2019 TBR Jar

Last year I implemented a TBR for 2018. My hope was to read 10 books from the jar during the year. For various reasons I only managed to read 6 books from the jar during 2018. That being said, some of my favorites books of 2018 were pulled from the jar so I'm calling it a big success!

I'm definitely going to continue using the jar through 2019. Last year it was filled with 15 books that had been on my shelves for far too long. This year I'm filling the jar with 16 books (I couldn't narrow it down any further!) that I really want to read but I know I will continue to push them to the side if I don't put them into the jar.

My plan is to pick one a month to read during that month. (There are extras in the jar to allow for mood reading, but I'm only going to allow myself to put a book back once. If I draw it again, I have to read it.)

Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Crown Conspiracy (The Riyria Revelations #1) by Michael J. Sullivan
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien



The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss



The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Paradise Sky by Joe R. Lansdale
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Shift (Silo #2) by Hugh Howey



A Simple Plan by Scott B. Smith
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower #5) by Stephen King
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Have you read any of the books in my TBR jar? Do any of them stand out as a book I don't want to skip this year?

2018 TBR Jar

One of my bookish goals for 2018 is to finally read some of the books that have been sitting on my shelf for years. Every year I hope to finally read them, but all of the shining new books I come across are my downfall.

Will this year be any different?

I've gone through all of my physical books and pulled out 15 books that I long to read but never have.

There are 15 books in my pile. I put all of the titles into a jar, and I will pull one book title from the jar each month. I'm a mood reader so I have a little wiggle room to put it back and draw another.

My 2018 TBR "Jar"

My biggest book confession is I've never read Peter Straub's Ghost Story. I plan to read it every. single. year. but I still haven't read it. I have a habit of saving books until the time is right. I'm dumb. I really hope I read it this year.

These are the books in my TBR jar for 2018:

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
Neverland by Douglas Clegg
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Fury by John Farris
Summer of Night by Dan Simmons
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Rebecca by Dauphne du Maurier
1984 by George Orwell
Little Brothers by Rick Hautula
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
Tell No One by Harlan Coben
The Orchard by Charles L. Grant

I'm most nervous about American Gods because it was a DNF the first time I read it. That was in 2002 so we'll see how it goes this time around.

I was in the middle of reading Summer of Night last year when the IT read-along happened. Having already read IT, I knew I needed to put Summer of Night away for a while. I didn't want to be reading two really great coming of age horrors at the same time.

I suck at challenges so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get some of these read before the end of the year. Wish me luck!

TBR: Icarus Helix Series by J.E. Medrick

I look forward to reading this series.  The Man Eating Bookworm has been praising these books on his blog and each one sounds even better than the last.  I was lucky enough to win a copy of the first book Cheat last week in a giveaway on his blog!

There are four books in the series so far:

Icarus Helix #1: Cheat

Book Description 

How far would you go for money? For Marcus Tiller, gambling debt was an overwhelming shadow on his life. As a neonatal attendant at St. Mercy Four Cities Hospital in need of cash, he became CGT-Inc's ideal pawn. The contract: secretly inject newborns with an experimental compound - for $1,000 a head. But, three years after he began, he disappeared.

Now, 14 years later, the effects of the compound are starting to show. 17-year old Ian Reynolds, an aspiring varsity football player, suddenly finds he can control things with the power of his thoughts. Footballs miraculously end up in his hands, girls' skirts catch sudden drafts and life is good. But the gift comes with a price, both physical and mental.

As Ian tries to understand his power, the big rivalry against the Waredo Firehawks looms. But when a stranger who may know his secret begins leaving him cryptic notes, will Ian decide his power is best left... undiscovered?

Icarus Helix #2: Liar

Book Description 

Marcus Tiller gambled away all of his money to the Bad Men. No sweat - they gave him more. But when his new bets went sour, he became desperate. He signed on with Icarus Consulting to inject newborns with an experimental compound.

Fourteen years later, Ellen discovers a startling ability - she can tell if people are lying. Not only that, but when they do, she can hear their true thoughts.

