The Summer Reading Challenge is coming to a close. It was fun participating and I even connected with a few more book bloggers.

So what’s the next logical step? Another challenge! Carl V. is asking readers to accept it at their own risk. The Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) Autumn Challenge starts this weekend and goes through October 31 (my favorite Holiday).

The quest involves reading 5 books that are scary, eerie, moody, gothic, unsettling, etc. Check out his site for details, book suggestions and to find out what the prize will be. Yes, there’s a prize!

I recently mentioned the four horror Classics I bought: Frankenstein, Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Turn of the Screw. Some others I might consider are The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton or even The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

I’m not sure which ones I’ll end up reading. I have a problem making reading lists in advance, but I’ll try to read five books. I’ll keep you posted on which ones make it to my nightstand.

It’s been a while since I read a book which has actually made me cringe. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is a very readable story but the description of the foot binding and how it can go terribly wrong almost made me put away this book.

It’s great that the writer was able to write something so vividly but wow, I feel like I need some quaint, cozy read to balance that out. Anyway, I think I’m done with that part.

Like I said, it’s really a fascinating read aside from that. I’m curious to see what the other participants of the Virtual Book Club will think. I have to hurry up and finish it by the end of the week.

And, let’s not forget Wednesday is the start of the Slaves of Golconda discussion for The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. I finished the book on time, finally! See you at the MetauxCafé forum.