It is truly hard to believe that 12 years have passed since the very first RIP event hosted by Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings. Faithfully and devoted to this annual event, Carl took one leadership break during that time, and this year, blogging has changed for him and the reins are now with the good Andi's and Heather's hands. These are two fantastic ladies who have been a part of the community for such a long time, bloggers who I read with fascination over their reviews and thoughts. I commiserated with them on books or authors who didn't live up to what was expected, or debated with others when we felt that a book was deserving of high praise.

Life has changed. So much. It has for me over these past seven years since I first started my humble site. Like Carl, I've waned in participation and eagerness to write and post. Mind you, I still read voraciously, but it's a different mix of what I used to delve in. I've given birth to a beautiful now almost four-year-old (!!) son and I've also gone through Stage 3 breast cancer 3 years ago, which resulted in a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, and two reconstruction surgeries. The breast cancer was not caught early; it was instead caught in time. Thank you, God. Every year, I return for my annual scans and every six months, I have my blood tested. The fear of the unknown is only fun when it is in a book or a film; never when it is in real life.

I miss the book blogging community. I miss the camaraderie and adventure it felt like we were all having as we received books from publishers or authors, as we dug into the tales and communicated out into the world what our thoughts were. I miss the simplicity and the fun of it all. Life has gotten in the way, sometimes good, sometimes bad.

But at the end of these days, each adventure is for something good, right? It might be painful, it might be frightening, but we learn a little more about ourselves each time and we persevere just a step harder on any challenge. We become more so who we truly are as each year goes by.

This is my long rambling intro to the fact that while I rarely post today, even though I've read some phenomenal books, I always, ALWAYS will post about this challenge. This is the season of each year I always love. The changing leaves, the cooler weather, the change in coffee options. Granted, I live in North Florida and we do get cold weather, but nothing like the old days of when I lived in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., or even St. Cloud, Minnesota. But I still remember.

I love this annual event. It is a nostalgic feel to dive back into the typing, the reading, the watching of scary stories, and then to put them all onto my tiny corner of the blogging world and wait for the occasional comment or two that comes up. Gone are the days of "so many comments that I can't keep up" time. And I am okay with that. To some extent, right? 

If you've not heard of this annual event celebrating all things that go bump in the night, head on over to Andi and Heather and Carl's blogs for the intro! And let's start getting scared! In a good way, of course.

Important Info

• Challenge dates: September 1 through October 31
• Goal: read and have fun - this isn't really a challenge, of course!

Challenge levels

• Peril the First: Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (our very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be Stephen King or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shirley Jackson or Tananarive Due…or anyone in between.
• Peril the Second: Read two books of any length that you believe fit within the challenge categories.
• Peril the Third: We all want you to participate. This Peril involves reading one book that fits within the R.I.P. definition.
• Peril of the Short Story: We are fans of short stories and our desire for them is perhaps no greater than in autumn. We see Jackson in our future for sure! You can read short stories any time during the challenge. We sometimes like to read short stories over the weekend and post about them around that time. Feel free to do this however you want, but if you review short stories on your site, please link to those reviews on our RIPXII Book Review pages. (INSERT LINKS)
• Peril on the Screen: This is for those of us who like to watch suitably scary, eerie, mysterious Gothic fare during this time of year. It may be something on the small screen or large. It might be a television show, like Dark Shadows, or your favorite film. If you are so inclined, please post links to any R.I.P.-related viewing you do on our book review pages as well.
• Peril of the Group Read: This year we will read and discuss Slade House by David Mitchell! We plan to post discussion questions on October 1 on our respective blogs, and you can answer them at your leisure, and as you like! If you post on your blog, link up. If you post on Twitter, Insta, etc. use #ripxii.

In addition to, or instead of, these group read options you may want to host your own. That would be welcome too and if you choose to do so please let us know so that we can advertise them for you.

Again, you may participate in one or all of the various Perils. Our one demand: enjoy yourself!

Many moons ago (er, last fall)... I signed up for the always fun annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril (RIP) Challenge. The selected book for the readalong was The Quick by Lauren Owen and since I typically am amazing at signing up for challenges, but horrible in completing them, I surprised myself when I started the book and then COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I did succeed in my usual pattern, however, by inadvertently forgetting to post a final review about it, so my apologies to the wonderful Estella Society. I will do much better this year! (I've gotten into a bad habit of not posting as frequently as I used to because of the events in this post; but Thank God, I am all good now.)

I chose to participate in this group read because of one important detail that was included in the intro. "For fans of The Historian and The Night Circus." Yep, I was in. Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian will always be one of my favorite books, and I've read it twice in the past ten years, even hosting a group readalong at On the Ledge Readalongs. The Historian was such a visual experience, incorporating overseas locations and unique meals with an unnamed narrator, that it launched my own interest in researching and posting pictures relevant to the pages our group read together. That was a ride of an adventure that I am always looking to replicate with another story.

Since it's been a few months since I read it, I'm opting to go with the below Goodreads synopsis so I don't miss out on anything, or give away too much.

