Rearranged some shelves to make room for yesterday‘s $10 book haul from the Friends shop. I decided to keep my seasonal reads out. #Poe #Shelley #Stevenson #Stoker #Wilde

#teamstoker #scarathon

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge promot is #thenumber13 . The tagged book is another by Robert Girardi. I really enjoy his work. It‘s often spooky and you aren‘t always sure whether all the characters are alive or even real for that matter.

#teamstoker #scarathon

Fun little Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Michael Sheen horror spoof called Slaughterhouse Rulez was in Starz tonight while I was cooking dinner. #teamstoker #scarathon

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge prompt is #graveyard . Immediately I thought of this book. To me, London‘s Highgate Cemetery is as much a character as a setting in this book. Thinking of it again today, I may need to read this again.

#teamstoker #scarathon

Volunteering at our friends of the library shop this morning. Found some great stuff! I‘m particularly jazzed about the tagged book. My grandfather fought in the Battle of the Bulge and the copy of this book I snagged is the original 1959 edition.📚💕

Every Friday night in October TCM is running classic monster movies. Tonight‘s is Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, a Japanese Godzilla movie from 1965. It‘s so terrible in its subtitled, puppety glory that it‘s awesome. 😂🤣

#teamstoker #scarathon

“Once there was a Postman who fell in love with a raven.” So begins the delightfully odd story by Audrey Niffenegger, which she illustrates as well. If you like offbeat stories, you may well enjoy this one.

This book fits the #chillingphotochallenge prompt #raven.

#teamstoker #scarathon

Our little local library is getting new flooring so they asked us to checkout our limit to help clear the shelves. I took a bunch of big ol‘ cookbooks to help out. I was looking forward to going through some tonight for inspiration. Hank the Book Sniffer is sad puppo missing Daddy, who is away this week. I guess he‘s a book snuggler tonight. ☺️ #hankthebulldog

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge prompt is #ghostly. I love this collection of ghost stories put together and illustrated by Audrey Niffenegger. There are a variety of authors - from classic to modern - represented, which is nice. It introduced me to some authors I‘d not heard of which I always appreciate.

#teamstoker #scarathon

Life lessons from the journal of Dr Seward 😂🧛‍♂️🦇

#draculabuddyread #teamstoker #scarathon

Finished this one up while doing chores this morning. While not in the theme for #scarathon, I wanted to get it returned for those waiting in line for it. Man, I‘d forgotten what an emotional little ride this book was.😢

I highly recommend this production. It is done by the BBC with a large and talented cast that reminds me of their fine radio drama productions.

#teamstoker

Just finished this lovely monstrosity over night while I was sleepless with some viral crud. Fun second book of the series!

Without giving to much of the fun away, I will say this: there are #vampires 😊🖤 So not only is it a book in the #scarathon theme finished for #teamstoker , but it also fits the #chillingphotochallenge 🦇 🧛‍♂️

✅ Creepy old manor falling into decrepitude
✅ Elderly housekeeper with a sinister demeanor
✅ Family secrets no one wants to talk about
✅ Murder? Accident? Who to trust? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fun little spooky page turner. #teamstoker #scarathon

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge prompt is #horror. I immediately thought of the story Click-Clack the Rattle Bag in the tagged collection. Of course, Hank the Book Sniffer had to check out it‘s sniffiness while was taking the picture. 😂🐶

Here is a link to the delightful Mr Gaiman reading his creeptastic story at the NYPL: https://youtu.be/imLja6Emezo

#scarathon #teamstoker #hankthebulldog

Kickin‘ it 1979 old school horror tonight with the lovely and talented Carol Kane. When a Stranger Calls scared the peewodden outta me when I was young babysitter. 🤣

#scarathon #teamstoker

Today‘s #chillingphotochallenge is #blackcat . This book is an adorable preschool Halloween book. If you have any littles in your lives you may want to check this one out.

#scarathon #teamstoker

Today‘s prompt for the #chillingphotochallenge is #coffin . I immediately thought of this book, which is one of my favorites from this year‘s reading. There are lots of coffins in this book. They just call them sick beds. 🤣 ⚰️

#scarathon #teamstoker

I bought this adorable little board book for the one year old son of a dear friend. It is lovely and bright! So stinkin‘ cute!

#teamstoker Not a book in theme, but a book nonetheless.

