Halloween Bingo 2017

So, obviously, instead of finishing up books I'm currently reading, I've spent the past two days looking for book possibilities for all of my Halloween Bingo squares.

I've already been making a tentative listing of books I'd like to read for my own customized Bingo card above, courtesy of Moonlight Reader and picmonkey!  Thanks Moonlight!

Tentatively, this is what I'm planning on reading, four books of which are from my 2017 Reading Assignment list, and most of the other books are pre-owned TBR, and seriously just need to be read.

Please excuse my drawn out ramblings.


Magical Realism:  Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
-- I have had this book for a very, very long time and have never read it.  As I read through the summary, it struck me that this particular book could count as magical realism.  I had considered reading this book for the Diverse Voices square, as well, so if it doesn't seem at all like magical realism, I might shuffle it off onto some other square.

Other possibilities:  Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen; The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker


Classic Noir:  Undecided
-- I've never read books in this genre before, but am open to trying something new.  Also, keeping this square allows me to cut out some of the 'horror' squares, and I'm more partial to mystery anyway.  The first group read for September will hopefully find me a nice book I can read for this square!


Ghost:  Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts
-- There are a lot of possibilities for this broad category, but I have recently acquired a lot of Nora Roberts books and would like to get through them.  I read something by Nora Roberts for last year's Halloween Bingo (Dark Witch), so it wouldn't hurt to read another something (or three somethings) for this year's bingo.

Other possibilities:  Devil May Ride by Wendy Roberts; Haunted by Heather Graham; An Inquiry Into Love and Death by Simone St. James; This House is Haunted by John Boyne


Supernatural:  The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett
-- The Nightmare Charade is a book off of my Reading Assignment list, and this, unfortunately, is the only square it will fit on the card (unless I use the Free Space, of course).  And yes, I DO want to have it read, as I've been planning to read it in either September or October for the longest time now.  Otherwise, there are many other possibilities to pick from.


Diverse Voices:  The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin
-- This was the next book I thought about after the Amy Tan book listed above.  In fact, if Saving Fish From Drowning does not actually work for Magical Realism, then I may just shuffle it back down here.  But, in the meantime, I AM quite interested in reading The Lotus Palace, a book written by an Asian author, that takes place in historical China, and is a mystery novel as well!

Other possibilities:  Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan


Cozy Mystery:  Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
-- Oh, the possibilities for this game square!  There are any number of cozy mysteries that I am quite interested in, so the above may not be my final choice.  It is just the first book that popped into my mind when I thought of cozy mysteries.

Other possibilities:  Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris; Die Buying by Laura DiSilverio; The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde; Frozen Stiff by Annelise Ryan; Shadowland by Meg Cabot


Witches:  Undecided
-- I am not a hundred percent familiar with witch books, but I think I should be able to find something.  If all else fails, I think Nora Roberts has a few books about witches.  There are two books in particular that I own that have a witch, so I may just pick one of them.

Possibilities:  Jaxson by Alisa Woods; Protecting His Witch by Zoe Forward; Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman


Vampires:  The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn
-- I'm not big on vampire books, so I had considered doing a Dracula reread via the full-cast audio that I own.  Then, while I was going through my shelves, I stumbled upon this little gem by Deanna Raybourn, of which I had just purchased with an Audible credit not long ago.  The book takes place in Transylvania, and there is talk of creepy castles and charming vampires.  I'm totally reading this one for this square!  And to think, I almost decided to exclude it from my choices!


Country House Mystery:  Undecided
-- The truth is, I'm not sure I know what a 'Country House Mystery' is, but I'm willing to find out.  Recommendations are welcome!  Though one of the books I found that was listed as a popular country house mystery was Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles.  I'd been meaning to get some more of Dame Agatha's work read.  What does everyone else think?


Haunted House:  Black Rose by Nora Roberts
-- Once again, the possibilities are endless.  But I'm starting a trilogy, and I'll be damned if I leave another series unfinished for a long time.  Black Rose continues the the trilogy, In the Garden by Nora Roberts, following behind Blue Dahlia, and there is talk of a ghost being present in the setting of the book's house for over a hundred years.  I'd call that a haunted house!