London, 1892: James Norbury, a shy would-be poet newly down from Oxford, finds lodging with a charming young aristocrat. Through this new friendship, he is introduced to the drawing-rooms of high society, and finds love in an unexpected quarter. Then, suddenly, he vanishes without a trace. Unnerved, his sister, Charlotte, sets out from their crumbling country estate determined to find him. In the sinister, labyrinthine city that greets her, she uncovers a secret world at the margins populated by unforgettable characters: a female rope walker turned vigilante, a street urchin with a deadly secret, and the chilling “Doctor Knife.” But the answer to her brother’s disappearance ultimately lies within the doors of one of the country’s preeminent and mysterious institutions: The Aegolius Club, whose members include the most ambitious, and most dangerous, men in England.

While The Quick was much more action-packed than The Historian, the setting and the atmosphere, was equally intense, creating an eerie and contemplative feel that I so appreciate in Victorian/Gothic tales. I loved it. The characters and overall quest fit snugly into the category of Victorian horror and Owen's debut creatively demonstrates the challenge of combining present events with the epistolary genre of letters and diary entries into a distinctly peculiar and thoughtful story of unexpected love, loyalty, and of course, vampires. This was an absolutely fantastic story. The key to it are the characters, who fit a range of the unexpected and curiously hopeful, banded together for the ultimate goal. This is a wonderful story filled with secrets and turns, and one that is perfect for you to put on the list of creepy tales to keep close on cold winter nights. I'm eagerly awaiting the next work from Lauren Owen.

Just as a side note: The Quick was also ranked as one of the best books of the year by Slate.

Here's the original button that The Estella Society created. My apologies to them again that I didn't participate like I intended! But, I did read the book, loved it and will try much harder for the next RIP Challenge!

About the Author (from Goodreads)

Lauren Owen studied English Literature at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, before completing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where she received the 2009 Curtis Brown prize for the best fiction dissertation. The Quick is her first novel. She lives in Durham, England.

Visit the author:

• On Twitter
• On Goodreads
• On Penguin UK's author page

For this year's tenth anniversary, Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings has asked the fabulous Estella Society to host the ever-creepy RIP Challenge. And even though I'm way behind the times to inform you, I'll add one more drop in the vast and ginormous book blogger bucket about this always fun and eye-opening celebration of all things autumn and spooky and to the things that make us jump when we know THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND US.

First off - thanks to Carl for creating this incredible annual event that he's diligently and so professionally hosted for nine years. You're awesome, we love ya!

I'm late to the party. As per usual. However, here are the details that I'll be participating in (for full details, click here):

Pick a book, film, short story, television show, etc., that falls into one of the categories below:

Mystery.

Suspense.

Thriller.

Dark Fantasy.

Gothic.

Horror.

Supernatural.

• Which Challenge Level Did I Pick? I'm going in low with my goals because heck, I can't even participate in my own challenges! So I'm selecting Peril the Third, which is reading at least one book. (I haven't picked a book yet. Give me a recommendation? Please?)
• Am I Watching Anything Creepy? I've been Netflix-binging on The X-Files in preparation for their six-episode return on Fox in January, so I've selected Peril on the Screen.
• What About a Readalong?? Yes! RIP X Readalong: When I read the description of this book being compared to The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (which I ran a readalong for five years or something ago - with pictures!), I thought I needed to get on it and with a quickness... it's entitled The Quick by Lauren Owen (again, I'm late to the party as the dates are 9/18 through 10/18, so I'll try and catch up, maybe...)
• Where do I Post My Reviews? All posts/reviews should be added to this link here - make sure to visit other bloggers to comment on their reviews, that's how the fun is had, my friends
• Where Are the Full Details? Click here to visit the Estella Society's welcome post.

So here's all the beautiful artwork by artist Abigail Larson:

March 1st through April 15, this is what's goin' down. Here are the details:

• Pet Sematary, by Stephen King
• Hosted by JILLLLLLLLLL
• Overview - click here
• Dates: March 1 through April 15
• Wanna chat on Twitter about it? Use #gangstercats

Carl's RIP Challenges are always so fun and gets me right in the spirit for the fall season and spooky Halloween tales, and this year is no different. While I'm not strongly participating in it this year as much as I'd like to, I'm definitely joining this readalong.

I've joined Ti and Sandy for their readalong of Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I'ts a story I've always wanted to read, but pushed off one for one reason or another. And as the weather gets cooler here in North Florida (it's been 55 degrees in the morning this week!), this story is settling in just right.

First impressions?

I'm pretty sure Ray Bradbury was high when he wrote this. It was a bumpy road getting used to the rhythm, but I'm into it now. Here's a sampling:

There's nothing in the living world like books on water, cures, deaths-of-a-thousand-slices, or pouring white-hot lava off castle walls on drolls and mountebanks. (Chapter 2)

Out in the world, not much happened. But here in the special night, a land bricked with paper and leather, anything might happen, always did. Listen! and you heard ten thousand people screaming so high only dogs feathered their ears. A million folk ran toting cannons, sharpening guillotines; Chinese, four abreast, marched on forever. Invisible, silent, yes, but Jim and Will had the gift of ears and noses as well as the gift of tongues. This was a factory of spices from far countries. Here alien deserts slumbered. Up front was the desk where the nice old lady, Miss Watriss, purple-stamped your books, but down off away were Tibet and Antarctica, the Congo. There went Miss Wills, the other librarian, through Outer Magnolia, calmly toting fragments of Peiping and Yokohama and the Celebes. Way down the third book corridor, an oldish man whispered his broom along in the drak, mounding the fallen spices... (Chapter 2 - this passage is describing the many books and adventures available in a library.)

