blog meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

(This is technically next week's Top Ten Tuesday, but I had to choose my favorite between the two options for this post. This won out.)

I never really did Halloween growing up. For me, October was all about the annual Dark and Stormy Night murder mystery program my library would host. It included guest mystery authors and a mystery writing contest, so most of my suggestions are more 'creepy' than straight-up 'Halloween'.

Suggested Halloween Reads:

Dracula by Bram Stoker
I'm in the middle of this right now and it's way more than I expected. Granted, having never seen any of the movies or anything, I'm not really sure what I did expect. But this is more than a story of a guy who drinks blood and it's kind of freaking me out. I love it.

I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells
Dudes. Dudes. I recently read this book. I haven't posted my review yet, but it's coming and this. Is. Amazing. I'm not into really scary books or gore or slashers or anything and I LOVE THIS BOOK. (I've already finished the series to date, which kind of tells you how much I loved it.) I could not put this down. It's disturbing and amusing and even more disturbing because you're amused by it. It's also deep, with incredible character depth and development, and a fantastic plot for these great characters. This is probably my Most Blown Away Read of the year.

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Yes, his name is really Odd. But it fits, because he can see ghosts. Odd Thomas does his best to help them move on to the afterlife, and a lot of times that means solving murders and possibly tangling with demonic forces. I love this series.

Desolate Angel by Chaz McGee
Okay, I'm only 40 pages into this book right now, but I love it. It's the first of the Dead Detective series about the ghost of a homicide detective who failed at everything in life and, in death, finds the chance to fix some of his mistakes and do some good.

Tales from the Haunted Mansion, vol 1: The Fearsome Foursome by Amicus Arcane
I haven't technically started this but it's got to be good, right? IT'S A HAUNTED MANSION BOOK.


Suggested Halloween Movies:


Charade
This is a murder mystery, not a Halloween film. Starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, it's a thriller with lots of laughs -Cary Grant is always good for a laugh- when Hepburn's character discovers her late husband was murdered for something that now belongs to her.

The Thin Man
Just a straight-up, good ol' fashioned murder mystery with lots of laughs and lots of gin. William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora; based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett. (The sequel, After the Thin Man, also stars Jimmy Stewart. Bonus!)

Arsenic and Old Lace
Number one. Numero uno. If you only watch one movie this month, make it this Cary Grant thriller/comedy about a newlywed who finds a body in the window seat. What makes it Halloween appropriate (other than Murder Most Foul)? It all happens on one day. October 31st.

Coraline
Nothing is as creepy as the Other Mother.

Heart and Souls
Halloween? Okay, maybe not. But there are ghosts! Four ghosts are linked to a baby born at the moment of their deaths. When that baby grows up to be a workaholic Robert Downey Jr., the ghosts discover they're meant to use him as a method for completing their unfinished business -whether he likes it or not!

My To-Watch List:
The Mummy, Nosferatu, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, & The Wolfman

What does your Halloween reading/watching forecast look like?

TTT: My Fall TBR REVISITED

Okay. Two weeks ago I did the Fall TBR post and I've realized none of the books I'm actually working on reading EVEN MADE THE LIST. And since I'm trying to maintain my sanity and actually use TBRs as good organizing tools instead of impossible challenges, I'm amending my Fall TBR to something realistic for me.
First things first: The Fall TBR will be read between October and November 25th.

There. Now I have a deadline.   

Top Ten Tuesday is a blog meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

1. Iron Man: The Gauntlet by Eoin Colfer
No way in heck is this changing!
Yeah. No brainer. I haven't shut up about this book since it was announced and it releases on October 25th. LET THE COUNTDOWN COMMENCE! And I've already pre-ordered it. (You can too! We're talking a $9.65 hardcover pre-order from Barnes and Noble, people; don't think, just do it.)

2. The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey
Sitting on my up-next shelf as we speak!
I'd never heard of this, but I picked it up at a thrift store. It's a Beauty and the Beast retelling and I've got a list of those I want to read before March. (Gee, wonder why...)
Double bonus! I've been hearing recently about Lackey's Elemental Masters series, which sounds phenomenal. Turns out this is the beginning of that. Score.

3. Who Killed Albus Dumbledore? edited by John Granger
This has been sitting on my shelf for two weeks already. Why didn't I add it in the first place?!
This is way too much fun to pass up. Six essay/fan theories on what happened in Half-Blood Prince and what it means for Deathly Hallows, published before book seven came out. I've flipped through and it looks *fantastic!* Definitely stuff here I totally missed out on since I was a latecomer to the series. Like, there's a theory Slughorn took on Dumbledore's identity? So Dumbledore's really still alive?
It escapes no one's notice the editor's name is 'Granger', either.

