Summer 2023 Reading Challenge

[destiny ♡]

inciminci wrote: "destiny ♡ wrote: "Does anyone have any summer horror or thriller recs specifically by trans authors? 🏳️‍⚧️🖤"

There's F4 by Larissa Glasser, it's set on a cruise s..."

Thank you so much!

[inciminci]

destiny ♡ wrote: "inciminci wrote: "destiny ♡ wrote: "Does anyone have any summer horror or thriller recs specifically by trans authors? 🏳️‍⚧️🖤"

There's F4 by Larissa Glasser, it's..."

You're welcome 😊

[Aaron]

Kimberly wrote: "Meli wrote: "Finished my first book of the challenge this weekend, The Troop and I absolutely loved it! Completely propulsive suspenseful thriller with interesting dynamics amongst ..."

I recently read Crom Cruach by Valkyrie Loughcrewe has camping and BBQ's. Their story is interesting and they fit the category you asked about.

[Aaron]

Aaron wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "Meli wrote: "Finished my first book of the challenge this weekend, The Troop and I absolutely loved it! Completely propulsive suspenseful thriller with interesting ..."This was actually supposed to be a reply to destiny #105. Sorry about the confusion.

[destiny ♡]

Aaron wrote: "Aaron wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "Meli wrote: "Finished my first book of the challenge this weekend, The Troop and I absolutely loved it! Completely propulsive suspenseful thriller wit..."

Thank you so much!!

[destiny ♡]

Aaron wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "Meli wrote: "Finished my first book of the challenge this weekend, The Troop and I absolutely loved it! Completely propulsive suspenseful thriller with interesting ..."

This sounds so intriguing!

[Jarrett]

you all are awesome, my "to read" list is filling up by the day lol going to be a great summer of reading

[WendyB]

Jarrett wrote: "you all are awesome, my "to read" list is filling up by the day lol going to be a great summer of reading"

That's exactly what we're trying to do at HA.
I hope the summer is filled with amazing books.

[Aaron]

Jarrett wrote: "you all are awesome, my "to read" list is filling up by the day lol going to be a great summer of reading"

Me too friend!

[Adrienne L]

Increased my goal from 4 to 5. In a burst of nostalgia, I ordered some Christopher Pike books so now added my pre-teen favorite Weekend to my list of possible books for the challenge, as a planned re-read.

So far, I've read two of five: The Forgotten Island and Water Shall Refuse Them,

[Meli]

destiny ♡ wrote: "Does anyone have any summer horror or thriller recs specifically by trans authors? 🏳️‍⚧️🖤"

This isn't specifically a summer theme, but it feels like summer in the book (I thought) and there is a lot of nomadic activity like a camping excursion... Manhunt. Excellent book, very violent. Post-apocalypse novel that follows many trans characters and written by trans author.

Also, highly recommend Hell Followed With Us, but it doesn't really fit the summer theme :(

Hailey Piper's Benny Rose, the Cannibal King might work. Teen friends have a sleepover and mayhem ensues... and it's summer (!?).
But I like Queen of Teeth better, and I don't think it's really summer.

Feel kinda silly being like 'here's all these books that don't fit what you asked for,' but I wanted to mention them because they're great books by trans authors I think people here might love 😄

[destiny ♡]

Meli wrote: "destiny ♡ wrote: "Does anyone have any summer horror or thriller recs specifically by trans authors? 🏳️‍⚧️🖤"

This isn't specifically a summer theme, but it feels like summer in the book (I thought..."

Don't feel silly, I'm always looking for new books to add to my TBR even if they don't fit the challenge! 🥰 You made my heart swell by mentioning HFWU, that's one of my favorite YA horror novels of all time. And you reminded me that I've meant to pick up Queen of Teeth for way too long! Thank you so much!

[Meli]

destiny ♡ wrote: "Don't feel silly, I'm always looking for new books to add to my TBR even if they don't fit the challenge! 🥰 You made my heart swell by mentioning HFWU, that's one of my favorite YA horror novels of all time. And you reminded me that I've meant to pick up Queen of Teeth for way too long! Thank you so much!"

I just did the "compare your books" that you can do with friends on the Goodreads app and noticed you have already read it 👍

Queen of Teeth is phenomenal! I hope you read it and enjoy it as much as I did.

[Kasia]

Jarrett wrote: "you all are awesome, my "to read" list is filling up by the day lol going to be a great summer of reading"

Love seeing this, thank you Jarrett! HA is one of the best places to seriously bulk up your TBR.