Trippy.

Readalong Details

• The read along begins on October 1, 2014 and ends on October 31, 2014.
• This read along will take place mostly on Twitter using the hashtag #EnterTheRingmaster. Use the hashtag to share your thoughts while reading. You can click the link here or search that hashtag on Twitter to see what readers are saying.

The book is short and broken down into three sections. Here is the schedule:

• Finish Section 1 (Chapters 1-24) by Friday, October 10th
• Finish Section 2 (Chapters 25-44) by Friday, October 24th
• Finish Section 3 (Chapters 45-54) by Friday, October 31st

On the dates above, Ti will post a quick update. Join in!

Yes, another Stephen King readalong and I'm just not apologizing.

Listen. I'm almost seven months pregnant and everything hurts. I rarely have the energy to crack open the books I'm reading right now but of course I'm not stopping. Although I am working on Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw which easily pulls you in, I was craving more Stephen King after just finishing Under the Dome. Lo and behold, Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity posts about another fantastic readalong with Cavalcade of Awesome for The Talisman and I'm in. This time, it will be a complete listen-along for me. I've downloaded the twenty-eight hours and I'm already freaked out by the opening scenes of this fantasy tale.

A while back, the Stephen King Goodreads group run by one of our Under the Dome participants, Angela's Anxious Life, discussed what you should read before you read The Dark Tower series. I plan to read this one day, and as many may already know, Uncle Stevie's books are almost all intertwined in some way, thus creating the infamous "Stephen King Universe." A fabulous flow chart creator, TessieGirl, designed the below to show the connections characters and storylines and towns, plus more, have to each other. Crazy, huh? What an incredible job she did.

Who made this flow chart? Why, TessieGirl did.

Anyway, The Talisman is one of those books you're supposed to read before you dive into The Dark Tower series. The suggested reading list by the Goodreads' group to prep is here in several different installments.

So, I'm in! For more details, click here and here, but there is nothing formal as far as sign-ups and links, and if you want to participate in live conversations, head to Twitter and use #TalismanAlong as your net.

Well, we're done! Now I can finally catch up on the series, which I've heard there are many a change that didn't go over so well with fans, which caused the author to deliver a fairly...snarky response.

For those who missed the Middle of the Road post in June with the other participants' links to their thoughts, click here.

Overall, a great read, although I wouldn't rank it up in the top five, I would definitely put it in the top ten for me of King books I've read. Yet again, King brings the character of a town into the spotlight, where it almost develops its own personality, and the characters within fall to either the good side or the bad. The only difference is that no one can physically leave the town, caught under a dome that can't be penetrated by even a nuclear missile.

Here are my thoughts for the last half of the book:

• HATED Big Jim, Junior, and Carter the most. Ugh.
• Loved Barbie, Rusty, Julia, the kids.
• What is THE DEAL with Stephen King and his oddball, bizarre love/sex scenes? They come out of the blue and never seem to make sense. I'm glad Barbie and Julia got together since I felt they were suited for each other, but really? When they first made out? What smart and feisty woman likes to be sharing one of her most private and sad moments of her life, and then all of a sudden has the guy's hand on their chest? In the middle of the conversation? And that's okay? Huh?
• Randolph, Randolph, Randolph... Even Big Jim told you to bring the Kevlar.
• Usually the strong kid character saves the day, and to a certain extent this happened in the story earlier on with Joe and his friends who were important to the story. In the latter half, it felt like Joe, Benny, and Norrie were completely forgotten, which was a disappointment.
• My heart breaks every time a dog dies in a book. I was heartbroken for each that passed in this one.
• I loved this story, but I didn't really care for it when sections would be written as though a narrator from a play were giving us the lay of the land.

Passage of Note:

 "... Sorrow for a wrong was better than nothing, Barbie supposed, but no amount of after-the-fact sorrow could ever atone for joy taken in destruction, whether it was burning ants or shooting prisoners." (p.1072)

What did you think? Enter the link to your write-up below, and don't forget to visit other participants and comment on their thoughts. I'm planning to watch Under the Dome sometime this week/weekend and I'm still going to use #DomeAlong on Twitter to post my thoughts, so hopefully I'll see you over there!

THANK YOU for reading with all of us!

Literary Feline and I were the only two participating in this readalong and I couldn't even achieve my own deadline. Argh. However, I finished. And while I didn't fall madly in love with it, I enjoyed it immensely. And for those who think a book about zombies isn't up your alley, please do read on. This might be the one that sways you to give it a try.

This is an extremely entertaining book to read. It is an apocalyptic horror novel about zombies that sort of isn't about zombies at times, but instead is an oral history of eyewitness accounts of those who relay the initial breakdown, the Great Panic as people fought back or got bitten, and as people trusted the modern-day snake oil salesman who provided the "cure all" vaccine. World War Z is a successful sociological representation of how societies, countries, people, fall completely apart and what they do to survive, and what they ultimately do to rebuild it. Can you have a "smart" zombie story? Yes, and this is it. Max Brooks has done more homework than most scientists and sociologists (this is my opinion) to get a clear view of each piece of technology, survival skill, and social recovery than most. It is a fascinating approach to taking the natural and instinctive responses people have and applying it to a war with zombies, an ultimate enemy who has no limits, no need for air, no capacity to "take a break." It is the total war that countries have prepared for, knowing that it's more than likely that our enemies have some sort of humanity. But what if they have zero humanity? No ability to reason, to think, to have compassion? How do you fight against that?

