What Have You Read - 2023

[Josh]

Char wrote: "I finished . I thought it was a pretty good tale of gone but not forgotten Mexican gods. I think it could definitely have been shorter, but it was creative and sometimes ..."

I been wanting to check this one out myself!

[Alan]

I just finished and ARC of this and, wow. If you like Thomas Harris, Michael Slade, and other wild and complex books about serial killers, look for this one coming out next week.

[Eliza]

I've just finished James Herbert's Creed. Very good, and surprisingly funny!

[Char]

Alan wrote: "

I just finished and ARC of this and, wow. If you like Thomas Harris, Michael Slade, and other wild and complex books about serial killers, look for this one coming ..."

This sounds really good, Alan. Thanks!

[Josh]

Read Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz in a sitting today.



Really enjoyed it - here's my 'review' (basically just gushing about my favourite tales in the collection really): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alexis]

OMG, I had the chance to ARC this from NetGalley and Random House. Holy sh...t... this anthology is OFF THE HOOK... Ya'll gotta get it in August, I don't think you'll be disappointed

[Erin]

Alexis wrote: "

OMG, I had the chance to ARC this from NetGalley and Random House. Holy sh...t... this anthology is OFF THE HOOK... Ya'll gotta get it in August, I don't thi..."

I added this to my TBR list!

[WendyB]

This is the sequel to Lovecraft Country and just a lot of fun following these characters and their adventures.

[Rachel]

loved the halloween setting of this book! got me all excited for spooky season in march, lmao

[David]

Dead Man's Walk byLarry McMurtry
4*

[Char]

I finished up Steve Stred's Churn the Soil and loved it.
I also just finished Hidden Pictures on audio and it was something else!

[David]

The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
I really enjoyed it!

[Alan]

The most fun I've had with an Alex Cross book in ages.

[Kelly B]

David wrote: "The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
I really enjoyed it!"

I read this book multiple times as a pre-teen/teen, and it really freaked me out.

[Kelly B]

I finished .

I’m slowly reading McDowell’s Blackwater series between reading other things. My god, this series is good. He really has the southern gothic feel down perfectly.

[Christopher]

Killer, Come Back to Me: The Crime Stories of Ray Bradbury is a tough book to rate. It’s a posthumous collection of “crime” stories (some of which are fantasy) which contains a few genuine classics (“Marionettes, Inc.,” “The Small Assassin”) along with resurrected early Bradbury stories culled from the pulp magazines of the 1940s. The classics are, well, classics; the resurrections are mostly, well, junk. I mean that. They are bad stories which must have been only just good enough to make it into the lesser pulp magazines of the time. Still, a collection with three or four straight-up masterpieces…how can that be a bad collection? Well, for me the problem is that I was already very familiar with all the classics here; it’s the resurrections I was interested in, and they are uniformly poor—apprentice work from a writer who would soon be a master, but wasn’t yet. I guess it’s good that these stories have been made available again. But I didn’t enjoy this collection very much.

[Diane]

What a fabulous book 😳😵😜

[David]

The Tao of Bill Murray: Real-Life Stories of Joy, Enlightenment, and Party Crashing by Gavin Edwards

[Kimberly]

I just finished A House with Good Bones.

[Erin]

The Lost Sister

[heatherbear]

Pretty proud of what I've managed to read so far this year since I hit a major depression and didn't pick up a book for over a year (Realizing you're mind-blind really fucks with you if you love books...)

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
Authority by Jeff Vandermeer
Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer
It's me, Charlie by C.M. Guidroz
Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell

Currently reading Borne by Jeff Vandermeer

[James]

Heather - I recently read Borne and really enjoyed it, hope it’s a good one for you! I need to read Acceptance

[James]

So cool you’re enjoying getting back to reading

[heatherbear]

Danny - the southern reach triology was very enjoyable. i watched annihilation before reading the book but still enjoyed it. it honestly helped me follow along since his books can feel like a fever dream.

[Kelly B]

Heather wrote: "Pretty proud of what I've managed to read so far this year since I hit a major depression and didn't pick up a book for over a year (Realizing you're mind-blind really fucks with you if you love bo..."

I’ve seen It’s Me, Charlie mentioned several times on Booktok. Is it good?

[A.J.]

The Counselors by Jessica Goodman.

I actually liked it.. mystery killer vibes at summer camp.

Now I'm starting Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly.

I'm only about a hundred pages in and this one gives dad axe murdered his family and the mystery around it vibes.

[James]

Heather - The movie version of annihilation was a great companion to the book for sure, I really liked what Alex Garland did with it. Different sort of book for sure, but I was obsessed with Garland’s novel The Beach when I read it as a teenager and it felt like a fever dream in a different way although not as much as annihilation!

