Xepherus Reads

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!   The horror genre has undergone a wealth of change (some not for the better) and innovation in the past forty years. But one sub-genre that has endured is the slasher film. Movies like Friday the 13th and Halloween have taken the "final girl" trope, and invented and re-invented it. I have been a fan of these films since I was a pre-teen. And when I read the synopsis for Final Girls, I knew what my next book in my To Be Read pile would be.    Final Girls is written by Riley Sager (a pseudonym for author Todd Ritter) and it is published by Penguin-Random House under their Dutton Books imprint. Final Girls follows the life of Quincy Carpenter, the sole survivor of the notorious Pine Cottage murders that occurred a decade ago. She is living in New York City in an apartment paid for by earnings she has accumulated from interviews that she had done in the past about her story. A suc...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!   When I endeavor to break a reading slump I have always gravitated to the easy route. I take out a book that is short, or a book that I have read years before to try to end this debilitating time of year. Last year by this time I had read and reviewed seven novels during the summer. But this year was different. No matter how hard I tried I could not stay focused enough to read a novel from start to finish. Added to that a writing block that was also of frustration.   Then one day I was online choosing my next Book of the Month Club selection. I saw a recommendation from actress Krysten Ritter (Marvel's Jessica Jones) about a thought-provoking thriller, named Emma in the Night. I decided to order this book and waited patiently for its arrival.   I was not prepared for the story that would soon play out as I turned the pages.  Emma in the Night is...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   I say to everyone that there is always time to read. And this is true. But in the past few months this has been challenged by the Summer, my career, and the fact that my To Be Read pile is now a bookcase filled with brand new books. With books constantly arriving by mail or by current shopping trips to the book store, I have become surrounded by books. This is great, because it is my reading season.    When the air turns cooler in September and the Autumn season is around the corner a metamorphosis occurs. Fuzzy sweaters and blankets are pulled out of storage. A trip to Simpson and Vail for teas is called for. And I begin to carve out a nest in the corner of my office for long-term reading sessions. This is my best season for reading.   What I am reading and want to read: The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch, read by Sheryl Lee Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker Leia: Princess of Alderaan by...