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Welcome to my weekly update for October 25, 2020!
First of all, my apologies for not visiting your blogs much last week. Thank you to everyone who stopped by here though! My husband’s work contract in Portland ended yesterday so we’ve been nailing down his next job and finding our next campground (we live in our RV while he’s working). Not to mention that our tenants in our house back home moved out and our property managers seemed to have a million questions as they were getting the house ready for the next tenant. It’s been a stressful whirlwind! Yet somehow I managed to read quite a bit.
Portland’s first cold snap of the season is this weekend so we’re happy to be moving on soon. It’s definitely possible to live in cold weather in your RV but it’s not something we’re interested in doing ourselves. I’m a wimp about cold weather! We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here though. Oregon is gorgeous and it should be on your bucket list for post-COVID travel!
Posted:
Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore–3 Stars
Top Ten Books Recommended to Me
Read:
Chapelwood by Cherie Priest
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft, edited by Jessica Spotswood & Tess Sharpe, read by Amy McFadden
Gil’s All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
Feed by Mira Grant, read by Paula Christensen and Jesse Bernstein–I actually DNF’d this audiobook because I personally didn’t care for Ms. Christensen’s narration. I’ll try again in print in the future.
Currently Reading:
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
The Last Astronaut by David Wellington, read by Megan Tusing
Hole in the Sky by William Kittredge
Watching:
Muppets Now on Disney Plus–We’ve only watched one episode of this and that was a month or so ago but it was fun to see the Muppets gang interacting with stars like Taye Diggs, RuPaul, Linda Cardellini, and Carlina Will. We really laughed at Kermit’s photobomber career (Pronounced fuh-TAH-buh-mer). We’ll spend more time with it when we wrap up some of our other shows.
Up Next:
I might squeeze in one more Halloween-ish book this week. I haven’t read any Stephen King or Joe Hill this month and they’re usually my October mainstays. Do any of you have any recommendations for one of their shorter books?
This week on the blog is apparently Grady Hendrix week. I’ve somewhat unintentionally read three of his novels since the pandemic started. I already have two reviews scheduled and hope to add one more to the mix.
What did your week look like?
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
35 Comments
Elevation by Stephen King is a novella I listened to and liked, but it’s more speculative fiction, not really horror. Joe Hill has a collection of short stories I listened to on audio, and they are definitely horror!
I didn’t do well with my horror reading for October, but I’m planning to start Pet Sematary on audio soon. I started late with Stephen King (with Lisey’s Story) and have had to catch up with his older books. I liked Horrorstor, but haven’t read more of Grady Hendrix yet. 🙁
Good luck with your move and your new tenants!
I don’t think I’ve read Elevation. I have read a lot of King’s work but he is so very prolific…. I’ll look for that one! Pet Sematary is pretty scary. I can’t remember if I watched the old movie. The remake’s trailer scared me silly so I won’t be watching it for sure. I really like Joe Hill so I think I’m current on his work? Unless he’s released more Locke & Key graphic novels.
Yes to Small Spaces! Don’t forget to read the sequel either. That one was freaky too. Me and my son loved them both.
Grady Hendrix is great. I read Horrorstor when it first came out and it totally freaked me out. And I read My Best Friend’s Exorcism in May. I have a couple other books to finish but I’ve been wanting to start the Southern Book Club’s Guide…
Oregon is gorgeous. It’s the place I want to retire one day! Glad you were able to enjoy it for awhile. Good luck with the move and hope you get a spot that’s a littler warmer for the winter. Stay safe and healthy this week.
I didn’t realize Small Spaces had a sequel. Thanks for letting me know! I really enjoyed the first one.
If you’ve liked other Hendrix books, you should enjoy The Southern Book Club. It felt very much like his “style” while still being a unique story.
We feel fortunate to have spent the summer in Oregon. It’s a beautiful state!
We’re currently camping in our RV on the coast (Nehalem State Park) and it got super cold last night! We love RV life, but I sure wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time anywhere that it gets near or below freezing. We have a portable electric heater that keeps the coach nice and toasty (and doesn’t drain our propane, as the coach furnace does when it’s super cold at night), but thankfully the warm daytime temps and sunshine help warm things up. I’ll be interested to hear where you go next!
No current recommendations for Stephen King or Joe Hill. I’m currently listening to The Fireman (Joe Hill), which will probably take me until 2021 to finish. It’s huge!
Take care and happy travels.
I belong to a Winter RVing group on Facebook just so we have an idea of what to do if temperatures do plunge on us. I don’t know how people stay in their campers all winter in places that get serious snow. I’m too lazy to put in that much work. I guess I would if I had to. We keep an electric heater and try to use that most of the time. It’s been so cold all weekend that we had to cave in and use the propane furnace. We can practically watch the gauge dropping as the furnace is running. I’m glad you’re enjoying your time in your camper!
The Fireman wasn’t my favorite Hill novel. I loved the idea but it felt unnecessarily long to me. I hope you enjoy it more than I did!
That’s exciting you are moving, I’m looking forward to hearing where you park your RV! I hope the stress with your house gets sorted and you get new tenants without any drama.
All the King/Hill books I’ve read are the big ones I’m afraid but they both got short stories, I hope you get something to scare you!
I checked the library today and all of the King short story collections are checked out right now. I’m up to date with Hill’s collections. I looked for Richard Matheson next since they both claim him as a big influence on their own work. I still struck out! I finally found a Ray Bradbury short story collection. I haven’t read much Bradbury so this will be interesting.
