This was a dark, interesting audiobook about a man who survives a terrible car accident that took the life of his wife. I think some of the plot twists were a bit obvious, but it worked thanks to the quality of writing. It also helped that the author kept the book so short. It gives a sense of urgency to everything that happens!

Here‘s my list for March!
#Bookspin. #bookspinbingo
@TheAromaofBooks

I listened to this book last weekend and was absolutely hooked! This was the most enjoyable fiction that I can remember reading/listening to over the past several months!

#bookspin #bookspinbingo

After something like three years of listening to this on and off to include a complete restart, I finished this audiobook. It was really hard to focus and absorb everything as the book segues quickly from one topic to the next. Still a number of the passages about the universe and space were simply mesmerizing!

This was an interesting read about the author‘s time at Salomon Brothers in which he climbed from a trainee to a successful trader. If you want a book with interesting and likable characters, this isn‘t for you. This is a book about relatively awful people who care about making piles of money and of self-preservation in a company structure that gave off a Lord of the Flies vibe!

#bookspinbingo

This was a great read when I was able to force my brain to get over a few plot details that don‘t make sense (such as no company would take on the liability of leaving a large group of mostly teens to look after a park during a hurricane). Other than that, this was a thrilling read. The novel is broken into interviews, a structure which made this perfect for an audiobook format.

#bookspin #bookspinbingo

This was a fun memoir about a guy breaking into wrestling and become a legend on the indie scene over the late 70s to early 90s. The author keeps things fun and light in tone throughout. I think it helped that he seemed to avoid some of the pitfalls that destroy other wrestlers‘s lives such as drug and alcohol addiction. If you like/love wrestling, you‘ll enjoy this. If you don‘t, then there are probably better uses for your time!

I finally got around to this after a couple of years of procrastination. This is a powerful story about a group of guys w/ intellectual disabilities who were used and abused by a turkey processing plant for the sake of cheap labor. It‘s the type of story that‘s uncomfortable or even a bit painful to read at times, but it‘s ultimately uplifting thanks to the resiliency of “the boys.”

After taking a month off, here‘s my list for February!

#bookspin
#bookspinbingo
@TheAromaofBooks

Winter Games 2021 totals:
Final week: 468 points
Grand total: 5028 points

Thanks for adding some fun during what‘s been a very busy and at times stressful holiday season!

#wintergames2021
#teamgamesleighers

I guess I got a decent bump in points thanks to reading a bunch of children‘s story collections!

#wintergames2021
#teamgamesleighers

I found this book last year and I‘ll listen to it every year at Christmas time. It‘s an absolutely wonderful tale about a church‘s Christmas pageant that goes delightfully wrong and yet ends up being more meaningful at the same time! I‘m an atheist and absolutely adore this book and recommend it to all regardless of one‘s beliefs. Elaine Stritch‘s narration is perfect. I plan to check out more of this series!

This was a collection of two pulp western stories related to Christmas and a bonus article about the Christmas tree industry in Eureka Montana in 1948. In particular I enjoyed the 2nd tale, Santa in the Saddle, and the bonus article! It‘s also great that they include a bunch of old advertisements in this book. This seems to be my year for overindulging in Christmas westerns and horror stories! 🤠 👻

The 2nd installment of the Christmas at Ruby‘s series. I love the idea of Ruby‘s being a place where the memories and ghosts of Christmas past meet those in the present. I don‘t love the book‘s theme of rekindling a first romance from 20-30 years ago. That theme is overdone and unrealistic in general. I may revisit the series next year as I think the ghost/memories idea and the author‘s style still show some promise.

This was an impulse holiday read as I ran out of other books to listen to. It‘s grittier than a cozy mystery, but still pretty formulaic, especially with how mastermind criminals make ridiculous mistakes at the end and everything basically falls into the laps of the investigators. Overall, it was nice for something different!
#wintergames2021 #teamgamesleighers #bookspinbingo (free space) #littenlisten #wintercosy #averymerry #averymerrybingo

Winter Games Totals:
Week 3: 874 points
Grand Total: 2796 points
It was another fun week of reading and watching Christmas specials!!

#wintergames #wintergames2021 #teamgamesleighers

This was a wonderful, breezy read for the holiday season. Many of the stories are cute and funny but some will definitely give you the feels! This is out of print. It seems the Santa and co-author has become more known for playing Vampire Santa at horror conventions and some creepy interviews. One can still find this secondhand. Many thanks to @StayCurious for tracking this down and sending it my way!

I‘ve read and listened to a number of classic and vintage Christmas story collections this month, and this is my favorite one so far. It has the most variety as it includes a western story, a Sherlock Holmes mystery, and a great comedy to conclude the collection (Christmas at Thompson Hall).