I know this won‘t count for #scarathon because this is TV and not a movie, but I still wanted to share with my team. AHS: 1984 is good, old fashioned 80‘s slasher horror fun. The last couple seasons were a little off, but this season is back old school. 🔪 #teamstoker

Today‘s prompt for the #chillingphotochallenge is #spell . I love this book. Everyone knows Sleeping Beauty . . . Under a sleeping spell . . . Prince Somebody . . . blah, blah, blah. But this one? This one is different. In a lovely, super Gaiman-y way with Chris Riddell‘s resplendent art. #scarathon #teamstoker Also, those crazy flowers are growing spontaneously in my sidewalk because Hank the Book Sniffer has not peed on them, miraculously. 😂

First #scarathon book finished today! It wasn‘t scary, but with characters carrying names like Jekyll, Rappaccini, Frankenstein, Hyde, Moreau . . . I certainly think it fits. This was a super fun romp and I immediately started book 2 and book 3 arrived yesterday. If you are a purist, this may not be for you. If you are good with reimaginings, you may really enjoy it! #teamstoker

I love this book. I need to read it again. It had been a few years since I‘d read regularly and went looking for a book to get me back into reading. The clerk at the bookstore recommended this, bless him. It got me hooked on books again. And it was the first book I thought of when I saw #haunted prompt for the #chillingphotochallenge . #scarathon #teamstoker

Super excellent book mail today! Just in time for the #DraculaBuddyRead with #TeamStoker for #Scarathon

Finding groovy used books is my favorite! 🖤

Sir Snaggletooth (aka Hank the Book Sniffer) and I are starting a new book tonight, he with his new chew rope and me with my wee dram of Jameson. It‘s been a day. Night, y‘all! #hankthebulldog 📚💕🥃🐶

Hank the Book Sniffer informs me that it‘s time settle in and read for the night. Night, y‘all! #HankTheBulldog

In honor of #BannedBookWeek . . . In 1998 I was new mom and kept hearing about challenges to this new book that promoted witchcraft. I thought I should check it out even if they were kids books, because . . . I was a new mom and needed to start reading more kids stuff. I bought the first one and read it. And I fell in love. 💕As soon as my baby girl was old enough we started reading them to her. She grew up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 👇🏻

AAAS science blog shared reviews of three books books on our insect neighbors, including the tagged book. The blog is from July, but I‘ve not seen these before. They look wonderful! Sharing the link for those interested:

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2019/07/23/small-wonders/

Finished this one up today. Ooooofff. While not a comfortable read in places by any means, it was certainly a valuable read. It‘s not possible to condense my thoughts for the limited space here, so I will simply say that I think any American that cares about the integrity of our country should read this book. The more we sweep the folly of our past under the rug, the more damage we do to our future.

Reading this series again in preparation for the show coming out this fall. I‘d forgotten how good this one is!

I really enjoyed this book. It‘s the first Laura Lippman book I‘ve ever read. I will definitely be checking out her other work. I particularly loved the tenacity of the women in the book. I‘d seen criticism that the book swapped perspective to too many characters too often and it was confusing. I found that engaging and that was one of my favorite things about this book. If you want a good page-turner that sucks you in, maybe give this a go.

“No wonder men didn‘t want women to wear bloomers! . . . . If they had pockets! With pockets women could conquer the world!”🤣

For so much of history women have been hampered by clothing. Power over women in the name of fashion. I just loved this middle paragraph.

Audio gardening today. (I had a terrible mess going on - ‘before‘ is in the bottom.) Thank you, @mariaku21 , for recommending the production of Othello with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ewan McGregor, and Kelly Reilly on Audible. It is exquisite! And it made my task easier to accomplish. 🌱 📚 🎧

Excellent book if you are a Rushdie fan. I‘d read some criticism that it was weird that he had written it in the third person. I found this to be not at all distracting and felt it was rather perfect given the meaning behind the title of the book. I also thought it allowed him to take the piss out of himself a little easier in places, which is welcome. He has quite an ego and would be insufferable were it not for his honesty about it. Great read!

It‘s here!!!!!! I‘ve been waiting for this since 1994 💕

This interview was bonkers! The author of the tagged book about Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA‘s experiments into mind control was on today‘s Fresh Air. It was simultaneously fascinating and absolutely sickening.

Here‘s the link is you‘d like to listen: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/759054577/the-cias-secret-search-for-mind-control

This book is now a must-read for me. Ooooof.

