8 Thrilling, Chilling Books for Halloween

I saw this interesting article about 8 scary books for Halloween in my Brightly newsletter. There are some classics but new ones as well. I have In A Dark, Dark Wood on my to-read list. Brightly is a newsletter I get from a required App for Lexi's school. It has good reading info for kids but also interesting (and funny) articles for adults.

80 Days: An Interactive Novel

Hi! Charlie here. I recently came across an interesting thing that makes me really happy I have a venue in which to share interesting things. (This blog is what I'm talking about. The venue, I mean, not the interesting thing. [Although this blog is an interesting thing, too.])

Let me start over.

There's a game called 80 Days available on the Apple app store, Google Play, and for PC that is pretty phenomenal.

Uugh, not a VIDEO GAME. What is it with boys and VIDEO GAMES??

I know, I know- but this one's actually just a really cool interactive novel. Set in a fictitious 19th-century world inspired by Jules Verne, you are Monsieur Passepartout, the trusty valet for Phileas Fogg. When your master wagers he can circumnavigate the globe in only 80 days, you dutifully pack his bags and set off!

The story is presented through first-person narration, allowing you to select from multiple text options to craft your own story. You are also given various travel routes to choose from, people to meet, cities to explore... it's actually really cool. There's a definite sense of adventure and exploration to the story, and each city you visit feels really alive and exciting.

So far, I'm 40 days into my journey and I've only reached east Asia. I'm not sure I'll make it around the globe in time, but I've certainly enjoyed the trip. I've had a run-in with Mosco's secret police, met a weapons merchant-turned-toymaker in Calcutta, and traveled on the ambulatory city of Agra.

It's a pretty rad story.

If anyone else tries it, let me know what you think! I'd love to hear what kind of crazy characters and places you encounter.

Man Booker Prize winner

As my first post in Melanie's very cool blog, I thought I'd go for something solid, the Man Booker Prize winner.  Thankfully, this is not only a satisfying topic but the winner was announced about 9:45PM GMT (yes, I was the dork awaiting updates as I read in bed last night); I lucked out in timeliness.  

This year's competition was open to English books from any country (not just England.  Rule changed only two years ago) and the shortlist had an interesting mix.  When I saw it, I started on the Anne Tyler as soon as I could get a copy.  I have loved her writing since The Accidental Tourist came out (yes, I know that makes me rather elderly...) and found her latest title so worthy of my dedication.  It was my fav read of the summer and actually kicked my book butt a bit as I needed it (maybe more about that topic another day).

My summer reads quickly led to autumn reads and after I finished Reckless (nothing to do with the Booker prize but I went to the UK book launch and am still buzzing) and Purity (nothing to do with the Booker prize but I do feel tackling Jonathan Franzen and succeeding always deserves a mention) I started the book that ended up winning the prize last night.  I wanted to challenge myself a bit, not usually having the clarity of looking at authors from outside the British or USA worlds.  Yes, I started it but after the first chapter I wasn't on fire, so I tried A Little Life for the third time and this time it grabbed me (I'm still reading A Little Life; it's f*cking long).  I was certain I would be reading the Booker prize winner when the winner was announced last night, mostly because it's very long and because the bookies in this fine land had tipped this book as the winner (is it a good think that people gamble on literary prize winners?  Maybe we can discuss this another day).  I was wrong!  When I finish A Little Life (quite possibly this time next year...), I'll go back to the winner and hope this time it sticks.

Does anyone try to read the shortlisted novels each year?  This is the first year I made an effort with the shortlist; in the past I have read the winner each year.  Does anyone use the winner, shortlist or long list for directions in reading?  Does anyone use literary prizes to guide reading choices?

Melanie, thank you again for the invite to participate in your blog.  It's an honour (which reminds me of listening to a discussion of "an" or "a" in front of "h" words...Fascinating!).

Welcome, readers!

What better time than fall to start talking about books? If it's good enough for F. Scott...well, let's not get into that. He was a drinker.