It's that time again: Halloween Bingo! This is the second year I will be participating, and hopefully this time I won't get bogged down in reader's block. Below is my custom Halloween Bingo card (thanks, Moonlight Reader!), and my novel choices. At the moment this is a working list; things could certainly change depending on my mood . . . I tend to be pretty indecisive in regards to my TBR. 

The Dead Will Walk: The Walking, by Bentley Little 

Ghost: Ghost House, Clare McNally 

Werewolves: The Nightwalker, by Thomas Tessier 

Terror in a Small Town: Haven, by Tom Deady 

Diverse Voices: The Good House, by Tananarive Due 

Haunted Houses: Burnt Offerings, by Robert Manasco

Vampires: They Thirst, by Robert R. McCammon

Murder Most Foul: Sweet Aswang, by Anthony Hains 

Monsters: What Do Monsters Fear?, by Matt Hayward 

In the Dark, Dark Woods: In the Woods, by Tana French 

Witches: Grimm Memorials, by R. Patrick Gates 

Amateur Sleuth: Penpal, by Dathan Auerbach 

Supernatural: Mister B. Gone, by Clive Barker  

Darkest London: Incarnate, by Ramsey Campbell 

American Horror Story: Desperation, by Stephen King 

Classic Horror: Psycho, by Robert Bloch 

Genre Horror: Video Nasties, by Duncan Ralston 

Modern Masters of Horror: Sour Candy, by Kealan Patrick Burke 

'80 Horror: By Bizarre Hands, by Joe R. Lansdale 

Chilling Children: Suffer the Children, by Craig DiLouie

Serial Killer Spree: Whispers, by Dean R. Koontz

Demons: The Unborn, by David Shobin 

Terrifying Women: The Devil Crept In, by Ania Ahlborn 

Gothic: Candles Burning, by Tabitha King & Michael McDowell 

Are you looking to tackle your TBR in 2016? So am I! And I really, really need to read a lot of books. By the end of July, I will probably be moving again. I will be starting graduate school in September, and having less than six months before all of that, I need to read the books that I've bought or obtained in the past two years-- at least to make the move easier on me when the time comes. Once I read these books, I can pass them onto friends, send them home, etc. The one thing I don't want to do is just let them sit there because I'm too much of a book hoarder or optimist to let them go, and then have to decide what to do at the last minute. So, I've turned to read-alongs. Read-alongs are awesome because a.) extended discussions of books b.) they keep you on track for tackling your TBR and c.) reader relationships! d.) duh, actually reading. Without further ado, let me know if you have any of these books and would like to read them with me at any of the dates I'll mention.

You might remember that I was participating a challenge aka BookTube-A-Thon whereupon I was supposed to read seven books in seven days. Did I succeed?

Maybe... maybe not o.O.

So, from my BookTube-A-Thon List:

1. Venetia by Georgette Heyer || Goodreads

Did I finish this? Well, I DNFed at 35%.

This is written in a style similar to how Jane Austen writes, but for me it didn't have the same social satire element. Similarly, the author was clearly poking fun at the other two romantic interests Venetia has - the same way Austen shows you that Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice is an absurd character - but in a romance novel, I want to know more about the main character's relationship. Not these misogynistic douches. And instead of the hate turned love of Pride and Prejudice, the main character falls into an easy friendship with the main romantic interest and... there's not much tension. I read a lot of Regency and historical romance novels. This shows me how much things have changed in the writing styles and general outlook. This book, everything has been pretty chaste and doesn't have the same tension of other Regency romances (published nowadays) since the styles are so different. So essentially this makes me think: this book is not for me. There's nothing bad about it, but my expectations have been changed based off what I've read. If I'm reading a Jane Austen like style, I want more of her work; if I'm reading a Regency romance, I want something more similar to what I've already read. The amount of literary references though is really impressive.

If you want a Jane Austen styled romance, Georgette Heyer is your author.

2. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews || Goodreads

Did I finish this? YES!

A funny, frank book about death (though if you get easily offended, perhaps this book's humor is not for you). Wasn't sure that a comedic book about death was possible, and for so long the MC tells you that the book is about nothing, but then there's the gut punch and realizations and oooh, I want to see this movie. Also, I usually dislike when the main characters break the "fourth wall" and essentially tell you that they're writing the book you're reading because it makes me too aware that I'm reading the book and gets me all analytical and bleh. But I actually really enjoyed how Jesse Andrews used that technique in this book.

The Fault in Our Stars is a pretty comparison title in terms of plot, but the voice in Me and Earl and The Dying Girl is very distinctive, and I would suggest you read an excerpt if you're uncertain.

3. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne || Goodreads

Did I finish this? YES!

I have conflicting thoughts about this.