#wintergames2021 #teamgamesleighers #bookspinbingo #wintercosy #averymerry #averymerrybingo #littenlisten

I gave this title a whirl as 1) I was entertained by the original, 2) I‘ve had a lot of road trips in my car for my new job, and 3) it was available through my library. I ended up enjoying this more than the first installment. The author infused more humor this time around. Highlights included Me and My Christmas Jumper, Caroling with Convicts, and The Present. Recommended for horror fans who want a holiday read/listen!

This was a cute and light story collection that celebrated the Christmas holiday with a slight old west slant. There weren‘t any amazing stories, but they were a fun way to pass the time when I couldn‘t sleep the past few nights!

#wintergames2021 #wintergames #teamgamesleighers #bookspinbingo #wintercosy #averymerry #averymerrybingo

Sorry, I‘m late on posting results and also with updates and reviews I‘ve what I‘ve read and listed to so far. Here are my totals:
Week 2 points: 1078
Total Points: 1922

I‘ll try to catch up, interact, and post more this week. Happy reading, watching, listening, etc. everyone!!

#wintergames #wintergames2021 #teamgamesleighers @StayCurious

Here are my total points for Week 1 of #wintergames2021. Hopefully I‘ll pick up the pace a bit this week and rely a bit less on audiobooks!

#teamgamesleighers #wintergames @StayCurious

I was a bit disappointed by this. Only two stories included Anne, and they were both retreaded excerpts from the novel series. The other stories became quite redundant. Too many of the other tales involved a family struggling at Christmas time and another family stepping in to give them a big holiday meal and/or estranged relatives coming together at Christmas time. A bit more variety would have helped!

I started of the holiday season with this collection of horror stories. Overall, it was pretty entertaining and much better than the other Christmas-related horror story collections that I‘ve read or listened to.

#teamgamesleighers #wintergames #wintergames2021 #bookspinbingo #littenlisten #AVeryMerry #averymerrybingo #wintercosy

After taking most of November off from reading it‘s time to ramp up for #WinterGames2021, December #BookSpinBingo, #WinterCosy readathon, #AVeryMerry readathon, #AVeryMerryBingo, and #LittenListen audiothon! Thanks to all the hosts who will be tagged below (assuming I don‘t botch things up a bit!😜).

#TeamGameSleighers #WinterGames

This was an addictive audiobook detailing William Queen‘s undercover assignment to infiltrate the Mongols MC. I especially appreciated how Queen acknowledged having developed mixed feelings towards the end of the assignment as he had become close to a number of the members who would be prosecuted. It‘s impossible to know if the work is 100% accurate (Queen makes his involvement sounds a bit squeaky clean), but this made for an exciting ride!

I already miss the excuse of “but honey, I‘m part of a team” to nab a bit more time here and there for reading or as a reason to watch scary movies and TV shows! 😂

703 points for the final week

3628 total points for the competition. Most importantly, it was fun!!

#scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix

I loved this book. I‘ve been struggling to read at times, but this book pulled me in. It was the right mix of fun ridiculousness with some truly freaky situations!

#scarathlon2021. #teamhendrix. #screamathon #spookoween #wickedathon #bookspinbingo #littensdreasedinblood

I enjoyed listening to this memoir, especially with how Ms. Peterson got her start in show business and her continued struggles both personally and professionally after finding her breakthrough role of Elvira. I enjoy memoirs of working actors much more as they struggle and have to take whatever jobs they can to pay the bills versus A-listers who score multimillion paydays that allow them to take months or years off.

As I‘m a bit of a nerd, this was a fun book of random facts about the holiday. I was the only one in the household who seemed really entranced by it, as everyone has been ignoring me the last few days when I would open the book up and read several pages of festive facts

#scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #littensdressedinblood #wickedathon #screamathon #spookoween

Week 3 Scarathlon Totals:
Total for the week: 623 points
Grand total: 2,925 points

I seem to be cratering thanks to work and the fact that we‘ve run out of children‘s books for the season! 😂 The highlight of the week was watching Muppetd Haunted Mansion!

#scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix

This was a short, light-hearted read for the season. It was fun for a change of pace from the more serious and gruesome stuff I‘ve been reading. However, I don‘t think I‘ll revisit this the way that I will Pumpkin Heads. 3/5

#scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #bookspinbingo #spookoween #wickedathon #screamathon #littensdressedinblood

I finished the audiobook this weekend and found this to be a creative take on the werewolf genre. It kept me entertained throughout but didn‘t reach the point of creeping me out or scaring me in any way. It was a fun book though and a good place to start for someone new to SGJ‘s work.
#scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #screamathon #bookspinbingo #wickedathon #littensdressedinblood

It took me some time to get into this, but eventually I was hooked. This is a dark, engrossing take on the Jack the Ripper murders. I can‘t say I loved it but it was unique and interesting!
#scarathlon #teamhendrix #bookspinbingo #spookoween #screamathon #wickedathon #littensdressedinblood

Hey everyone! My total for week 2 is 948 points.