[Kasia]

Lisa wrote: "Sure why not, I mean nowadays words have no real meanings anymore. How does that go? "War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength. Men are Women." Of course there are books that overlap..."

Well context is continually changing and evolving just as language itself is. So imagine my surprise when I realized that Voldemort actually wrote Harry Potter. Crazy!

[destiny ♡]

Kasia wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Sure why not, I mean nowadays words have no real meanings anymore. How does that go? "War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength. Men are Women." Of course there are books..."

[Aaron]

destiny ♡ wrote: "Kasia wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Sure why not, I mean nowadays words have no real meanings anymore. How does that go? "War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength. Men are Women." Of course t..."

He's a handsome man with an affirmative message. :-)

[Kimberly]

Aaron wrote: "destiny ♡ wrote: "Kasia wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Sure why not, I mean nowadays words have no real meanings anymore. How does that go? "War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength. Men are W..."

Agreed. :D

[Jarrett]

Just finished reading this one...fits in perfectly with the summer category. A really fun read, if you like clowns and lots of bloody deaths then this book is the book for you! This was book number 4 of my goal of 10....so I'm slowly getting there lol.

[Jeff]

RE: horror by trans authors....

Only one I know of is Poppy Z Brite......."He" now goes b y the name of Billy Martin I think.....


Jeff Mc

[Emily]

Jeff McIntosh wrote: "RE: horror by trans authors....

Only one I know of is Poppy Z Brite......."He" now goes b y the name of Billy Martin I think.....


Jeff Mc"

Not sure if the quotation marks around the pronoun are meant to be sarcastic or not, but I second Billy Martin. He's great.

[destiny ♡]

Thank you for the Billy Martin/PZB rec! I have Exquisite Corpse on my shelf right now and keep meaning to pick it up, I'll have to expedite that :D

[Andrew “The Weirdling”]

So far, I've finished:

1. Camp Slaughter by Sergio Gomez
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
2. HIde, by Kiersten White
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
3. The Exorcist's House by Nick Roberts
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

Right now, I'm working on:

1. The Cotton Candy Massacre by Christopher Roberts
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
2. Welcome to Nightmare Island by Devin Cabers
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...


(Oh, and I want to say how much I appreciate everyone posting their reading lists here. It's given me so many options for this challenge. You guys are great!)

[Meli]

destiny ♡ wrote: "Thank you for the Billy Martin/PZB rec! I have Exquisite Corpse on my shelf right now and keep meaning to pick it up, I'll have to expedite that :D"

I have had Exquisite Corpse on my tbr for YEARS! So many years 😬
I gotta reconcile that soon too.

[destiny ♡]

Meli wrote: "destiny ♡ wrote: "Thank you for the Billy Martin/PZB rec! I have Exquisite Corpse on my shelf right now and keep meaning to pick it up, I'll have to expedite that :D"

I have had Exquisite Corpse o..."

Let me know if you'd like to buddy read it! It's on my 2023 TBR but I don't have a month picked out to read it yet lol

[Meli]

destiny ♡ wrote: "Let me know if you'd like to buddy read it! It's on my 2023 TBR but I don't have a month picked out to read it yet lol"

I would love to!
I will let you know... June is already overbooked, but maybe in the next couple months?

Speaking of trans authors... I just picked up and started Everything the Darkness Eats. Not sure there are summer vibes fitting of the challenge, but I love his writing so I am excited about this one.

[destiny ♡]

Meli wrote: "destiny ♡ wrote: "Let me know if you'd like to buddy read it! It's on my 2023 TBR but I don't have a month picked out to read it yet lol"

I would love to!
I will let you know... June is already o..."

That's totally fine if we need to wait a month or two! I'll make a note in my buddy reads list and you can message me whenever you feel up for it. :)

Oh weird timing, I literally started ETDE today too! 😅 I loooove Eric's writing!

[Anja]

destiny ♡ wrote: "Does anyone have any summer horror or thriller recs specifically by trans authors? 🏳️‍⚧️🖤"

Yes!! Judith Sonnet, please check her out. She writes primary extreme, but so did Poppy Z. Brite so I assume that's fine with you 😁

A specific summer themed story by Judith Sonnet is Summer Never Ends .

I can only recommend reading much more than this one ❤️

[destiny ♡]

Anja wrote: "destiny ♡ wrote: "Does anyone have any summer horror or thriller recs specifically by trans authors? 🏳️‍⚧️🖤"

Yes!! Judith Sonnet, please check her out. She writes primary extreme, but so did Poppy..."

