Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Made a Romance Skeptic Swoon

I am not the biggest fan of romance as it's portrayed in books and movies. I find myself rolling my eyes at a lot of things classified as romantic, both in real life and in books and movies, but there are some portrayals of romance that I will grudgingly admit make me swoon. Here's ten of my favorite book romances (some go way back to my teenage years) that I got embarrassingly caught up in. 

Hosted by: That Artsy Reader Girl

 

1. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Like every teenage girl, I loved Sarah Dessen. This was the first book of hers that I read and I remember being so in love with the romance, and the male interest, Wes, specifically. The fact that I can even remember his name after all these years proves how much I loved him.

2. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares 

These books were so important to me as a teen, and I loved them so fiercely. The romances were so amazing for teenage me, and I remember going through a roller-coaster of emotions for Bridget's and Lena's romances specifically. I was so heartbroken over the book three events concerning Lena and Kostos. 

3. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

This is still the saddest book I have ever read, and my teenage self was so enthralled by this romance. I felt so grown-up reading it and felt every emotion so deeply. The movie version is NOTHING compared to the novel, and I still really recommend this one. 

 

4. Persuasion by Jane Austen

This is my favorite romance out of the Austen's I have read so far. Anne and Captain Wentworth's romance was so agonizing and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for them to communicate their feelings to one another, even though I knew how the story would ultimately end. That deceleration of love!- The best I've ever read.  

5. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli 

I was so giddy over this romance! I had a huge smile on my face for the whole novel and I can't wait to see this one played out on film! This story is so well-done and so much fun. 

6. The Diary of Bridget Jones by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy Forever! These books are so funny and Bridget is so real and endearing. The movies are some of my favorites too. Even though they are completely different from the novels, both stories are brilliant. 

 

7. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater 

I don't want to spoil anything just in case you haven't gotten to these books yet, but a romance between two main characters in this novel is so swoon worthy. I wasn't really impressed by the main romance in the novel, but the side romance had me on the edge of my seat for the whole series. 

8.  Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff

Something about this book really spoke to me. Perhaps it was the magical realism idea of visiting each other in their dreams, but this romance really caught me off guard and I liked this novel so much more than I expected to. 

9. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

I devoured this novel about first love and fate and had butterflies the whole time! This romance was so sweet and nostalgic, but there was a lot more to this book than just the romance which I appreciated. 

10. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Another book that I devoured; I couldn't put this down. I loved the romance in this one so much as well as the other themes that were woven in. This is one I can see myself rereading for ages to come. 

Recently Read: The Miniaturist

Author: Jessie Burton
Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Count: 382
Publication Date: 2014
Rating: 4/5

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On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office--leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.

But Nella's world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist--an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .

Johannes' gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand--and fear--the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction? From Goodreads

I have a huge collection of popular historical fiction novels that I have been wanting to read on my TBR shelves and cold weather always puts me in the mood for a long historical novel, so this is the one I picked off my shelf to read first. I really enjoyed this novel. I really didn't know much about it besides the information on the inside flap, and that it received a lot of positive buzz when it was released, and I was pleasantly surprised by what was inside this novel. It had a great plot, intriguing characters, mystery, and beautiful writing. 

I loved the 17th century Amsterdam setting, as this is a setting I have never read before. Burton did an amazing job at bringing the setting to life. This novel felt like a visual experience, and I am happy to hear that it has been adapted into a mini-series. The characters are very real, and all of the characters, even the small side characters, have been given so much detail and care by Brandt that they all seem absolutely essential to the novel. The back cover compares Burton's novel to the works of Sarah Waters, and I have to agree there. While The Miniaturist may not have the same level of twists as Waters' novels, this novel is full of mystery and surprise and kept me on my toes. 

This novel deals with so many subjects in such an interesting way. It comments on religion, wealth, sin in its varying degrees, the historically limited options for women, family, love, and the inner mysteries of every human. All of these ideas weaved into the plot seamlessly along with the mystery of the miniaturist and the question of fate and the future. The writing is beautiful and the plot never falters or slows. Time truly slipped away while I was reading this novel. 

