The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

If you decide to read book 2 in the Dark Tower series I may join for it. I read Gunslinger a few years ago and it did not work for me, but many people have said the rest of the series is phenomenal.

Alison on Feeders and Eaters: (view spoiler)[Yes! I had totally forgotten about the "look" he gives the guy, but that's what I thought too. And yes about the ending. What did that have to do with anything at all? Maybe it ties in to another one of his stories? (hide spoiler)]

I've read 3 the last few days.

The Brotherhood of Mutilation: (view spoiler)[ I really enjoyed this for the most part. I liked Gous and Ramse at the beginning with their repetitiveness. It made them sort of charming. The amputation cult was interesting too just for its weirdness. The ending wasn't very satisfying though. Borchert just brought him there to fake investigate a murder so he'd look suspicious when Borchert actually killed Aline. Seems like a lot more trouble than he'd need. It seems like making it look like Aline died of natural causes wouldn't be too difficult seeing as he's just a head and a torso. There have to be health concerns with all this cutting, right? (hide spoiler)]

The White Hands: (view spoiler)[ I listened to this one. It was okay. I thought it was interesting that it was about a Weird fiction author. The hands being seen as spiders and stuff around people's rooms was cool, but a lot of it I had a hard time paying attention to. (hide spoiler)]

Flat Diane: (view spoiler)[ I really liked this one but it was also so hard to read. Kids getting abused is terrifying as a parent. When he first sends out "flat Diane" I thought it was a cute idea for people who have family all over the place. Especially during Covid! But I did figure something like this would happen. And what a terrible mother! (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

My thoughts on:

The Beautiful Gelreesh: (view spoiler)[ I found this sad...and I thought this was an interesting look at religion. The author states at one point "the World is a ball of shit adrift on a sea of sin". Not a very uplifting outlook!
Gelreesh was born, his father was appalled at his appearance and Gelreesh is locked up. A priest is brought in to tutor him and get rid of the beast inside of him and a caretaker feeds him raw meat so I think Gelreesh is shaped by these two things...maybe he isn't a beast inside but develops into one? I liked this story and, despite being a serial killer, felt a bit sorry for Gelreesh (hide spoiler)]

The Town Manager: (view spoiler)[ A very strange story to me...I got confused in places and didn't follow it very well but that may be because I read it at the end of a long day and was tired. Sorry, don't have much comment on this one... (hide spoiler)]

The Brotherhood of Mutilation: (view spoiler)[ This read as a Weird Detective novel to me! An Amputation Cult with a purpose that is mysterious! Gross, gory and disturbing but I really liked it! The ending could have been more, however! (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Hi ladies, I paused my story-reading for a few days because I was doing an end of month sprint to finish the books for my November challenge. Back at it today!

The Snow Pavillion: (view spoiler)[I liked the description of the white empty mansion, very pretty and spooky. Not fully sure what happened in the end, but I think he turns into a doll? Alison, I too think that all dolls were former people, perhaps other passersby that were tricked inside. I liked this story. (hide spoiler)]

The Meat Garden: (view spoiler)[I liked the beginning of the story, people getting shot with seeds and then slowly starting to bloom to death. After a while the story got a bit confusing though and lost my interest. (hide spoiler)]

The Stiff and the Stile: (view spoiler)[What a fun little weird variation of a well-known folktale/nursery rhyme type story. Not much else too say about it, but I thought it was a fun little read. SarahKat, your poor husband with his new nickname! 😂 (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I have really been enjoying this book with you ladies, but I have to say I am glad that the end is in sight!

Singing my Sister Down: (view spoiler)[ Really liked this one just for the pure horror of the death sentence the sister is going through. Sinking slowly in a tar pit? And the family is just sitting around having a sending-off party. How can they remain optimistic? I was unsure whether the mom shot her when she was sinking though. She said she was going to but I didn't see it mentioned. (hide spoiler)]

The People on the Island: (view spoiler)[I liked this one too, even though it made little to no sense. I guess that's why it's Weird. It was just kind of sad. The couple surrounded by dead bodies that tend to be moved by other forces and the husband is starting to hate his wife. When I read this last night I had some kind of commentary on society or relationships or something all thought out, but now I don't remember what it was! Haha (hide spoiler)]

The Forest: (view spoiler)[I was bored. It seemed like it got interesting at the end with bug and/or aliens but by that time I just wanted to get it over with. Not for me. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

I, too, have really been enjoying reading this book with you two (and in the process, getting to know you a bit better and becoming GR Friends :) BUT I, too, can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this Chunker!!