Some stories in this second half captured me: The realization that it would be virtually impossible to eradicate the world completely of zombies, the Redekker plan (which was first presented in the first half, but the second half solidified the fear of a program which sacrificed healthy humans to divert zombies in order to preserve the overall masses), the changes in our environment and the loss of ecological systems, the "traitors" of China and what they went through, the Russian priest, the "quislings" who were human but who identified with the zombies and became wild and acted like zombies. I wish Max Brooks had included what an interview with a rehabilitated quisling might have been like. That would have been interesting.

Each interview of a subject includes a brief one paragraph intro at the start on who that person is, where they are now located, etc. Invariably, because every few pages included a new documented eyewitness account, it was difficult to absorb who the character was, or get into the story too much because it would end shortly thereafter and move onto a new character. Most of these stories were not linked at all, but occasionally, one interviewee provided a slight detail that reminded me of another story. It did feel like I had a collection of government files I had surreptitiously received. Bear in mind that, as I mentioned before, (in one way or another) this book is a complete dissection of what a societal breakdown could result in, and that was simultaneously frightening and fascinating.

So the bottom line is that I liked it a lot, but I didn't love it as so many others have. I wish I had, I do feel like I'm missing out. I have heard that the movie has been somewhat well-received, and that it's very different than the book. That's not necessarily surprising, considering the fact that the book is just a collection of three- to five-page interviews, or collections of eyewitness accounts, so I was intrigued to hear how they were planning to adapt it to film. I plan to see it this weekend, hopefully, so we shall see!

Favorite passage:

The monsters that rose from the dead, they are nothing compared to the ones we carry in our hearts. (p.252)

Did you participate? Enter the link to your final write-up here:

I've made it to the halfway mark of World War Z and am ready to go for the last half. This is one of the most unique formats of a book I've ever read. I must say I now understand that it is not a book about zombies, but instead a book detailing the frightening breakdown of a safe and civilized society. Which is why the book is such a success. Had it just been about moaning, arm-stretching zombies then it would have fit into the same bucket as all the other stories out there that are hit and miss.

Instead, World War Z is uniquely constructed in a documentary-style format of three- to five-page interviews with a variety of people around the world. The interviewees are members of the military, scientists, filmmakers, bartenders, family members, and more, chronicling their part in the panic of it all. It's fascinating. I feel like I have a fat confidential file of interviews and I'm sneakily reading it.

Even more interesting is the discussion of how those who made money sitting behind a desk or brokering major deals are of absolutely no use in this new society. Instead, blue collar, skilled laborers are where the need now is, and if you don't have the ability to fend for yourself, you are classified as one who cannot contribute to society and must be trained into a new skill. Can you imagine the horror of those high-paid executives or lawyers, or members of government, who now must shovel manure to generate fuel or clean rooms? Scientifically fascinating on how it happens and the responses. Who becomes the real enemy? The zombies, that are more background based to the overall story, or ourselves and the pride and vanity that becomes such a shackle in the new world?

As with any collection of interviews, or stories, some are riveting (the family who moves further north and their experience at a lakeside campground, or the scene with the ships: disturbing) and others are dry. That's okay for me; it's a fast read and I'm enjoying it as a distraction from the fact that I was reading Under the Dome way too fast. I'm preparing for the movie release of World War Z and I can't wait.

Are you reading along, too? If so, enter your post link below and copy 

CLEARLY, I cannot get enough of readalongs, especially those with movie or series adaptations right around the corner. I am also way too far ahead with the Under the Dome Readalong (40 participants!) since I'm currently at page 800 with only 200 left to go and two months left to finish. With my upcoming two-day business trip, I was faced with a dilemma with my 1,000+ page, five-pound copy: Do I bring the book with me when I know I'll finish it with nothing left to read, or do I take a break and read something else in-between?

With World War Z premiering in a few weeks, it seemed like the right thing to do to take a breather from all the awesomeness that is Stephen King, and dive into Max Brooks' bestseller to get me prepared for the upcoming movie. I've heard so much about the book that I still can't believe I've waited this long to read it.

So... do you want to join along? If so, link up below, write a post about it, and off we go!

The deets

• Published 2006
• Author Max Brooks
• 342 pages
• Readalong runs from June 5 to June 19
• Readalong hosted here at Coffee and a Book Chick
• Movie premiere is June 21
• Publish a halfway post on June 12 (up through page 136, all chapters up to Turning the Tide)
• Publish a finale post on June 19

If the movie trailer doesn't pull you in...



You in? If so, answer these questions:

• Do you want to see the movie because of Brad Pitt? No.
• Will you be watching the movie during the premiere weekend? Yep, but going to see a matinee on Sunday. No way will I see it on opening night!
• What do you know about World War Z? Everyone seems to love it, I'm wicked behind and can't believe I haven't read it yet, and who can miss out on zombie stories done well?
• What are you reading? Print, ebook, or audio? A print copy for me!

Here's the blog button. Join me!