Other possibilities:  This House is Haunted by John Boyne; Ghost Horse by Patricia Rosemoor; Haunted by Heather Graham


Aliens:  Undecided
-- I don't know why I kept this square, however, I DO have one book that will definitely fit, if nothing else will.  For the meantime, I'm going to keep my options open, but chances are, I'm going to read my one and only possibility for this game square so far:  The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa.  You wouldn't think that this book would fit, but one of the characters is an alien, even if not the creepy weird aliens of space invaders and horror.


Genre: Horror:  Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
-- Halloween wouldn't be complete without a book by Neil Gaiman.  Smoke and Mirrors is a short story collection that is tagged as 'horror,' so I'm going to go with that.  The summary gives a great description that comes off kind of horror-like anyway.  Again, this is a tentative pick, I might change my mind later if I stumble upon something else.  But I own this in audio, so the chances of me changing my mind is a bit slim.


Free Space:  Red Lily by Nora Roberts
-- I can't find another spot to place this book so that I can finish off the trilogy.  So it will go here unless I can find a different place for it that I don't already have another book lined up for.


Monsters:  Undecided
-- Okay... this is another square I'm not entirely sure why I kept.  I thought I'd be able to find something to fit, but I can't come up with anything outside of dragons (mythological creatures), which there are plenty of books for.  Do random animal shifters count?  Feline shifters?  Bear shifters?  Unknown animal, possible monster shifter?  I suppose I could always read something about Bigfoot...

One possibility:  His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik -- because, dragons.
Another possibility:  The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett -- because giant turtles, and dragons.
Last possibility (that I can think of):  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
-- because, fantastic beasts and mythical/magical creatures... which probably include dragons.


In the Dark, Dark Woods:  On the Night of the Seventh Moon by Victoria Holt
-- I picked up about three Victoria Holt books from a library sale a long time ago and have been looking for a chance to introduce myself.  Ever since my first Gothic romance, I've been paying more attention to author names that come up in connection with the genre.  On the Night of the Seventh Moon's summary mentions something about the significance of a forest.  I'm going to go with that.


Amateur Sleuth:  Just Past Midnight by Amanda Stevens
-- I have a feeling that this category was created probably for a cozy mystery of some sort, where the protagonist is often times NOT in law enforcement.  But as the description isn't entirely restrictive, I decided to go with another Reading Assignment selection, wherein there is a mystery, there is a murder, and the protagonist is a psychologist.


Werewolves:  Undecided
-- I probably have the same love for werewolf books as I do vampire books, but if I were honest, I'd be more likely to pick up a werewolf book than a vampire book.  So this square remained in my choices, and now I'm trying to figure out which of my wolf shifter books I want to read... if wolf shifter = werewolf, that is.

Possibilities:  In the Company of Wolves by Paige Tyler; Jaxson by Alisa Woods


Gothic:  The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
-- There are a number of books that I'm considering reading for this space, if only because I'd recently been drawn to Gothic romance and the genre appeals to me.  I've been shuffling around possible books by Mary Stewart, Susanna Kearsley, Simone St. James, and maybe even Kate Morton.  On the other hand, I DID pick up three Victoria Holt books at a library sale, and having already chosen one for one of my game spaces (see Dark, Dark Woods), I have two more I could try.  So this is a tentative selection.

Other possibilities:  Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart; Houses of Stone by Barbara Michaels; The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley; The Visitor by Amanda Stevens; Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt; The Black Opal by Victoria Holt; An Inquiry into Love and Death by Simone St. James; The Secret Garden by Kate Morton


Romantic Suspense:  Hit and Run by Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin
-- Frankly, this is a 'Free Space' for me since romantic suspense is my go-to genre.  I have so many possible picks that I my biggest problem is figuring out which book I want to read for this category.  So, to make life easier on myself, I went and chose one more Reading Assignment book, one of the books that I kept telling myself I wanted to read during the summer, but because of REASONS, I never got to it.  I'm not even going to give myself other possible reads, because I'd just end up becoming wishy-washy in my choices.

How much we want to bet that I'll end up changing my mind and reading something else anyway?


Darkest London:  Undecided
-- I had a few books I was interested in reading for this space until I realized that the books I'd been choosing were set in England, but not in London.  Well, that ended up being a problem I figured I could easily remedy, so another search had to be done.