I already purchased Burton's second novel, and I will be eager to read whatever she releases in the future. Her writing was beautiful and her scene building impeccable. I have a feeling that this novel has inspired a marathon of historical fiction reading! 

TBR Spotlight: Books Set in Africa

In the past year, I have really been loving books set in Africa. This was not a setting that I read a lot of fiction about until I read Paula McLain's Circling the Sun. After reading her beautiful descriptions of the African landscape and being intrigued by the colonial Africa setting, I decided I really wanted to pick up more fiction with an African setting. Here's some of the books set in Africa that are highest on my TBR list.
Book titles link to Goodreads!

Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi

I've heard lots of praise for this one. A generational family saga set on multiple contents sounds like something I need in my life. 

Half of A Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I've heard that this Adichie novel is a bit more intense than her other novels, but I really love her writing and want to read all her works. I have only read one, so really all of her works are on this list. I really love all of the different editions of Adichie's novels, so it will take some searching before I decide which edition of this one I want to pick up. 

Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Another novel with a setting on multiple contents, this has been labeled as Adichie's best work so far. 

Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen 

I've been wanting to read this one after reading so much about Beryl Markham last year. I have never seen the movie (which I hear is quite different) so I can see a back-to-back marathon in my future. 

Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor

I had to stop myself from buying this one in the book store the other day, as it sounds so cool. A magic-school series set in Africa. Yes Please! 

Stay with Me, Ayobami Adebayo

I've heard lots of great things about this one, and it sounds like it has a similar feel to Purple Hibiscus in that it's a character driven family drama. 

Leave me recommendations for your favorite fiction set in Africa so I can expand this list! 

New Year, New Books: Book Haul

I know I just posted about intending to read more of the books I already own, but I couldn't pass up the Book Outlet Boxing Day Sale, and I have been holding onto some credit from my favorite bookstore, so I picked up a few new reads. I'm really excited to get to all of these, and I think I will read them fairly soon, so I don't feel too guilty about picking them up.

Book Titles link to Goodreads.

From Book Outlet

Love, Lies, and Spies by Cindy Anstey

 This looks like a really cute read. Austen inspired  with spies added in? Yes, please.

And I Darken by Kristen White

I've heard lots of great things about this series, so I couldn't resist picking it up. I love a good YA fantasy series, and I think this one is going to deliver. 

The Muse by Jessie Burton

 I'm currently reading Burton's The Miniaturist and even though I'm only a few chapters in, I'm loving it, so I'm glad to have this one on hand to pick up soon.  

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal

This one caught my eye on Goodreads a while back. It's got a super unique premise: a group of mediums contributing to the WWI effort by communicating with fallen soldiers. 

Yesternight By Cat Winters

I'm a big fan of Cat Winters paranormal historical fiction, and I'm a few books behind on her releases. I've been picking them up whenever I come across them; I believe this is one of her adult novels. I have no idea what this one is about, but Winters is an auto-buy author for me, so I know I will enjoy it. 

From the Bookstore

All the Crooked Saint by Maggie Stiefvater

I couldn't pass up a signed copy of Stiefvater's newest release, especially when I had credit for the bookstore. I'm a big fan of The Raven Cycle, but that's all I have read from Stiefvater, so I'm eager to read more of her works. 

What have you bought in the new year? 

Recently Read: Bird Box

Author: Josh Malerman
Genre: Adult Thriller/ Horror
Page Count: 262
Publication Date: 2014
Rating: 3.5/5

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Something outside is making those who see it lose their minds. It starts with a few alarmingly violent cases throughout the world and then quickly spreads. Don't open your eyes because what you see will drive you crazy. Bird Box follows a house of strangers trying to survive this new world with their eyes shut. 

I have seen some buzz about this book lately, and although it's not my usual type of read, the concept sounded so interesting to me that I couldn't resist picking it up. I had no idea of what to expect from the plot or the reading experience, and that made the book even more fun to read. I couldn't put this book down. From page one, Malerman sucks you into a world of suspense and uncertainty and you need to find out what happens next.

