The second of four books I choose for the R.I.P. IV challenge was The Sister by Poppy Adams (her first novel); I absolutely adored it! I suck at reviews, but here’re my thoughts: First of all, the cover is gorgeous, the colors alone drew me in. The story is about a mother, father and two daughters and their hopes and dreams, it’s set in an old manor house in England and shows what happens over the course of 45 + years. The writing is beautiful and very descriptive.

The New Yorker said: “Suspenseful…Adams creates an engrossing atmosphere of gothic mystery.”
The Guardian (London) said: “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane comes to Devon, in Adam’s gothic tale of madness, sibling rivalry and lepidoptera. Adams is a skillful, entertaining storyteller.”

Here’s the first paragraph: “It’s ten to two in the afternoon and I’ve been waiting for my little sister, Vivi, since one-thirty. She’s finally coming home, at sixty-seven years old, after an absence of almost fifty years.”

Do yourself a favor and check this book out…I’m sure you’ll be captivated!

The first book I choose for the R.I.P. IV challenge was The Magicians by Lev Grossman; I absolutely did not like it. This blurb was what made me pick it up – “The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish Whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. Well, I never did care for whiskey, so… And thankfully, this other blurb is quite true: “Hogwarts was never like this.” Whiny, superior teens…gah! I gave it away to a lady in the radiation waiting room at MGH. And that’s my review

I’m reading stories in By Blood We Live, which Alice is helping me with and Alice and I started “The Sisters” today. My fourth book could be Lisey’s Story by Stephen King…or possibly Dexter In The Dark…or maybe Vampire Stories from New England, a gift from my lovely friend Monique. I’ll let you know!

Oh, and if you’re wondering who Alice is:

This is Alice — she’s my newest poppet!

It’s R.I.P. IV time (that’s R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril)!!! Oh, I love when Carl does this post, because it means fall is not far away

I went off to Barnes & Noble today for the express purpose of finding a book or two to read for Carl’s challenge and I found three:

The Magicians, by Lev Grossman: This blurb alone made me pick it up – “The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish Whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. Solidly rooted in the traditions of both fantasy and mainstream literary fiction, the novel tips its hat to Oz and Narnia as well as to Harry, but don’t mistake this for a children’s book. Grossman’s sensibilities are thoroughly adult, his narrative dark and dangerous and full of twists. Hogwarts was never like this.” – George R. R. Martin
I’m already on page 25 and hope to get a few more under my belt tonight.

By Blood We Live: A compilation of vampire stories by Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill & Anne Rice as well as a host of others.

The Sister, by Poppy Adams: This one got some great reviews by, among others, the New York Times – “The Sister is powered by the same sort of confidently rendered literary suspense that propelled Donna Tartt’s The Secret History onto bestseller lists.”; The Washington Post Book World – “Masterly…At once beautiful, informative, and disturbing…stylish prose, taut plotting and dark psychology”; and the Detroit News – Deliciously creepy…Reminds us of A. S. Byatt, Kate Atkinson and Stephen King having a house party.”

A fourth as yet unknown book will be added to my list, so that I can do Peril The First. Wish me luck!

And I’m off to read!