After much humming and hawing, I’ve decided to participate in the RIP IV challenge. On one hand, I’m not a fan of challenges as they make me feel very restricted in what I read – I feel guilty that I’m not reading what I should be reading to get the challenge finished, or nothing that I own for that challenge really appeals to me too much at the specific point in time. On the other hand, I do love this genre of books. And so, with all that in mind, I’ve decided to go with Peril the Second: “Read Two books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.” I think this will give me the option of not feeling too pressured in this challenge.

My pool of books currently consists of:

• Society of S – Susan Hubbard
• High Spirits – Robertson Davies
• Classic Victorian & Edwardian Ghost Stories – Rex Collings
• 18 Best Stories by Edgar Allan Poe – Edgar Allan Poe
• Faust – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
• Betrayed – P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

(Yeah, there are a few vampire books there, which I totally bought before I was sick of the whole vampire thing. But at least if I get them finished I won’t feel guilty that I still have them and haven’t read them, right? …Right?)

In other news, I’m actually about to set off to Toronto for the weekend for Fan Expo. QUITE excited about it – some of the panels look totally awesome. I’m looking forward to two in particular: Modern Literary Monsters (which is today) and Vampires in Fact and Fiction (which is on Sunday). Yeah, for someone who is sick of vampires, I really really want to see this one. Also: Bruce Campbell is going to be at FanExpo this year, which means I’ve been totally fangirling for the past month. Yes!

Anyway, need to head off now to finish packing and such.

I have a feeling that I’m going to be much quieter on the reading front in the next few weeks, if not longer. Things at work are going to be crazy busy for a while – I’m going to basically be doing two jobs for a few months, and about 3 jobs for the next week. I have a feeling I’ll be doing quite a bit of work at home in the evenings this week, if not longer… which is a little bit of a disappointment as there are so many books I wanted to get read this month.

Maybe I’ll take up audio books so I can listen to them and work at the same time… but I always find that I get distracted and don’t actually pay attention to what is going on in the book.

Even so, without as much time to read, I’m going to join a reading challenge. I told myself I was going to stop joining reading challenges, but this one fell in line with some of the books I’m reading/planning on reading soon anyway. It’s Chris’s Eco Reading Challenge. The requirements are as follows.

Part One:
Pick 1-5 books with a Environmental theme and read them in 5 months.

Part Two:
Commit an Act of Green Reading.

The two things that I am certainly going to read are Lori Bongiorno’s Green Greener Greenest and Grist Magazine’s Wake Up and Smell the Planet. I’m thinking about also reading Tamsin Blanchard’s Green is the New Black and Eric Chivian’s Sustaining Life… and possibly another one if I actually get that far.

My acts of Green Reading are to spend more time in my window seat reading and going to the park to read. Normally, I sit in my living room which has no windows – and thus, I am in need of using lights to read to.

Okay, after joining this challenge, I won’t join any more for the rest of the year. I hope. Maybe. But the challenge itself was tempting – it spans over a year (starting in January), and I only need to read six books throughout that year, and will hopefully be able to work it in with any other challenges I read. Hosted by Annie, this challenge requires that you read books with certain requirements in regards to the title (see details here. I don’t know exactly what books I’m going to read, but I’ve got a few potential ones. Of course, chances are I will change my mind about a good portion of them. :) Below are listed the requirements with potential books I may read for each of them. I would like to tie in some Canadian authors with this challenge, so if you have any to recommend, please let me know.

1. A book with a color in its title.
The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint
That Yellow Bastard by Frank Miller (I would have to read The Big Fat Kill before getting to this one)
Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

2. A book with an animal in its title.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

3. A book with a first name in its title.
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Betrayal of Arthur by Sara Douglass

4. A book with a place in its title.
London Calling by Edward Bloor

5. A book with a weather event in its title.
The Tempest by Shakespeare
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Book 1 of the Dresden Files)

6. A book with a plant in its title.
The Masque of the Black Tulip by Laura Willig