I thought the writing style fit with the plot and genre perfectly. You really don't get to know any of the characters all that well, but you don't need to. The plot is constantly moving towards something unknown and that drives the narrative. I also really loved that the book wasn't told in a linear fashion as both the past and present were so interesting that I was equally invested in what was happening in both times, which is not always the case with books that switch back and forth between times. The novel has the perfect amount of "shocks" and suspense, but still keeps an interesting plot and substance. Once you pick this book up, you won't put it down until it's finished.

A lot of the negative reviews on Goodreads are the result of readers being unhappy with the ending of the novel. While this book does leave a lot of questions unanswered, I prefer it that way. I think that's what makes good science fiction or horror so good. The unknown is what scares us as humans, we need to sort and classify everything we see in a logical fashion, and when we can't, that's when we are threatened. Unanswered questions in the real world, and fiction such as this, is what makes horror scary. I don't want to reveal too much about the plot or the ending, but I respected the ending and enjoyed it. It does what the end of a good horror plot should do: make you think about it even after you have finished it. And I agree that some details of the novel are unrealistic, but it's a novel with a supernatural plot; I'm willing to suspend belief for the smaller details as well as the larger ones in an entertaining novel such as this one. 

If you're not usually a reader of this genre, I really recommend this one. I raced through it and really enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen next. I'm interested to explore the thriller/horror genre more in the near future, so leave me your favorites!  

Recently Read: Purple Hibiscus

Author: Chimanda Ngozi Adichie
Genre: Literary Fiction
Page Count: 307
Publication Date: 2005
Rating: 4/5

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Fifteen-year-old Kambili’s world is circumscribed by the high walls and frangipani trees of her family compound. Her wealthy Catholic father, under whose shadow Kambili lives, while generous and politically active in the community, is repressive and fanatically religious at home.

When Nigeria begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili’s father sends her and her brother away to stay with their aunt, a University professor, whose house is noisy and full of laughter. There, Kambili and her brother discover a life and love beyond the confines of their father’s authority. The visit will lift the silence from their world and, in time, give rise to devotion and defiance that reveal themselves in profound and unexpected ways. 

This is a book about the promise of freedom; about the blurred lines between childhood and adulthood; between love and hatred, between the old gods and the new. From Goodreads 

 This was my first Adichie novel, and as she has been on my to-read list forever, I thought it would be best to start with her first novel. I'm happy to report that I really enjoyed this novel! I will be getting my hands on more of her works very soon. I also love my anniversary edition published by 4th Estate and am now kicking myself for only ordering two works in these editions rather than all four of the ones they offered. 

I really didn't know what to expect plot-wise with this novel when I started it. I was drawn in by Kambili's narrative voice right away, and then I knew it wasn't about plot so much as it was about Kambili as a character. I loved the setting; I have been really craving books set in Africa, and this one has just added fuel to the fire. Africa provides such a rich setting for novels as the physical landscape is so beautiful, and it is often plagued with political turmoil. 

This was a really powerful coming-of-age story for both Kambili and her brother. I felt so strongly for both of them throughout the novel. I felt rather helpless watching them struggle with their strict and controlling father, but was rooting for them with every fiber of my being. This is a novel of contrasts; Kambili and her brother, Kambili's family and her Aunt's family, her mother and her father, her father and the priest. All of these contrasts reflect each other brilliantly and help to shape Kambili's world and internal journey. 

I wish there had been more on the coup in the novel because I was really interested in the political situation surrounding the characters, but it was never explained or examined in any detail. I also thought the end was a bit rushed, lots of big events happen in the last few pages that left me feeling a bit thrown-off because most of the book is motivated by characters rather than plot, and then a pretty large plot unfolds at the very end. Despite these minor complaints, I really enjoyed this novel and thought it was beautifully written. I want to read everything by Adichie now and will be picking up more of her works in 2018, including her nonfiction.  

Which work of Adichie's should I pick up next? Any recommendations for books set in Africa? I'll be making a TBR list soon!  

What I Read for Fun While I was Teaching (Mini-Reviews)

One of Us is Lying, Karen M McManus 
4/5 Stars
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This book was a lot of fun. I had seen a few people talk about it here and there as an addictive read, so I picked it up in the hopes it would suck me in, and it totally did. This is a YA thriller about a student who dies during an after-school detention. It's Riverdale meets The Breakfast Club with secrets galore. It had just enough twists and reveals to keep me entertained, but was still well-done and clever.

