20 Books of Summer

Click the picture to access the original post of the challenge

I have finally come up with my list for the 20 Books of Summer challenge.
I will not necessarily be reading the books in this order and some will possibly be subjected to change, but for now these are my choices:

1. Aftermath, by Tom Lewis (Read, review here.)

2. A Special Place, by Peter Straub (Read, review here.)

3. Halfskin, by Tony Bertauski

4. Clay, by Tony Bertauski

5. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass: 100th Anniversary Edition, by Lewis Carroll

6. Disclaimer, by Renée Knight

7. The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician Trilogy #1), by Charlie N. Holmberg

8. The Glass Magician (The Paper Magician Trilogy #2), by Charlie N. Holmberg

9. The Well, by Catherine Chanter

10. Devil’s Daughter (Lucinda’s Pawnshop, #1), by Hope Schenk-de Michele, Paul Marquez, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

11. A Thorn Among the Lilies, by Michael Hiebert

12. Erewhon (Erewhon #1), by Samuel Butler

13. Kyrathaba Rising (The Kyrathaba Chronicles #1), by William Bryan Miller

14. Every Last Word, by Tamara Ireland Stone

15. The Corridor (The Corridor Series #1), by A.N. Willis

16. Consumption, by Heather Herrman

17. Probably Monsters, by Ray Cluley

18. Hothouse, by Brian W. Aldiss

19. Krabat, by Otfried Preußler

20. Untrustworthy, by J.R. Gershen-Siegel
 

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Where I got the books:

Bought Paperbacks:

• A Special Place
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass: 100th Anniversary Edition
• Erewhon (Erewhon #1)

Netgalley E-books:

• Disclaimer
• The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician Trilogy #1)
• The Glass Magician (The Paper Magician Trilogy #2)
• The Well
• Devil’s Daughter (Lucinda’s Pawnshop, #1)
• A Thorn Among the Lilies
• Every Last Word
• The Corridor (The Corridor Series #1)
• Consumption
• Probably Monsters
• Hothouse
• Krabat
• Untrustworthy

Free from Author E-books:

• Aftermath
• Halfskin

Giveaways:

• Clay (Audiobook)
• Kyrathaba Rising (The Kyrathaba Chronicles #1) (Audiobook)

 

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Are you planning on taking up this challenge?
Do you intend to read any of the books I listed above?
If so, would you be up to do a buddy read?

Tell me everything!

A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter

Title: A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter

Author: Peter Straub

Genres: Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Length: 136 pages

Source: Purchased

Format: Paperback

Rating: 4.25/5

Premise:

Have you ever wondered how a sociopath grows up into a serial killer? In this chilling book you get a pretty good picture.
This novella shows us the process of Keith Hayward’s, a character in Straub’s novel A Dark Matter, descent into evil.

Review:

That is a whole lot of emotion packed in such a small book.

First of all, that cover is stunning. I was in love with it from the moment I first saw it.

Now..
This book was terrifying. It chilled me to the bone. Straub is a master weaver of tales and, most of all, characters. It’s a novella, there cannot be much room for elaboration, but you can definitely tell that, after such a seemingly innocent set of a boy and his uncle perched on a tree stump having a conversation, something crucial is about to happen to our main character.
You can see he is twisted from an early age, but as the story unfolds you also realize there are some tenuous remains of humanity left, and can see him struggle with it.

The writing is superb. Even if I felt it dragged on a bit at times, it all served a purpose. The suspense kept me constantly on edge and the character development of Keith intrigued the heck out of me. There is psychological terror and there is physical one, but most of the latter is hinted at, not exactly shown. You know the characters are depraved, but never really fully to what extent.

There isn’t much more I can say about this book without spoiling it. It’s one of those that you really need to slowly discover yourself. Also, as a prequel, there isn’t much closure, so you need to read it for the ride. And boy, what a ride.

A few thoughts: I am not quite sure why Keith wanted Miller to meet his uncle when he did, or if Keith’s parents suspected Till since they knew the cops were looking for him and had to protect him at least to some degree. I kept rooting for Keith till the end, particularly when he found out what his uncle was doing. I wanted him to go to the cops. I wanted him not to leave Miller with him. I wanted him not to kill Miller and take him to the hospital. But I suppose it was all inevitable.

A Special Place is an amazing, very disturbing novella. In the end, I could not help mourning for Keith, and wondering what his life would have been like without Uncle Till in it.

Read on Jun 03, 2015

GR Review