Have no fear! While the readalong technically starts today through July 27, everyone is of course starting whenever they want to and reading at their own pace. (Which is why there aren't dates on the buttons!) If you'd like to join, click here for the sign-up post.

A few questions came up over the past forty-eight hours, and I thought a quick post might be helpful.

I read fast and know I'll finish before the deadline.

Awesome! Just put together a post to collect and save your thoughts but schedule it to be published on the final date. That way, if you have spoilers you want to talk about, it won't surprise anyone by that point!

Er...the Twitter hashtag looks weird...

Yes! #domealong could be construed in a VERY WRONG way. Hence, #DomeAlong was born! Capitalize that D and A and no weird spammy things should come our way.

Is there anything I should be prepared for with Stephen King?

Great question for the new SK reader!

Stephen King likes to tell a story. And I mean TELL A STORY. Under the Dome is over a thousand pages, and he is always criticized for having too much story and that everything should have been edited down to 200 pages less. King meanders and tells a tale and he makes no apologies for it. Just give it time and stick with it and it will all make sense.

King is not just a mass-market horror writer. It's actually unfair to lump in that category. Does he write a lot of scary stuff? Of course. But anyone who has read 11/22/63 or On Writing, or even Lisey's Story, can tell you that there is so much, much more to his work than just meets the fearful eye. Give him a chance.

He does include the bizarre s3x scene or two that sometimes make no sense and really are just out of place. Meh. I'm used to it by now. Although there were a few things in IT I would take issue with.

The most important thing is that Stephen King has created this alternate universe and most of his books are somewhat linked together. When you've read a number of his books, you'll realize that characters from one book make an appearance in others, such as Dick Halloran in The Shining, who then makes an appearance as a major character in IT. Or Richie and Bev from IT making a cameo in 11/22/63. Castle Rock and Derry are regularly featured towns in Stephen King's books, they almost take on a life of their own. I also recently learned all of these intertwining tales and characters are crucial to The Dark Tower series, which is on my list to read sometime later this year or next, and only once I've read more of his other works that contribute to that series. There are many more Stephen King tips, so once you start reading his work, don't stop!

Other Notes 

• Click here to visit the Official Stephen King page for any insights to the author and books. I'm particularly excited for one of his upcoming pulp novels entitled Joyland that he has chosen to not release as an ebook. Click here for an exclusive excerpt shared by HuffPost Books. His intent is for everyone to purchase it at an independent bookstore. Go, Indies! Not to mention that Dr. Sleep, the sequel to The Shining, will be out this fall. 
• Click here for the Stephen King's Fans Goodreads' page, run by one of the readalong participants Angie!
• Click here for my tiny Goodreads page for Stephen King and here for my other blog The Stephen King Project. It's been a rare posting or two on that site, but the goal is to get back into it all now that Uncle Stevie has motivated me yet again. I promise I will change the picture so it no longer reads 2012! 
• Click here for The Stephen King Project on Facebook. 
• And TWITTER! Don't forget to participate in the discussion on Twitter by using #DomeAlong.

And here are the official participants from Wednesday's sign up post. If you still want to sign up, please do, never too late. Click here to enter in your info and I will update the participants' list below. You can sign up at any time! And to fellow participants, please do what you can to visit each others' sites to read their kick-off post if they have one. And for those who aren't yet convinced to join the crazy train, give it time. You will...

1. Prairie Horizons
2. Julianne Brewer
3. Lit and Life
4. Angela's Anxious Life
5. Col Reads
6. Care's Online Book Club
7. Colleen Turner
8. Peppermint Ph.D.
9. Zombie Bride
10. The Relentless Reader
11. Words for Worms
12. Sophisticated Dorkiness
13. Bibliophile by the Sea
14. Love, Laughter, Insanity
15. My Novel Opinion
16. Book Chatter (Our unofficial cheerleader!)
17. Karen's Vegan Kitchen
18. Avid Reader's Musings
19. Tina Says
20. I'd Rather Be at the Beach
21. The Overstuffed Bookcase
22. Rivers I Have Known
23. Whimpulsive
24. Infinite Curio
25. Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf
26. Under My Apple Tree
27. Courtney Reads A Lot
28. Kristi Loves Books
29. WordHits
30. Beagle Book Space
31. Bound4Escape
32. SLeighanne
33. The True Book Addict
34. Snarkfest
35. The Geeky Blogger's Book Blog
36. Life: Merging
37. Mari Reads
38. My Little Heart Melodies
39. Buch Handling

Thanks go out to...

• Ms. Jilly Bean, aka Fizzy Thoughts, for the fabulous idea earlier this year for an Under the Dome readalong. While I won't be able to send gifts out to everyone (I am not creative like that, have no idea what to do), I hope everyone enjoys the collaboration together.
• Thanks also go out to Trish at Love, Laughter, Insanity, Lesley at Prairie Horizons, and Lisa at Lit and Life for dealing with my last minute Twitter panic that I missed the readalong, and then thoughts on set up, all in the past twenty-four hours!

Although the mini-series will premiere in exactly one month on CBS, our summer readalong starts now and will extend past the mini-series premiere. I plan to DVR the show and watch it after the readalong has concluded. Reading and blogging has taken a backseat for many of us this year, but I can definitely attest even more so to it. I think the only thing that can bring me back into the thick of things is a combination of Stephen King and, most importantly, a summer readalong with all of you!