My thoughts on:
The White Hands: (view spoiler)[ I really like this one...Lilith really had him under her spell, didn't she?? The description of the coffin after it was brought up into the room ("dripping on the rug" etc) was very Gross and it was spooky in the fact that she wasn't dead (?? not sure about that but she sure did open her eyes and reach for his throat!! :) (hide spoiler)]

Flat Diane: (view spoiler)[ My kids actually did a Flat Stanley when they were in elementary school so I could imagine exactly what they were doing with Flat Diane when they created her! But, Oh, the terrible things that happened to Flat Diane...I really had a hard time with that! I made it through the story but cringed... (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

My light is a bit further off but not that far haha.

Today’s selection:
Yellow and Red: (view spoiler)[I didn’t really see the resemblance to Casting the Runes, but it did feel like a throwback to the stories of earlier decades but I liked it a lot. Alison, yes I think the demon-creature in the pictures originated from the ancient tomb. (hide spoiler)]

The Specialist’s Hat: (view spoiler)[I feel like I should be able to grasp better what was happening in this story, but at the same time I don’t mind being a bit confused. I enjoyed it. I especially liked the little girls.
Ooo SarahKat, now that I’ve read your comment I am considering who all might be dead. The babysitter for sure and the girls by the end of the story, but maybe they already were dead all along then, because their father doesn’t really talk to them? Does he really interact with them at all? And the groundskeeper might be dead too yes, when Samantha sees him from the window it is said that she can almost see the moonlight through him so... How spooky! (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Two yesterday, one today. I really need to update when I read the stories so it's fresh in my mind!

The Hide: (view spoiler)[I liked this. The Hide seemed to have gotten into Clare's head somehow and she seems to become obsessed with it. I'm not quite certain what happened at the end though. Did she turn into the flock of birds? Same with Richard? And what was the significance of the color of the cormorants? (hide spoiler)]

Dust Enforcer: (view spoiler)[I skimmed this. I went to school already and I am not in the mood to read a textbook. I thought some of it was sort of interesting but it wasn't a story it was just literally textbook description of this demon. (hide spoiler)]

The Familiars: (view spoiler)[I liked this one too! But I have no idea what was going on. At first I thought maybe the boy (and possibly his mom) was dead, because when she's bathing him she plays with him to "make him forget" and that was early after the appearance of the friend. Then later is says he doesn't need to eat anymore. Is this just a side-effect of whatever the friend is doing? Can the friend not exist without the boy and that's why he disperses while he's at school? If that's the case what's up with the ending? Was that the friend re-emerging? Or some more nefarious monster that perhaps the friend was keeping away with his presence? Very Weird. Not a very happy ending either way. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

I am almost finished with this book but GR decides to mess with my "Reading" vs "Read" status every time I switch books on my Kindle...arrrggghhh! I have just left the status of this book as "Read" (Thank You for the encouragement, Marleen!! :) but I still have about 2 days to go on this Clunker!!

My thoughts on:

The Hide: (view spoiler)[ Evil Cormorants!! I think that is the white bird turning black means?? I believe that Richard and the sister (I can't remember her name) were taken over by evil and the Cormorants had something to do with it. The Hippie guy they met in the parking lot was surprised that the trio had seen the Cormorants and told them to hope they didn't see them again! Not sure what happened in the end but somehow the sister and Richard disappeared! (hide spoiler)]

Dust Enforcer: (view spoiler)[ To tell the truth, I skipped this one! It was long and I didn't feel like reading it! I will go back to it eventually but no thoughts for now... (hide spoiler)]

The Familiars: (view spoiler)[ Ohhh...I liked this one except in the end I was very confused! Was the Familiar going to eat/harm the son in the end?? It seemed that the mother and son had an angelic existence (games and love and nature and make believe) and then it seemed to change but I am not sure it was strictly because of the Familiar appearing. Where was the father...I believe that the gravestone on the cliff was his? I think the mother suspected the son started to change into something evil...that why she flicked the water at him? The Familiar hated water and so I believe she was testing whether or not it was really the son in bed, not the Familiar. Anyway...I really liked this! (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Haha Alison oh nooo I keep congratulating you too soon then hahaha. Almost there though!

[Alison]

Marleen wrote: "Haha Alison oh nooo I keep congratulating you too soon then hahaha. Almost there though!"

Marleen, I will take all the encouragement I can get to finish this Chunk!! :D

[Marleen]

What I read today:

A Redress of Andromeda: (view spoiler)[An interesting beginning but I got super confused after they went down to the cave with the water and the woman on the rocks, and then the coin thing, and crows, and I don’t know what was happening. I did like the very end where she mentions that she will obviously come back the next year so she clearly has been pulled into their little ‘cult’. Interesting to know about the Alice in Wonderland reference guys, I don’t know it well and hadn’t caught that but now I see some of them.
Apparently this is the first of three related stories by this writer (“ The Dandridge Cycle”), the other two being prequels to this one, so those might explain a bit more of the situation. (hide spoiler)]

The God of Dark Laughter: (view spoiler)[I enjoyed this one. But I would have liked the Weird aspect of the ancient gods and their followers to have been explored a bit more. I also would have liked more explanation about the finger and finding out what was in the little black book. So sad that they killed the baboon! (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

I only read the one today.

Details: (view spoiler)[Oh I really liked this one! Loved the two main characters. Interesting the beginning with the mysterious old woman giving cryptic messages from behind the door like some sort of oracle and then slowly the story unfolding of her seeing something in the patterns around her. I think we all have some form of pareidolia, but her case is something else altogether... but I’m typing this out right after reading it and I actually feel slightly nervous to look up from my phone and look around me, and risk the sight of strange patterns forming a creature of sorts.... Brrrr hahaha.
Edit: my link doesn’t seem to work like that so I’ll put it here again https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parei... (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

Marleen wrote: "I only read the one today.

Details: Oh I really liked this one! Loved the two main characters. Interesting the beginning with the mysterious old woman giving cryptic messages from behind the door ..."

Marleen, Thank You for that link!! I didn't know that things like "seeing shapes in Clouds" had a name...I am always seeing shapes in clouds (when I point them out, my husband just shakes his head ) Glad it isn't considered a form of psychosis anymore :)

[Alison]

So Close, yet so far...should be done with this tomorrow! :D

My thoughts on:
The Lion's Den: (view spoiler)[ I liked the build up in this one...it started out with the incident of the boy going into the lion's enclosure and then "disappearing" (no, I don't think he was mauled by the lions but seemed to be "communicating" in some way with them??) He definitely disappeared...but did he reappear as the lion roaming around outside of the enclosure or some kind of spirit that communicated with the animals...I am unclear on that! The tension was built up in a nice way throughout the story and the idea that the roles were reversed in the end of the story (the humans seemed to be "trapped" in some way and the animals had a communication/symbiotic relationship with one another and not a predator/prey relationship) was interesting... (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I finished The Lion's Den also: (view spoiler)[I liked the build-up on this one too. Very atmospheric. I think he turned into some kind of lion spirit that then affected all the animals in the zoo. I did like that a lot of the action was seen through the security camera. Like the blurb said, that added to the mystery and creepiness.
I thought the end was interesting too. Very much a commentary on who is free and who isn't. The bars are there for us not the animals. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Today’s two:

The Genius of Assassins: (view spoiler)[This felt very long and I didn’t like it much. The only section that I found interesting was the second section with the guy killing people that visited an empty house before getting killed off in the end by his childhood friend who had promised to kill him years ago. Still very odd but the only part I liked reading. The first section was mostly just weird, and the third and longest section with the guy killing children was very unpleasant. I’m not sure what the overall idea of this triptych was, but I must say that, like both of you, I did skim some bits, so I might have missed something important. (hide spoiler)]

Feeders and Eaters: (view spoiler)[Yay, Gaiman! I love his writing. This little story was very different from other things I’ve read from him but I liked it and I’ve put the Gaiman short story collection it’s from on my TBR. It was clear where it was going at one point, but still pretty creepy to read the revelation of the hand with chewed up finger ones.... Oh Alison, that’s a good call about the man wanting to be put out of his misery! I had been wondering why he called his old friend over to tell his story, but that makes so much sense! I’m not sure what the ending with the woman in the train with the baby on formaldehyde was about either, but maybe more disturbing that the main character just moves on to his next conversation as if nothing really disturbing just happened! (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Little Lambs: (view spoiler)[This was set in Wyoming! This is so exciting for me, since that so rarely happens when it's not about ranching or the wild west. I did like this one. I was worried when the blurb mentions similarities to Mark Danielewski because I recently read House of Leaves and it didn't work for me.
Anyway, I thought the way this was written was interesting and the mystery about the structure, but I wish we had gotten more of a satisfactory explanation. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

I finished the book yesterday! I thought there were 3 stories left but there are the following 2 plus a pretty Weird postscript(??) called "Afterweird" :) Thank You, Ladies, for allowing me to read along with you and share thoughts on these stories! This is a different genre that I have only dipped my toe into and I really enjoyed our Buddy Read!! :)

My thoughts on:
Little Lambs: (view spoiler)[ Very interesting story! What was the artefact (it never does get defined...it is different things to different people)! I, too, liked the way it was written and enjoyed the story! (hide spoiler)]

Saving The Gleeful Horse: (view spoiler)[ Well, this was like a fairytale and a bit confusing in the beginning but it did sort itself out...somewhat! I think the Gleeful Horse was something like a piñata and when Molimus sets out on his quest to save the Horse, I was somewhat confused. Molimus, in the beginning, was a gentle creature but he ended up having to take the lives of other people (children...which is horrifying) in order to keep the Gleeful Horse alive and to pay back the White Ma'at! I really like this one! (hide spoiler)]

Afterweird: (view spoiler)[ This was very hard for me to follow but I liked a lot of the "quotes" in it...especially "Weird is Wyrd"! (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I finished today too Alison! The book is due back at the library tomorrow so just in time! I want to go back through all of our comments to remind myself which stories I liked the best so I can find other books by the authors.

Saving the Gleeful Horse: (view spoiler)[I really wanted to love the last story in this book, but this was just likable. I agree it was a bit confusing at the beginning. I thought it was going to be a sweet story about Molimus saving the gleeful horse and everyone would live happily ever after but he's out there killing kids to get their starlike things! (hide spoiler)]

Afterweird: (view spoiler)[Just skimmed it, but I did like the way it was written. (hide spoiler)]

I feel so accomplished finishing this tome! And Marleen, we will still check back and respond to your thoughts!

[Marleen]

Congratulations on finishing our beloved chunker, you two! I think I have about 14 to go after today, so hopefully I’ll finish in about a week (if the remaining stories aren’t all as long as today’s story was...)

The Cage: (view spoiler)[I’d never read Vandermeer’s work before, hadn’t even heard of him before this buddy read, but I’d like to read more of him now. SarahKat, I’ll take a look at the ones you mentioned.
What an interesting story this was! Judging from the information in the introduction this is set in a world that a lot of his work is set in. I wonder if the fungus-infection and the Silence-event with all the disappearances are present in his other works in this world as well or just in this story. I hadn’t realized that this was such a long one, but I really liked the writing and was very intrigued throughout. The obsession of the main character (more obsession stories! We’ve talked about this before!) was very tangible. And the fungi descriptions were really pretty but poor poor people who succumbed to them... (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Marleen, The Cage: (view spoiler)[Glad you liked it! And yes look into his other works if you liked this. Like I said in my first comment, he's sort of hit or miss for me though. Borne and Annihilation aren't in this same world, but VanderMeer does do a lot of stuff with weird organic stuff. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Today’s stories:

The Beautiful Gelreesh: (view spoiler)[When the introduction said that we already had read a story ‘The Delicate’ by this author, I had to go back and check because I didn’t remember that at all. And I reread our comments and that was a story where we all didn’t understand what was going on and none of us couldn’t retain it at all. Well, that’s definitely the case, I didn’t even remember reading it when I skimmed through it again...
I did like this second one a bit better, because it was easier to follow what was going on, but I felt the writing was unnecessarily flowery, and don’t really understand why they felt the need to include an extra story by this author. (hide spoiler)]

The Town Manager: (view spoiler)[This one I liked. I wonder why the people just kept going along with all the weird demands. I did not expect that all the surrounding towns were managed the same way. I wonder who was behind it all. And then at the end the main character was suddenly recruited as a town manager!
SarahKat, good point in it being a satire of how things sometimes go in our world, each new guy in power wanting to undo what his predecessor did... (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Next up:

The Brotherhood of Mutilation: (view spoiler)[This one took me a while but strangely I did really like it. I would expect to be too grossed out by all the amputation stuff but I thought it was unexpectedly interesting and I liked the different characters and the whole detective part. The only thing I found strange is that Kline didn’t seem to mind chopping off part of Borchert’s finger, but completely lost it later when Gous had his amputation party. SarahKat, I agree that the reason behind them dragging Kline into it was a bit unsatisfying in the end. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Today’s stories:

The White Hands: (view spoiler)[A strange story, I kind of liked it but was a bit confused about what was happening. How did the old man get Lilith’s hands? (hide spoiler)]

Flat Diane: (view spoiler)[I liked the writing and the concept of this one, but it got so very very dark! I was not prepared for that at all, it was almost painful to read. (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Next up:

Singing My Sister Down: (view spoiler)[I liked this little story. So Ikky killed her husband, and apparently these people execute wrongdoers by letting them sink into tar. What a horrible way to go, but at the same time the family being with her like that in her last moments was strangely sweet? (hide spoiler)]

The People on the Island: (view spoiler)[Very atmospheric. I don’t know what was going on, but it was an intriguing read. Too bad you didn’t remember your commentary on society SarahKat. (hide spoiler)]

Alison, I couldn’t find your comments on these two or the next one, I think you skipped commenting on a few. I can see that happening in the end sprint :)

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

It does look like Alison missed those two. I didn't even notice.

On Singing my Sister Down: (view spoiler)[I forgot to mention in my comment but I wondered why she killed her husband. I got the feeling that he was perhaps not a nice guy and possibly abused her. Or that it was a mandatory marriage and she just didn't want a husband. It was sweet her family stayed and helped keep her calm. (hide spoiler)]

People on the Island: (view spoiler)[The commentary was something about how people only see people as they pertain to their own lives. So the dead people are just empty shells like people in society who are just background noise to our day. Something like that, but I feel like it was all thought-out. I was tired. (hide spoiler)]

[Alison]

My Head was spinning trying to keep up with all these stories...I am not surprised that I forgot to add a few! :D
Marleen...I am reading and enjoying all your thoughts on the stories you have read even though I may not be commenting! :)

My thoughts on:
On Singing My Sister Down: (view spoiler)[ This was the tarpit one, I remember! First of all, do we even know what the Sister did? I don't remember....Ahh, I looked at your spoilers, Marleen, and see that she killed her husband! The family was around her while she slowly sank down into the tar (her punishment)....I found this poignant and sad, especially as her Mother was the last one with her, wiping the tar out of her mouth in the end and reassuring her! I liked this one! (hide spoiler)]

People on the Island: (view spoiler)[ I really liked this one! I couldn't figure out if the husband and wife were already dead and then seeing other dead people that were being moved into various positions OR if the husband and wife were alive and could just see the dead people? The husband seemed fascinated by these dead people and the wife seemed a little repulsed...perhaps that is why they started to hate one another? It was a very atmospheric read...the island was foggy and it had a bit of a Gothic theme to me (and that is one of my favorite themes to read! :) (hide spoiler)]

[Marleen]

Next up:

The Forest: (view spoiler)[I was quite bored reading this one. I think the long descriptions made me lose focus and I wasn’t really interested in what was going on. I have to admit that I skimmed a bit here and there so maybe I missed some crucial bits but I didn’t really care. It mostly felt very long. (hide spoiler)]

The Hide: (view spoiler)[Oo this one I liked a lot, especially the creepy birds! I don’t know what really happened at the end with them seeing a house across from the hide and Clare being there and something opened with a face in it and then Richard and Clare turned into birds?? But I really liked the atmosphere and the writing in this one so this was one of those stories where I don’t mind not understanding what’s going on :) (hide spoiler)]

5 stories left, almost there!

[Alison]

Marleen wrote: "Next up:

The Forest: [spoilers removed]

The Hide: [spoilers removed]

5 stories left, almost there!"

Goooo, Marleen!! You are on the Home Stretch!! I am enjoying your reviews! :)

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Yay! Me too I'm reading all of them even though I'm not responding!

[Marleen]

Two more:

Dust Enforcer: (view spoiler)[What kind of story was that...??? A fake encyclopedia entry for some sort of wind demon creature? Honestly, I read the first page and a half, skimmed a few more and then DNF-ed it. Not my thing.
And I see from both your comments that you skipped and skimmed as well haha. We often have the same response to these don’t we. (hide spoiler)]

The Familiars: (view spoiler)[This one was fun! It took a little bit for me to get used to the writing style (present tense always throws me off a bit I think), but then I really enjoyed it. Loved the descriptions and the sort of ‘repetitive’ bits (like when the friend and the boy played different kinds of make-believe). I really liked the concept of the imaginary friend being an actual creature (unless the boy is imagining it all after all of course, there’s no real way to tell for sure). The way I read it it had been there for a long time but then was completely forgotten at the boy’s first day of school and then maybe the ending is the creature taking revenge and attacking the boy? Very fun to read and creepy too. Come to think of it, I had two imaginary friends when I was little... They never came back to haunt me though...yet... ;) (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I am so glad we all had similar responses to ones we skipped or skimmed. I always felt guilty putting that sort of thing under a spoiler so you ladies would go through the entire story and come up with amazing comments just to see I barely even read it haha! But that didn't happen often!

I never had imaginary friends. I had a ton of stuffed animals who I gave personalities and jobs but no completely made-up things. When my first husband and I got married we discovered neither of us had them, so we "filled" our house with imaginary creatures just for an exercise in creativity I guess.

[Marleen]

And finally the last bit:

The Lion’s Den: (view spoiler)[I really enjoyed this one. I loved the writing, and the way we learned about everything through the guard’s eyes, bits of hearsay and cctv descriptions, all of which painted half a picture of what was going on, but we never completely know. Like both of you, I too really liked the role reversal at the end, how the guards felt like the animals were now the free ones and they themselves felt trapped. Not a clue what the whole thing with the boy in the beginning was about but I really enjoyed this story. (hide spoiler)]

Little Lambs: (view spoiler)[Really cool spooky atmosphere and setting. Don’t know what was happening with the slowly moving structure. But I liked the writing and it was very creepy. (hide spoiler)]

Saving the Gleeful Horse: (view spoiler)[So, the way I’m interpreting this one, is that the crazy homeless guy who lives under the bridge thinks that piñatas are alive, so he ends up killing children to get out their inner ‘treasures’ to save his piñata horse... I really couldn’t read it imagining that the things described were actually real, it was too strange. (hide spoiler)]

Afterweird: (view spoiler)[This was a very strange afterword, very odd writing. I liked the little shoutouts to several of the stories we’ve read though. And I really liked this quote at the end: These texts, dead and/or not, burrow, and we cannot predict everything they will infect or eat their path through. But certainly your brain, and they will eat the books you read from today on, too. That is how the Weird recruits. I’m pretty sure I’ve been recruited by the Weird by now and future reads will be infected by this indeed :) (hide spoiler)]

And so it ends. This two and a half month buddy read has been a blast. So many amazing stories, several new authors added to my TBR and some new friends made ;) It’s been so much fun to discuss all these stories with you ladies, thanks for the ride!

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Yay Marleen! I like your take on the Gleeful Horse! I didn't think of it that way.

I really enjoyed this with you both and I think I'll be seeing you in some upcoming buddy reads too ;)

[Alison]

Hi Ladies...And So, we come to the end of this Buddy Read! I so enjoyed reading with You and look forward to our Upcoming Buddy Reads! I, too, love your take on the Gleeful Horse, Marleen (I think this was one of my favorite stories in the book and I can't explain why ;)

SarahKat, I am also glad that we all had similar responses to the stories! It shows that Great Minds Think Alike!! :)

Happy Holidays to both of You and Looking forward to Reading and Friendship in 2021! <3