This was a clever and entertaining read; a perfect break from grading papers and worrying about lesson plans. It was like reading an episode of super-dramatic-junk-T.V., and I enjoyed every minute of it. If you're looking for something to fly though and to entertain you, look no further.





The Dinner, Herman Koch
3.5/5 Stars
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I picked this book up at a library book sale a few summers ago. I knew it was a pretty 'buzzed about' book, and for a dollar, I was willing to pick it up. While I was student teaching, I was in the mood for thriller/suspense novels as they grabbed my ever-wandering attention and entertained me enough to pick up the book even when I was super tired. I had no idea what to expect going into this one, but it delivered an entertaining and dramatic reading experience.

I really don't want to say too much about the plot, as it is better that way, but I loved that the plot revolved around the simple act of two brothers and their wives going to dinner. This was a thriller/suspense character study, which is such an interesting combination. The pacing is great, as secrets are revealed through flash-backs and current conversation. All the characters are crazy; no one is to be trusted; and the steaks are high.



Turtles All the Way Down, John Green
4/5 Stars
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I really enjoyed Green's other works. His works are always witty and enjoyable, so I was of course excited to pick up his latest release after so long without any new material. I didn't place any unrealistic expectations on this novel as that's not fair to author or reader, so I went in  just expecting to enjoy it and I certainly did.

I don't think this is his best work (for me that will always be Paper Towns) but I loved the honest portrayal of anxiety and obsessive thoughts. I didn't think the characters in this novel were as strong as they are in Green's other novels, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. John Green is one of those authors that I respect enough to read everything he puts out, and I expect to fly through whatever it is in a sitting or two. His writing is very natural and fluid, and there's always something wise floating right below the surface. If you somehow haven't read this one yet, pick it up. It's a worthy successor to Green's other works.

Recently Read: Almost Famous Women

Author: Megan Mayhew Bergman
Genre: Short Stories- Adult Fiction
Page Count: 230
Publication Date: 2015
Rating: 3.5/5

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The stories of women on the brink of fame, including Oscar Wilde's niece, Lord Byron's illegitimate daughter, an aging artist, and Edna St. Vincent Millay's sister, are imagined in this short story collection. These women are connected by their bravery, their proximity to fame, and the sadness that is coupled with being an almost famous woman.

I have had this collection on my TBR for quite some time. The premise and the beautiful cover sucked me in and I knew this book would be right up my alley. I picked it up as I have been so busy with teaching this month,that I thought a short story collection would be easier to get through than a novel. The stories in this collection range in length, some are only three pages, others are twenty-or-so, and I loved reading one or two stories a night before bed. 

Each story features an image of the woman it is about as well as suggested reading material about that woman in the author's note. I loved this touch, and found myself itching to research the real lives of these ladies. Bergman uses a close companion or third party as the narrator for most of these stories, which really helps to build a common thread through the collection and commentary on what it was like to be a woman breaking the mold. These women were never given the opportunity to tell their own stories, and gossip runs wild about a woman challenging society's standards, so being once removed from each title lady was the perfect way to convey these ideas. 

I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection; I felt like each story was equally as good as the last, but I didn't feel like any of the stories particularly stood out as amazing. I really loved the idea behind this collection and thought it was very well executed. I will definitely be spending some time researching more about these ladies!   

Recently Read: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Adult Fiction/ Fantasy/ Magical Realism
Publication Date: 2013
Page Count: 181
Rating: 5/5

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Also by Neil Gaiman:
The Grave Yard Book

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what. Goodreads

This is my first adult Gaiman novel, and it was a great one to start with. My brother read this last year and lent my his copy and I finally decided to pick it up on a whim. I had no idea what I was getting into besides that this novel would fit in with my weird reads cravings, and I devoured this novel. After I finished it, I actually opened my notebook and wrote my thoughts about the book and the ideas it presented because they were bursting out of me; that's how I know a book is worthy of a five star rating. 

This novel is narrated by an unnamed man, but he is looking back on his childhood. This adds a layer of mystery and intrigue to the story as the narrator becomes some-what unreliable as time may have tempered with his memories. 

