{Sunday Post}—The Gwendy Trilogy, Honor's Refuge, and Thief of Fate

The Caffeinated Book Reviewer's Kimberly hosts a weekly meme called "The Sunday Post"! 

Weekly Tidbits

• I encouraged myself to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), where the objective is to write at least 50,000 words in 30 days. I'm still working on perfecting the Gothic romance plot that I have in mind. Wish me luck—I'll need it.
  

• I decided not to publish my Halloween Ends piece because I disliked how it seemed more like a rant than a review. Instead, I'll post a review of the Halloween Ends novelization on Monday—along with my opinion of the movie.

• Is there anyone else who remembers the Gilmore Girls bookmark incident? I preordered a Buffy the Vampire Slayer bookmark—and a Gilmore Girls bookmark from Trends International in January—and forgot about the order until this past summer. When I contacted Trends, they informed me that the Buffy bookmark was no longer available, but they would refund my money and give me the Gilmore Girls bookmark for free. Then there was the nonsense about accidentally receiving a mini-calendar—eventually, I did receive the bookmark. Anyhoo, I had to have the Buffy bookmark, so I bought it on eBay. 

What Am I Currently Reading?

As of this writing—Saturday night—I'm currently reading Halloween Ends: The Official Movie Novelization by Paul Brad Logan—I'll finish it sometime today—will post the review on Monday—Halloween. My next read is The Gwendy Trilogy—Gwendy's Button Box, Gwendy's Magic Feather, and Gwendy's Final Task—written by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. Then I'll move on to No Plan B by Lee and Andrew Child—I had planned on reading a Netgalley uncorrected proof last week, but that didn't pan out as expected—I ended up buying the hardcover to add to my Jack Reacher collection.

Recent Reviews

Medieval
★★½✰✰

The Blackbriar Genesis
★★★★★

Barnabas, Quentin and the Mummy's Curse
★★✰✰✰

What Has the Mail Delivered?

Thief of Fate by Jude Deveraux and Tara Sheets; Honor's Refuge by Hallee Bridgeman; The Gwendy Trilogy by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar; Eden's Children by V.C. Andrews; and Halloween Kills by Paul Brad Logan were all delivered this week.

What's New on the Shelf?

Just as I told myself, "I need space—need to get rid of books," I bought more—but was able to add the precise books to my library that I was missing—and those books are Blood Canticle by Anne Rice and the Dean Koontz thrillers: Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, Frankenstein: Lost Souls, and The Funhouse. 

Everyone may recall my mentioning Blood Canticle not being in my collection—I went into madness (jokingly)—and ended up donating numerous books. Due to my completionist tendencies and the urge to finish the Vampire Chronicles series, I purchased an almost brand-new hardback on eBay. I don't remember the exact price of the book, but it wasn't that expensive—I only spent $11.46 total on a buy three, get one free offer. 

The only two books I was missing from Dean Koontz's Frankenstein trilogy were Prodigal Son and Lost Souls. There's a fascinating story behind the Frankenstein novels. Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson created a concept for a television pilot for the USA Network based on Mary Shelly's novel Frankenstein. Unfortunately, Koontz dropped out of the project due to artistic issues. The USA Network moved forward with a pilot film, which aired in 1994 but was not picked up for a series. Koontz went on to write a five-book Frankenstein series. He partnered with Kevin J. Anderson on the first novel, Prodigal Son, and Ed Gorman on the second book, City of Night—later reissues eliminated the coauthor names. A film and television series based on Koontz's books have been discussed in recent years, but nothing has ever materialized.

For years, I'd been hunting for a copy of The Funhouse but hadn't found it in used bookstores or thrift stores—and for some reason—I never thought to check on eBay. Under the pen name Owen West, Koontz wrote the novelization for the horror film The Funhouse, based on the screenplay by Robert Block—not the famous novelist. The film's production—directed by the late Tobe Hooper—took longer than planned. Jove Books published the novelization in 1980, some months before the film's premiere in March 1981. The character development and backstory in the novelization are said to be greater than in the movie.  

Coincidentally, two of Dean Koontz's newest novels, Elsewhere and The Other Emily, were on sale for $2.99 each on Kindle; I didn't have either, so I bought them.

"Holy Smokes, Batman!" Eight—if not all—of November's 99-cent Star Trek titles are already on sale on Kindle. I bought five: The Eugenics War: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh-Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Greg Cox; Voyager: Acts of Contrition by Kristen Beyer; Voyager: A Pocket Full of Lies by Kristen Beyer; and Deep Space Nine: Rules of Accusation by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann.