Good morning, fellow Salon Members! It has been positively an age since I participated in the Salon, but I've felt out of the loop for so long now that I took a big step back from everything. I've read very little the last couple of months, and am just now feeling like I am going to get back on track. I don't think there is anyway that I can reach my 100 book goal for the year, so I'm just going to go along as best I can and see what I can finish for the year.
I have read some very good books the last couple of weeks, however. Everything that I've picked up I've enjoyed immensely, so that helped get me back in the mood (not that what I was reading before wasn't any good, but these last several books just really stuck with me after reading them). Some of the books that I have particularly enjoyed are Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt's Dracula the Un-Dead, James Dashner's The Maze Runner, Suzanne Collins' Catching Fire and Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain.
I have a few books that I need to review yet: Nail Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants, Leonie Swann's Three Bags Full and my thoughts on Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are and the film version, all of which I hope to get to today.
I'm getting into the Halloween spirit by reading Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts right now and then I'll be moving on to a collection of ghost stories by Edith Wharton. I've been surprised by the Joe Hill collection. I wasn't sure what to expect from him, having only read the first volume in his comics series, Locke and Key, which I enjoyed, but just because someone can write comics well doesn't mean that they can write short stories, too. Well, I can say that 3 stories into the collection, and I'm suitably impressed. For those not familiar with Joe Hill, his father is Stephen King (you may have heard of him). The stories so far in 20th Century Ghosts are not your run of the mill horror fodder (well, the first one is...). These stories have heart and soul, and even though they are ghost stories, they are told with feeling. I'm sure that some more in the collection will fall more into the horror genre itself, but Hill has proven already that he can take the idea of the ghost story in a direction that most people wouldn't recognize or expect.
Beyond my few Halloween selections that I've been saving for the season, I've got some other really good books sitting here, waiting patiently to be read. I wish there was more hours in a day sometimes, just so I could have more time to read. I just need to find someone that will hire me on full time as a book reviewer... What, a guy can dream, can't he? Oh well.
So, there is my Sunday Salon. Such a sparse entry after such a long time, I know, but I'm taking baby steps getting back into my old routines.
Happy reading, everyone!
4 comments:
Be kind to yourself. No one is requiring you to post every day. I am happy to see you out and about. Post when you feel like it.
I'm glad you are enjoying 20th Century Ghosts. As Debnance says, go easy on yourself!
There is something so irresistible about Halloween reading, isn't there? For me this month - Dracula, Daphne Du Maurier, and The Woman In Black. Just enjoy it, and weigh in when the mood strikes you instead and when you feel obligated. Happy reading!
Thanks for the encouraging thoughts, everyone!!
And Frances, you are right! There is something completely irresistible about Halloween reading! Once I've finished the 2 collections of short stories, I'm going to reread Ray Bradbury's The Homecoming and Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (I read these every year around Halloween).
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