And would you look at that?  Goodreads has a nifty list I decided to peruse:  Books Set in London.
However, since that list has anything from contemporary romance to Paddington Bear, I decided to do a more narrowed search of 'mysteries set in London' and came up with this list:  Best London Mysteries.

Possibilities:  Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick; Mistress by Amanda Quick; What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris; The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle; London Falling by Paul Cornell; And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander; The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry; A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas


Murder Most Foul:  Every Secret Thing by Emma Cole (a.k.a. Susanna Kearsley)
-- So I'm not entirely certain if this book fits--the summary mentions a murder, the book is tagged 'mystery.'  I really DO want to read this book (or rather, listen to it since I have it on audio).  But I'm not entirely sure that this is a murder mystery, per se, because some parts of the summary hint that this is a death that occurred in history.  Nonetheless, I obviously have a lot of books to choose from considering how broad a category this one is, requiring only that we read a murder mystery, any murder mystery.  So I might just include a few alternate options.

Other Possibilities:  Hit and Run by Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin; Chasing Evil by Kylie Brant; The Prey by Allison Brennan; In the Woods by Tana French; Midnight Exposure by Melinda Leigh; The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin; The Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin; The First Victim by J.B. Lynn; A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas


Serial/Spree Killer:  Dear Maggie by Brenda Novak
-- Another category that has a lot of possible books I could read.  But to keep things simple, I'm inserting another Reading Assignment book on this space.  Dear Maggie's summary mentions the presence of a serial killer--that's good enough for me.

Other Possibilities:  Chasing Evil by Kylie Brant; The Hunt by Allison Brennan;


Classic Horror:  Undecided
I don't know what to pick.  Maybe a reread of Dracula, although, the truth is, I'm sort of waiting out for the October group read and will probably just use it to fill this square since the group reads are wild cards.


Terrifying Women:  Undecided
-- Amanda Stevens has written a book that I recall being tagged as 'horror.'  Then again, I can always pick up another Shirley Jackson book, or maybe something by Barbara Michaels... Daphne du Maurier...

Possibilities:  The Lottery by Shirley Jackson; Houses of Stone by Barbara Michaels; The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart; The Devil's Footprints by Amanda Stevens


Locked Room Mystery:  Undecided
-- I've only done a cursory search of the books that would fit this category and narrowed my choices down to a few, though I'm not entirely sure what I want to read.  All of these titles I found at the Goodreads Locked Room Mystery list.

Possibilities:  The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux; The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle; The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins; The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie;  Cover Her Face by P.D. James; The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada

The Nightmare Dilemma -- Mindee Arnett

Book 2 of Arkwell Academy

Much like the first book in this series, The Nightmare Dilemma is very enjoyable and cute. But I can't help but note that, also like the first book, something seems to be missing--enough so that the book falls short of being memorably awesome. I just can't seem to put my finger on what it is that doesn't work quite right for me. The narrative tone of the first book felt strangely detached; the narrative tone of this second book, however, feels... off. I can't quite reconcile the tone of the story with the subject matter depicted in the story--they just don’t feel like they match up.

Nonetheless, the story was enjoyable and the characters were also likable. The world of Arkwell Academy has so much potential to extend into many story lines (and still gives me the same feel as the Harry Potter world, which I also loved immensely). I'm not sure how the trilogy will conclude, but I wouldn't mind reading more stories that could take place within the same fictional world as Arkwell Academy, as again, there is so much potential for lots of storytelling.


The Official Story Blurb:

Dusty Everhart might be able to predict the future through the dreams of her crush, Eli Booker, but that doesn’t make her life even remotely easy. When one of her mermaid friends is viciously assaulted and left for dead, and the school’s jokester, Lance Rathbone, is accused of the crime, Dusty’s as shocked as everybody else. Lance needs Dusty to prove his innocence by finding the real attacker, but that’s easier asked than done. Eli’s dreams are no help, more nightmares than prophecies.

To make matters worse, Dusty’s ex-boyfriend has just been acquitted of conspiracy and is now back at school, reminding Dusty of why she fell for him in the first place. The Magi Senate needs Dusty to get close to him, to discover his real motives. But this order infuriates Eli, who has started his own campaign for Dusty’s heart.

As Dusty takes on both cases, she begins to suspect they’re connected to something bigger. And there’s something very wrong with Eli’s dreams, signs that point to a darker plot than they could have ever imagined.

