SFF: The 5 Times You Found the Right Book at the Right Time (Or Did It Find You?)

Sunday Fun Five #66:

#60: The 5 Literary Characters Who Should Run For President

#61: The 5 Authors You Wouldn't Mind Having as Your Teacher

#62: The 5 Comfort Reads You Depend on For Difficult Days

#63: The 5 Reasons You Need More Than One Patronus

#64: The 5 Supernatural Creatures/Beings You Prefer Reading About

#65: The 5 Books You Read in 2016 That Were More Addictive Than Pumpkin Pie Spice-d Things

#66: The 5 Times You Found the Right Book at the Right Time (Or Did It Find You?)
For the 20th of November: #67: The 5 New-To-You Authors of 2016 You Wish You'd Read Sooner

A Countdown of

The 5 Times You Found the Right Book at the Right Time (Or Did It Find You?)

5. Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle #1) by Diana Wynne Jones
I think I've mentioned this about 70 times on this blog now, but Howl's Moving Castle has some serious mood altering magic (especially considering the incredibly sour mood I was in when I started it). I'm grateful to have found this one this year just when I needed it.

4. A Game of Thrones (ASoIaF #1) by George R.R. Martin
I was just out of high school when I found this one, and started reading it thinking it was historical fiction. Although it isn't really groundbreaking fantasy, the characters that fuel the feuds in this fantasy kind of are. Previously, I had always considered fantasy to be rather niche and nerdy, hiding my love of it. After reading this book, I was less reluctant to share my appreciation of the genre.

3. Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1) by Robin Hobb
I was in a drought of new fantasy when I started reading this- I'd tried reading new fantasy books that everyone and their Siamese cat liked, but I found I couldn't finish them... until Assassin's Apprentice, that is. It fueled my binge-buying and binge-reading spree of Robin Hobb's works this year, though I've yet to devour her entire catalogue (I'm trying to pace myself).

2. Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas #1) by Dean Koontz
This book is one I picked up not even thinking I would like it. Nonetheless, it has compelled me to read an entire series with a newly adult white male as the main character (and generally, I try to avoid series with male main characters- unless there's an equally main female main character). This one restored my faith in the fact that some popular authors might actually be worthy (in my opinion) of their popularity.

1. All Creatures Great and Small (All Creatures Great and Small #1-2) by James Herriot
I read this sometime after I had to put my first dog, Jewels to sleep. It made me cry, laugh, and sometimes laugh and cry simultaneously at the animal antics and observations of a veteran veterinarian. It also helped me with my grief over Jewels's passing- something I hadn't expected a book to be able to do.

Which books have found you at the right time? 

Month in Review for October 2016: Mini Macabre Madness

This month was an exceptionally busy month for me blog-wise, especially considering this has been a slow blogging year for me. I wrote up 5 Mini Macabre Review Mondays posts (which are always popular this time of the year), since there were 5 Mondays this October. I almost forgot Halloween landed on a Monday until I consulted a calendar, but I managed to find enough classic scary story material to review.

Statistics:
 Total Posts: 17
  Total Critiques: 5
   Mini Macabre Review Mondays: 5
  Genres:
    Classic Horror: 1
    Fantasy: 1
    Magical Realism: 2
    Sci-fi: 1
    Part of a Series: 2

Most Popular Posts of October:
Early Critique: "Faithful" by Alice Hoffman
SFF: The 5 Supernatural Creatures/Beings You Prefer Reading About
"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Dirk Gently #1)" by Douglas Adams
MMRM: "The Alchemist" and "The Beast in the Cave" by H.P. Lovecraft
MMRM: "Casting the Runes" by M.R. James- A Book Blogger's Nightmare
Month in Review for September 2016: Syrinx Problems

Flashback Post (From October of a Previous Year):
"Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies #1)" by Isaac Marion, a YA zombiefest with a side of brains.

Pageviews for the Month: 1090
Comments: 24!

Reading Challenges Updates:

Travel the World in Books Challenge

Applicable Books:
Out by Natsuo Kirino (set near Tokyo, Japan)
Dracula (Dracula of Stoker Family #1) by Bram Stoker (set in Romania, among other places)
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (set in Austria)

Total for 2016 So Far: 16 of 15 Books, 10 of 5 Countries (Completed/Overachiever Status)

Reading Stats:

Books read this Month: 12

Book Stats:
Has a Diverse Main Character: 3
Doesn't Have a Diverse MC: 9
Female Main Character: 7
Male Main Character: 2
Pair and/or Group of Female/Male Main Characters: 3
Genre:
 Classic Horror: 4
 Fairytale: 1
 Fantasy: 2
 Sci-fi: 1
 Historical Romance: 2
 Mystery/Thriller: 1
 Paranormal Romance: 1
Published in 2016: 1
Published in 2000-2015: 3
Published in 1990s: 1
Published in 1980s: 2
Published in 1950s: 1
Published in 1900s: 1
Published in 1800s: 3
Self-Published, Small Press, or Other: 1
Traditionally Published: 11
Series Books: 5
Standalones: 7
Ebook Version: 8
Paper Version: 4
Favorite of the Month: Out by Natsuo Kirino
Least Favorite of the Month: Surprisingly- Dracula (Dracula of Stoker Family #1) by Bram Stoker, because it started out great but didn't meet my high expectations in the end. It's still a good book.
Most Interesting of the Month (or Book I Learned the Most From): Also Out by Natsuo Kirino-
From the-pile: 3
From the-invisible-pile: 2
Recently acquired: 7
Added to the-invisible-pile: 4
Books bought: 8
Pages Read in 2016 Thus Far (according to Goodreads): 28,642 pages

Ratings:
5 Stars: 0
4-4.5 Stars: 2
3-3.5 Stars: 10
2-2.5 Stars: 0

Author Stats (1 = 1 book read by x author):
Male: 7
Female: 5
Male/Female Team: 0
Diverse: 3
Not-so-Diverse: 9
Living: 6
Deceased: 6

Planning to Read in November:

I think I'll be trying to read more historical fiction this November, in addition to finishing off The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks and The Mage's Daughter by Lynn Kurland. Of course, I have plenty of other genres stacking my unread bookshelf, so the historical fiction angle is only a tentative plan, especially since I usually read that genre to catch up on my Travel the World in Books Challenge (and I've completed mine early this year).

As for reviews, I've finished so many books lately it'll be difficult to tell which of them will get reviewed. I usually post my brief takes on every book I read during my Fortnightly Updates, so check those posts if you're interested in my take on a recent read.

Happy November!

MMRM #13: "The Pale Man" and "The Striding Place"

'Tis the season for the unearthly, the undead, and the downright macabre. Not everyone can read an entire book in time for Halloween- some of us are too busy with other books, or even other things (gasp). For those poor souls, I offer these reviews: I will be writing my thoughts on some of my favorite short stories for this spooky season, either one at a time or in pairs.

This Year's Mini Macabre Review Mondays:
#9: "The Alchemist" and "The Beast in the Cave" by H.P. Lovecraft
#10: "Canon Alberic's Scrap-book" and "The Mezzotint" by M.R. James
#11: "Casting the Runes" by M.R. James- A Book Blogger's Nightmare
#12: "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" and "Number 13" by M.R. James

"The Pale Man" by Julius Long

Available to read for free, online here.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Exceptional)
Content: Ages 12+ for a macabre mystery
Page Count: Approximately 5 pages (takes about ten minutes to read)
Year Published: 1934

This story starts out fairly innocuous. There are reasonable explanations as to why a weirdly pale man might be residing in a hotel and changing rooms- he might be just strangely pale like yours truly. However, given I did find this on a website touting it was one of nine scariest short stories (yes, I did find it scary, but the other ones weren't so scary), I knew there had to be a twist to it.

The Plot: A pale man is seen in a country hotel.

I think what really makes this story shine is the fact that it's written in first person, and the personable writing style. It's easy to relate to the character, as I think we all tend to notice those who look a bit odd wherever we happen to be.

My favorite snippet:

He favored me with a smile whose meaning I have tried in vain to decipher. I can not but believe that he meant it to have some significance. He acted as if there were between us some secret that I failed to appreciate. But, then, perhaps his smile was meaningless after all and only ambiguous by chance, like that of the Mona Lisa.

           ~From "The Pale Man" by Julius Long

"The Pale Man" is one of my favorite Mini Macabre stories I found in 2016 (the other being "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" from last week). It's concise, nicely paced, and it doesn't take long at all to read. What are you waiting for?

"The Striding Place" by Gertrude Atherton

Available to read for free, online here.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Great)
Content: Ages 12+ for creepy events
Page Count: Approximately 25 pages
Year Published: 1896

Though this story does have a nice twist (and an abrupt ending, for that matter), the problem I have with it is that I've seen similar twists in more recent stories. At the time, this was probably as shocking a story as any of Edgar Allan Poe's works, but because of the multitude of horror movies we have nowadays it doesn't have the impact it should.

The Plot: A man goes looking for his lost friend.

There are elements in this story that made me hike the rating up, despite the twist being somewhat disappointing for me- the characters are as fully realized as those in short stories can be, their discussions are interesting, and I wasn't tempted to skim at all (which cannot be said for most of the M.R. James stories I read this year).

"The Striding Place" is an interesting story that has been unfortunately replicated by more modern mediums. It still has the element of surprise in its favor, but many modern readers may be able to guess the twist before it comes. However, if you're easily scared or have a vivid imagination, this will be enough of a scare for you this year.

Until Next Year,