I owe you an apology because I am very behind on writing my wrap-ups of what I’ve read lately but I’m coming out of a depression and my energy is slowly coming back. (If you’re a book club member you’re still getting all the emails and books and stuff on time thank goodness, but if you’re an honorary member who reads along with us here’s what you may have missed.)
If you’re a Fantastic Strangeling, we read The Children by Melissa Albert. Gothic magical realism that reads like an adult fairy tale. We read The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell in July. Cozy, dark, funny and heartfelt fantasy. We read Plant Lady by Minyoung Kang and Shanna Tan (Trans) in August. Can horror and female rage also be a fun, comfort book about raising plants? Yes, it can. And this month we’re sending Fantastic Strangelings a copy of Portrait of a Witch Undone by K.S. Shay, which is a fast-paced read with witches, ghosts, magical realism and art heists.
And if you’re a member of Nightmares from Nowhere Book Club, we read Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez in June. Queer, gothic historical fiction…my favorite. Then we read We Sent Them Down Singing by Libby Edwardson in July. An Appalachian coal town, slow-burn cosmic horror and a cover to die for. In August we read Reliquary by Hannah Whitten. EAT THE BILLIONAIRES. And in September we’re sending you The Need by Megan Mostyn-Brown. Queer horror and cannibalism…yum!
Other books I read and loved in the last 3 months?
The Reimagining of Thornwood House, Green City Wars, Headlights, Lore Olympus 10, The Sane One, Don’t Call It Art, White Rabbit, The Man, The Loom Tree, Fabulous Bodies, How to Grow Up Without Becoming a Grownup, Tapeworm, Exhumed, The Felicity Complex, Everything is Tuberculosis, and I think my favorite three of these bonus books were Fishbone Cinderella, The Devil Knows her Name and The Witches of Cambridge.
Have you read any of these yet? Any tempting you to pick up? Any new books I should read?
Happy reading!
I really liked The Correspondent by Virginia Evans.
I haven’t read these yet, but I’m currently obsessed with Hot Wax by M.L. Rio. The writing is so delicious I purposely read it slowly to draw out the enjoyment like savoring a great whiskey or an amazing dessert.
Just finished The Witches of Cambridge. Very Good!
I liked Everything is Tuberculosis but Reliquary was a little too weird for me.
Want to read Plant Lady and The Dragon has some Complaints.
The next book I’m dying to get my hands on is Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo.
Everything is Tuberculosis and Fabulous Bodies which is an odd combo…
Both were really good.
I’ll look over the rest, the Fantastic Stranglings choices look really good.
Have you read Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham? I think you’d like it. I follow him on Instagram (this one over here). He is great!
Fishbone Cinderella was AMAZING!
2026 Outdoor/Summer Reading
(Last year’s goal was more #Pulitzer Prize and @Booker winners. This year I am concentrating on *local authors. By the start of outdoor reading season, I had read books by 5 local authors.)
The Memorial Hall Murder
Jane Langton*
Notes from a Small Island
Bill Bryson
The Scandalous Hamiltons
Bill Shaffer
The Remembering of Leather & Stone
Charles Paul Collins*
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
Jenny Lawson
The Remarkable Rise of Elizabeth Jumel
Margaret A. Oppenheimer
The Devil’s Arithmetic
Jane Yolen*
Seek the Truth
Dennis Waldman*
The Yellow Wallpaper
and other stories
Charlotte Perkins Gilman*
Mapping the Bones
Jane Yolen*
Washington Square
Henry James*
Salem Witch Judge
Eve LaPlante*
Furiously Happy
Jenny Lawson
The Gathering
Anne Enright @
Hamnet
Maggie O’Farrell @
Broken
(in the best possible way)
Jenny Lawson
James
Percival Everett #
The American Queen
Vanessa Miller
The Night Watchman
Louise Erdich #
Arthur & George
Julian Barnes @
The Color Purple
Alice Walker #
And I am smack in the middle of My Friends by Frederik Backman
Everything is Tuberculous was so interesting.
Right now I’m reading “Get Well Soon” about plagues in history (interesting), and Beth and Amy, a modern day retelling of Little Women (eh)
So I’m kinda sorta jealous of your depression? I wish my depression wouldn’t affect my reading or my love of it. I haven’t read a full book in years (not counting your audiobooks!), most stuff just can’t keep my attention anymore.
I love the variety in the books you listed! I must say “The Dragon Has Some Complaints” caught my attention for that title alone!
(Audiobooks totally count as reading, my friend. And books will always wait for you to come back to. ~ Jenny)
Ugh, I haven’t been able to read in months. Brain 💨
I so appreciate this! I read print books really infrequently but I do tons of audiobooks via Libby! I always check out your book club books, just in an order and pace decided by my library availability 🩷
No need to apologize for being ill, that’s not something you can control. You only deserve praise for showing up whenever you can. <3
I’d suggest The Dragon Lord’s New Bride, the new romantasy from J.B.Tomes. Plenty of spice, but also great character development and real affection between the two main characters. The hero and heroine are true partners, and he’s not always saving her — she saves HIM at times too. Tropes: forbidden magic, arranged marriage, fated mates. (One trope you WON’T see is “enemies to lovers.” Waste of time. 😀 ) I’d love to hear what people think about it (and no, J.B.Tomes is not me. :D).
Don’t Call it Art! So wild, I saw it for the first time and got it out of the library this very day! We are geniuses! And artists! No wait…
My copy of How to be Okay…has arrived!
Love the reading list. I just finished The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. It’s heartbreaking but so good. Next up is her next book, The Birthing Tree.