What are you reading this October?

[[deleted user]]

The leaves are turning, pumpkin spice lattes are back, football is just getting interesting and baseball is getting to the playoffs. So, what are you reading when not carving your jack-o'-lantern?

[Andrea]

Well, every October I pull out my Halloween themed books. They aren't necessarily horror, but need to have some sort of monster aspect, usually vampires.

But not starting with vampires this year, I'm starting with Frankenstein. Saw it was already read by this group and I realized I've never actually read the whole thing through.

See as kids my cousin and I, who live 6 hours apart, decided we would read Dracula aloud to each other every time we got together, so we could better understand this DOS game she had (didn't help us win the game but it was still a fun process).

Several years later we finished Dracula and thought we would start on Frankenstein, but by then we were older and the fun of taking turns reading a book aloud for a few days at a time, then having month long gaps wore off. So we only got part way.

[Mike]

I'm just barely making progress with . I really need some quiet uninterrupted reading time and can't seem to get any the last couple of days.

[Kyle]

I just started Dark Matter. It's been a quick read so far. Then on to The Wise Man's Fear.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Last month, in preparation for our group discussion, I read The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

Since it's October and Halloween is coming up, I started reading The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. My version has a Foreword by Stephen King which contained some great insights about the book and its author but unfortunately had a lot of spoilers too.

I'm still working on:
- A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
- The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2015 Edition edited by Rich Horton

And also reading these non-SF/F books:
- In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
- Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Deluxe Edition by Ben Fountain
- Conviction by Richard North Patterson

[Silvana]

Randy wrote: "I started reading The Haunting of Hill House The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. My version has a Foreword by Stephen King which contained some great insights about the book and its author but unfortunately had a lot of spoilers too. "

I wished that book won the poll. And thanks for the heads up on the foreword. I rarely read them but good to know.

And also reading these non-SF/F books:
- In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

This is my ultimate favorite five-star nonfiction this year. SO. GOOD.

[Silvana]

Still trying to finish The Hero of Ages. If I read another line about Vin and her obsession towards gowns, I'll probably skim the rest and read the ending. Sanderson can be so irritating when writing about female characters. Do his other series also have irritating lead female characters?

Rereading A Storm of Swords for proofreading.

[Lori]

Randy wrote: "Last month, in preparation for our group discussion, I read The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

Since it's October and Halloween is coming u..."

Silvana wrote: "Randy wrote: "I started reading The Haunting of Hill House The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. My version has a Foreword by Stephen King which contained some great insights about the boo..."

I was just about to start The Haunting of Hill House, and I would certainly be interested in Stephen King's opinion of it. Thanks for the spoiler warnings - I'll be sure to read the Foreword after I'm finished!

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Silvana wrote: "- In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

This is my ultimate favorite five-star nonfiction this year. SO. GOOD."

I just finished it today. First time I think I've given a history book five stars. Highly recommended! Review here if anyone is interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Silvana wrote: "Randy wrote: "I started reading The Haunting of Hill House The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

I wished that book won the poll. And thanks for the heads up on the foreword. I rarely read them but good to know."

Lori wrote: "I was just about to start The Haunting of Hill House, and I would certainly be interested in Stephen King's opinion of it. Thanks for the spoiler warnings - I'll be sure to read the Foreword after I'm finished!"

Excellent! It's like an impromptu group read. :) I'm trying to get through about 7 pages per day or so because I want to finish on Halloween.

[Susi]

I am reading Path of Flames by Phil Tucker and enjoying very much. Great writing, full of action and an interesting epic story! (enjoyment not spoilt by a few editing mistakes) Recommended.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[Michael]

I just finished The Last One, which I won from the giveaways. I am currently reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight (and just discovered my copy is missing pages 157-188 and it is no longer in Amazon's return/refund timeframe), but I will keep reading and then probably go on to Wizard and Glass, which I am working my way through the Dark Tower series to prep for the upcoming movie. That'll probably run me into November, since that book is a little longer, but if I get through, I'll step into Turn Coat.

