"It's that time of year..."

I found this meme online and I had to share it. This is of course very me. The books, the warm clothes, the blankets, the tea especially. And soon I will be buying pumpkins. Now if only the weather could be cooler, so I could wear said warm clothes all day...

The Dracula Game Anniversary

Today is a special day for the nostalgic man that I am: some thirty odd years ago, around this time, my brothers, my friends and I invented and played what I call to this day the Dracula Game. I sometimes blog about it. Long story short, on the last day of a teachers strike, while we were bored stiff, we met an acquaintance, friend of a friend, and we decided to spend time with him and fight boredom together. We discovered that, like us, he enjoyed make belief games. So we drew inspiration from J.H. Brennan's gamebook Dracula's Castle, which our new friend had, and we created a make belief game where we were vampire hunters trying to vanquish Count Dracula. We explored his castle and the surroundings, fighting various monsters among his minions, vampires of course, but also zombies, wolves, demons, ghouls, what have you. I was thinking about it recently and thinking about why I was so fond of it and remember it fondly to this day. First, because Halloween was already on my mind when we played it, so I was in a spooky mood. Also, this improvised make-belief game triggered our interest to many things: role-playing games and classical horror especially. I hadn't even read the original novel, but getting my hands on it became my new literary obsession. Finally, we made a new friend that day, a true kindred spirit, one that would remain friend with us for years and years. So we owed the Dracula Game quite a lot.

"Paranormal Oxford"

So during our last visit to Oxford, I stumbled on this book, Paranormal Oxford. Now I don't know how good or terrible it is, but I just thought, what the heck, Halloween is coming, I need more spooky reads (okay, I don't need per se, but I do want more), so I better read this. It's not horror stories, nevertheless I find these kind of paranormal "documentary" books a great source of inspiration for horror stories, or simply to get you in a Halloween mood. So I bought it, to start this year or the next.

Waterstones Membership

A couple of weeks ago, we went to a nearby (or nearby-ish) city and there we visited for the first time in months a Waterstones. I behaved and barely bought anything, in fact I bought nothing for myself. But as we had some time at the till, I checked if my old Waterstones membership card was still valid. It wasn't and hadn't been for at least a decade. So I had one made on the spot. I activated it a few days later. I don't go to Waterstones very often, there are none very close and our little town has a local bookshop, which became my favourite place for books hoarding. That said, I'm glad I now have a valid Waterstones card. It makes me feel connected to the reading world, if that makes sense. Getting this new card was long overdue.

Le Programme du Salon du livre

Petite nouvelle apprise via la page Facebook du Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean. Le programme de l'édition 2026 est maintenant disponible en ligne. Et c'est dans moins d'un mois, alors ça approche à grands pas. Je sais que j'ai quelques lecteurs de la région, ils ont des enfants en plus, je les encourage à y aller. L'endroit et le temps de l'année parfaits pour donner le goût de la lecture. Et l'ambiance est parfaite.

Salon du livre (passeport et dernière chance)

Photo prise sur la page Facebook du Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean. Vous l'avez vue pas mal souvent sur le blogue ces temps-ci, je sais. Tout ça pour vous dire qu'aujourd'hui est la dernière journée de la prévente pour vous acheter un passeport pour le Salon.

The Blue Flame

I have some good news for crime fiction aficionados like myself: The Blue Flame by George Pelecanos has finally been published. You may remember that I was impatient for its release. Pelecanos is now busy with scriptwriting for television, so we don't often see new books from him. It's as rare an occurence as it is welcomed. Now I will not read it yet, as I am in a spooky mind until November. However, the novel will be perfect to start #Noirvember. Otherwise, it features PI Derek Strange, a long-time regular of Pelecanos' universe, but who hadn't been seen in his most "recent" (who were no long recent) publications. It was about time.

Salon du livre (prévente et rappel)

Photo prise sur la page Facebook du Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean. Ce billet est un bref rappel: l'évènement aura lieu du 1er au 4 octobre et les passeports sont présentement en prévente, jusqu'au 14 septembre, alors vous avez encore quelques jours.

The Summer People (Shirley Jackson)

Today is Labor Day and, at least it is on the other side of the Atlantic. And I associate Labor Day with one horror story of Shirley Jackson. I first read it in the anthology of her short stories Dark Tales. Since then, it is part of my early countdown to the countdown to Halloween, a staple I try to read every Labor Day. It's called The Summer People, about an elderly couple from New York, the Allisons, who spend every summer in their lakeside cottage in the country, always leaving on Labor Day. Except one year, when they decide to stay longer because of warm weather. And this is where their nightmare starts. The locals start getting passive-aggressive, warning them in vague terms that no "summer people" ever remained there after Labor Day. They stop providing the couple with kerosene and groceries, then their phone line is cut and their car won't start. I don't want to give more away, but it's a brilliant and subtle (well, it's Shirley Jackson after all) tale of eerie unease. You can read it here. As for my take on the story, it's this: never think it's still summer when September starts. Also: autumn comes faster than you think and you should respect that. You're welcome.

Isola in September

 I blogged about it last year, but I thought I would do it again for those like me who like to read seasonally. And who love crime fiction. Anyway, the second novel of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, The Mugger, is set in September. So it's a very autumnal novel, as well as a neat little suspense. Important recurring characters as introduced, such as Detective Meyer Meyer, Monroe and Monaghan, Fats Donner, also Eileen Burke. And Bert Kling is the main character of this entry, for the very first time. But yeah, for the anecdotal history and for the seasonal readers, it is a crime novel for September. The seasonal is beautifully rendered.