This novel fits in with the like of children's classics such as Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan as it touches on growing up and the gap between childhood and adulthood. Just like those novels, the story seems simple on the surface but is so complex underneath. The idea of magic or "other-wordly-ness" in the gap between childhood and adulthood is common in classic children's coming of age stories and I loved seeing a modern author take on that idea. This book touches on the complexities of children and childhood experiences and puts words to the inexplicable experience that is growing up. Just like in Alice and Peter, you spend a lot of time off -balance or confused while reading the story, but that is the point that these novels try to make. Growing up is confusing and frustrating and it's an amazing feat that these novels can allow us to experience these feelings again as adults. 

The characters in this novel were super interesting. I loved the Hempstock women and how the setting becomes a character in itself. The way that the magical family of women are represented in this novel is great; they are powerful and wise but also kind and sympathetic. The supernatural elements of this novel are so unique and unlike anything I have read before. This was a world I didn't want to leave when the novel was over. I'm very surprised this hasn't been adapted as a movie yet, as Gaimen's writing is so clear, the novel runs as a movie in your head.

Gaimen is an amazing storyteller; my brother says he writes every book like the story actually happened to him, and I agree. I really want to get to Gaimen's back catalog of works soon. Let me know where I should start! 

Books I'm Dying To Reread

Rereading is a topic I spend a lot of time thinking about every year. I LOVE rereading and yet I hardly ever do it because I have so many books I want to read for the first time. I always feel a pull to read my unread books before rereading, and of course, my shelves will never be empty of unread books, so rereading never happens. But I do want to make an effort to allow myself to reread more and not feel guilty about it. I've been itching to reread something lately, and these books are at the top of my list.

P.S. You are about to be linked to some very old reviews, so let's just take a moment to be thankful of how far my reviews and posts have come since staring the blog in 2014.

Review

I LOVED this novel, but its emotional nature makes me hesitant to reread it. It was easy to convince myself to pick it up for the first time after reading and loving Code Name Verity when I knew it would be emotional, but was unsure of just how emotional it would be. Now that I know, I'm hesitant to do that to myself again even though I want to reread it in the worst way. I'll talk myself into one day. 

Review

I want to reread this one for a couple reasons, the first of which is that I don't remember anything from it and I want to continue on with the series; the second reason is that I think I would like it even more the second time around than I did the first time because of my developed love for creepy and supernatural stories. The main thing keeping me from reading it right now is the size. This book is huge! Maybe when the third book in the series comes out, I will marathon all three starting with this one.

Review

I will be rereading this one before the end of the year! I loved this novel so much and I've wanted to reread it ever since I finished it in 2015. This could easily be a book I reread every year. I'm a little nervous about not liking it as much the second time through, but I'm pretty confident that this book will hold up to the image of it I have in my mind. 

Review

This book was strange and wonderful. I have never read anything else like it in YA, and I really want to reread it as I have been thinking about it a lot since reading it three years ago. This is a short read, so it should be a quick reread I can squeeze in before the end of the year. 

Review 

This is another novel I keep coming back to in my mind on a pretty regular basis. The atmosphere of this novel is amazingly developed and I think it makes a lot of really interesting social commentary on quite a few issues. I would like to reread so I can further develop my thoughts on this one, and I would love to experience this novel again, as it is an experience.

Review 

I'm not sure if I want to reread this one before watching the T.V. or after. I think I will go with after since I have heard that the show differs from the book quite a bit and I don't want to ruin the show by having the book too fresh in my mind. In addition to rereading this, I need to get reading some of Atwood's other works for the first time! See what I mean about prioritizing new reads over rereads?!

What books are you dying to reread? Any you reread on a regular basis?

