Before I start, are you in Texas this weekend? Because Saturday I’ll be at the San Antonio Book Festival at the library, listening to panels and getting new books and interviewing my amazing friend R.Eric Thomas. And it’s free! Click here for details. (We’re doing a signing right afterward if you want to visit in person.)
And in related news…if you’re a member of the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club check your email because thursday we’re doing an online crafty hour where we do weird crafts on zoom and talk about books. (And we do have spots available if you want to join!)
This month if you’re a Fantastic Strangeling we’re sending you The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr. It’s quirky and sweet and highly-anticipated for good reason:
Clayton Stumper might be twenty-six years old, but he dresses like your grandpa and drinks sherry like your aunt. Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution.
When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton’s life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune. As Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve— a secret that has the potential to change everything.
So lovely. Reminds me a little of A Man Called Ove.
Or if horror is more your cup of tea, we’re sending Nightmares from Nowhere Book club members copies of Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan.
“It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. But when town gossip’s body is brought in for burial and she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi—the original vampire—are back. And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town. But as unspoken secrets and revelations spill from the past into the present, the Evans family must face that sometimes, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.“
Can horror be charming and terrifying? Because this one is.
Need more than one book to get you through the month? Here are some new April releases I’m recommending:
The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell – A fascinating a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal reflections that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages and highlights of magical thinking. I thought this was going too “woo-woo” but it was fascinating and smart and I devoured it.
The Titanic Survivors Book Club by Timothy Schaffert. A remarkable tale about the life-changing power of books, following the Titanic librarian whose survival upends the course of his life. The prose in this book is achingly good.
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo – Historical fantasy mixed with magic set during the Spanish Golden Age.
The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson – Larson wrote one of my favorite historical books of all time Devil in the White City (read it!) and this new book is about hubris, heartbreak and heroism at the dawn of the Civil War. I haven’t had a chance to finish this one but I like it so far.
Bad Dreams in the Night by Adam Ellis – Like a graphic novel version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, this collection of original horror tales is packed with urban legends, and terrifying twists.
And a special thank you to all members of the book clubs, past and future. We literally would not make it without you.
PS. I just opened a discussion thread for last month’s book…King Nyx…in the Fantastic Strangelings facebook page but I’ll share my thoughts in the comments just in case you don’t do facebook. 🙂
(SPOILERS BELOW)
My thoughts on KING NYX:
This book was so strange, but in such a haunting way.
First off, I loved that it took place on a creepy island. Why is it that I love books that have a claustrophobic feeling about them? Ones where a storm traps everyone inside or an island keeps you trapped. That probably says something about me.
I loved the idea of the main characters being fictionalized people who actually existed, especially because I think if an author came up with a man who spent his life obsessively cataloguing bizarre phenomenon (raining frogs, hailstones that tasted like oranges, alien abductions) as a main character we would think that was a bit unbelievable, but the truth is stranger than fiction, as Charles fort and his wife, Anna did exist.
I loved how the author explored the role women have in supporting ambitious men, even to their detriment, and how easily it was to be ignored completely (or disappeared) at a time that was not so long ago. Ironically we know so little about the real Anna, which sort of proves the point in a way.
I enjoyed the flashbacks of Annie’s days in service and the parallels of the island story…especially the ability to try to make up for our past. I love how she partnered with Stella even when she had reason to feel off-kilter and suspicious. I literally couldn’t put the book down until I knew who I could trust. In some ways it reminded me of a Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House…a protagonist who distrusts herself, is dismissed by others, and who puts others first but eventually comes into her own.
I was fascinated with the idea that Annie’s past trauma was bleeding into the present. Between that and the barbaric treatment that Frank gives to Stella it reminded me a lot of the fact that even at that time women would be subject to terrible treatment for mental health issues and how terrible it was that women had to impress their saneness on their husbands even when it means lying to yourself or hiding your true past or emotions.
Overall, a complicated book, but one that took me on a ride I wasn’t expecting.
I just finished “My Effin Life” by rock and roll legend Geddy Lee of the band Rush. Epic and powerful.
I think you would like my most recent one “Let Nothing Go To Waste”. Only think I’ve written that I keep re-reading.
You and R. Eric together could make me fly to Texas!!
(Come! ~ Jenny)
There’s an Author Interview on the NPR site with Amanda Montell about “The Age of Magical Overthinking”: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/09/1243632217/amanda-montell-the-age-of-magical-overthinking
Carolyn
By the by, I am pretty sure you haven’t mentioned but if you have, mea culpa, but I utterly and totally and completely rec the book Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/182506390-someone-you-can-build-a-nest-in . It’s a love story… told from the monster’s POV and it is just glorious and messy and beautiful and ugly and fun and deep all at once. It just dropped 4/2/2024 but I had an ARC and devoured it ahead of time (heh).
My local book store runs a bunch of different in person book clubs. I’m going to one this month because they are reading A Fate Inked In Blood. I ARC read it and it was fantastic.
Will you be having a book signings in the San Antonio area the following week? (4/15-4/19) A bazillion librarians will be there for the Texas Library Association Convention!
The unresolved mystery surrounding Clayton’s parentage creates a sense of intrigue and sets the stage for the narrative’s central conflict.
It appears to be a satirical commentary on contemporary literature, wherein the ‘corpses’ symbolize obsolete ideas, clichés, or tropes that require burial.
Thanks!
Happy to read it on winter days.