I've been waiting all summer for this. Not least because this summer has been so grueling. I don't do well in intense heat and wilt in the humidity (and it is 95F today--it's also neverending it would seem). But Carl's RIP Challenge has come to signify for me the coming of Autumn. I know that now it is just around the corner. Well, I'm hopeful it is anyway. I'm ready for open windows letting in cool air at night and a sweatshirt in the morning, that crisp feeling in the air and leaves crunching underfoot. I can be happy with a little Indian Summer, but I'm ready for these hot humid days to become a bad memory. So Carl's RIP is sort of a celebration for the end of summer, and I plan on partaking of the fun.
I've chosen a small pool of books (may add to it or take away, but this is what I have in mind at the moment) to read from. If I can read three of these books in the next two months I'll be very pleased. In the past I've also read short stories and I may do a little of that as well, but I won't commit myself to anything definite. The idea is to have fun and enjoy, and that's what I want to do rather than setting too many goals.
Here are the books I have in mind that I'll be drawing from.
The Memory Game by Nicci French - Have started this one already, which is about long-suppressed memories--a woman tries to discover who murdered her friend whose body turned up in the family garden.
The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White - Hitchcock filmed this one--about a young woman traveling by train who realizes one of the other passengers, a woman, has vanished.
The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle - I wrote about this one not long ago--it was also made into a movie--about a brother and sister looking for the perfect house only to find the one they have bought is haunted.
Dark Matter by Michelle Paver - Have heard this is one is a convincingly good ghost story--set in the 1930s where a group of men travel to the Arctic and find something quite chilling there (and not just the snow!).
A Jealous Ghost by A.N. Wilson - A reworking of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw--this makes my list every year-maybe this is my year?
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - I mentioned I was in the mood for some Agatha Christie and here is my excuse to pick one up--supposedly one of Christie's best about ten strangers invited to an island, all accused of or implicated in murder who then begin being murdered one by one. But by whom?
Roots of Evil or A Dark Dividing by Sarah Rayne - Not sure which but have heard she does suspense really well.
And/or something by Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell--I haven't had a chance yet to sift through my bin of unread Vine books. It's been far too long since I've read any of her books and I am very much in the mood for her work.
And to top it all off, I am hoping to read The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson with a group as part of Carl's RIP challenge later in October--I already had it on my pile and have heard good things about it.
I'm very excited about my list and reading any of these (of course I would love to read all of them) will be a treat. I know what I'll be reading over my long holiday weekend (one, or more) of these books!