Recently Read: Bellweather Rhapsody

Author: Kate Racculia
Genre: Adult- Mystery
Publication Date: 2014
Page Count: 340
Rating: 5/5

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Fifteen years ago, a murder-suicide in room 712 rocked the grand old Bellweather Hotel and the young bridesmaid who witnessed it, Minnie Graves. Now hundreds of high school musicians have gathered at the Bellweather for the annual Statewide festival; Minnie has returned to face her demons; and a blizzard is threatening to trap them all inside. When a young prodigy disappears from infamous room 712, the search for her entwines an eccentric cast of conductors and caretakers, teenagers on the verge and adults haunted by memories. A genre-bending page-turner, full of playful nods to pop-culture classics from The Shining to Agatha Christie to Glee, Bellweather Rhapsody is a winning new novel from a writer to watch. Goodreads

I heard about this novel in a haul video on Books and Quills Youtube channel and it sounded so perfect for my reading mood at the time. I just watching The Shinning a few months ago and really loved it, so I was interested in the comparison, and I've been craving creepy media to consume lately. I picked this up from the library and dove in not knowing much beyond that, and I really, really enjoyed this novel. 

This is an adult novel with teenage main characters as well as adult main characters. The mysteries of the hotel and the Statewide Festival weekend unravel slowly, and in pieces, as the novel is told through different characters. There are quite a few characters that play a role in this novel, but they were easy to keep track of and all had a distinct voice and personality. For much of the novel, I was really unsure of how it would end, and then when things began to clear up, Racculia surprised me a few times over. The end of this novel is action packed and surprising and very well done.

This novel was the perfect mix of creepy, quirky, mysterious, and funny. I loved how this novel paid homage to The Shinning and mystery classics, yet was its own unique story. The Bellweather hotel almost becomes a character itself in the novel, and the atmosphere is perfect for the characters and story. I enjoyed that this novel was told through so many perspectives and that they were all so different. The characters range from teenage twins to an eighty-year-old bellhop to a psychopath former music prodigy turned mom and Statewide director, along with a few others. This is a book I can see myself curling up with and rereading in the future, despite already knowing how it ends. The reading experience was so enjoyable.

I'll be keeping my eye on this author to see what she comes up with next, as I really like her style and humor. This is a novel I highly recommend you add to your reading list!  

Just Added to my TBR (16): (Weird Reads)

If you have been reading anything I've been putting out lately, you will have caught on to my craving for weird and creepy reads lately. I've rounded up the last three creepy reads I've added to my Goodreads TBR.

Just Added (15)
Just Added (14)

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

Summary from Goodreads:

The nine stories in Link's second collection are the spitting image of those in her acclaimed debut, Stranger Things Happen: effervescent blends of quirky humor and pathos that transform stock themes of genre fiction into the stuff of delicate lyrical fantasy. In "Stone Animals," a house's haunting takes the unusual form of hordes of rabbits that camp out nightly on the front lawn. This proves just one of several benign but inexplicable phenomena that begin to pull apart the family newly moved into the house as surely as a more sinister supernatural influence might. The title story beautifully captures the unpredictable potential of teenage lives through its account of a group of adolescent schoolfriends whose experiences subtly parallel events in a surreal TV fantasy series. Zombies serve as the focus for a young man's anxieties about his future in "Some Zombie Contingency Plans" and offer suggestive counterpoint to the lives of two convenience store clerks who serve them in "The Hortlak." Not only does Link find fresh perspectives from which to explore familiar premises, she also forges ingenious connections between disparate images and narrative approaches to suggest a convincing alternate logic that shapes the worlds of her highly original fantasies.

Why I added It: Short stories can be a great way to get your creepy fix (think The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits but in book form) and I saw this book on quite a few recommendation lists for creepy reads. Plus I love that cover! 

Alice and the Fly by James Rice

Summary from Goodreads:

A spellbinding debut novel by an exceptional new young British talent.

This is a book about phobias and obsessions, isolation and dark corners. It's about families, friendships, and carefully preserved secrets. But above everything else it's about love. Finding love - in any of its forms - and nurturing it.

Miss Hayes has a new theory. She thinks my condition's caused by some traumatic incident from my past I keep deep-rooted in my mind. As soon as I come clean I'll flood out all these tears and it'll all be ok and I won't be scared of Them anymore. The truth is I can't think of any single traumatic childhood incident to tell her. I mean, there are plenty of bad memories - Herb's death, or the time I bit the hole in my tongue, or Finners Island, out on the boat with Sarah - but none of these are what caused the phobia. I've always had it. It's Them. I'm just scared of Them. It's that simple. 