First: cool concept. I mean, c'mon, who doesn't want to have enough money to travel around the world? And traveling around the world in 80 days or less! Talk about temporal tension in the story... I like the idea of a cool, reserved Englishman who puts this bet about being able to travel around the world in a limited time frame just for honor's sake. I like the writing style. And I like the epic adventure aspect of the book.

This is sort of a book I would fully like if I could dissociate it from its... context. All the racism (greedy Americans, pillaging Sioux, Indians who are in the middle of performing human sacrifice, etc.), the sexism (the only female character of note gets very few lines and is essentially the damsel in distress who'd been rescued by the cool, reserved Englishman and now felt "gratitude" (or more) to him), the colonial superiority (this review discusses that). If I could forget all that existed, maybe I'd have liked this more.

I would SO be down for a retelling, though, that wasn't racist/sexist/colonially superior.

4. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon || Goodreads

Did I finish this? YES!

Maddy and Olly are so cute together. This is a book written with heart and written in an easy to read style. A page-turner of adorable proportions; and I particularly loved how the illustrations and other formats (e.g. vignettes, the short reviews since Maddy has a book review tumblr) were incorporated. In the above video, I discussed / showed one of the illustrations of Maddy in outer space while Olly was on Earth. Everything, everything is going to be a big fall title. It already has 2,000+ ratings on Goodreads. What are you waiting for?

And...

5. The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove || Goodreads

6.  More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera || Goodreads

7.  Court of Fives by Kate Elliott || Goodreads or The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle || Goodreads

Did I finish these? Nope!

My excuse?

 

I was annotating a copy of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas as a gift for a friend's birthday. That, I finished. So that was a reread + annotation. REALLY THAT SHOULD COUNT AS TWO BOOKS. Do you know how LONG it takes to annotate a book? But annotated books are so much fun to read! It's like your friend is right beside you as you're reading. It reminds me of when I was reading the seventh Harry Potter book with my friend in our hotel lobby, and she was about twenty pages behind me, and so whenever she made a noise, I was like did you get to X part yet? Oh, yeah, Fred's joke was so great.

ANYWAY, even if you don't count that as 2 books, it's still either 5/7 or 6/7 which is a GOOD RESULT. *pats self on the back*. As for those other books, okay, so they'll get pushed off onto my August TBR. Court of Fives and The Accident Season are actually being released in August, so it's my goal to review them before their release date! Hopefully. As for The Golden Specific, well, that one is OUT, my friends. If I have somehow interested you in the awesomeness that is The Glass Sentence and its sequel, you may purchase these at a bookstore of your choosing.

Currently Reading:

I am currently reading Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness #1) by Tamora Pierce with Nicole of the Quiet Concert!

When I was in high school, people recommended Tamora Pierce, specifically the Alanna quartet, to me, along with something by Amy Tan. I didn't follow either rec. Some years later, I read the first 20 pages in a used bookstore. I still didn't buy it (I thought it was MG, actually!) until I was in the Strand last year. Man, I wish I had followed this recommendation earlier. High school me would've eaten this up! Alanna's struggles to be taken seriously and treated as an equal in a male-dominated world, while she is training to be a knight and thus dressing as a boy -- totally my thing then. Also my thing now, though I'm more comfortable with myself now haha. I'm loving seeing how other YA fantasy authors have been inspired by Tamora Pierce and I'm looking forward to being enveloped in the Tamora Pierce fandom.

For August:

I have a couple more books to add to my August TBR. Namely, MG books that are being released this month and that you should be excited for too!

1. George by Alex Gino || Goodreads

2. The Wild Ones by C. Alexander London || Goodreads

3. A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano || Goodreads

A non-MG title that I purchased and that I'm hoping to read is Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older. Do I think that I'll be able to read ALL these books in August? Uh, well, probably not. But then they'll roll into September.... and so it goes.

What did you read last week? Did you participate in BookTube-A-Thon and how successful were you? What are you planing on reading this month? Have you read any of the above books? Let me know :).

I love vampires, and in the spirit of Halloween/October the book everyone should read is Salem's Lot by Stephen King~ of course.   I welcome anyone who wants to read-a-long with me to sign up using Mr.Linky and spread the word on Twitter. Thank You. This readalong will be for the entire month of October starting October 1st, but you can begin now if you'd like :D

So, I decided to participate as well. I wanted to read this trilogy anyways, so I hope I can get that done in one week! I already started the first one yesterday before I decided to join this read-along.

If you don't know what Bout of Books is, here's more information:

''The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.''

I'm go to try to read the entire Across the Universe trilogy. I still don't have my right (?) copy of Across The Universe, because it's was damaged from 3/4 of the book until the end (the pages were cut of trough the last letters of the line) and Bookdepository sended me a new one, but I hope it arrives today! 

If I can't read the entire trilogy this week I'm going to read the last one next week, but we'll see how it goes.

Are you going to participate in the read-along and what books are you going to read?