Beyond Reality discussion

What was the last book that kept you up too late reading past bedtime (or made you late for work/school, etc)? What made it so engaging?

Last week I had a really hard time putting down Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. It's one of those horror novels where everything just keeps building and I had to know if the characters would be ok!

Shel wrote: "Last week I had a really hard time putting down Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. It's one of those horror novels where everything just keeps building..."

I really need to read that book. I've been impressed with most of the stuff I've read by Grady Hendrix. My favorite being The Final Girl Support Group

For me, its likely Bird Box. I had only opened it because I was fiddling around with my ereader software on a dull Sunday afternoon. Next thing I knew it was the wee hours of the morning and my alarm was going to go off at 6am. I was dragging all day, but did manage to finish the book during lunch. :)

Bird Box is a great example of the kind of horror I tend to really enjoy. I really like that unknown, undefined threat. Especially when its not focused. I'm finding this difficult to explain. Cosmic horror I think comes closest.

"emphasizes the terrifying nature of the unknown and incomprehensible, often featuring themes of cosmic dread, insignificant humanity, and unfathomable entities."

We are insignificant ants being tread upon by beings who don't even notice our existence.

Yeah, I think horror books lean towards "seriously I can't put it down" by their nature!

Bird Box is on my list but I haven't gotten to it yet.

Most recently for me was First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston. I stayed up way too late to finish it. It was quite suspenseful to wonder how it would end.

I have never slept in due to a book
I have missed a subway stop and Go Train stop.

I can not think of the last time I missed a stop or stayed up too late
It has happened recently but I dont remember what I was reading

I don't think I've ever actually missed a subway or bus stop, but I've definitely come close a few times. Thankfully, the year I was commuting by subway daily when I was in grad school, I lived at the end of the line so I didn't have to pay attention on my way home!

I don't think I've actually stayed up too late to read a book in about 20 years. If I recall, the last books I did that with was the Wheel of Time. I really liked that series at the time, found it engrossing and I just always wanted to find out what happened next. But there was a 9 year publishing gap between book #9 & book #10 and I never got back to the series. I tried it again recently but it is not one of those series that I can go back to apparently, doesn't have the appeal as it did then.

Shel wrote: "I don't think I've ever actually missed a subway or bus stop, but I've definitely come close a few times. Thankfully, the year I was commuting by subway daily when I was in grad school, I lived at ..."
Subway was no big deal, miss a stop you are back to the station in 5 or 10 mins, The Go Train was brutal. Stops are 5 or 10 more miles between stops. They are only usually one way so its a cab, uber or a friend to pick you up
And yes, I did that.

I’ve been retired for a long time now, so staying up late to finish a book is not as big a deal as it used to be. On the other hand, I know I’ll likely have time to read the rest of the book tomorrow, so why stay up late? Still, it does happen, but I can’t recall a specific book that caused a late night/early morning read-a-thon,

Rereading the Sevenwaters series at the moment and I find those books really hard to stop reading once I’ve started! Currently on book 2, Son of the Shadows, and I got up at 7 this morning so I could read 😂

Random wrote: "Bird Box is a great example of the kind of horror I tend to really enjoy. I really like that unknown, undefined threat. Especially when it’s not focused. I'm finding this difficult to explain. Cosmic horror I think comes closest."

I’m sure you have read it, but if you haven’t then Annihilation is a good cosmic horror that kept me glued. It’s not the same as Bird Box but there is this building tension of WTAF is going on?

The sequel to Bird Box, Malorie, is also good.

Justine wrote: "I’m sure you have read it, but if you haven’t then Annihilation is a good cosmic horror that kept me glued. It’s not the same as Bird Box but there is this building tension of WTAF is going on?.."

Read it, loved it. I still haven't gotten to the newer 4th book in the series, but I intend so sooner rather than later. I'm debating on rereading the first three books since its been a number of years now. I suspect that's why I've been dragging my feet.

I usually plan my reading to end at a chapter at a reasonable time. I’m pretty good about that. I do remember one time though…must have been forty years ago. I was reading Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 by L. Ron Hubbard It’s a thousand-page book. It was late at night when I was reading it, a couple hundred pages to go, and had to get to the end. By the time I finished it, the sun had come up. I don’t think it was a great novel but there was a lot of action.