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Sarah’s Year In Books

Sarah’s 2022 Year in Books

Take a look at Sarah’s Year in Books. The long, the short—it’s all here.

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Sarah Langan

Goodreads Author

Born

in Mineola, The United States

Website

https://sarahlangan.com/

Genre

Suspense, Thriller, Horror

Influences

Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, W. Somerset Maugham, Joyce Carol Oates, ...more

Member Since

October 2015

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Sarah grew up on Long Island, got her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, her MS in environmental toxicology from NYU, and currently lives in Los Angeles with her family, house rabbit, hamster, and tarantula. True story.

Her next novel MOM'S NIGHT OUT is due out from S&S in Spring, 2023.

Her previous works include Good Neighbors (S&S 2021), You Have the Prettiest Mask (Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, 2020), and Night Nurse (Best Horror of the Year, 2020).

She is also three-time Bram Stoker award winner for outstanding novel in 2007 - The Missing, outstanding short story in 2008 - The Lost, and outstanding novel in 2009 - Audrey's Door.

Blog:https://sarahlangan.com/blog/ ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

What are you currently working on?

Sarah Langan I’ve just finished a new novel called THE CLINIC and I’m really excited about it. It’s very much in the same vein as my previous books, but I’ve grown…moreI’ve just finished a new novel called THE CLINIC and I’m really excited about it. It’s very much in the same vein as my previous books, but I’ve grown a lot and I think gotten more sophisticated as a storyteller.

I started the book about three years ago, having no idea why I’d abandoned two other novels to work on it. I only knew that something felt uneasy in my life as a new mother for the second time, and in my marriage, too. I’d become obsessed with Mad Men, and in retrospect, for good reason. The show isn’t about the 60s; it’s about now. Just as our own parents grew up getting more rod than carrot, we grew up in a world where dads (and I’m talking about the subset, here, of middle and upper middle class families that stayed together) were the boss and moms did the laundry. In theory the laundry, caring for extended families, cooking, and helping with homework were just as important as taking the train into on office, but in reality, no way. I grew up thinking what my mom did was stupid. Frankly, I grew up thinking women were less important. I was less important.

And then our generation of women was supposed to grow up and be equal with our partners, which is easy when you don’t have kids, and pretty impossible once you do. Who does those stupid jobs, like running the house and the schedule? And hey, wait, they’re not actually stupid jobs, are they? They’re pretty vital, it turns out. They’re just not valued financially, though, in fact, they do have a real financial value. They’re also very lonely jobs.

I don’t think I’m alone in my utter bewilderment, trying to figure out my place in all that. I think it’s generational. We’re the talking generation. Which is what makes me think we’ll do a good job at resolving it.

All that aside, the story’s about a struggling family whose son is sick. He’s got cancer. But it turns out, what he has isn’t really cancer. And the hospital that’s treating him isn’t really out to help him. The corporation that owns the hospital is killing senators and presidents to acquire global water rights. They’re treating the water with anti-malarial chemicals. Except, the chemicals don’t just kill malaria.

It’s the first book in what I hope will be a three book series called INVISIBLE MONSTERS.
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The keeper series is in my opion one of the best written horror in years, and I was wondering how did you come up with the incredibly bleak and dark setting? I mean, is it something you based on personal experience or did it just come to you? :)

Sarah Langan Dear David,

Thanks for writing!

I wrote The Keeper when I was still in my twenties. In fact, I started it when I was 21 and finished it at 29. I bring t…moreDear David,

Thanks for writing!

I wrote The Keeper when I was still in my twenties. In fact, I started it when I was 21 and finished it at 29. I bring this up because those are intense years. It reminds me of this quote from Lawrence of Arabia:

“Young men make wars, and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men. Courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace. And the vices of peace are the vices of old men. Mistrust and caution. It must be so.”

I was basically a hot head, waging war against an inherently unfair world. The town of Bedford loosely resembles Waterville, where I went to college, and also Old Town, just outside Bangor. Both are in Maine. Paper mills are the focal points of a town because of their giant smoke stacks. Even when they’re closed down, you can’t take your eye off them.

My characters were invented. One of my grad school teachers could never remember that Susan wasn’t based on someone real. She called me “Susan” instead of Sarah. Another teacher was sure I’d had an affair with a professor in high school. Nope. But I let him believe I had because he was so pleased that he’d had the insight.

On the other hand, my characters in many ways are very true, but they’re not based on other people. Like most writers, they’re aspects of me. Susan is an embodiment of all the rage I had back in those days, for reasons both phantom and tangible. Poor Liz was my low self-esteem. Paul was the narcissist every writer needs to be. Georgia had a head on her shoulders, mostly.

I think, ultimately, Keeper is as bleak as it is because I was so young. An older, wiser person might see the light at the end of the tunnel. An older, bitter person wouldn’t be able to tell the story at all. I could never write that story again, but I’m so glad that I did. It speaks to people. Maybe it calls to that hot-head kid we all used to be, and still are. It’s the hot-heads who act. Everybody else stays on schedule.

The Missing had a different impetus. I was having fun. How cool to start a vampire-zombie origin story. I loved writing that—it was hard, of course, but most of it just flowed. Fenstad and Meg were such a fun couple, and their daughter Maddie was so funny. I fact, I found the whole thing funny. It was a comment on current events, particularly the war in Iraq, but it was also pretty gleeful. Or at least, I thought it was gleeful. Then again, Kafka thought Metamorphosis was so funny he couldn’t read it without bursting in laughter. So, to each his own!
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Sarah Langan’s books

Average rating: 3.65 · 36,292 ratings · 4,829 reviews · 45 distinct works • Similar authors

	Good Neighbors 3.54 avg rating — 17,909 ratings — published 2021 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych, #1) by John Joseph Adams (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Ben H. Winters (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 3.90 avg rating — 3,111 ratings — published 2014 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Keeper (Keeper #1) 3.32 avg rating — 2,227 ratings — published 2006 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Missing (Keeper #2) 3.60 avg rating — 1,639 ratings — published 2007 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Audrey's Door 3.39 avg rating — 1,541 ratings — published 2009 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Changeling by Sarah Langan (Goodreads Author), Natalie Naudus (Narrator) 3.59 avg rating — 66 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lost 4.04 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Afterlife 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mom's Night Out it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ninth Witch really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Sarah Langan's Blog

Mom’s Night Out…. Or is it??

The above image is of a caladrius, a mythological creature said to eat the sins of kings 2000 years ago. The animal makes an appearance in my novel Mom’s Night Out.

I received edits from my editor at S&S for Mom’s Night Out and am set to implement them by April of this year. The distance between good enough and finished is a grand canyon, and I expect a great many late nights. I’m excited about the

Series by Sarah Langan

Keeper (2 books)
by

Sarah Langan (Goodreads Author)

3.44 avg rating — 3,866 ratings

We'll admit it: Of all the types of novelists, it's horror writers we have the most questions for. Like: WHY? And WHAT IS WRONG WITH...

Sarah is Currently Reading

Sarah Langan is currently reading

Build Your House Around My Body

by Violet Kupersmith (Goodreads Author)

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Mar 08, 2022 07:49AM

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The Good Lord Bird

by James McBride (Goodreads Author)

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Dec 27, 2020 11:45AM

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The Power

by Naomi Alderman (Goodreads Author)

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Jun 20, 2019 05:20PM

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Sarah’s Recent Updates

Sarah Langan wrote a new blog post My Favorite Books, not all from 2022 – In 2022 I kept a private journal of everything I read—about 55 books. As a writer, it’s my job to support other writers. It’s not my job to act as cri Read more of this blog post »
Jan 05, 2023 12:06AM · 1 like · like
Sarah Langan and 1 other person liked Steve's review of Good Neighbors: "For the penultimate book in this year's reading challenge (though I'll read more than 52 books this year, but this one qualifies as the penultimate one for the 52 books I set to read, one book for each week in the year) ... for the penultimate book, " Read more of this review »
Nov 02, 2022 11:51AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Sarah Langan and 18 other people liked Sadie Hartmann's review of The Missing (Keeper #2): "Lois Larkin takes her class on a field trip to the woods in the small town of Corpus Christi, Maine. One of her third-grade students, a creepy little freak named James Walker, goes missing. The best part about this setup is the way Langan spends time" Read more of this review »
Jul 21, 2022 11:51AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Missing by Sarah Langan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Missing by Sarah Langan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Sarah Langan made a comment on their review of Good Neighbors " Erika wrote: "Finished! faster than my usual reading time lol :) 5-stars! Looking forward to reading your other stories." Thank you! ...more "
May 02, 2022 07:56AM · see review
Sarah Langan and 174 other people liked Sadie Hartmann's review of Good Neighbors: "All. The. Stars. "
May 02, 2022 07:54AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Sarah Langan wants to read The World as I Found It by Bruce Duffy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 13, 2022 01:53PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The World as I Found It by Bruce Duffy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The World as I Found It by Bruce Duffy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Sarah Langan wants to read 50 books in the 2022 Reading Challenge Sarah Langan has read 9 books toward their goal of 50 books. 9 of 50 (18%) Create your own 2022 Reading Challenge »
Mar 08, 2022 07:49AM · 3 likes · like · view books
Sarah Langan is currently reading Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 08, 2022 07:49AM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Sarah Langan rated a book it was amazing The Between by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 08, 2022 07:48AM · 3 likes · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Between by Tananarive Due. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Between by Tananarive Due <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Sarah Langan rated a book it was amazing Come Closer by Sara Gran (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 05, 2022 07:35AM · 3 likes · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Come Closer by Sara Gran. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Come Closer by Sara Gran <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Sarah Langan (?)

“The sight of her made him understand why he'd lost his faith in God.”
― Sarah Langan, The Keeper

tags: atheism, fiction, god, horror, human-cruelty, humor, novel, religion

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“Like, if your life isn’t perfect, you keep your mouth shut and don’t talk about it until it is perfect, and then you brag.”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors

1 likes

“She’d been grateful to Rhea, for her honesty. Relieved by it, that someone as special and smart as Rhea’d had these same feelings. It’s lonely, being a grown-up. It feels like walking through life in a mask.”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors

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Polls

Which halloween themed book do you want to read in October?

The Woman in Black A Ghost Story by Susan Hill

10 votes, 52.6%

The Shining by Stephen King

5 votes, 26.3%

The Keeper by Sarah Langan

4 votes, 21.1%

19 total votes

4 comments

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Challenge: 50 Books: Deborah's 50	11	37	Dec 29, 2010 05:41PM
The Seasonal Read...: 50.1 - Butterflycager's task: Let's Build a Haunted House!	120	166	Nov 24, 2011 10:31AM
Challenge: 50 Books: Vicki's 2011 Books	13	61	Dec 10, 2011 06:01AM
2023 Reading Chal...: September's Industry Challenge	168	107	Oct 01, 2012 03:47PM
The Lost Challenges: Quarterly Back to School Challenge	101	130	Nov 21, 2012 02:13PM

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Sarah’s Year In Books

Sarah Langan’s Followers (627)

Sarah’s Bookshelves

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Sarah Langan

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Mom’s Night Out…. Or is it??

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My Favorite Books, not all from 2022 –

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