Why I added it: I saw this one over on Mixed Margins' post about her top five books of 2017 so far, and it sounded perfectly weird and delightful. 

The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson 

Summary from Goodreads:
One day in March 1969, twenty-three- year-old Jane Mixer was on her way home to tell her parents she was getting married. She had arranged for a ride through the campus bulletin board at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she was one of a handful of pioneering women students at the law school. Her body was found the following morning just inside the gates of a small cemetery fourteen miles away, shot twice in the head and strangled. Six other young women were murdered around the same time, and it was assumed they had all been victims of alleged serial killer John Collins, who was convicted of one of these crimes not long after. Jane Mixer's death was long considered to be one of the infamous Michigan Murders, as they had come to be known. But officially, Jane's murder remained unsolved, and Maggie Nelson grew up haunted by the possibility that the killer of her mother's sister was still at large.

In an instance of remarkable serendipity, more than three decades later, a 2004 DNA match led to the arrest of a new suspect for Jane's murder at precisely the same time that Nelson was set to publish a book of poetry about her aunt's life and death - a book she had been working on for years, and which assumed her aunt's case to be closed forever.

The Red Parts chronicles the uncanny series of events that led to Nelson's interest in her aunt's death, the reopening of the case, the bizarre and brutal trial that ensued, and the effects these events had on the disparate group of people they brought together. But The Red Parts is much more than a "true crime" record of a murder, investigation, and trial. For into this story Nelson has woven a spare, poetic account of a girlhood and early adulthood haunted by loss, mortality, mystery, and betrayal, as well as a subtle but blistering look at the personal and political consequences of our cultural fixation on dead (white) women.

The result is a stark, fiercely intelligent, and beautifully written memoir that poses vital questions about America's complex relationship to spectacles of violence and suffering, and that scrupulously explores the limits and possibilities of honesty, grief, empathy, and justice.

Why I added it: This basically sounds like a cross of the last two documentaries I have watched and loved on Netflix: Packed in a Trunk and The Keepers. (Read more about these documentaries here.) It has the family mystery and detective work of Packed in a Trunk and the true-crime mystery element of The Keepers. Bonus: I live in Michigan and have never read a book about true-crime; I'm very intrigued!

Book Outlet Haul!

I treated myself to a Book Outlet order the other day, as their recent change to free shipping on orders of thirty-five dollars or more to the U.S. sucked me in. It's so easy to load a chart full of books on there, and I managed to pick up some book I've been eyeing for quite a while now. Here's a look at what I picked up!

 

She is not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick and The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Adieh 
Sedgwick is one of my all-time favorite authors, but his back log of books can be difficult to find in the U.S. so I always scoop his novels up when I find them. This one is about a teenage girl who is blind, and that's all I want to know.  I read The Wrath and the Dawn on audiobook last winter and really enjoyed it even though the romance was a bit odd and cheesy; it was so entertaining. I'm eager to see how the story wraps up, and these books are designed beautifully.

 

N or M by Agatha Christie and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson 
I have been devouring Christie's novels this year; they are so fast paced and quick to read. I've read one other Tommy and Tuppence mystery and enjoyed it, so I picked up this cute edition when I saw it. I featured The Lottery in my creepy TBR post and mentioned how I'm craving all of the creepy reads lately. This one is sure to deliver. I haven't read any Jackson yet, so short stories are the perfect place to start.

 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia
Garcia's work is stunning. She has a few illustrated editions of fairy tales out, that I have been eyeing for ages. I couldn't pass up the beautiful hardcover of this one when it was like five bucks! Here's one of my favorite illustrations I saw as I flipped through.

 

I Shall not be Moved by Maya Angelou and My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Angelou is my idol. I love and respect her work and her outlook on life so much. I have read almost all of her autobiography series and a few of her poems, and it's safe to say she is one of the best American writers in history. This is a collection of her poems. Surprisingly, I do not own any of Angeou's works in physical copies, so I'm always on the look-out for them. My Brilliant Friend and Elena Ferrante are two of the most talked about topics in the book world right now, and I finally bought book one. I found book two for fifty cents in a library sale and snatched it up before I even had book one, because these books are rather expensive in the States, and I'm glad to have found book one for a bargain as well.