My Thoughts:
Some of the stuff mentioned in the blurb don't exactly present in the actual book, but none of it really too significant, honestly. As much as I enjoyed the book, I can't say that it's the most memorable experience. And, as I already stated, the narrative tone through Dusty doesn't seem to match the subject matter being presented in the book either; Dusty has a fairly juvenile tone of voice, but the things that are happening feel like they are more mature and serious. It actually made the narration slightly distracting, especially when Dusty spends more time than necessary drooling over Eli, repetitively admiring his "hot body" or something to that effect.

But the mystery was fun and interesting and the ultimate Big Baddie (though unsurprising) made for a good twist in the overall storyline. There was a lot of stuff going on, ranging from controversial matters as well as some social and human causes that parallel ongoing conflicts in the real world throughout history. It inspires some thought, but with the flippant tone of the narration, again, it makes it hard to focus on any of it.

Overall, the story was interesting, though a lot of the events were predictable, even the development of the romance between Dusty and Eli was slightly eye-roll-worthy predictable--not that it was handled badly or anything, but... well... I guess it works. Selene is still cool and awesome as the awesome best friend and even Lance makes a great potential side-kick type character for future purposes. I expect him to have more book time in the last book.

One thing is for sure: I am very much still interested in reading the last book to see how everything turns out in the end.

***

This book is a pre-chosen participant in the following Reading Challenge(s):

• 2015 Reading Assignment Challenge hosted by Because Reading and Fantasy is More Fun

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

A finished copy of the book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.

This was definitely one of my most awaited sequels for the year and when I got a copy in the mail, you would not believe how loud I screamed. When I finally got around to reading the book,I was so glad to not have been let down. I wouldn’t say it got better or worse, it was just the same level as awesome as The Nightmare Affair.

The events of the previous book resulted in making The Will disappear so now all the kinds have unlimited access to their magic and can do whatever they wish to, this has resulted in a making the differences between the dark kinds and the light kinds more evident and there seems to be a lot more hostility between the two groups.

Dusty remains her awesome self. She is such a likable female lead and her narration is definitely one of the plus points of the books. She has a tendency to make smart ass comments at inappropriate times because it’s her way of making things seem less serious, her coping mechanism. Dusty is so relateable though, she is afraid of things, she isn’t out to save the world but while she knows that she can use her powers to help, she will need time to think about things before jumping on board because wanting to help doesn’t automatically translate into your fear disappearing. One of the other things that makes her a great female lead is her ability to consider other possibilities and give people the benefit of doubt. Her vulnerabilities make her shine though, they show that she, in spite of the fact is a nightmare, is still human(????). She is still hurting over the events of the previous book and they have resulted in her having trust issues. She makes mistakes and is not perfect, in fact, even though her magic is powerful, she doesn’t have great control over it.

One of the major problems I initially had in this book was Selene and Eli’s behavior. Eli was running hot and cold. Which is not helpful. He wasn’t leading her on necessarily but he pulled the ‘we cannot be together’ stuff and that bothered me but you could really see how much he wanted to be with her, he didn’t try to hide that once they actually sat down and discussed their feelings but he remained cryptic about the reasons as to why they couldn’t be together until the end. Selene was keeping secrets for a large part of the book as well but as soon as I found out what they were, it was easy to forgive her because it was something personal to her, and while she and Dusty are best friends, Selene wasn’t ready to tell her what was going on and that is understandable.

With that said though, I love how the author chooses to portray Eli, he is gorgeous and gets a lot of attention from people but at the same time, there are plenty of people who don’t like him. Just because he is gorgeous doesn’t automatically translate to everyone liking him. People still give him a hard time over who he is and well, he isn’t perfect either. It really helps make Eli’s character down to Earth and makes him relateable as well because if you’ve navigated through the crowds of high school, you know what a mean bunch they can be sometimes.

Another notable character was, PAUL. I remember liking him in the first book and I liked him in this one too. I absolutely loved how Mindee tried to redeem him by not showing him as someone who was innocent but at someone who genuinely regretted what he had done. It didn’t change things, everyone was still vary of him but you could tell he regretted losing Dusty’s trust in him and would take it back if he could.

