Friday, 9 October 2020

Tackling The TBR

 

 
In December 2018 I launched Tackling The TBR, a challenge to reduce the ever extending TBR pile and 2019 was pretty successful in that regard. In 2020 I intended to make a big effort to reduce my TBR by buying less, getting stuff read and getting rid of the things that I just don't want to read from my bookshelves and my ereaders Maurice and Myrnin! However the darn Coronavirus Pandemic has put the skids under all my plans and I had to suspend the challenge. I've now decided to bring it back in a bid to kickstart my TBR reduction as nothing else has been working.
 
The TBR total shown is the total number of books I own but have not read yet-wishlist books are NOT in my TBR! Sometimes there will be a difference between the books read and new total-if I read a book not on the TBR it counts for books read for the week but not for this challenge.

BOOKS IN
-Books in refers to bought, downloaded or gifted books being added to the TBR list. 

BOOKS OUT
-Books read refers to books read that were ON the TBR and DNFed is obvious. 
-Deleted from the TBR are books I lost interest in reading, or sequels to DNFed books I no longer want to read and have been removed without starting to read them. These three categories added together are my books 'out'.

I'm posting my progress on the 7th, 14th, 21st and final day of the month as before, even if there is no progress to report and anyone else is welcome to join in. No rules, set up your posts how you want and when you want, just reduce the pile! And each week I'll add my new week to the end of the post so I can track how the whole month went.

October 1st-7th   
TBR Start Total: 1538

BOOKS IN:
New Books In: 1

BOOKS OUT:
Books Read: 0
Books DNF: 0
Others Deleted From TBR: 0

Target Total: 1500

New Total: 1539

Sorry I'm a couple of days late with this one. My brain has been all over the place this week! One new addition but it's a 29 page prequel and I intend to read it tonight. No more excuses, I need to start reading this week and get back in my groove no matter how tired I am.
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Wednesday, 7 October 2020

Top Ten Tuesday-Ten Horror Books With Dangerous Trips

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/

NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. 

With Blogger acting up so badly, there's no way I'm risking doing a post with ten graphics in it to show autumn colours so I'm going my own way this time. Since it's October, I'll go with a horror theme and ten books I want to read that feature dangerous trips!

1) Jon Athan-Do Not Disturb
On their way to Las Vegas for a pair of bachelor’s and bachelorette's parties, Colton and Lacey run into some car trouble. They find shelter at Motel Ace, located in Middle-of-Nowhere, Nevada. They’re welcomed by a quiet clerk and they meet a cast of interesting travelers. They expect a quiet, romantic night at a dingy motel as they wait for the mechanic. Then they hear the screaming in the other rooms. Then they see the clowns outside. And those violent, deformed clowns want to come into their room to play…
 
2) Darcy Coates-Hunted
22-year-old Eileen goes missing while hiking in the remote Ashlough Forest. Five days later, her camera is discovered washed downriver, containing bizarre photos taken after her disappearance. Chris wants to believe Eileen is still alive. When the police search is abandoned, he and four of his friends create their own search party to scour the mountain range. As they stray further from the hiking trails and the unsettling discoveries mount, they begin to believe they’re not alone in the forest… and that Eileen’s disappearance wasn’t an accident. By that point, it’s too late to escape.
 
3) Gregory Bastianelli-Snowball
A group of motorists become stranded on a lonely stretch of highway during a Christmas Eve blizzard and fight for survival against an unnatural force in the storm. The gathered survivors realize a tenuous connection among them means it may not be a coincidence that they all ended up on this highway. An attempt to seek help leads a few of the travelers to a house in the woods where a twisted toymaker with a mystical snow globe is hell bent on playing deadly games with a group of people just trying to get home for the holidays.
 
4) Sergio Gomez-Camp Slaughter
It’s a local legend. No one is sure if this “Camp Slaughter” place is real or not. But a group of college kids renting out a cabin deep in the woods of Pennsylvania will soon realize the truth. They’ll realize the danger, too. Or rather, the cannibal out in the woods will bring the danger to them…
 
5) Kealan Patrick Burke-The Tent
Hocking Hills, Ohio is an oasis for campers, hikers, nature enthusiasts, and for those who just want to get away and lose themselves in the wild. And as long as you follow your guide's advice and stay within the permitted areas, you can expect to survive the night. Because deep within the dark woods, something insidious awaits, something few have ever seen, something ancient, unknowable, and insatiable. If you go down to these woods today, you won't live to see the sunrise...
 
6) Jonathan Chateau-The Death Wish Game
A one-way bus ticket to Florida offers Rodney Corso the chance at a fresh start from his dead-end life in South Carolina. Unfortunately, he'd never reach his final destination. During the ten-hour trek to Miami, Rodney and the rest of the passengers awaken to find themselves duct-taped to their seats; stranded in the middle of nowhere. Their captor reveals himself, informing them that they are participants in a game of survival. “The rules are simple,” he tells them. “Follow the flares to reach the safe zone. Make it there, and you live. Stay, and they will come tear you apart.”