My overall total is 2,302 points.

#scarathlon #teamhendrix

The was an absolute hoot! It was quirky and one of the more unique things I‘ve read (or listened to). This is the first time I‘ve read anything by Dahl and I‘ll be sure to read more of his novels in the future!

#scarathlon #teamhendrix #bookspinbingo #spookoween #screamathon wickedathon #littensdressedinblood

I‘ll probably read spookier things this month, but I‘d be shocked if any other book sticks with me as long as Season with the Witch does. Ocker takes a fair and balanced look at the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials and the way that an entire cheesy tourist industry and local economy was built on the Witch City billing. Ocker would prefer the city make a more somber acknowledgment of what occurred there; he also embraces the ridiculousness…

This book was a pleasant surprise. I was leery through about 95% of it due to odd occurrences and potential plot holes, but the ending really tied it all together in a pretty satisfying way! The narrator honestly killed it with his performance on the audiobook. How many people could nail the characters of a middle aged man, a young girl, and a cat? I heavily recommend this title for those into slowly building thrillers!

Here‘s my point total for the week!
#scarathlon
#teamhendrix

Chiming in with my picks for the today‘s prompt of “witches.” I‘m currently working my way through A Season with the Witch; it‘s a nonfiction book that explores how Salem has built a tourist industry based on the witch trials and what it‘s like to spend an October there. I also hope to read Dahl‘s The Witches at some point before the month is over!

#littensdressedinblood

I typically don‘t enjoy poetry, but this collection hit the spot. The subject matter certainly didn‘t hurt. Meyer explores monsters, things that go bump in the night, and other dark subject matter. I didn‘t love them all, but they were consistently solid!

#bookspinbingo #scarathlon #teamhendrix #screamathon #wickedathon #spookoweenreadathon #spookoween #littensdressedinblood

The book had such a creepy, promising start. What followed was a long, rambling story that failed to justify the huge time investment. It had some interesting characters and ideas, but needed to be trimmed down by 150 pages or so.
#scarathlon #teamhendrix #screamathon #spookoween #spookoweenreadathon #bookspinbingo #littensdressedinblood #wickedathon

Most of my books for my October TBR are of the Kindle or audiobook format, but here‘s my humble little pile of physical books that I‘ll hopefully read at least a few of this month!

#littensdressedinblood

1) Hell yes! I‘ve been looking forward to it for a couple of months now! It‘s always fun to see what people are reading, watching, and how they‘re celebrating the season!

2) I‘ve been anxiously waiting for almost a whole year to read Alan Moore‘s From Hell…it looks wonderfully creepy!

Thanks for the tag @DarkMina

#two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

This was on my #Bookspinbingo list for the month, but when I went to read it, it turns out I never got around to buying it. Fortunately, Hoopla bailed me out with an audio recording of a play production! The play is as solid as I remember it! The cast is great and I love the tension between the characters as they debate a man‘s guilt or innocence!

Just finished reading this to the girlfriend‘s daughter tonight….I absolutely love this book! It sometimes even held the attention of a 5 year-old, so that‘s something!

This book did not live up to its promise of telling interesting ghost stories about legendary writers and/or ghost stories about the places they used to hang out. The stories are mostly bland; it felt like the author ran out of material by the time he reached Henry James. Baltrusis added tons of filler material through stories about his ghost hunts and profiles on other paranormal experts. I‘m glad I got this out of the way before Oct!

Here‘s my TBR list for October! Who the hell knows how much I‘ll actually get around to reading and/or end up sticking to the list! #bookspinbingo #scarathlontbr #screamathon #teamhendrix #SpookoweenReadathon #SpookOWeen

I really wanted to like this; heck, I enjoyed the first half of it. It has a gentleness in both the story telling and the characters that I enjoyed for a while. I have a hard time warming up to a character like Hungry Paul. He‘s a middle-aged man who can‘t be bothered to work more than one day/week and who undeniably mooches off his parents. Yes, there‘s a lot of love in the familial relationships, but they‘re also enablers.
#bookspinbingo

3.5/5 - I loved the fact that this was shorter with a more direct style of writing than most of what I‘ve read by King. I enjoyed the story but I think the surprise twist at the end missed the mark to the point of almost ruining the book for me. Also, King still overuses foreshadowing to a ridiculous degree. Overall, it was pretty fun up until the end though!

#bookspinbingo