Xepherus Reads

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!   For the spooky Halloween season, nothing gets me in the mood for ghosts and goblins quite like Goosebumps. R.L. Stine's fun and scary stories transcend age and have captivated millions of readers. Last year I read the Scarecrow Walks at Midnight and absolutely loved it. This year I am reading a few Goosebumps for the season and Spookathon.   The Haunted Mask is written by R.L. Stine and is published by Scholastic Books. Released for the first time in 1993, this eerie tale of Halloween hijinx introduces us to Carly Beth Caldwell. She is small of stature and the brunt of many jokes from her peers. After eating a worm at school after she is pranked, Carly is fed up. Even at home, her annoying little brother is constantly a thorn in her side. She feels that things need to change. Her best friend, Sabrina, does her best to help Carly Beth out with bullies Chuck and Steve. But the situation is not letting up, esp...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!   The Goosebumps Series has been a staple in many a kid's growing up. It has spawned several series, a televiso n show, and recently two films. A worldwide phenomenon , Goosebu mps remains a literary favorite of children and adults alike. For Halloween I decided to pick up a few Goosebumps books. The first one I read was actually the first R.L. Stine book I picked up decades ago. "Reader beware, " Stine warns, "you are in for a scare."   The Sc arecrow Walks at Midnight is the twelfth book in the Goosebumps Series by R. L. Stine. It is published by Scholastic Books . In it we are introduced to Jodi a nd Mark, two kids on their way to visiting their grandparents . They are excite d for the spooky ghost stories and their grandmother's famous chocolate chip pancakes. Arriving at the station they are greeted by Stanley. He is the superstitious and somewhat befuddled grounds keeper of their grandparents...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   When an author dies a reader feels that some part of them also passes. Whether it is because the reader may never experience a new story or novel from their favorite author . Or because the author may have had a great impact on how they live their life. For many  it can be the memor y of cracking open that latest novel that may deliver to them a shiver of happy memories.   When I discovered today that William Peter Blatty had passed away at the age of 89. I sat for a moment and processed this information. The Exorcist will always be my all-time favorite novel. I have read this book four times in my life time, and had began an annual Halloween reading tradition in 2015.    What makes this novel a jewel in my reading crown is not that it is a scary novel, we all know that it is. It is due to the fact that it features characters so realistic and three-dimensional, that ever...

     Hello, and welcome fellow book worms! For #22 (A book your mom loved) of my 2015/2016 Reading Challenge I decided to read The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.   In 1973 my mother delivered a one year old me to my grandmother as she and my father went to the local Palace Theater to watch a movie. That movie was the Exorcist directed by William Friedkin. It was based on my mother's favorite book at that time, and she was anxious to see how Hollywood had treated it. The buzz for this film had dubbed it "the most terrifying film ever made". There were lines around the corner to see this movie, with many people camping out all day to see what the buzz was about. Security guards tamed the crowds, while ambulances removed people from theaters who either became ill or passed out during the film. This excited my mother, a huge fan of the horror genre. She could not stop talking about it for weeks, and saw it twice.   When I was in high school ...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!   I have been speaking with other read ers about how they read. For some they only read an e-book . For others a n audio book on the way to work saves them time. But then there are readers like myself that take it a few steps further. I utilize many forms of reading when taking on a book. With my Good reads and Xepherus Reads reading challenges underway, I have found some great ways to keep on reading .   AU DIOBOOK/ B OOK COMBINATION -   I have tro uble with reading from time to time. I will begin a paragraph, but then I veer off track and lose my place. This can sometimes keep me reading a page for over t en minutes. Therefore I use an audio book in conjunction with my physical book, so that I can read along with the words as the narrator presents the material. This is most helpful while reading my Kindle, which when paired up with audio book through their Whispersync feature, can high light words as the narrator...