first things first

Okay, I've been mighty sporadic in both my blog reading and blog posting lately. We really haven't been home much during the past few weeks, and during the days we have been home, there's been so many other things to get done. So I have lots of things to post about (none of which are terribly exciting)...but first I must get on with the really important stuff. Yep, Carl has made the announcement that has Annie and I feeling giddy again. A creepy sort of giddy, of course, as we're talking about the R.I.P. III Challenge.

Yes, I know that just in my previous post I talked about knocking off this whole challenge obsession. But I did also clearly state that I would NOT be giving up Carl's Challenges. No way on earth that will ever happen!

Carl has made it exceptionally easy to participate, with levels of "challenge" to suit everyone. You can even choose to read just one book, and still be part of the fun. And believe me, participating in Carl's challenges is nothing if not fun! Seriously, it's way more than a challenge...it's non-stop contests, interesting posts on related subjects, and a big sense of community.

Anyway, another thing Carl has done with this challenge is to continue with the idea of a "book pool" as opposed to a strict list. I really, really, really love this concept! You still get the delight of gathering up piles of books and reading everyone else's possible reads, but you don't feel hemmed in when it comes to the actual reading. Truly the "book pool" is a stroke of genius, if you ask me.

My pool begins with the following:

*The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason (yes, maybe this will be the time that I actually give this well-loved book a go)
*The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
*Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
*Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo
*The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
*We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
*Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
*Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
*The Thirteen Tale by Diane Setterfield
*Witch-Hunt by Marc Aronson
*Dracula by Bram Stoker
*Lost Boy, Lost Girl by Peter Straub
*The Society of S by Susan Hubbard
*The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
*Daphne du Maurier's Classics of the Macabre

Edited to add:
(After reading a few other lists, I just had to go to the shelves and pull out a few more choices.)
*Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
*From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
*Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by Matt Haig
*The Homecoming by Ray Bradbury
*Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
*Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
*The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
*The Witches by Roald Dahl




(P.S. I'm choosing Peril the First--four books.)