That's all for my Bookoutlet purchases! I always end up with a cart full when I browse that site!

Creepy TBR!

I have been in the mood to consume everything slightly weird, creepy, and supernatural lately. Movies, T.V., books, you name it. I thought I would highlight some of the creepy and weird reading material on my TBR. Let me know if you have read any of these or have any recommendations. 

Paper Girls vol. 1 by Brain K. Vaughn, Cliff Chiang, and Matthew Wilson

From Goodreads:

In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.

This series is giving me Stranger Things vibes, but with a group of female pre-teens! I love, love the 80s style color pallet, and can't wait to breeze through this series. 

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

From Goodreads:

The Lottery, one of the most terrifying stories written in this century, created a sensation when it was first published in The New Yorker. "Power and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery:" with twenty-four equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate Jackson's remarkable range--from the hilarious to the truly horrible--and power as a storyteller. 

Jackson is essential creepy reading, but I have yet to dive into her works. I picked up this short story collection on Book Outlet, and plan to use it as an introduction to her works. I know I'm going to love her work. 

The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne Du Maurier

From Goodreads:

A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalized by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of 'Monte Verità' promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd . . .

I have yet to read any of Du Maurier's works, despite hearing nothing but amazing things about her works. I'm thinking I will start with this short story collection as I have been in the mood for creepy short stories lately, and I know she won't let me down. I have seen and loved Hitchcock's adaptation of The Birds so I am excited to read the source material. 

The Dumb House by John Burnside

From Goodreads:

In Persian myth, it is said that Akbar the Great once built a palace which he filled with newborn children, attended only by mutes, in order to learn whether language is innate or acquired. As the year passed and the children grew into their silent and difficult world, this palace became known as the Gang Mahal, or Dumb House. In his first novel, John Burnside explores the possibilities inherent in a modern-day repetition of Akbar`s investigations. Following the death of his mother, the unnamed narrator creates a twisted variant of the Dumb House, finally using his own children as subjects in a bizarre experiment. When the children develop a musical language of their own, however, their gaoler is the one who is excluded, and he extracts an appalling revenge. 

I really don't know much about this one other than it is supposed to be unnerving and disturbing. The synopsis sounds like an absolute wild ride.  

Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote 

From Goodreads:

Published when Truman Capote was only twenty-three years old, Other Voices, Other Rooms is a literary touchstone of the mid-twentieth century. In this semiautobiographical coming-of-age novel, thirteen-year-old Joel Knox, after losing his mother, is sent from New Orleans to live with the father who abandoned him at birth. But when Joel arrives at Skully’s Landing, the decaying mansion in rural Alabama, his father is nowhere to be found. Instead, Joel meets his morose stepmother, Amy, eccentric cousin Randolph, and a defiant little girl named Idabel, who soon offers Joel the love and approval he seeks.

Another novel that I don't know much about, but that gives off some creepy vibes. I think there is more to the mansion than meets the eye in this one. I have read Breakfast at Tiffanys and other short stories by Capote and was a bit surprised at how weird some of his short stories got. This is his debut novel and I'm really looking forward to it. 

A Love Like Blood by Marcus Sedgwick 

From Goodreads:

 In 1944, just days after the liberation of Paris, Charles Jackson sees something horrific: a man, apparently drinking the blood of a murdered woman. Terrified, he does nothing, telling himself afterwards that worse things happen in wars. Seven years later he returns to the city - and sees the same man dining in the company of a fascinating young woman. When they leave the restaurant, Charles decides to follow... A Love Like Blood is a dark, compelling thriller about how a man's life can change in a moment; about where the desire for truth - and for revenge - can lead; about love and fear and hatred. And it is also about the question of blood.

Sedgwick is one of my all-time-favorite authors. He constantly blows me away with his YA fiction. He is a master of time and the universe and using the inexplicable in our actual word to send a shiver down my spine. This will be the first adult book by him that I read, but I recommend his novels so highly if you are in the mood for a creepy read! 

I have so many more creepy books on my TBR that I might have to make a part two! Leave me some recommendations for your favorite creepy reads!