When a smooth-talking stranger hints at her powers, paranoia starts. Ellen finds herself drawn into best friend drama, tip-toeing around boys and fearing a divorce.

With the masks of people around her shattering, will Ellen learn to live with her power... or be struck down by it?

Icarus Helix #3: Coward

Book Description 

David West is a normal, nerdy boy. His parents are never home, he is small for his age and he can't get up the courage to get a girlfriend.

But when he accidentally absorbs a shower handle, he realizes he might not be so average, after all.

His freshman year heads quickly for disaster as he crosses paths with the football team.  Now with stress building and nowhere to turn, David's power may be his last road out of mediocrity.  At the moment of truth, will he decide it's easier to be brave... or wicked?

Icarus Helix #4: Thief 

Book Description 

Single parent household. One friend in the world. Father in jail for double homicide. Poor. Mute.

What would YOU do if you suddenly turned invisible?

15-year old Mason is dealing with just these problems. When he uncovers a crippling family secret that he blames on himself, he knows things need to change. He needs them to change. Not just for himself - but for his mother.

The ability to become a ghost just may be his answer...

Cheat is about to take a big skip up in the To Be Read list.  Stay tuned for some Icarus Helix reviews in the near future!

New Releases This Week

Earlier this week I read a great novella by Jude Hardin (writing as Carson Wilder) called Unborn.  You can read my review of Unborn here.  Jude Hardin released a new novel this week called Pocket-47.

Book Description

Fifteen-year-old Brittney Ryan has taken to the streets. Leitha, her older sister and legal guardian, hires private investigator Nicholas Colt to find her and bring her home. Piece of cake, Colt thinks. With Brittney's forbidden boyfriend's address in hand, he plans to make a surprise visit and put this one in the scrapbook.But something more sinister is behind Brittney's disappearance, and Colt soon finds himself in an ever-widening maze of deceit, betrayal, and murder. When Colt learns what the mysterious phrase "Pocket-47" means, he is haunted even more by the plane crash that killed his family and rock band twenty years ago-a crash he now realizes might not have been an accident.Determined to save Brittney, Colt struggles to untangle the threads of his own tortured past. Unfortunately, one of the most heinous and violent criminals in modern history has other ideas.

Expect a review in the near future!

Another book released this week was Cherry Beach Express - the debut novel from R.D. Cain who has "worked for the last 18 years in emergency services as a paramedic, firefighter, and police officer".

Book Description

When Steve Nastos is wrongfully accused of murdering his dentist—a man whom he believes committed an unspeakable crime against his daughter—he decides to take the law into his own hands. Freed on bail, he attempts to track down the actual killer in a town where laws are seen more as guidelines and law enforcement agents adhere to their own moral relativism. Handicapped by a recovering alcoholic lawyer, a rogue cop, and a two-faced judge, Nastos has the cards stacked against him. As his estranged yet beloved wife inadvertently becomes involved in the case, the stakes become higher, and Nastos is forced to protect her.

I'm looking forward to reading both of these!

TBR: Run by Blake Crouch

It's Blake Crouch week over at The Man Eating Bookworm.  I was super lucky enough to win myself a copy of Run!  Woohoo!  It sounds like an excellent thriller.  Check it out:

For fans of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Thomas Harris, picture this: a landscape of American genocide...

5 D A Y S A G O A rash of bizarre murders swept the country… Senseless. Brutal. Seemingly unconnected. A cop walked into a nursing home and unloaded his weapons on elderly and staff alike. A mass of school shootings. Prison riots of unprecedented brutality. Mind-boggling acts of violence in every state.

4 D A Y S A G O The murders increased ten-fold…

3 D A Y S A G O The President addressed the nation and begged for calm and peace…

2 D A Y S A G O The killers began to mobilize…

Y E S T E R D A Y All the power went out…

T O N I G H T They’re reading the names of those to be killed on the Emergency Broadcast System. You are listening over the battery-powered radio on your kitchen table, and they’ve just read yours. Your name is Jack Colclough. You have a wife, a daughter, and a young son. You live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. People are coming to your house to kill you and your family.