Notable Notes

• Published: 2009
• Number of Pages: 1,074 (my copy)
• Genre: Sci-fi Horror (Keep in mind that The Stand was considered horror-ish, but only the first part as it set the stage was scary; the rest was more of an epic journey and battle than anything else.)
• New York Daily News reviewed Under the Dome and proclaimed Stephen King "returns to his glory days of The Stand."
• This is an Indie Next List choice from Indiebound.org.
• A CBS mini-series premieres June 24, 2013.

The blurb on the back of my book

My copy, all 1,074 pages

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day, a small town is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and rain down flaming wreckage. A gardener's hand is severed as the dome descends. Cars explode on impact. Families are separated and panic mounts. No one can fathom what the barrier is, where it came from, and when - or if - it will go away.

Now a few intrepid citizens, led by an Iraq vet turned short-order cook, face down a ruthless politician dead set on seizing the reins of power under the dome. But their main adversary is the dome itself. Because time isn't just running short. It's running out.

The CBS mini-series trailer

You Want Structure? You Got it.

• Do you need a blog to participate? No way. If you don't have a blog, you can either sign up in the comments below, or you can create a free account with either Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing and enter that information into the linky below. Any of those sites will make it easier for you to track your thoughts, or you can use a Twitter account to sign up. If you don't want to do any of those, but still want to participate, then you can post your thoughts in the comments for each of the mile-marker posts throughout the readalong.
• Timeline: May 25 through July 27
• How many posts? Who cares! It's informal. However, if you want a little structure, you can do a kick-off post now, then a middle-of-the-road post (halfway through the book) on June 24 (to celebrate the mini-series premiere even though we all probably won't watch it until we're done reading), and then a final sayonara post on July 27. Sound good?
• Twitter-chat? Use the hashtag #domealong
• Mini-series Twitter chat? After the readalong as we watch our DVR'd recordings of the show? Maybe?
• And do anything you want in-between! Throw a "Stephen King, you are freakishly awesome" party, or do a screamfest movie marathon, or write a gushing post on the fall release of Dr. Sleep, the sequel to The Shining. Or, you can just post your glee on the fact that you've been a horrible blogger and reader in 2013 and this readalong is going to bring. you. back. Back, baby! Oh, maybe that's just me...

So the buttons are available below and above. Choose whichever you prefer! Then, if you want to read the book and participate in the fun, enter your details below. If you want to link to a kick-off post, go for it!

Doing a kick-off post? Then feel free to give details on:

• Show us your copy! Audio or print?
• Have you read Uncle Stevie before?
• What are you familiar with about Under the Dome or Stephen King?
• What are you looking forward to?
• Or, just throw your hands up and screech, "HEY! I'M GOING TO READ THIS BEAST OF A BOOK NO MATTER WHAT!"

Whatever works!

The Casual Vacancy is very much for an adults-only crowd, and is quite a departure from everything else Rowling has written. While the pages are peppered with drug use, strong sexual scenes, bullying, and so much more, it is surprisingly honest int its approach to reveal the ridiculous expectations of social norms and hypocrisy. At its core is a novel with a biting cut into contradictions at all levels, and while it may be lewd in some sections, it is exact in its perspective of how people really can be. Although there are an overwhelming number of characters to the point of initial confusion, each serve their purpose to tell the story, and the story is a daggone good one to read.

A few things to note (my own disclaimer):

• Did I read this because I like the "other" books? Yes. I wanted to see how the first novel for adults would be like.
• Am I an avid JK Rowling fan? Not really. I mean, I love the Harry Potter world, and have one book in the series on my shelf, but I never camped out to get the next installment of Harry Potter. I don't think I've visited Pottermore online, unfortunately, and I even lived two hours away from the Harry Potter theme park in Florida and, while I always wanted to go, I never did in the two years I lived there before we moved back to Virginia Beach. I was sad when the last book and movie in the series was released, however. It's an incredible achievement and part of pop culture, whether or not you like the writing.
• Give Rowling a chance. She's created an incredible world before and assuming that The Casual Vacancy won't be any good just because you feel Harry Potter is theonlycharacterthatmatters is like relegating child actors with the same punishment simply because we can't see them as capable of anything else.
• Get through the first fifty to sixty pages. There are A LOT of characters and initially, it's hard to keep track of everyone. However, if you can get through that first section, it will not be tough to remember who is who as they are all memorable (and nasty). Then, you can settle down and enjoy the story. ( I would recommend that when the paperback is released, the publisher may want to add a "cast of characters" page as a reference.
• Yes, the synopsis sounds boring. I totally agree. It never grabbed my interest and maybe that's why it wasn't written under a pseudonym? Writing it under Rowling's name would guarantee purchases, whereas I don't think that writing it under a pen name would have made anyone care about the book, just based on the synopsis alone.
• So, forget about the synopsis.
• And, forget about the "other" books.