4-6 Dead Girls Detective Agency by Suzy Cox, Desolate Angel by Chaz McGee and Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet
These stay, because OCTOBER IS MURDER MYSTERY MONTH!
October is always 'murder mystery' month for me, born of the annual theme at the library where I grew up and the fact that my family didn't celebrate Halloween, so every year about this time I try to read some nice good murders and these three are already on the list. We'll see if I can make it through any of them. Murder mysteries are notoriously sticky for me to explore; I tend to like stuff a little grittier than cozies, but that usually means they're nowhere near clean, either.

7. Dracula by Bram Stoker
Again, I knew it would be read. Why didn't I add it?!
Book club pick for the month!

8. The Faerie Reel edited by Ellen Datlow 
Anthology of short stories. I didn't add it initially, because I figured it would be sort of 'on the side' reading. But I never really do 'on the side' reading. It's all in or nothing!

9. Vicious by V.E. Schwab
If you've lost count on how many times this has popped up on one of these season TBRs, you're not alone. I have too. But the next time this title pops up on my blog, it will be in sidebar 'What I'm Reading' section and then in a review because, come on, this is getting ridiculous.

10. Pwned by Shannen Crane Camp
Another title that's been on my TBR for a while, which turns a few cliches on their heads. Beautiful, popular, cheerleader co-captain Reagan West has a dark secret: she's a die-hard gamer, which is basically Loser Central.

Bonus 11: Marvel's Original Sin and Civil War
I'm way behind on my comic reading, so I'm going to start setting aside at least one night a week to devote to comics. No exceptions!
Before Captain America: Civil War hit theaters, I planned to read the comic, but the comic was actually the last in a grand story arc so I had to read the rest of them. I got through the rest of them, but never actually made it to Civil War. Huzzah.
Original Sin made the list because I went to read the next issue of the Loki: Agent of Asgard and had no bloody clue what was going on.

So what remains are the, er, remains of my original Fall TBR, so we're calling this my backup. IF I get through the others, IF I have time, this will be next. Ahhh, I feel so much better... ^_^


Aftermath and Aftermath: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig
These are from my shelf and I'm rather ashamed I haven't gotten around to them yet. But seeing as the final book is due out in February, I ought to get them into my system. Also, I'm hoping it gives a good transition from Empire to First Order. *fingers crossed*

Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
The sequel just hit the new book display at my library and it looks and sounds like a library lover's dream.

What are you reading this fall?
And are you any better at finishing TBR lists than I am?

It's Monday! Here's what I'm reading...

Look! I found a new book meme!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I read last week:

The Devil's Only Friend by Dan Wells
This is book four in the John Cleaver series and, yeah, I'm in love. This concept/genre is so not up my alley I almost didn't pick up the first book -I Am Not A Serial Killer- but I'm glad I did. IT'S SO GOOD. Review to come.

Original Sin #2 by Jason Aaron
This Marvel comic is on my Fall TBR, so *score*.

The Rocketeer #1 by Dave Stevens
OHMYGOSH I'M SO EXCITED I FOUND THIS! I loooove the movie and I've wanted to read the comic for ages and I just stumbled across it at my library. LOVE IT.

What I'm currently reading:

Over Your Dead Body by Dan Wells
Book five of the John Cleaver series and I don't have the heart to fly through it in a night like I did the other four. Don't get me wrong; I love it! But it's also a fairly recent release so even if it doesn't turn out to be the last book in the series (I have no idea; kind of dreading looking it up), I'll have a long wait for the next one.

Dracula by Bram Stoker
This is my book club's pick this month and, oh gee, look at that, book club date draws nigh! I'm actually excited to read this, because it's one I never thought I would, but I've recently been getting into the 'Silver Scream' favorites.

The Faerie Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm edited by Ellen Datlow
An anthology of short stories regarding the Otherworld and fairy folk. So far, I like it, and it helps get me into the mood for my current work in progress. Bonus!

What I'm Reading Next:

 


The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey
Another from my Fall TBR, it's both a Beauty and the Beast retelling, which I'm trying to read a ton of before March, and it's ground zero for Lackey's Elemental Masters series which has been on the back of my TBR for awhile.

Desolate Angel by Chaz McGee
I've heard very mixed reviews on this mystery series whose main character is a dead detective, but I snuck the first chapter in before work one day and I'm so excited to read it.






Did you notice that only one of my current titles in from my Fall TBR? I sure did. I'm going to be redoing that tomorrow.

What are you currently reading?