[heatherbear]

Kelly B -

I personally did not like it. It had a torture porn feel to it which isnt my thing. I think it makes it on tiktok a lot because of how extreme the ick factor is.

[inciminci]

Heather wrote: "Pretty proud of what I've managed to read so far this year since I hit a major depression and didn't pick up a book for over a year (Realizing you're mind-blind really fucks with you if you love bo..."

And you should be proud of yourself, that's awesome Heather.
I hope you feel much better soon.

I really enjoyed The Southern Reach trilogy and think Borne is one of the most accessible books Vandermeer wrote, also one of my favorites.

[sonya]

Freak and creep both by Jennifer Hillier

[Rachel]

whew, this one took me forever to get through! there were a lot of fun + interesting things about this one, but it ended up falling flat for me because the characters were very one-dimensional. great for those who like a plot-driven story tho!

[Rosalyn]

The The Sun Down Motel was very horror-lite in the supernatural sense, I wasn't scared at all (haunted motel, ghosts, doors opening and close inexplicably etc.). What was scary though was the real life human murderer of the story, quiet and unassuming, respectable job, house, wife and kid, perfectly flying under the radar. My full review below!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kenneth]

Finished the very meh The Brownstone by Ken Eulo.

[Marie]

I just finished within the last few days:

The Twisted Dead by Darcy Coates - loving this series.

Seeing Evil by Jason Parent - the start of a series - loving it so far.

[Char]

Kelly B wrote: "I finished .

I’m slowly reading McDowell’s Blackwater series between reading other things. My god, this series is good. He really has the southern gothic feel down per..."

BLACKWATER is one of my favorites OF ALL TIME! Enjoy!

I just finished Victor LaValle's Lone Women and enjoyed it.

[Tonya]

I love the Blackwater series. I read it when my Grandma lived in Milton, FL close to the story's location. It made it more interesting.

[Char]

*high five*
It was so good, right? :)

[Tonya]

It really was. :)

[Alan]

I was fortunate to get an ARC copy of this and, wow oh wow, this was a thriller (with a hint of horror) like nothing I've read before. You will want to seek this one out when it's released in September.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kelly B]

heatherbear wrote: "Kelly B -

I personally did not like it. It had a torture porn feel to it which isnt my thing. I think it makes it on tiktok a lot because of how extreme the ick factor is."

Thanks for your input! I think I’ll give it a pass. I’m not big on torture porn either.

[Kelly B]

Tonya wrote: "I love the Blackwater series. I read it when my Grandma lived in Milton, FL close to the story's location. It made it more interesting."

I bet! It’s so atmospheric.

[Kelly B]

I read , which I thought was unique and really good.

I’m hoping to finish a historical fiction book I’m reading tonight, and then on to Gallows Hill.

[Navi]

Please excuse the delay in posting but here are the horror (and horror adjacent) books I've read in 2023 so far:

5 stars ★★★★★:

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Ninth House
Slugs
Sign Here
The Laws of the Skies
The Exorcist's House on KU
Poking Holes on KU
A Cosmology of Monsters
Exquisite Corpse
Monstrilio
Stay Awake
The Younger Wife
Natural Beauty

4 stars ★★★★:

Lakewood
The Overnight Guest
The Things He Heard: A horror novella on KU
My Darkest Prayer
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery
Lure
The Clackity
The Devil Takes You Home
Daisy Darker


3 stars ★★★:

Hell Bent
Tell Me I’m Worthless
Full Immersion
Sister, Maiden, Monster

[WendyB]

You've been a busy reader, Navi!

[Navi]

WendyB wrote: "You've been a busy reader, Navi!"

I've read a ton of new favourites so far this year! Hopefully that continues for the rest of 2023.

Have you read any stand out books recently? :)

[WendyB]

Navi wrote: "WendyB wrote: "You've been a busy reader, Navi!"

I've read a ton of new favourites so far this year! Hopefully that continues for the rest of 2023.

Have you read any stand out books recently? :)"

It's been a pretty good year for books and I anticipate many more good stories to come but these two have been my favs so far this year:
and

[Rachel]

i've been in such a bad reading slump lately, but i think i'm finally coming out of it! managed to finish the last 2/3 of revival in only 2 days. great read!

[The bookish Witch]

Navi wrote: "Please excuse the delay in posting but here are the horror (and horror adjacent) books I've read in 2023 so far:

5 stars ★★★★★:

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
[book:Ninth House|4326..."

That's a lot of books, for three month. Wow. :-)

[Navi]

The bookish Witch wrote: "That's a lot of books, for three month. Wow. :-)
"

I don't have much of a life outside of reading lol!

[Navi]

Recent reads:

Whatever Remains Of Us In The End* - ★★★
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes - ★★★★★
Rabid Madness* - ★★★★
Sacculina* - ★★★★★

* - on Kindle Unlimited!