You don’t know why, but you don’t have time to think about that any more. You only have time to….

R U N

This 80,000-word novel also contains a bonus interview with Blake, and excerpts from his other work.

I can't wait to dive into this one! Have you read any of Crouch's books yet?  He sounds like someone I really need to be reading!

TBR: The Five by Robert McCammon

I am extremely excited to share my "Waiting for Wednesday" selection with you.

The Five by Robert McCammon
Pub Date: May 31, 2011

Subterranean Press is proud to present Robert McCammon's first contemporary novel in nearly two decades, a tale of the hunt and unlikely survival, of the life and soul, set against a supernatural backbeat. Robert McCammon, author of the popular Matthew Corbett historical thrillers (Speaks the Nightbird, Mister Slaughter), now gives us something new and completely unexpected: The Five, a contemporary novel as vivid, timely, and compelling as anything he has written to date.

The Five tells the story of an eponymous rock band struggling to survive on the margins of the music business. As they move through the American Southwest on what might be their final tour together, the band members come to the attention of a damaged Iraq war veteran, and their lives are changed forever.

The narrative that follows is a riveting account of violence, terror, and pursuit set against a credible, immensely detailed rock and roll backdrop. It is also a moving meditation on loyalty and friendship, on the nature and importance of families those we are born into and those we create for ourselves and on the redemptive power of the creative spirit. Written with wit, elegance, and passionate conviction, The Five lays claim to new imaginative territory, and reaffirms McCammon's position as one of the finest, most unpredictable storytellers of our time.

I already have my copy pre-ordered.  Yes, yes. I. do.  Check out what Stephen King had to say about The Five:

“The Five isn't just Robert McCammon's best novel in years; it's his best novel ever. Terrifying, suspenseful, unputdownable, and full of rock and roll energy. It's also uplifting, a book you'll finish feeling better about your world, your friends, and your music. Here's one you'll beg friends to read.”

That's exactly how I feel about McCammon's Boy's Life.  I beg you - right now - read it.  I've bought every used copy of Boy's Life I've come across just so I could give it to people.  McCammon is an extraordinary writer, and I'm looking forward to (waiting for!) The Five!

This post is being shared as part of Breaking the Spine's "Waiting for" Wednesday.

TBR: Pine Deep Trilogy by Jonathan Maberry

Books 2 and 3 have been on my shelf *forever*.  I finally came across a copy of book 1.  Woohoo!  I cannot wait to finally read these.

From Wikipedia:

The Pine Deep Trilogy is a series of supernatural horror novels by Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award winning author. The trilogy is set in the fictional rural Pennsylvania town of Pine Deep, which has the reputation of being the Most Haunted Town in America. Pine Deep’s entire tourism industry is built around a celebration of hauntings and Halloween. Unfortunately the town is lot more haunted than they think, which turns out to be a very bad thing for everyone living there.

Ghost Road Blues (Pine Deep #1) by Jonathan Maberry

Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel

From a new master of horror comes an apocalyptic showdown between the residents of a secluded, rural town and the deadly evil that confronts them wherever they turn . . .

Evil Doesn't Die

The cozy little town of Pine Deep buried the horrors of its past a long time ago. Thirty years have gone by since the darkness descended and the Black Harvest began, a time when a serial killer sheared a bloody swath through the quiet Pennsylvania village. The evil that once coursed through Pine Deep has been replaced by cheerful tourists getting ready to enjoy the country's largest Halloween celebration in what is now called "The Spookiest Town in America."

It Just Grows Stronger

But then--a month before Halloween--it begins. Unspeakably desecrated bodies. Inexplicable insanity. And an ancient evil walking the streets, drawing in those who would fall to their own demons and seeking to shred the very soul of this rapidly fracturing community. Yes, the residents of Pine Deep have drawn together and faced a killer before. But this time, evil has many faces--and the lust and will to rule the earth. This struggle will be epic.

Dead Man's Song (Pine Deep #2) by Jonathan Maberry

From the powerful imagination of a new horror master comes a bone-chilling tale set in a small town where good and evil are joined in a terrifying, deadly battle...

