We made it friends! We made it all the way through the 2023 books before we had to start talking about the 2024 books! 🎉🥂🎊 I hope you've found something interesting to add to your to-read list.
In case you missed it...January 2023 Reads
February 2023 Reads
March 2023 Reads
April 2023 Reads
May 2023 Reads
June 2023 Reads
July 2023 Reads
August 2023 Reads
September 2023 Reads
October 2023 Reads
November 2023 Reads
Reads from previous years
(101) The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson (352 pages, 2023). Audiobook. In the 1930s, a traveling Circus of Fantasticals–-misfits and outcasts each with a unique supernatural ability or “spark”--roams the American midwest, bringing a single night of magic and joy to those who most need it. But a shadowy figure from the time-hopping Ringmaster’s past will stop at nothing to catch and keep her, using his own deadly spark to pursue her with his own sinister circus of horrors. A very original and well-written read with rich and multi-dimensional characters, but there is something about the writing that came across as a little, well, preachy in a way that felt kind of anachronistic.
(102) Beholder by Ryan La Sala (340 pages, 2023). Audiobook. Athan’s YiaYia spent her life warning him not to look into mirrors lest he fall prey to a terrible family curse. But one night at a party, he gives in for just a moment–and everyone at the party ends up not just horrifically killed but artfully arranged into the goriest art installment ever. Everyone, that is, except for a mysterious young man called Dom, who manages to spirit Athan away from the gory scene just as the police arrive. The pair spend the rest of the book unraveling the mystery of Athan’s family curse and how a shadowy New York underworld of twisted art dealers may be involved.
(103) A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena (305 pages, 2017). Paper book. Not long after driving her car into a lamppost, Karen Krupp is connected to the murder of an unidentified man in an abandoned building on the bad side of town. Alas, having suffered a concussion, she remembers nothing about the night. Her husband Tom arrives home the same night to find that Karen has fled the house in the middle of making dinner. Detectives begin to question whether Karen is being entirely truthful, and Tom can’t stop worrying about what his wife might have done. Then there’s the Krupp’s nosy neighbor Brigid butting her way in at every turn, and the way Karen keeps finding little clues that someone has been entering their house. A pretty solid murder mystery plot-wise but the writing felt flat, one-dimensional, and full of cliches, which made it a bit tiresome to read. That said, can’t say I saw the twist at the end coming!
(104) The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson (96 pages, 2023). Audiobook. During her junior year at art school in London, American Ashley Smith finds herself invited to her classmate Emma Chapman’s Cotswold manor house for Christmas with her family. Ashley is dazzled by the Anglican country romance of it all and also by Emma’s older brother Adam. But not all is as it seems at Starvewood Hall. The book is framed via middle aged Emma’s reflection on the events of the week and its ghastly implications thirty years later. A cozy little crime drama/ghost story for a quiet winter evening. I recommend reading in one sitting, which won’t be difficult.
(105) Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan (328 pages, 2017). Audiobook. The lone survivor of a horrific mass murder as a child, Lydia Smith is happy hiding in plain sight as a clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore–until an odd young patron takes his life in the store, a childhood photo of Lydia that she’s never seen before in his pocket, and leaves her all his worldly possessions. She soon realizes that the stacks and stacks of defaced books in his tiny apartment seem to contain a hidden message for her, which may cause her to rethink some foundational assumptions about her childhood and the awful trauma she survived. Dark, smart, and somehow charming throughout.
(106) The Comfort of Monsters by Willa C. Richards (400 pages, 2021). Audiobook. In 1991 Milwaukee, Margaret “Pegasus” McBride’s younger sister Dee disappears without a trace, and though Peg and her brother suspect Dee’s older, sketchy boyfriend, neither they nor the police are able to determine Dee’s fate. The story cuts back and forth between the lead-up to Dee’s disappearance and the present day, when Peg and Dee’s desperate and infirm mother has decided to hire a superstar psychic to solve the mystery. More character driven than plot driven, and touching on a number of hella dark themes such as misogyny, memory, agency and consent, and how well you ever really know someone. Not for the faint of heart.
(107) The Counselors by Jessica Goodman (343 pages, 2022). Audiobook. Three eighteen year old besties return to their beloved summer camp as junior counselors, Ava and Imogen more closely fitting the camp’s traditional template (ie., from wealthy and connected families who can afford the camp’s outrageous tuition) and Goldie a “townie” who lives in the tiny nearby rural town year-round who has been able to attend camp summer after summer because her parents work there. This year, though, Goldie has a terrible secret she’s hiding from her friends. When a local boy turns up dead in the lake, Goldie’s secret gets even more complicated, and it starts to seem like maybe Ava is keeping secrets of her own. This book went a bit too hard on a lot of YA tropes and clichés in ways that I found a bit tiresome. I also felt like it was overwritten in a way that makes YA books appeal less to adults. All that combined with the fact that the characters we are supposed to like and sympathize with seemed kind of awful at times made it hard for me to really enjoy this one. I dunno, maybe actual teenagers would enjoy it more.
(108) Devil House by John Darnielle (416 pages, 2022). Audiobook. True crime writer Gage Chandler gets the opportunity to move into the Milpitas house where a pair of notorious murders occurred during the Satanic Panic of the 1980 while he investigates what happened. In the course of researching the crimes, he is forced to reckon with the ethics and morality of working in the true crime genre and the harmful impact he may have unwittingly had on the real people involved. found this story a bit meandering and hard to follow at times. It’s definitely more of a character study than a plot-based story.