With that said though, there wasn’t a love triangle. It’s quite clear where Dusty’s affections lay. She might have felt something for Paul in the previous book but he killed what they could have had or perhaps they might have never gotten that far seeing that Dusty had always had feelings for Eli. I just hope that we get to see more of Eli and Dusty's relationship in the third (and if everything works out, not the last) book.

“Can we save the girl moment for later? Like after we save the world? We’re kind of in a hurry here.”

The plot is well paced and while the book does seem slow at points but like the previous book, it has a well written showdown that will keep you at the edge of your seat.It was exhilarating to the point where I was rocking back and forth trying to read at breakneck speed just to see how things would work out.

I was actually glad to see I hadn’t been able to guess who had been helping from the inside but hey, at least I knew who hadn’t been.

In the end though, this book was just as fun as its predecessor. I laughed, I flailed and I fangirled at the Star Wars references. With its fun narration, intriguing world and an interesting plot, this book was a winner and I cannot wait to get my hands on the third book in the series.

If you haven’t read the first book, stop, drop and (roll) read it!

I am a true-blue sucker for boarding school stories, which is perhaps the very reason why I picked up The Nightmare Affair. That, and the cover, which reminded me so much of Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. Before cracking this book open, I was actually expecting some sort of dark, gothic, paranormal mystery, but what I got instead was a fun and entertaining read.

Sure, it isn’t high literature or anything and the plot was a little predictable, but I honestly could not put it down while I was reading it. Whatever magic Mindy Arnett put on the pages of this book, it sure worked on me. But that doesn’t mean I failed to notice the many deficiencies of the story. Although I liked The Nightmare Affair a lot, I must admit that the plot felt like a Jenga tower that’s very close to toppling down on itself. There were parts in the book where the author would pepper us with facts about magickind history and the mechanics of this or that, but crammed in a chapter and in succeeding paragraphs, they ended up perplexing the heck out of me. There were also some very confusing concepts, which I understood in the end, but the point is, the telling wasn’t flawless, and understanding didn’t come naturally as I was reading it (or maybe it was just my brain, tired from lack of sleep).

Dusty was very likable as a main character. She’s plucky and witty and capable, though a little bit slow on the uptake. Eli was likable as well, but I can’t help noticing the lack of a back story, which could have served as a foundation for his character development. This is also true with secondary characters such as Paul, Selene, and Moira – Dusty’s mom, who I kinda liked a lot. Sad to say, her relationship with Dusty was reduced to an inconsequential part of the plot. Characters-wise, the book felt brimming with them, so much that some managed to spill on the side. There were just TOO MANY types of magickind all at once, and this turned out to be a disadvantage, mainly because the author failed to make distinctions as sharp as they should have been.

In terms of the romance, I’m actually surprised to find myself liking it. There was a bit of a love triangle, which I know is a common premise in YA, but I have to argue that the Paul-Dusty-Eli triangle is a bit more reasonable than others. First, because none of the guys acted particularly douchenuggetty. Second, because Dusty’s feelings were valid – an attraction for the good-looking guy she had to sit on during their dream-feeding sessions, and the magnetic pull of someone who makes it clear that he wants to be with her. Third, even during the end of our story, Dusty was still smart about her feelings. There wasn’t an instant jump from one guy to the next, which I greatly appreciated. Plus, there were no illicit kisses shared and other stupid love-triangle related stuff.

But let’s go back to the plot. As I have mentioned earlier, it was a bit predictable. It didn’t take that much brain power to know who the nefarious people were and I saw the ending coming long before it’s opening scene. It also has uncanny similarities with other novels such as Hex Hall by Rachelle Hawkins and even Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, especially during the second half of the novel. I should also point out that the events leading to the climax fell short of riveting and ended up quite lax, odd because this is the part where everything should be coming together for the ultimate build-up.

Still, this book has a significant entertainment value, otherwise it wouldn’t get a 3 out of 5. I was vastly entertained by it and for the most part, I couldn’t put it down. I guess it’s because I’ve been reading a ton of serious stuff lately and this kind of book was just what I needed to lighten up a little. Low-ish ratings aside, I would still recommend The Nightmare Affair for those who are looking for something fun to read just to pass the time. I don’t know if I’m actually looking forward to the next installment, but I’m not pushing the idea of reading it away either. All in all, a very fun book. Not the best of its kind, but definitely far from the worst as well.