Thank you for the rec! I've read a couple of Judith's books and they are a wild ride 🤣

[Kasia]

destiny ♡ wrote: "Thank you for the Billy Martin/PZB rec! I have Exquisite Corpse on my shelf right now and keep meaning to pick it up, I'll have to expedite that :D"

I read that one almost 13 years ago and some scenes are still as vivid as if I read them yesterday, really well written but intense if you can tell from the title. Hope you enjoy it!

[Meli]

destiny ♡ wrote: "Oh weird timing, I literally started ETDE today too! 😅 I loooove Eric's writing!."

Nice! Practically buddy readin' already 🥳

[Meli]

LUCKY! I would love to re-read IT, but I've overcommitted myself this month 😢

[Jarrett]

oh wow It is an amazing book!!! enjoy that one

[Meli]

The perfect summer read!

[Brenna]

I was contemplating rereading It this summer...maybe this is a sign!

[Jarrett]

Just finished this book, after having seen the moving TONS of times, I decided to FINALLY read the book, marking my fifth for this summer read. And wow, the book is so different, I know that's almost always the case but this one was amazing! If you have only seen the movie and never read the book, you should check it out. A really good summer horror read!

[Brenna]

Bones (Ganon’s Version) wrote: "Brenna wrote: "I was contemplating rereading It this summer...maybe this is a sign!"

we can read it together! lol it would be nice to do a buddy read on this to keep me on track 😆"

That would be fun! I definitely would need an accountability buddy to actually get it done this summer haha

[Robin]

Just finished this one about one crazy summer night at the Drive-In.

[Jarrett]

@Robin Patrick - I have been looking for a used copy of that book series for a while...new copies on Amazon are up to 50 dollars !

[Robin]

Jarrett wrote: "@Robin Patrick - I have been looking for a used copy of that book series for a while...new copies on Amazon are up to 50 dollars !"

Oof! That's rough. I got mine through my local library via Hoopla. Not my favorite way to read a book, but I wanted to get hold of it fast before I dive into the new anthology!

[inciminci]

So far I've read four books for this challenge;

[Meli]

I finished The Fisherman by John Langan.
Horrorlit reddit LOVES this book... I gave it 4 stars, rounded up from 3.5.
I think it's... OK? I am kinda torn.
The book is a story-within-a-story, a story in the past about Dutchman's Creek and its secrets, bookended by our story in present day. I was much more engaged in most of the story-within-a-story portion.
Probably a good read for someone who loves HP Lovecraft, but wants modern writing style, less pretension.

[Marie Helene]

Finished my first book of the challenge yesterday, and it was The Last Time I Lied. I will start Burnt Offerings soon.
I'm in for 4 books 😀

[Meli]

Marie Helene wrote: "Finished my first book of the challenge yesterday, and it was The Last Time I Lied. I will start Burnt Offerings soon.
I'm in for 4 books 😀"

I loved Burnt Offerings and it is such a great pick for this challenge!

[Ian (RebelGeek)]

I have read 4 stars &
4 stars so far.
I have borrowed from the Library & will read that for this challenge next.

[Robin]

I am taking advantage of the free Kindle Unlimited subscription, so now I am reading this fun little slasher for the challenge:

[Comic Queen 👑]

Just found this challenge - catching up and of course using this as an excuse to binge Amy Cross Haunted house books. Like I even need the excuse :P

[Adrienne L]

So far, I've read five of the six book goal I set myself for this challenge. Unfortunately, none of those five have been higher than a 3 star read for me. I always knew I was more of a winter horror sort of girl. I should finish up the challenge by the end of the month as I plan to read Evil Whispers while we're on vacation at the beach in a couple of weeks. I may also re-read Burnt Offerings soon too. At least I already know that will be above 3 ⭐⭐⭐!

[WendyB]

Adriennelee wrote: "So far, I've read five of the six book goal I set myself for this challenge. Unfortunately, none of those five have been higher than a 3 star read for me. I always knew I was more of a winter horro..."

I've been a little disappointed in the challenge books I've read so far too. I still have 4 more to go so maybe they'll be good and make up for it.

[Adrienne L]

WendyB wrote: "Adriennelee wrote: "So far, I've read five of the six book goal I set myself for this challenge. Unfortunately, none of those five have been higher than a 3 star read for me. I always knew I was mo..."

I hope they are good Wendy!