[Danita L]

Randy wrote: "Last month, in preparation for our group discussion, I read The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

Since it's October and Halloween is coming u..."

I do wish we could just 'Like' comments, posts, replies and messages, lol, but instead, I did send you a separate message :)

[Danita L]

Michael wrote: "I just finished The Last One, which I won from the giveaways. I am currently reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight (and just discovered my copy is missing pages 157-188 a..."

Hi Michael - I might still have a copy of Dragons of Autumn Twilight that I could send to you if it is a book that you plan on keeping. My copy should be in good condition.

Mine is probably in storage but because I packed all the boxes of books myself, I should be able to find it by spring, lol.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Danita L wrote: "I do wish we could just 'Like' comments, posts, replies and messages, lol, but instead, I did send you a separate message :)"

Received. Thanks Danita!

[infael]

I am re-reading the Black Prism books in preparation for the release of The Blood Mirror. After that, I'll re-read the Cephrael's Hand books in preparation for Kingdom Blades!

[William]

I just started The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. LOL. Now you all have me re-thinking my decision. Being October, I am liking the idea of reading The Haunting of Hill House. I have never read it and it sounds eerie.

[Jim]

My favorite October read is A Night in the Lonesome October. There is a chapter (usually short) for each day of the month culminating on All Hallows Eve. I've taken part in 3 different group discussions on GR about it over the years. It's a fun, quick story on the surface, but Zelazny uses a lot of allusions, so I have over 20 pages of notes about which horror/fantasy movie, story, or legend that are referred to. Several pages are devoted to the cover art which was painted by Andy Warhol's nephew of the various characters.

[Bryce]

Just finished up Foundation, which I was pleasantly surprised with. I have the next two in the series to read, but the omnibus of The Dragonriders of Pern hit my doorstep before I could start on em. It's a beast of a book so it may take me the month to read it.

[Michael]

Bryce wrote: "Just finished up Foundation, which I was pleasantly surprised with. I have the next two in the series to read, but the omnibus of The Dragonriders of Pern hit my doorstep before I could start on em..."

I loved Foundation, it feels a little dated, but still a damn fine read.

[Andrea]

On my eReader, finished Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson. To continue working my way through the gothic lit stuff I downloaded last year, next on my list is The Beetle by Richard Marsh.

[Jon]

I AM READING pRELUDE TO fOUNDATION

[Stephen]

William wrote: "I just started The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. LOL. Now you all have me re-thinking my decision. Being October, I am liking the idea of reading The Haunting of Hill House. I have never read it ..."

  Eerie describes The Haunting of Hill House" fairly well. Quite atmospheric, and psychological.  Not 'and then the monster jumps out and eats your face' sort of thing.  I remember liking it.  Been years since I read it.

        They made a fairly good movie for tv of it, too.  I saw that before I read the novel.  I liked both.

        For another take on the same general idea (a small group of people go to notorious 'haunted house' to explore it), there's also Hell House by Matheson.  And also The Shining by King.  Both of those are much more 'face-eating monster' types.

[Dehric]

I'm currently eating up dune.

I do have a question to pose for you dune lovers (if this is not the right section for this i apologize)

[Iksei]

I started with voices from Chernobyl, by Svetlana Alexievich... I'm just in the first pages but I already know it would be a hard reading

[Michael]

I've just finished reading Stephen Baxter's Proxima, and I loved it - it's a damn fine sci-fi read :-)

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

[Brendan]

Dehric wrote: "I do have a question to pose for you dune lovers (if this is not the right section for this i apologize)"

I love all 6 Dune novels, what's the question?

[[deleted user]]

Brendan wrote: "Dehric wrote: "I do have a question to pose for you dune lovers (if this is not the right section for this i apologize)"
I love all 6 Dune novels, what's the question?"

Dune has its own discussion topic if your interested.

[YEVA]

Currently reading Caliban´s War by James S.A. Corey.

[Shaitarn]

As we're coming up to Halloween I'm reading some urban fantasy/horror books. Just started Tales of Ravenloft.

