Friday 30 January 2015

catch-up for a Friday evening

The short list for the inaugural James Herbert Award for horror fiction was announced today.  The 6 books in contention are:

The Girl With All the Gifts - MR Carey
The Troop - Nick Cutter
Cuckoo Song - Frances Hardinge
The Loney - Andrew Michael Hurley
Bird Box - Josh Malerman
An English Ghost Story - Kim Newman

I already own The Troop, and An English Ghost Story was added to my wish-list in the fall.  I've added Cuckoo Song, and now I just need to read find them!  I'm excited by this award, it is a good way to see what is good in horror in the vein that James Herbert used to write in.  Plus, Nick Cutter is Canadian, so it's good to see Canadian horror writing getting publicized.  My good friend Sue has already read The Troop and really enjoyed it.  She's a true horror fan, reading more horror than anyone else I know, ever.  Cuckoo Song features a creepy doll, which I get chills from just thinking about.  So if you need something frightening for a cold winter's night.....

Speaking of chills, we have had a very cold January.  This weekend looks set to be another very cold - bitterly cold - few days.  Our low on Monday is supposed to be around -29c when I put Graham on the school bus.  Many of the mornings are in the -20c range, and we often don't get above -10c during the day.  I really want to hide out when it's like this, and that's exactly my plan for this weekend. Hibernation and reading.  That's what I've been doing for most of January, though I had expected to blog more.  I have also been making a slow return to work since mid-January, and this has been sooner than I expected.  It upset me enough that I haven't been able to blog while I adjust.  So sorry about that, as I did have some posts planned, but the return to work sent everything from my mind.  The joys of anxiety.....

 I have read some very good books though in January, so I hope to blog about them soon.  Meanwhile, it's hunker down and enjoy the fact I have a lovely home and a reading corner (see my blog header photo) and all the errands are done, so I can truly read as much as I want - and stay warm in cosy socks and comfortable home clothes, drink tea, and eat popcorn.  Pleasure!!!  I hope you have a lovely weekend with some good books lined up to read, too.  Plus there's the Superbowl game on Sunday.....

What are you reading?  What's your winter been like so far?  Are you longing for spring yet?  I am.  On the few days that we get above -10c, it feels so balmy.  I could get used to a winter warm like that! 

10 comments:

Sam said...

Take care of yourself, Susan. I'm happy to see that you are able to return to work now, if only slowly at first. That's a huge step for you. I miss your posts, but YOU come first.

My god, I don't think I could cope with your winters. We had a beautiful week here of temps in the sixties during the day with lots of sunshine. It's been so miserably wet and cold this winter with days and days of clouds and temps in the low forties, plus a drizzling rain, that we were all going crazy. So this week was a wonderful break for us...but rain and lower temps move in again tomorrow. Break is over.

Cath said...

Oddly, I didn't know there was a James Herbert award. lol But I've seen Kim Newman on TV speaking as an expert on docs about the supernatural and so on. I gather he's a good author.

I was here last night reading this (I didn't comment last night as it was late and I always think better in the morning :-)) and your Jan '14 post about The Abominable and other mountain books. So funny... I marked 4 or 5 books on Goodreads as 'want to read' and nearly always found that you had too. I even 'recommended' Mountains of the Mind on there to you. I need to pick your brains on the best mountain books you've read so far. An odd coincidence... the BBC had a mountaineering evening in the week so I was able to see an excellent doc. about the race to be the first to film the first ascent of Everest. And there was George Mallory whom I had only just been reading about.

Take care of yourself, Susan. Stay well and warm and read lots. :-)

Kay said...

Susan, so happy to hear how you have been doing. Staying in a reading in a cozy atmosphere sounds lovely. And on the work front, one day at a time. Anxiety, I've been there. :-)

I've actually heard of 3 of your horror books - THE GIRL..., THE TROOP, and BIRD BOX. All 3 of those attracted me when I read about them. Did you know that Nick Cutter has a new book, THE DEEP. I saw a review of it recently and it sounded quite, quite breathless. Ha! It takes place in the Mariana Trench or part of it does.

Have a good weekend and please take such good care of yourself!

Ana S. said...

Cuckoo Song is amazing. I haven't read the others, but I hope it wins :P

Hibernation sounds very tempting to me right now too. As Cath said, do look after yourself!

Literary Feline said...

I am only familiar with one title on the nomination's list for the James Herbert Awards--The Girl With All the Gifts. And I haven't even read it yet.

I've been thinking of you this winter, with all that snow. I would love a snow day, but I imagine I'd have to work anyway. The price for being in an emergency services type field. Snow is so rare around here anyway. And I really don't think I would like the cold.

Emily said...

Ooo! New horror books to look for. Thank you! Glad to hear things are getting better for you and that you're slowly getting back to work. Hope you enjoyed your reading weekend. We haven't had as much snow as I would've liked this winter, but I've been doing a lot of reading. Favorites, so far, have been The Amulet of Samarkand, Big Little Lies, and The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. My big surprise is that I'm now reading Moby Dick (fourth attempt in my lifetime!) and am loving it. I was never able to get into it before, which just goes to show one should never give up on a book that has stood the test of time.

Susan said...

Sam: thank you so much :-) Your support does help so much. Your winters - hearing about them - they help too! It's good to know somewhere it's warm. We are still cold, very very cold for all of this month so far.

Cath: I requested Mountains of the Mind after your review and when I saw your Goodreads recommendation! lol I would have liked to have seen that BBC documentary. I've tried to watch what I can on Youtube, also, since there are some good documentaries available on there (surprisingly).

Thank you for your lovely thoughts and wishes, too, Cath. Wish we could get together and share all the books we have read!

Kay: Ooooh, now I want to read The Deep! The Mariana Trench is fascinating so a horror story set there - *delicious shiver*!!!

It's so cold here that I've been hibernating...I will be doing a post later today on what I've been reading while hiding out from the cold :-)

Thanks for your lovely words, they do help.

Ana: I haven't been able to get Cuckoo Song yet. Fingers crossed I can find it here. Thanks for your lovely kind wishes, too. Hibernating is good in winter, I'm finding! I'm not a winter person at all. Give me warm nights and sunny days....

Wendy: I don't think you would like the cold we are getting now, at all. It is well below our normal temperatures for this time of year. And yes, you would have to go out, as we do :-( sometimes I wish we could live by natural cycles, and all hide out during the winter like most animals do. However, I'm not sure how that would work out for you in sunnier climates!

Emily: NO WAY. You aren't going to believe this, but I just finished reading Moby Dick, my second attempt to do so!!!!! I'm doing a post on it later today :-)

I have the Amulet of Samarkand on order from the library, too... I guess we are both looking at the good books we haven't read yet, right? lol

We haven't had much snow either, much to my dismay, since if it snows then it's warm out. My sister lives in St John (New Brunswick) and they have had blizzard after blizzard after blizzard for two weeks now. Over 5 feet of snow. Still, she doesn't want our cold either!

Fortified By Books said...

I've nominated you for the Liebster Award: http://thereadingwench.com/2015/02/21/the-liebster-award/

Anne Roy said...

I hope you are feeling well, coping with work & the weather. We are all missing your posts & look forward to hearing from you soon.

Anne, fellow Cdn in England

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