Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Bookmarks Magazine

Books that looked interesting in the September/October 2009 Bookmarks Magazine:

The Children’s Book - A.S. Byatt
The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood
Mao’s Last Dancer - Li Cunxin NF
Commissario Guido Brunetti Series - Donna Leon
People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexander Dumas
Censoring an Iranian Love Story - Shahriar Mandanipour
Angel’s Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Fordlandia -Greg Grandin NF
Death with Interruptions - Jose Saramago (S)
Inherent Vice - Thomas Pynchon (S)
The Strain - Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (S)

Sunday, November 01, 2009

RIP IV Wrap Up

It is hard to believe that the RIP IV challenge is over. I originally signed up for Peril the Second which meant that I was committed to reading two books. I read:

Hell House
Turn of the Screw
Pride Prejudice and Zombies
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
Thirteenth Tale
House of Leaves

I guess I could have signed up for Peril the First but I appreciate Carl giving us options to participate as little or as much as we can. Each of the books was so different and I enjoyed them all. If I had to pick I would say that House of Leaves and Pride Prejudice and Zombies were my favorites. House of Leaves was the scariest house I have ever encountered and I enjoyed its experimental format and Pride Prejudice and Zombies was just plain fun. For short stories you cannot beat M.R. James and I really enjoyed Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.

I am sorry that I didn't get around to Master and Margarita but I bought it so perhaps next year if not sooner. There are 693 reviews posted and I haven't gotten around to all of them yet so I am sure my wish list will be growing. I also ran across an interesting article in the Washington Post that asked famous writers to identify their favorite frightening tale - more fodder for the wish list. Thanks Carl for hosting a great challenge and I cannot wait for next year!