[Andrea]

Finished with Frankenstein a few days ago, now it's on to The Vampire Tapestry to keep on with the Halloween theme

[[deleted user]]

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

The best post-zombie apocalypse ever. A handful of terrific characters in a really engaging story. Takes a familiar setup (there's a zombie plague, and an isolated research station is trying to find a cure) and does something completely unexpected with it. Wish I'd read it two years ago when it came out.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

William wrote: "I just started The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. LOL. Now you all have me re-thinking my decision. Being October, I am liking the idea of reading The Haunting of Hill House. I have never read it ..."

Cool. Jump in! I'm about halfway done with it. On pace to finish on Halloween. It's definitely not a "monster eats your face" kind of book...there's a lot of atmosphere and settings and characters. One way to look at it is that the house itself is a central character.

Matheson's Hell House and King's The Shining are both on my To-Read list.

[Brendan]

Finished Parable of the Sower and The Golem and the Jinni. Parable was the better of the two. Currently reading The Last Days of New Paris.

EDIT: Oh, and I also finished Nightfall by Asimov/Silverberg. Seems it was a short story that was stretched into a novel? Probably would have been better as a short story, to be honest.

[Shaitarn]

Finished Tales of Ravenloft - bit of a mixed bag. Onto Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton (I have a few of the Anita Blake novels, though I bale out before it becomes erotica with monsters).

[Jim]

Shaitarn wrote: "Finished Tales of Ravenloft - bit of a mixed bag. Onto Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton (I have a few of the Anita Blake novels, though I bale out before it becomes erotica with..."

I thought the Anita Blake series was great up until about the 10th book. She was a great, kick-ass heroine & there were some great other characters. Hamilton really went off the rails, though. Ruined the series & MC for me.

[Andrea]

Been reading an anthology of Halloween stories in between the books. As with most anthologies some have been good, others not so much. But an interesting variety, the one I'm reading now takes place in the future on Mars for example. Another was a dystopian world where everyone had to wear masks except on Halloween.

Paula Guran

[Gary]

Brendan wrote: "Finished Parable of the Sower and The Golem and the Jinni. Parable was the better of the two. Currently reading The Last Days of New Paris.

EDIT: Oh, a..."
The short story is a classic.

[Michael]

I've posted my review for Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl, and it's a fascinating world, but is doesn't quite deliver.

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

[Tyler]

I'm currently reading book 8 (Toll the Hounds) of the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Before I started on book 8, I read Springtseen's new memoir Born to Run.

[Iksei]

I bought this book a while ago, but I just started reading miss peregrine's home for peculiar children. I wanted to read it before I watched the movie

[Steph]

I'm currently reading "The City of Fallen Angels", "Num8ers", Michael Vey: Rise of The Elgen".

[Dude]

Just finished reading The Mists of Avalon and just started with Fellside. The mists was a big let down won't be continuing the series but Fellside seems very promising so far.

[Robby]

I just started this series today. So far so good.

[Mike]

I finished Red Winter today and started Dead Beat, the seventh Dresden Files book.

[Shaitarn]

I'm still going through the Anita Blake books; I've just finished The Laughing Corpse and have started Circus of the Damned.

[David]

Currently reading book one of George R R Martin's https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... series

[Andrea]

Finished reading The Vampire Tapestry, I enjoyed it even more than I thought it would. Though it was written in 1980, I haven't read anything else quite like it. Dr. Weyland did make for quite the unique and intriguing character.

Switching now to . For those of you desperate for a Dresden fix and as there seems none forthcoming, you might want to try out this series by M.L. Brennan. This one is the fourth book.

[Kivrin]

I finished Sand Omnibus by Hugh Howey. Enjoyed this one almost more than Wool. The plotting was tighter, and I found the world of heat, grit, and despair fascinating. Even thought I'm glad it was a stand alone book, I do sort of wish he writes a sequel one day.

[Shaitarn]

I've Finished Circus of the Damned and am taking a quick break from the Anita Blake novels to read Ladylord instead.