R.I.P. IV Reading Challenge

As a lover of all things Autumn -- leaves, pumpkins, early nights, hot coffee, sweaters, orange and brown, soups and warm bread -- I find myself drawn to books that invoke Autumn. Namely classics, mysteries, creepy short stories, and thick, Gothic novels. They are the sort of reads that beckon for a mug of cider, a voluminous quilt, and a content cat on the lap. September 1st Autumn begins in my mind -- despite the fact that Georgia is still humid and hot -- and Carl's Readers Imbibing Peril reading challenge begins to kick-off my favorite season.

I'm participating in Peril the First and, possibly, the Short Story Peril. Peril the First involves reading 4 works in any of the subgenres (mystery, horror, Gothic...). My goal for the Short Story peril is to read at least 4 short stories. The challenge runs from September 1st - October 31st.

Of course part of the joy of the R.I.P. is deciding which wonderful books to read. I have a pool of about 12 works that I would like to read, but I already know that these titles will change. One must allow for rainy nights of picking out something off the shelf, the books one finds while browsing in the public library, and, all the recommendations of fellow R.I.P readers. The current R.I.P. pile consists of:

• The Dark Clue by James Wilson


• The House at Riverton by Kate Morton


• The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl


• The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez


• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith


• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
  
• Secret Life of Lazslo, Count Dracula by Roderick Anscombe


• The Spiritualist by Megan Chance
  
• The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Tales by H.P. Lovecraft


• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins


• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


• Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories by M.R. James
  

So many great things to read. Expect weekly updates on my R.I.P. reading beginning in September!