Evil Endures
Once an idyllic Pennsylvania village, Pine Deep awoke one morning to find itself bathed in a massive bloodletting. Twice in thirty years the townsfolk have endured the savage hungers of a murderous madman...but if the residents think the death of serial killer Karl Ruger put an end to the carnage, they're dead wrong.

The Nightmare Never Ends
Bodies mutilated beyond description, innocents driven to acts of vicious madness. A monstrous evil is preying on the living--and the dead--and turning the quiet little town into hell on earth. Their only hope is to find the source. But the secrets that lurk in the heart of Pine Deep are twisted into its very roots. This time the townspeople aren't just fighting for their lives, but for their very souls...

Bad Moon Rising (Pine Deep #3) by Jonathan Maberry

 A new master of terror reigns supreme. And in his most horrifying novel yet, the clash between good and evil explodes in an apocalyptic showdown few will survive...

From A Funfest...

Each year, the residents of Pine Deep host the Halloween Festival, drawing tourists and celebrities from across the country to enjoy the deliciously creepy fun. Those who visit the small Pennsylvania town are out for a good time, but those who live there are desperately trying to survive...

To A Bloodfest

For a monstrous evil lives among them, a savage presence whose malicious power has grown too powerful even for death to hold it back. Only a handful of brave souls stand against the King of the Dead and a red wave of destruction. Daylight is fading and a bad moon is rising over Pine Deep. Keep watching the shadows...

Sounds great, right?  Stay tuned for some reviews!

Leisure Horror & Other Genre Fiction at Big Lots Stores

If you have a Big Lots (closeout store) in your area, I spotted some great genre fiction including some Leisure Horror books today for $2.00.

These are the books I scored:

Monstrosity by Edward Lee

It turns out this one was already on my bookshelf.  *sigh*  I do that a lot.  This to be read pile of mine is uncontrollable.  Now when I do get a chance to read it, I'll have an extra copy to give away to you guys.

Blue skies, palm trees, and flawless white sand beaches. Clare Prentiss thinks her new home is paradise, and her brand-new job as security chief at the clinic almost seems too good to be true.
It is.
Lurid dreams, erotic obsessions, and twisted sexual fantasies aren’t the only things that abruptly invade Clare’s life. Is someone really peeping into her windows at night?
Yes.
Are those screams she hears just her imagination?
No.
Is Clare being stalked?
Yes. But not by a man. By a monstrosity.
Will the last scream Clare hears be her own? 

Dark Mountain by Richard Laymon

The description for this book reminds me a lot of Laymon's No Sanctuary.  I didn't want to go camping again after reading that one.  I'm certain this book will do the same!

A thriller set in the Californian mountains as two families embark on a camping holiday.

Scavenger by David Morrell 

Scavenger is the second book in the Frank Balenger series.  (Creepers is the first.)

Frank Balenger, the resolute but damaged hero of David Morrell's acclaimed Creepers, now finds himself trapped in a nightmarish game of fear and death. To save himself and the woman he loves, he must play by the rules of a god-like Game Master with an obsession for unearthing the past. But sometimes the past is buried for a reason. Scavenger is a brilliant, frightening hunter-hunted tale that layers modern technology over the dusty artifacts of earlier times. The result is a surreal palimpsest, one that contains the secret of survival for Balenger and a handful of unwilling players who race against the game’s clock to solve the puzzle of the time capsule, only to discover that time is the true scavenger.

Lost: Endangered Species by Cathy Hapka 

Endangered Species is the first novelization of the show.  I couldn't help myself.

LOST, the television series, takes place on a remote South Pacific island, where a plane crash has left 48 survivors stranded. In ENDANGERED SPECIES we read about Faith, an environmental activist and reptile specialist, whose dream industry conference turns into a nightmare and lands her among the survivors on the island. While Locke isn’t suspicious of her, there are more than a few others who openly wonder about how much she uses her knowledge to help – or to terrorize -- the other survivors.

I have a decent commute to work, and there is another Big Lots out in that area.  I know where I will be during lunch on Monday...

Obsessed.