I don’t do scary books because I’m too suggestible and spend a lot of time home alone. I hope you enjoy your new location where ever it is. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
When my husband worked nights and I worked days, there were some sleepless nights when I regretted my predilection for horror in October.
Portland is definitely on my list of places to visit once we can travel safely again! I hope your next move goes well. Living in an RV during all this travel does at least sound like a way to keep some consistency in a life on the go.
I have gotten to the end of October only to realize I haven’t picked up any of the spooky/creepy books I’d been planning on reading this month. I’m not sure I’ll get any of them in, either. At least I’m reading a cozy mystery right now? So that kinda (not really) counts?
October is a mystery month too, so I think it counts as being in the spirit of the season.
You’ve picked up on the exact reason that we travel in our RV. We could rent furnished apartments. His employer would even find apartments for us if we asked them to. But I am a homebody at heart so living in our RV lets me have the consistency I need. And avoid packing up an apartment every three months. In the RV we pretty much just unplug, clear the counters, and go on our way!
Oh man, I hadn’t really thought about packing up an entire apartment every few months. I was mostly thinking that I wouldn’t like having new furniture that often (and who knows how well the previous people cleaned it, ick).
Most people do rent furnished apartments so you’re right–other people’s stuff, ick! But you still have to pack up your clothes and toiletries and food and any other personal items you take along with you. The RV is much easier in the long run, I think.
My first apartment was furnished… and I was in college so it seemed logical at the time. But since then I’ve been kinda icked out by that.
Hope you find a warmer spot to hunker down, Portland / Oregon way would be cold in winter. Enjoy your reading.
Portland was already getting too chilly and damp for my taste. We’re on the road for warmer climes as I write this!
Traveling around in your RV sounds like fun! Enjoy your journeys…and your books. Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
RV life has pros and cons but the journey is generally fun!
I hope you enjoy your next location. There are times I think I would love an RV life and times when I think I would not. I’m glad it’s working for you and you get to see so many great places.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
There are pros and cons with RV life as there are with anything, but it’s working well for us right now. We really wanted to make the leap to travel with my husband’s job but I’m really a homebody at heart. This way I have my own home no matter where we park it, which keeps my heart happy.
How exciting to be looking for your next move. I’m not a fan of horror but the shorter days and the cold make me snuggle up with a good mystery. Enjoy your reading week!
It’s definitely good mystery weather too!
Wow. Living in an RV. That must be a challenge. Not much space to have alone time, I guess. I see you’ve been busy reading horror books, though ones with a sense of humor. Good month to do it. Enjoy. My Sunday Salon post
There are definite challenges to living in an RV but it’s also surprisingly liberating to not have so much stuff around. And I’ve always been fairly minimalist with everything about books. That’s one of the difficult things about RV life. No real room for books.
I really want to read Horrorstor! It sounds so good! You had a fun week of scary reads and an even better week to look forward to! I finished Fraterfest, but didn’t read all the books I wanted to. Oh well, always next year.
Hope you will have a good week and that you guys are safe!
Here’s my The Sunday Post #16
If you like scary books, I recommend any of Grady Hendrix’s books! Well, at least any of the three I’ve read so far.
I hope he is able to find a new situation for you soon and in a warmer area!
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King is a collection four short novellas , you might the premise of one of those.
Wishing you a great reading week
You just suggested a King I haven’t read and the novellas are a great idea! If I finish up my current read before the end of the month, I’ll look for that one. Thank you!
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix is really an amusing read, especially the illustrations! I didn’t know there were other books by this author. Your lists are very intriguing.
be well… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I’ve also read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. I’ve liked them all but if I had to choose a favorite, My Best Friend’s Exorcism would win. Which is surprising because anything with demons scares me to death. The demon in this book wasn’t too over the top though and I loved the friendship between the girls.
I like how you and your husband move from workplace to workplace. Now is a good time to move a little further south. Our winters in Texas are amazing and we have lovely RV parks everywhere. I’d also vote for New Mexico or Arizona or Utah for the winter. It will be fun to see where you are going next.
Muppets sound perfect for my moods these days. I’ve been considering taking back up Mister Rogers. His calm soothing voice works so well for me.
You have a lot of October-ish books. I’d just as soon skip all the scary parts of October and focus on the magical parts. The only scary books I’ve ever really enjoyed were scary books for kids! That’s my level of acceptable scariness.
Have a great week as you make your way through this whirlwind time.
We were in Austin last year from mid-September to early January. We were surprised by how cool November and December were! I don’t know if it was unusually cool weather, but we were really burning through a lot of propane trying to stay warm. But after Christmas the days got sunnier and the temps increased, just in time for us to move on. We seriously looked at the Houston area for his next assignment but we ultimately decided against it. Austin was too big for me and Houston is so very much bigger!
I’m currently reading Small Spaces by Katherine Arden, which is a scary book written for middle graders. You might like it!
Ooh you guys are moving on soon- must be an exciting time! I hope you get a new place that is warm haha! It’s been cooling off here too- definitely feels like mid October now!
I need to get disney Plus.
I do recommend Disney Plus. It’s more than just animated movies! We’re slowly working through the Marvel movies again on there, in timeline order this go round.
It is exciting to choose a new place and start researching what we want to do once we get there!