Prévente pour le Salon du livre

Je fais une annonce pour ceux qui peuvent et ceux que ça intéresse. Oh, et j'ai pris cette image sur la page Facebook du Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean. Enfin bref, les passeports pour le Salon sont en prévente du 1er au 14 septembre. Moi, je n'ai pas besoin: j'ai mon passeport à vie. Pas que je puisse en profiter, mais qui sait, un jour peut-être, sait-on jamais. Enfin bref, c'est mon Salon du livre préféré, pour pleins de raisons. Allez-y.

A Bookmark from Warwick Castle

Some people buy collect stamps, spoons, wine bottles, dolls, sports cards, cars, etc. I collect bookmarks. Not only because I am a hopeless bookwork with more books on my TBR list than I have time to read, but because bookmarks are a really, really, really useful thing to collect. They always come in handy. When you have books, that is. Anyway, we recently had a short but very fun stay at Warwick Castle. So of course, I bought a bookmark as my personal souvenir from the place. It cost £2.50 I think. I might blog more about our stay, I'm conscious that the picture of a bookmark is not exactly the most exciting thing to see after spending some time in a important historical setting, but all the same, it's a nice looking bookmark and I like to blog about the little trivial things that make life.

"Back to school"

I share this image from What to Look For in Autumn, at least twice before, in 2024 and 2025. It might be turning into a tradition. As you probably guessed, Wolfie is back to school today. Things have looked very much like in this picture these last few days, rainy and cool. It feels like about half of the first days back to school of my own childhood. Every year since I am a father of a child of school age, I feel both nostalgic of my childhood as well as melancholic of the time that flies way too fast for my taste. 

La rentrée en librairie

Il ne faut pas oublier que ces temps-ci, c'est aussi la rentrée pour les libraires et les lecteurs. Par conséquent, j'aime fouiner sur les réseaux sociaux voir ce que les librairies préparent. Sur la page Facebook de la librairie d'Arvida Le Kiosque du Quartier, j'ai vu cette photo publiée il y a moins d'une semaine. Bon, ce n'est pas mon genre de roman, enfin il appartient à un genre que je ne lis pas, mais ça fait plaisir de voir une image automnale pour le début de la saison. Il va vraiment falloir que je fasse un tour à Arvida et dans cette librairie lors de mon prochain séjour au Saguenay.

Frankenstein's Mother

Today is a benchmark in my countdown to the official countdown to Halloween. It is the birthday of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. One of my favourite horror classics and one of the very first I read, some forty odd years ago. You can read my "review" (more like a praise) of the novel in this post. And on my birthday this year, my wife bought me this illustrated edition of Frankenstein, with 3D images and interactive elements. I might give it a try today, although I have a substantial TBR list to go through. It's a gorgeous edition, in any case. But whatever version you have at hand, even if it's just an abridged edition, or a comic book adaptation, I suggest you read it today. 

Devil's Peak's sequels?

So as I mentioned last Wednesday, I found on Channel 4 the TV series adaptation of Deon Meyer's Devil's Peak. And I binge watched it from Wednesday until tonight. As you can guess, I was thoroughly entertained and enjoyed it a lot. I recommend it. It's substantially different from the original novel, but it is faithful to its spirit. And it keeps you hooked until the last minute. Better still: I won't give anything away, but there is a sequel hook, so I think there might be more seasons. In the original, the characters of Bennie Griessel and Thobela Mpayipheli show up in future novels, so there is more source material to work on. I hope to see more.

Spies in Stokenchurch

You may remember that two years ago I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Spy Alone, debut espionage novel of Charles Beaumont. An important portion of the novel is set in England and I already mentioned that I enjoyed reading about places I was familiar with, but within the context of a spy thriller. Well, I was surprised to see that the village of Stokenchurch is featured in the plot. One chapter is even named after it. I have been to Stokenchurch a few times as it's not very far from here. I have not visited it in a while. Anyway, that's what is said about it: "They pull off the M40 at Stokenchurch, a village high in the Chiltern ridge. It's a strangely charmless place: in spite of a village green and a few pubs it feels cold and empty. The sort of place you don't stop at unless you really have to." It's a pretty fair assessment of the place, and when we stopped there, it was indeed because we had to. Nevertheless, if I visit it again, I will look out for spies. Because you never know.

Finding Devil's Peak

I have some good news for crime fiction aficionados living in the UK, especially if you love South Africa and its culture(s). It's good news for me anyway. So you may remember that I was looking for the TV series adaptation of Deon Meyer's Devil's Peak.Well, it's been released on Channel 4. So I started watching it today. So far, so great, although it's freely adapted from the novel. But it's quite gripping. Of course it's not exactly like I imagined it, but I can have a better picture of the novels' setting. Anyway, in any case, I'm so very glad I can finally watch it. I was getting desperate.

Les Bouquinistes en une photo

Bon ben, ils ont changé leur "cover photo" (photo de couverture? bannière?) sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes. On y voit la librairie dans son ensemble et ça m'a frappé en la regardant: elle est rendue pas mal plus grande que dans mon enfance. Dand mon enfance, c'était vraiment pas beaucoup plus qu'un racoin. Puis, ça a pris de l'ampleur. Dans tous les cas, je m'en ennuie.

The Blue Flame (crime fiction)

Oh sometimes, you get some good news. I was wondering when Washington DC crime writer George Pelecanos was going to publish another novel, and I learned a few days ago that one is about to be released imminently. Better still, it will feature private eye Derek Strange. This is for another post, but the very first novel of Pelecanos I read was the debut of Derek Strange. So I have a kind of special attachment to this character. He hasn't used him in a while, so I'm curious about what will happen with him. Now, I'm will not be reading crime fiction for a long while, I'm already in a spooky mood as you know. But this book will be ready for #Noirvember.