Who is running this game? What awaits them out there in the darkness? And will these flares lead to freedom or straight into a trap? If Rodney and the others want to live long enough to find out, they will have no choice but to uncover the dark secret that has brought them here and face a nightmare, unlike anything they have ever experienced before.
 
7) Ike Hamill-Extinct
Channel Two predicted a blanket of snow for Thanksgiving weekend--unusual, but not alarming for the little Maine island. What comes is a blinding blizzard, and a mass disappearance of nearly every person Robby Pierce knows. He and his family flee, trying to escape the snow and the invisible forces stealing people right from the street. Miles away, Brad Jenkins battles the same storm. Alone, he attempts to survive as snow envelops his house. When the storm breaks, Brad makes his way south to where the snow ends and the world lies empty. Join Brad, Robby, and the other survivors as they fight to find the truth about the apocalypse and discover how to live in their new world.
 
8) Matthew R Fleming-The Dreams
Waking up in an unknown forest with four strangers, James has an unsettling feeling that the group is not alone. As tension mounts and he finds himself questioning the motives and loyalty of his companions, one of the group members disappears, leaving only a pool of blood behind. It soon becomes clear that something very large and unnatural is in the deep secret places of the forest. And it knows they are there . . .
 
9) Greig Beck-To The Center Of The Earth
Today, caving specialist Mike Monroe leads a crew into the world’s deepest cave in the former Soviet Union. He’s following the path of a mad woman, and the words of an ancient Russian alchemist, that were the basis of the fantastical tale by Jules Verne. But what horrifying things he finds will tear at his sanity and change everything we know about evolution and the world, forever.
 
10) Matt Betts-White Anvil
Fleeing an approaching blizzard, a military train carrying prisoners and a handful of citizens derails in the mountains. The survivors fight to stay alive and regroup as the terrible storm buries them in snow. Only then do they discover the train also carried another cargo—two cars loaded with biological experiments—genetically-altered sasquatches conditioned to annihilate anything they find.

 

Monday, 5 October 2020

Around The Blogs With Chuckles

 


We all enjoy snooping and lurking on other people's blogs right? Why not share those entertaining things you found with other readers and bloggers too! Welcome to Around the Blogs with Chuckles, where I take time out to show you some of my favourite blog posts from the previous seven days and link you up so you can check them out. 

It is vital that we all stick together online at this time. Do what you can to show some love to other blogs, to books and authors and let us all know that you are staying safe and well. Hearing from our friends will make it easier to deal with whatever is coming in the next few months. Stay safe everyone.

This week...
 
1) Book Review-Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant 
Barb's review.
 
2) Book Review-The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
Mogsy's review.

3) Book Review-All Our Worst Ideas by Vicky Skinner
Karen's review.

4) October Reading List
Check out Bark's upcoming books!

5) Book Review-Solutions And Other Problems by Allie Brosh
Heather's Review.

6) Book Review-The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
Mogsy's review.

7) Book Review-Haunted Homocide by Lucy Ness
Katherine's review.


Saturday, 3 October 2020

#6Degrees Of Separation-October

I'm taking part in #SixDegrees of Separation, which I first saw on the blog of Bookstooge over at https://bookstooge.wordpress.com/  Started by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman, now hosted by https://booksaremyfavouriteandbest.com/  On the first Saturday of every month, a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

This month we start with The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James

The story starts with friends sharing ghost stories 'round the fire on Christmas Eve. One guest tells of a governess at a country house plagued by supernatural visitors. Only the young governess can see the ghosts; only she suspects that the previous governess and her lover are controlling the two orphaned children for some evil purpose. The household staff don't know what she's talking about, the children are evasive when questioned, and the master of the house (the children's uncle) is absent. Why does the young girl claim not to see a perfectly visible woman standing on the far side of the lake? Are the children being deceptive, or is the governess being paranoid?

I went with a purple cover because it had a spooky look for October! Behold the creepy old building! Behold the creepy face behind the building! Behold...

Eight vampires gather at their maker's castle to solve the mystery of who killed Dracula. But as the sun rises outside the chateau, a voice cries out and another vampire is slain. Trapped inside their master's lair, the sun burning bright outside, Dracula's children realize that they have met their match - a formidable killer who plans on picking them off one by one! As the daylight reigns and their numbers dwindle, a dark suspicion grows - could the killer be hiding in plain sight?
 
Behold another creepy face on the cover of this one! This is a murder mystery where the vampires are trapped indoors by the light of the sun and someone has set traps around the building to kill them. Loved this book and I took the theme of fear as my next step to...
 
A helicopter has crashed near Safe Haven and unleashed something horrifying. Now this merciless force is about to do what it does best. Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate. As residents begin dying in a storm of gory violence, Safe Haven's only chance for survival will rest with an aging county sheriff, a firefighter, and a single mom. And each will have this harrowing thought: Maybe death hasn't come to their town by accident . . . 
 
From Fear to Afraid! This is a gory horror thriller where a team of mindless killers come to a small town looking for someone and kill everyone they meet. It is brutal and exciting, and the start of a great series of books. I loved Trapped and Endurance and hope to read Haunted House soon...
 
HAUNTED HOUSE is a sequel to the novels AFRAID, TRAPPED, and ENDURANCE. The survivors from those thrillers are all together, and put through a new kind of hell. Also included is Dr. Frank Belgium, from ORIGIN. While HAUNTED HOUSE can be read as a stand alone, and may be the first Kilborn book read by a lot of people, if a reader enjoys it, he/she can read more about these characters in different novels. And fans of these other novels will enjoy seeing familiar characters show up again.
 
And here is Haunted House which I look forward to reading! There is nothing like a place where scary goings on happens and in this next book, it is a theme park where you never go in the Ghost Train...
 
The Adventureland carnival is coming into town and a group of teenagers go there for a fun day out. Then inside the Ghost Train two of them are murdered in front of their friends-yet no trace of them or the crime exists and the carnival deny everything. Meanwhile others are disappearing including young children and it is clear that something truly evil is living in the carnival.
 
Theme parks are such a great setting for horror novels aren't they! There are all kinds of things lurking in the depths of Funhouses and Ghost Trains! One of the best places in the UK to go to for a great theme park is certainly Blackpool, which is known for it's Tower and Pleasure Beach theme park, and yes it does have a Ghost Train!
 
Meredith Hanson lives in Blackpool, the former Victorian holiday hotspot of Northern England. She masquerades as a reclusive author, feeding on the blood of unsuspecting tourists without remorse. Her life takes on new meaning when she meets a young witch in a local pub one evening. Despite Meredith’s cold demeanour, she finds herself oddly fascinated with Samantha Morris, and falls into an accidental relationship with the girl. It is at this time that a vampire hunter arrives in Blackpool. He is tough, he is determined, and his next target is an ancient vampire that has been spotted in the tourist town. He intends to bring her down and destroy her to save the lives of innocent humans. 
 
I think the Blackpool link is obvious and another place with a tower is Toronto...
 
This graphic novella tells the story of Elena’s “becoming” a werewolf—that dark period from the time Clay bites her through her escape to Toronto.
 
I chose to take the final step from Blackpool Tower to the CN Tower in Toronto. When Elena is bitten against her will by her werewolf boyfriend Clay, it plunges her into horror and terror like never before. This graphic novel is a short prequel to the first book in the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong 'Bitten'. It is short but hardcore fans of the series will enjoy seeing the struggle Elena goes through in a beautiful art form. 
 
So there we go, from The Turn Of The Screw to Becoming in six steps! 
 
 

Chuckles Weekend Roundup

Welcome to my feature Chuckles Weekend Roundup where I will be looking at what books I've received, anything interesting I've done or bought or watched and other random stuff. I'll be taking a look back at what happened in my blogging world too, sort of like The Sunday Post that some of you do!

Please note that I'll be visiting your STS/SP as normal, but I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow DISQUS to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I am the only one who does that on my social media! I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. Sometimes, I have problems leaving messages on blogs hosted by Wordpress-they try to block me because I deleted my account with them but I will persevere as it only happens the odd time!

I can't believe another week has passed. I'm finding it very hard to get motivated to come and use Blogger for anything except the must do posts on my list. I'm avoiding even trying book tags at the moment as that could be a stressful experience, trying to do so many covers and graphics in one post. I've had a lot to do in the house, the last of my prepping packages arriving from various companies, looking after the squirrels and I'm about to start that big tidy up as soon as I can get rid of this minor virus that seems to be bugging me and my dad. It's A virus, not THE virus so nothing to really worry about but we are going to isolate indoors just as a precaution for other people in the area.

It's been a hard week to get motivated to do anything AGAIN but I did finish two non fiction books and tonight I do plan to curl up with my ereader and read a bit of horror, as it is Spooky Book week! I'm going to try and get a few Halloween type posts up on the blog this month but how much I get done will sort of depend on how Blogger behaves! NB In this post paragraph keeps sticking and taking forever to shift back to nomal spacing and weird numbers and letters keep appearing (RGB followed by numbers). Each action is also taking up to ten seconds to change something so I'm getting annoyed again. Looks like I need to get back on with stuff at Goodreads.

DOWNLOADS

Free zombie prequel!

Chuckles Blogging World
I'm behind on everything again and it's becoming a habit that's annoying me. Catchup again over the weekend I guess.
 
Book Reviews
none this week, surprise
 
Regular Posts 

Around The Blogs With Chuckles
 
Discussion Posts 

Autumn Blues
 
60 Years Of Coronation Street
 
Reading Challenges
 
Tackling The TBR
 
Films & TV & Music
Not much going on again. A few Harry Potter films, a bit of CNN over the Trump virus story and Coronation Street documentaries at night.
 
Book Tags/Blog Awards
none this week
 
The Week Ahead
 I'll be trying to get more done at my Goodreads group. If this virus goes I might tackle sorting the TV unit in my room. I want to read a few horror novellas to get me back into the fiction swing of things. Jon Athan, come on down! That will be my starting point!