To Read: I Do So Worry For All Those Lost At Sea

My copy of I Do So Worry For All Those Lost At Sea by David Keyes that I won through the Goodreads First Read program arrived today! I've been very excited to read it and it finally turned up on my doorstep today, all the way from Toronto!

The book is a short story collection by David Keyes, and not having read anything by him before, I'm intrigued to see what this often-dubbed 'eccentric' author has to offer! 

The back of the book reads:

'"The story of a ghost, and the girl that haunts him..."
Ghosts are haunted, girls fling themselves out of windows, wolves are cartographers, hares are pornographers, mermaids are rescued from carnival sideshows and everyone drinks cocktails and comments on the moon. Collected here for the first time are ten short stories and a novella, The House of Sleep. Each story a slight variation on reality, each its own weather system, its own logic surreal, beautiful and haunting, all recording in Keyes' melancholic style.' 

When I opened the book, I had a lovely surprise - it's signed by David Keyes! Awesome, right?

As you probably noticed in the first image above, the package also came with an excerpt from The Blood Red Heiress by David Keyes, and loads of cute things inside, including one of those fortune teller fishes and a cocktail recipe!

This book is definitely the one that's getting read after I finish reading 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King, and I'm super, super looking forward to it. A full review will come once it's finished. 

______________________________

In other, personal news, I've been accepted on an English Literature with Creative Writing degree at university! I'm thrilled - this is turning out to be a wonderful week :)

Summer To Read List!

I have two weeks of college left until I break up for summer, and I want to get my summer reading list ready. I have 221 books on my Goodreads list to read, and using a random number generator, I'm going to select 10:

1. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
2. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
3. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer
4. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. The Mist by Stephen King
7. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
8. A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway
9. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
10. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

We'll see if those are the books I actually read, but it looks like an exciting list!

I'm currently reading 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King, and I'm enjoying it so far, but it's not a quick read! I will write a review as soon as I've finished it, but it's taking some time to get through. Thankfully, I'm enjoying every page and easily fall into the world's that King creates.

Top Ten Tuesday: Intimidating Books

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week's theme is:

Top Ten: Most Intimidating Books

Under The Dome by Stephen King: Not only is this book epic in length, Stephen King is one of my favourite authors and so I always feel nervous that I won't enjoy a book. Not only that, but I've already read halfway through and then abandoned it, and so picking it back up again is going to be scary. And to top it all off, it's recently been made into a TV show that I want to watch - but only after finishing the book! I need to get back on this one, and soon.  

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo: I received this book for my birthday in May and still haven't opened it yet, because it's very long with very tiny text! It's definitely on my to-read list though, and I'm looking forward to having some time in the summer to tackle it. 

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee: This book is a classic, and everyone I know who's read it has loved it and recommended it. I really want to enjoy this book, so I'm having a little trouble starting it. 

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: I've been recommended this book quite a few times over the years, and I've also been warned I'll need tissues, which is another reason why it's intimidating. I'll have to get around to this book when I've got some time to cry!

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: This is a book I really want to enjoy. I  haven't read any Vonnegut before but I've heard very good things, and I always find myself picking Slaughterhouse-Five up whenever I'm in a book store but not purchasing it. Next time, though - next time!

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien: If I claim to love books and love reading, I've got to read Lord of the Rings, right? I've also got to read The Hobbit, which I started a very long time ago but thankfully can't remember. This is one of those series where I love the films, and I'm hoping I'll love the books just as much and that I won't constantly be comparing them while I read.  

Divergent by Veronica Roth: This is a book that everyone seems to have read, and have said really good things about, but I haven't got my hands on a copy yet! I'm somewhat nervous to read it in case I can't see what everyone raves about, but I'm excited at the same time to see what I've been missing.

World War Z by Max Brooks: This is another one I've heard a lot of good things about and I really love zombies, so I'm hoping it will be a great read. I think I'll be pretty disappointed if it isn't, and I've been looking for a good zombie book for a long time, because at the moment it feels like zombie films are topping books in this respect! 

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: After studying Plath's poetry in English class a couple of years ago, I've wanted to read The Bell Jar. This is one I'm really having trouble forcing myself to start, and I wasn't sure whether to put it in this category or the previous one, but because I've heard lots of good things I settled with because of the hype.  

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski: I feel like this is a book that I just have to enjoy. I mean, it's supposed to be creepy and unnerving, which I love when I read books. I could talk about psychological horrors and thrillers and my love for them for a long time, and this is one I really want to love.