(109) A Haunting On The Hill by Elizabeth Hand (400 pages, 2023). Paper book. Struggling playwright Holly Sherwin has finally received a grant to develop her new play. During a getaway in upstate New York, she stumbles across the awe-inspiring Hill House, an eerie, hundred-year-old mansion that feels like the perfect spot to develop and rehearse her play with the three cast members: her musician girlfriend Nisa, longtime actor and sound designer friend Stevie, and legendary, not-quite-washed-up theater star Amanda. If you are familiar with Hill House lore, you won’t be surprised to learn that things quickly turn creepy, then dangerous for the makeshift troupe, each of whom arrives with internal hauntings of their own. Deliciously creepy and well done!
(102) Beholder by Ryan La Sala (340 pages, 2023). Audiobook. Athan’s YiaYia spent her life warning him not to look into mirrors lest he fall prey to a terrible family curse. But one night at a party, he gives in for just a moment–and everyone at the party ends up not just horrifically killed but artfully arranged into the goriest art installment ever. Everyone, that is, except for a mysterious young man called Dom, who manages to spirit Athan away from the gory scene just as the police arrive. The pair spend the rest of the book unraveling the mystery of Athan’s family curse and how a shadowy New York underworld of twisted art dealers may be involved.
(103) A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena (305 pages, 2017). Paper book. Not long after driving her car into a lamppost, Karen Krupp is connected to the murder of an unidentified man in an abandoned building on the bad side of town. Alas, having suffered a concussion, she remembers nothing about the night. Her husband Tom arrives home the same night to find that Karen has fled the house in the middle of making dinner. Detectives begin to question whether Karen is being entirely truthful, and Tom can’t stop worrying about what his wife might have done. Then there’s the Krupp’s nosy neighbor Brigid butting her way in at every turn, and the way Karen keeps finding little clues that someone has been entering their house. A pretty solid murder mystery plot-wise but the writing felt flat, one-dimensional, and full of cliches, which made it a bit tiresome to read. That said, can’t say I saw the twist at the end coming!
(104) The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson (96 pages, 2023). Audiobook. During her junior year at art school in London, American Ashley Smith finds herself invited to her classmate Emma Chapman’s Cotswold manor house for Christmas with her family. Ashley is dazzled by the Anglican country romance of it all and also by Emma’s older brother Adam. But not all is as it seems at Starvewood Hall. The book is framed via middle aged Emma’s reflection on the events of the week and its ghastly implications thirty years later. A cozy little crime drama/ghost story for a quiet winter evening. I recommend reading in one sitting, which won’t be difficult.
(105) Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan (328 pages, 2017). Audiobook. The lone survivor of a horrific mass murder as a child, Lydia Smith is happy hiding in plain sight as a clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore–until an odd young patron takes his life in the store, a childhood photo of Lydia that she’s never seen before in his pocket, and leaves her all his worldly possessions. She soon realizes that the stacks and stacks of defaced books in his tiny apartment seem to contain a hidden message for her, which may cause her to rethink some foundational assumptions about her childhood and the awful trauma she survived. Dark, smart, and somehow charming throughout.
(106) The Comfort of Monsters by Willa C. Richards (400 pages, 2021). Audiobook. In 1991 Milwaukee, Margaret “Pegasus” McBride’s younger sister Dee disappears without a trace, and though Peg and her brother suspect Dee’s older, sketchy boyfriend, neither they nor the police are able to determine Dee’s fate. The story cuts back and forth between the lead-up to Dee’s disappearance and the present day, when Peg and Dee’s desperate and infirm mother has decided to hire a superstar psychic to solve the mystery. More character driven than plot driven, and touching on a number of hella dark themes such as misogyny, memory, agency and consent, and how well you ever really know someone. Not for the faint of heart.
(107) The Counselors by Jessica Goodman (343 pages, 2022). Audiobook. Three eighteen year old besties return to their beloved summer camp as junior counselors, Ava and Imogen more closely fitting the camp’s traditional template (ie., from wealthy and connected families who can afford the camp’s outrageous tuition) and Goldie a “townie” who lives in the tiny nearby rural town year-round who has been able to attend camp summer after summer because her parents work there. This year, though, Goldie has a terrible secret she’s hiding from her friends. When a local boy turns up dead in the lake, Goldie’s secret gets even more complicated, and it starts to seem like maybe Ava is keeping secrets of her own. This book went a bit too hard on a lot of YA tropes and clichés in ways that I found a bit tiresome. I also felt like it was overwritten in a way that makes YA books appeal less to adults. All that combined with the fact that the characters we are supposed to like and sympathize with seemed kind of awful at times made it hard for me to really enjoy this one. I dunno, maybe actual teenagers would enjoy it more.
(108) Devil House by John Darnielle (416 pages, 2022). Audiobook. True crime writer Gage Chandler gets the opportunity to move into the Milpitas house where a pair of notorious murders occurred during the Satanic Panic of the 1980 while he investigates what happened. In the course of researching the crimes, he is forced to reckon with the ethics and morality of working in the true crime genre and the harmful impact he may have unwittingly had on the real people involved. found this story a bit meandering and hard to follow at times. It’s definitely more of a character study than a plot-based story.
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