My First Book Challenge: R.I.P. IV!

I have decided to take on my first book challenge! Due to my love of Halloween and for supernatural books, I have decided to attempt the R.I.P. IV Challenge. This challenge runs from September 1st (today!) through October 31st. You may be asking, what is R.I.P IV, so here is Carl (host of the challenge) of Stainless Steel Droppings description right from the blog:

Readers Imbibing Peril, that is what it is all about. I hope you’ll consider joining us on this more eerie road less traveled.

Walk this way.

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

The desire for the thrill that comes with this kind of reading drifts in on the autumn winds. You breathe it in and it takes hold of you, tempting you to late nights, book-in-hand, turning pages and starting at every unknown noise. Something wicked this way comes…

I find that kind of melodramatic fear to be a delicious intoxication, one that makes this time of year an especially enjoying time to be a reader. There is enough bad fear in the world: fear of losing one’s job, fear of the state of the world, fear of failure…the list is endless. It is time to reject that fear, embrace hope, and while doing so embrace the fun kind of fear–the kind that had us sitting around camp fires as children, listening to adults tell us ghost stories. The kind that made you want to stay up past your bed time to peek at the late night scary movie on television.

There are two simple goals to the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge:

1. Have fun reading.
2. Share that fun with others.

As I do each and every year, there are multiple levels of participation that allow you to be a part of R.I.P. IV without adding the burden of another commitment to your already busy lives.

My main goal is to reach the first level of the challenge by reading 4 books that fit into any of the categories listed above. I may not post reviews for all the books I read for this challenge, simply because they may be adult books; however, I will try to post reviews for at least 3 books! That is my ultimate goal.

The second goal I want to meet is participating in Short Story Sundays. For this I would review a short story every Sunday. I'm not sure how successful I will be at this, but I think it could be fun. I haven't read a short story in at least 2 years... but I have plenty of great anthologies! I think I will begin by reading some of Roald Dahl's short stories. I have a collection of them, but they've been sitting on my bookshelf for years! It is time to crack those open.

Here is a list of books that I would like to complete for this challenge:
"Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater
"From Dead to Worse" by Charlaine Harris
"What the Dickens" by Gregory Maguire
"Forest of Hands and Teeth" by Carrie Ryan
Or
"Night World: Secret Vampire" by L.J. Smith
I may change my mind on the last few titles I have listed, but so far those are the books that are standing out in my mind.

I am really excited about this because I think it is just the motivation I need to make sure I don't slack on my blog during my final semester of my graduate program. I hope that my reviews get you in the mood to pick up some great books or at least get you thinking about your Halloween costume!