My Synopsis

Barry Fairbrother is the quintessential good guy. Although raised in the "Fields," the spot of town where the "riff-raff" live, he's been able to grow into more than his birthplace ever would suggest him to become and now lives in Pagford. With a wife and children, his place in the community as a family man who gives back is further extended with his seat on the Pagford Parish Council. His presence raises the hackles of others on the council, simply because Fairbrother, as his name would suggest, prefers to deal with the "Fields" and the town of Yarvil, fairly. Decades before, the boundary lines between Yarvil and Pagford overlapped by an accidental sale of property, and consequently, certain areas remain in Yarvil but are the financial responsibility of Pagford, namely the Bellchapel Clinic, which doles out needed methadone to recovering addicts in the immediate area. When the lease on the clinic comes up, a battle begins to take shape between Pagford and Yarvil, opening up the decades-old wound and no one is exempt from the fray. When Barry dies unexpectedly, his seat on the town council becomes a crucial spot that could swing the final decision of Yarvil and Pagford lines, and for Bellchapel staying open. It's now come to the final showdown, and with battles between parents and children, neighbors, friends, and spouses, everyone is fair game to suffer gossip and rumor.

I tried to fluff up the synopsis a bit more to be somewhat more engaging and I'm not sure I did it any justice. I assure you that while no matter how challenging it may be to come up with a satisfying and intriguing overview of the book, it's really not possible. It just sounds so boring. But, my friends, I can also assure that this book ultimately is anything but boring. Just get through those first fifty or so pages!

My Thoughts

I read quickly and did not want to put it down. It's the sort of book to read while on a rainy day, and the weather complied the entire weekend in Virginia Beach so it fit perfectly for my mood. While the characters in the book are not the sort you'd ever want as your friend, social standards and hypocrisy are cut open and each protagonist is simultaneously a hideous antagonist. It is a reminder to turn the mirror on yourself initially before passing judgement on others and each character in this story is a contradiction through and through. 

With insincere people mangling the system we are expected to place faith in, Rowling's book comes out at a timely enough moment in American politics with the election right around the corner in November. The public battle the two towns wage is remarkably genuine to what you might expect to hear, both on a local and national scale, and I was truly transfixed. And although there were several well-intentioned characters (Kay, the social worker who cares about Krystal; Andrew, a young teenager who makes ill choices but ultimately wants to be better; Parminder, a doctor who cares about the Fields; her daughter, Sukhvinder who struggles with her own sad demons), each make their own ugly choices at some point that contribute to a breakdown in their families or either town, ultimately causing more havoc. Their thoughts about themselves and others can sometimes be horrifyingly unjust, yet how they carry themselves can seem quite the opposite.

And although some want to help, the story thoughtfully trudges through the harsh reality that sometimes, a local system of government, social work, medical care, and more, can accidentally do more harm than good as well-intentioned people are held hostage by excessive rules. In the end, when it most matters to get involved in one of the most heartbreaking moments, it's tough to find anyone to step in. Instead, all who could have helped expected "someone else" to get involved, and that can be the most horrendous danger of all. Apathy may not be a crime, but disregard in the most obvious moment when it really matters, can be terrifying.

I wish the illustration of the town on the back was used for the cover

My Final Takeaway
Will you love this? Will you even like this? I can tell you that I did and quite a bit. I will advise you that preconceived ideas should completely be thrown out the window. JK Rowling has delved into the darker parts of humanity and she's done it extremely well, crafting a story with substance and surprise, one that kept me thinking even after I read the final heart-wrenching scenes. While there are a lot of characters, she ties it all up nicely with each characters' story concluding without confusion. I was surprised, comforted, shocked and ultimately content with The Casual Vacancy and I urge you all to give this book a chance. Forget the "other" books, forget the other big newspaper book reviews that were not glowing, and instead recognize that she, as an artist, surely can create more than one universe for us to enjoy. With that knowledge, I comfortably await her next book; it's certain to be another novel firmly entrenching us in another world of her creation yet again.

Check back next week to read my thoughts which will include a few chatty spoilers!

Passage of Note:

It was curious how often everything was back to front, the inverse of what they told you; Fats was starting to think that if you flipped every bit of received wisdom on its head you would have the truth. He wanted to journey through dark labyrinths and wrestle with the strangeness that lurked within; he wanted to crack open piety and expose hypocrisy; he wanted to break taboos and squeeze wisdom from their bloody hearts; he wanted to achieve a state of amoral grace, and be baptized backwards into ignorance and simplicity. (p.76)

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: 9/27/12
Pages: 503

FTC Disclosure: I purchased the first edition hardcover on release day. It will stay on my shelves, thankyouverymuch.

About the Author

Image source

What can be written that you don't already know? Rowling is the creator and author of the Harry Potter empire, resulting in publications of the series in 73 languages and 450 million copies sold. The Casual Vacancy is her first novel for adults.

Visit the author:

• On her website
• On Facebook
• On Twitter

I am participating in The Casual Vacancy readalong, hosted by Literary Musings and Bookworm Meets Bookworm. I'm ecstatic that they created this since it jumpstarted me to read the book before the hype really got rolling! Thank you to you both!

Before all of the hype and the press sets in, I've decided to dive in with Literary Musings and Bookworm Meets Bookworm in their readalong for JK Rowling's first novel for adults. I'm nervous and hope that it will be a wonderful reading experience, and I have to remind myself that there is no magic in this book, that Harry Potter will not pop up in the background sitting in a diner drinking a cup of coffee. I have to really discipline myself to not expect any of that, and to not feel disappointed if it doesn't happen.

So here are the details:

1. Grab the button above.
2. Link up your post by clicking here.
3. Thursday, October 4th: First post, no spoilers. No set page length to read up to.
4. Thursday, October 11th: Final post.

It's a quick timeline to read it in, but it appears it might be a book that could be absorbed and read that fast. So why not join into the fray of reading JK Rowling's first book for adults before the hype hits and you get swayed one way or the other?

A big swooshing balloon filled, underground sewer thank you to the ladies over at Fizzy Thoughts and Annotated Reading for hosting the IT-along! With clown noses and bookmarks to share, it's been so fun! To read other participants' posts, click here.

Midway through this book of a group of young kids in 1958 in Derry, Maine, self-dubbed as "The Losers' Club" who are slowly understanding that there is an evil pursuing children, I'm struck by yet again how much I love the way King writes. Alternating chapters with each characters' viewpoints, both when they were children and as adults, it's an incredible story.  It deviates to unimportant events (quite a bit, actually), but I actually enjoy all of it. It may be because I'm listening to the audio book that I don't notice all the back story and uber-character development because the audio is so vivid.

A few thoughts:

• The audio book is AMAZING. Steven Weber is MAGNIFICENT. Had it not been for Trish recommending the audio and then Audible.com having an incredible $4.95 sale, I never would have downloaded this 44-hour audio book. Forty.Four. HOURS. Instead of being afraid of such a massive audio length, it's because of Sir Weber that I shirk the reading of the book in favor of listening to him take us through the cadences of no less than twenty-two characters. Twenty-two! The fact that King keeps it all straight so that you aren't confused, and that Weber can alter the voices so distinctly that it's always clear who's speaking, is incredible. I do believe that this type of a book may best be listened to in audio. The characters' inner thoughts just become even more riveting.
• Characters and places reappearing in multiple novels. You may know that the fictional town of Derry, Maine is regularly featured in King's novels, but it's wildly fun when you have a reappearing character pop up. One of the main characters in The Shining (my review is here) is Dick Halloran, the cook at the Overlook Hotel. He is briefly mentioned in Mike Hanlon's section as a fellow soldier at "The Black Spot." I love being familiar with King's characters to notice that!
• King writes so genuinely about kids. The main thing about Stephen King stories is that he does an incredible job of realistically conveying what it is like to be a kid. Insecurities, feeling left out, how bullies act and how the bullied feel afterwards, is so genuinely drawn that every scene feels so believable. It's not unusual for me to get a little verklempt when I read certain sections, like the part about Ben and the "H" scar on his stomach, for example. Gawd, people. I was so sad when I listened to Steven Weber narrate those scenes.
• The character I love. I adore all in "The Losers' Club," especially Bill Denbrough, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Ben. He has no friends but never once considers himself as lonely. When he finally gets close to Bev, Eddie, Richie, and everyone in the group, it's just that much more special. Getting beat up by the bullies is frightening but I did love it when Ben turned around to beat them up in the alley after the movie.
• Turtle? I am lost. No idea what this is.
• IT vs. The Stand. I gotta admit, I think I like IT so much more than The Stand, but I do think it's because of the audio book, so I have plans to listen to The Stand in the next couple of years to give them both a fair comparison.
• The Shining. For those who will be participating in the upcoming readalong for The Shining, I highly recommend the audio book narrated by Campbell Scott. It's incredible.

Hoooo boy, Stephen King keeps it creepy. As I've mentioned before, my evening runs in the neighborhood are creepier every time I pass a sewer drain. Weber's clown voice comes through into my ears with "We all float down heeerreee...." and that makes me pick up my pace.

Yes, I am double-posting today. Don't get mad at me. Shh. This is important. What's that sound? Is it behind me? Should I look? No? Okay.

Clearly, you all know my inane, insane fascination and love of (most) Stephen King books. So much so, Kathleen (who also has a Stephen King plan to read his books in order of publication) and I have a separate blog entitled The Stephen King Project to celebrate all of your bookish and filmish reviews of all things Stephen King. Then earlier this summer, Trish hosted the Standalong and I fell in love with Stephen King's The Stand.

So what am I supposed to do when bloggers come a-knockin' and they start talking about doing another readalong. And this time for It? You know, the one about... the clown? Oh, yes, bloggers are a persistent bunch. *iameasilypeerpressured*

Then they made thisbutton. People. How could I NOT participate? amiright?

So I am so. in. Here are the details:

• ITalong hosts: Fizzy Thoughts and Reading Thru the Night (aka Annotated Reading)
• Sign up post: Click here
• Formats: Read, listen, watch the TV movie *gigglesnort* (if it's anything like the TV version of The Stand, it will require a lot of grains of salt to deal with all that cheese)
• Dates: Now through 10/14/2012
• Midway Post: Sunday, Sept. 16, reading up through Part 3 (not including the Third Interlude)
• Final Post: Sunday, Oct. 14
• Twitter chat? Heck yeah. Thanks to Trish's brilliant hashtag for The Stand (#standalong), you can tweet and chat using #italong

Am I scared? A little. I started reading this when I was a teenager on a family trip to the beach and for some reason I stopped because I was scared and meant to pick it back up. Obviously, I was a scaredy-cat with that so now, at the ripe ole age of 38, I have to dive in again. Why don't you join? It's much more fun if we alllll do it.

Bring it, clownie. BRING. IT.