I finished this gem yesterday. Outstanding book. It covers Lincoln‘s decision to go forward with the Emancipation Proclamation, Teddy Roosevelt‘s intervention in the coal strike of 1902, FDR‘s immediate attack of the Great Depression upon taking office, and LBJ‘s obsession to pass civil rights legislation in the wake of Kennedy‘s assassination. It also touches on the childhoods and deaths of these men. History nerds, this one‘s for you! 📚💕

I just read this fantastic article on The Atlantic‘s site. It covers three books on women and aging - the most interesting of which, for me, I tagged. It apparently makes the argument that post-menopausal women provided an evolutionary edge to early societies. As a biologist, I‘m curious to read this book.
Here‘s the link if you‘d like to take a peak: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/10/the-secret-power-of-menopau...

I got the tagged book in the mail today since I‘d preordered it. (Excellent #bookmail day!) Expecting The Testaments on 9/10. I really need to look into the others. #bookerprize2019

Anyway, here‘s the link to the NPR story if y‘all are interested:
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/03/757031950/margaret-atwood-salman-rushdie-headline...

This isn‘t a bad book for what it is. It‘s basically a bare bones run down of some myths that were prevalent in the Middle Ages. They aren‘t told as stories necessarily. Some give a bit of speculation regarding origin. Some have accompanying commentary from the Reverend, which is rather funny though not meant to be. Written in 1867, his resources were limited and it shows. I will look some of these up as I‘d like to know more.

My guy D just got home from work and is playing with Hank the book sniffer while I read. That‘s right. We like to party. We like to get down. 🤣😂 Happy weekend, y‘all! 😘 #HankTheBulldog

Well. That was interesting! Not much I can say without giving something away, so here‘s a look at the breakfast I ate while finishing this sincerely engrossing book. 🤣

@BookLover29 , you were so right! I did love it! 📚💕

Oooooofff. This was a tough one. Tough enough I had to augment my reading time on this super rainy day by baking/grilling English muffins. I understand why some who have read this were less than satisfied after finishing it. Simply put, it hurts to care for people who are suffering - real or not. And it really hurts when their story may not end as you‘d hoped. But that was why I give this book a pick. It was hard to read because it felt real.

Finished up this series via audiobook. (Whew! All 15 in a year.) The performances were wonderful even if the story wasn‘t all I‘d hoped it would be. I enjoyed the earlier books in the series far more than the last few. I did, however, appreciate that the story of this book was told in part from the perspective of the Shrewsburys. That bumped it to pick, even though I feel like it‘s between pick and so-so for me.

Excellent book mail today! 📚🖤❤️🖤

I‘ve seen a good deal of skepticism in Goodreads and Amazon reviews regarding the authenticity of this story. Living in southern Missouri, I have known lots of people like the author‘s father. Not all have the religious bent, some fall into the “sovereign citizen” category of paranoia. I also served in the military with home-schooled folk who had many of the same educational gaps as the author due to the extremist views of their parents. 👇🏻

Full disclosure: I went into this expecting to dislike this book. I have now both read the book and listened it. And I thought it was wonderful. It‘s the most uniquely original book I‘ve read in ages. The audiobook is extraordinary with Nick Offerman and David Sedaris leading a huge cast. Bill Hader and Megan Mullally as the gloriously foul-mouthed Barons are particularly delightful. Don‘t get me wrong- this is weird book. But I adored it!

Mid-19th century burn. 🤣. The good Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould intends to take down the William Tell myth (in his 1867 book - 1977 version tagged). I almost feel as though I‘m doing him a disservice if I do not respond to his stated intention by growling “Do your worst, sir!” 😂

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I could hardly put it down. If you enjoyed The Ghost Bride you will probably enjoy this one as well. I really appreciate how the author weaves the lore and superstition of her culture into the narrative. I thought this was a fantastic read that clipped along briskly and I wasn‘t ready for it to end. 🖤

While I understand this is fiction, I‘m disappointed in PG‘s treatment of both Elizabeth and Amy Robsart. Amy was not an illiterate dolt as she is portrayed here. And Elizabeth is made out to be an easily pliable, over emotional ninny who mirrored the opinions of whomever was nearest. By all accounts she was demanding and spoiled, but she was also remarkably astute politically or she‘d never have held her crown.

Boooo, Philippa Gregory.

The second I sat down to read, Le Petit Monsieur (aka Hank the Book Sniffer) had to hop on my lap and check out my latest purchase. To be fair, he was left alone for a couple of hours and it got dark before we got home, so tout va bien. 🤣 🐶 #HankTheBulldog