The long-awaited R.I.P. VIII reading event is here!
R.I.P. is a bookish event that happens every year from September 1 through October 31. To get into the spirit of fall, readers choose books that fit into one (or more) of the following genres:
- Mystery.
- Suspense.
- Thriller.
- Dark Fantasy.
- Gothic.
- Horror.
- Supernatural.
- Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.
One of the great things about R.I.P. is that you can pick your degree of difficulty. There are multiple levels for the challenge — including an option to read only one book that fits the criteria — and you can also choose to watch movies or read short stories within the above genres.
As you can see, I’ve chosen Peril the First, which requires me to read at least 4 books that qualify for the challenge. I am planning to read: (1) The Club of Angels by Luis Fernando Verissimo; (2) Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire; (3) A Whiff of Death by Isaac Asimov; (4) Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen; (5) The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater; (6) Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury; (7) The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen; (8) Million Dollar Baby by Amy Patricia Meade; and (9) Shadows by Robin McKinley.
Are you planning to participate in R.I.P. VIII? What are you going to read?
You Book Me All Night Long 
I am totally going to participate because I love this challenge. I’m fudging slightly because I have already read Night Film, but I’m counting it for RIP anyway. And then I want to read Donna Tartt’s new book, which I just assume is going to be spooky, and I’m going to read Shirley Jackson’s book Hangsaman that I just got a copy of (hooray).
I love it too — and I’m not even much of a horror reader! Hence my books are mostly mystery and fantasy. I’ve never read any Shirley Jackson b/c I’m too chicken to try her! Looking forward to seeing your thoughts though. 🙂
SO TEMPTED to take part in this. I never have before, but it sounds fun… Hmmm…
You should definitely do this! There is an option to read just one book, so it’s 100% low-stress! Do it…you know you want to! 🙂
The Roman Hat Mystery sounds interesting! I love old mysteries so I wouldn’t mind reading this one as well. Good luck with this challenge..and have fun 🙂
I read an Ellery Queen short story a couple years ago and really enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to trying a full-length novel!
Greetings, Christina. That is an ambitious list. So far, I have Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End, 11/22/63, and A Thousand Perfect Things. Have a good time with yours!
Looks like you have some interesting books on your list as well! I’ve never read any Stephen King, but every time I see someone talk about 11/22/63 I think I need to remedy that…
I really must read Seanan McGuire. I keep meaning to and never do!
I really, really like her October Daye books! You’d definitely need to start with #1, Rosemary and Rue. I haven’t tried her InCryptid series yet, although Discount Armageddon is on my shelves!
I’ve been meaning to read Bradbury and Million Dollar Baby for ages now!
Good luck with your list. 🙂
Also, can I just say, I LOVE your blog title. 😛
I haven’t really read any Bradbury either, except Fahrenheit 451. But I feel like Something Wicked This Way Comes is a perfect title for this challenge! I’m looking forward to Million Dollar Baby as well, although I was surprised by the title since it has nothing to do with the Hilary Swank boxing movie!
And thank you! It’s a bit silly, but my blog name makes me smile. 🙂
What a fantastically eclectic group of authors you’ve chosen. Wow! This may be the most interesting list I’ve seen yet. Nice!
Thanks for joining in this year, I’m hoping we all find some really stellar reads to give us the requisite heart palpitations in our late-night reading.
Wow, thank you! 🙂 I was actually feeling a little insecure about my list since it’s so heavily weighted towards mysteries. But I am really looking forward to delving into some of these books…hope they will get me in a suitably gothic and autumnal mood!
Can there ever be too many mysteries? 🙂 I haven’t read any Bradbury for a while but picked up a cheap e-copy of his collection October Country recently.
Haha, good point!
I just read Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi and was surprised to realize that Mystery plays an integral part in the kind of Horror I like, so I’m thinking I need to branch out to read more mysteries so I can beef up my horror writing. Agatha Christie was one of my early favorites, so I guess I always have liked mysteries.
Oh, I LOVE Agatha Christie! I went through a phase in middle/high school where I read every book of hers that I could get my hands on. I own about 99% of her output!
Ooh, I’m hoping to read Shadows too! I follow McKinley’s blog and she’s been talking about the writing of it–so now I’m even more excited to read it!
I’ve already got Shadows on hold at the library. 🙂 I am disappointed that it’s not a follow-up to Pegasus, and the plot summary doesn’t excite me that much, but it is still Robin McKinley, so enough said!
I checked today to see if my library was listing Shadows–not yet! According to her blog, she’s still working on Pegasus 2…
Haha, I’ve become quite a seasoned library stalker. Hope your library gets the book eventually!