Books Spotlight: The Routledge Companion to Folk Horror and Folk Horror On Film: The Return of the British Repressed.

The following article is not a review as such to avoid accusation of bias as I (Andy Paciorek) have essays in the books (those being ‘Yesterday’s Memories of Tomorrow: Nostalgia, Hauntology and Folk Horror’ in The Routledge Companion to Folk Horror, and ‘Albion Unearthed: social, political and cultural influences on British Folk Horror, Urban Wyrd and Backwoods Cinema’ in Folk Horror on Film’ –…

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Robert Hoskins (editor) - Infinity Two - Lancer - 1971 (cover art by Jim Steranko)

I’ve been reading this one since September, and I finally finished it. Sometimes I just need to take a break and read something different.

This book is in three parts: before, during, and after the Stonewall Uprising. It was interesting to read first-hand accounts of what was going on leading up to those events, what people were feeling in the moment, and what they had hoped to accomplish in the future. I think it’s important to learn about the struggles of others if we hope to affect any kind of change in the world.

Currently reading

I Am The Master (Doctor Who) - short stories - various authors

Rating: ❤️❤️❤❤❤

Valentine's Day Book Blast

    WELCOME TO THE VALENTINE’S DAY BOOK BLAST!   Click on any of the below book covers to be taken to the page that has more information on the novel as well as the Buy Links!   Before you leave, don’t forget to enter the Giveaway!!!                                     a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Book #75 - How Beautiful The Ordinary - Twelve Stories Of Identity by various authors

[this is a collection of short stories, each written by a different author, edited by Michael Cart. Title is long enough as is, so I wanted to clarify.] (first time read; this anthology of stories about queer experiences is from 2009 and thus made me feel both very young and dumb and very old and dumb at the same time.) Normally I go about anthologies by commenting on every story in turn.... but that's kinda redundant here. I liked all of them, to one degree or another. Loved a few, filed a few others under "eh, not my thing, but still fine", and the rest was just.... good. Fun. Fine. Lovely. Even when I couldn't relate to one aspect of a story, there was always some thing to grasp onto. If not a mirror of my own experience, then a love for the millions and millions of experiences different from mine. Queer is not a monolith. And I love reading books like this, that remind me of it. The harsh but somehow reassuring truth that there is no repliqua, no doppelganger-me out there that understands all of me perfectly and who I 100% relate to in turn. We're just people. In the end. And we're all just a bit different from each other, just a little off from one another, and I don't know why that thought is filling me with an existential peace, but it does. How beautiful the ordinary, indeed. ("A Word From The Nearly Distant Past" by David Levithan will never fail to make me cry, for the rest of my life.)

Comic Book Saturday

I came for Raina Telgemeier (she has one of the fairy tales in here) and stayed for the rest of them. There are 17 different Fairy Tales, from Goldilocks to The Prince and the Tortoise, all done by different cartoonists.

It was so much fun reading both the tales that I already knew, and, new ones as well (weirdly enough I’d never actually read the story of Puss in Boots I think, only seen/read stuff related to it? Bad librarian.) And it looks like Chris Duffy has also edited two other books, Nursery Rhyme Comics and Fable Comics, which sound just as fun!!

You may like this book If you Liked: Brave Red, Smart Frog by Emily Jenkins, Comics Squad, or The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

Fairy Tale Comics by Chris Duffy

Read of May We Be Spared To Meet On Earth by Various Authors (2022) (384pgs)

Currently Reading...

The Winter Spirits - various authors

Two years ago The Haunting Season was the first Waterstones special edition I bought, and the first book I owned with stencilled edges! I was just starting to discover books as collector's items, rather than just for reading, and in the two years since, my collection has grown to an unreasonable size.

So when this follow-up book was announced, of course I was going to order the matching special edition! This one has a lot of the same authors as the first, but it also has some new authors too, including Susan Stokes-Chapman. Honestly, I'd have bought the book just to read her story!

I did try my best, while reading these short stories, not to look at the author until I'd read each story, so my expectations weren't influenced by anything I'd read by the author before.

Host - Kiran Millwood Hargrave In the last book, I called this author's contribution "pleasant but unimaginative". This year's was a laborious read. It cut off too early, with no real resolution.

Inferno - Laura Shepherd-Robinson This author wasn't included in the last book, and I haven't read any of her other work. This was a good story, but incredibly predictable. It was a little heavy-handed, and probably would have done better if the plot had been more drawn out in a longer story.

The Old Play - Andrew Michael Hurley I liked this one - the plot was very obvious, but it was suitably suspenseful, and it ended in the right place. The was a nice surprise, as in the previous book, this author's story was one of my least favourite.

A Double Thread - Imogen Hermes Gower This one was an interesting read, because the characterisation was great, but again, the ending was very predictable, and felt rushed. This was what I was expecting, based on the author's story in the last book.

The Salt Miracles - Natasha Pulley This was one of my favourites - a great, creepy, religious story, which I was anxious to finish. And it ended brilliantly! In the last book, this author's story was also one of my favourites!

Banished - Elizabeth Macneal This was an okay read, it was quite nicely written. But there were no revelations or surprises, it was very obvious. Strangely, last year's story was really gripping!

The Gargoyle - Bridget Collins This one was weirdly nice?! It has an ending which could have suggested something sinister in the future, but is more likely just a nice, happy ending to a misunderstood monster. That's the ending I'm choosing to believe. I liked this one, which is interesting, because I didn't like the last book's story at all!

The Master of the House - Stuart Turton This is another new author. I wasn't expecting this one to make me cry! In fairness, I was already emotional. This one did start to trail off in the middle, but picked back up, and had a strong ending.

Ada Lark - Jess Kidd This was a lovely story! A nice friendly ghost, and a welcome break from the mostly sinister stories. I loved the way this one was written, and the author's contribution to the last book was also one of my favourites.

Jenkin - Catriona Ward Another new author. This was one of my least favourite stories. It was a really childish, fairytale-type concept. The ending was uninspired.

Widow's Walk - Susan Stokes-Chapman Another new author for this year, but an author I've read (and absolutely loved) before. This story was definitely one of my favourites. There were no hidden twists, but it was beautifully written and definitely creepy!

Carol of the Bells and Chains - Laura Purcell This one seemed fairly good while I was reading it, but actually was much less interesting on reflection. I would have expected more, as I loved the author's previous contribution, and have read one of her novels, which was brilliant.

Various Authors - From The President's council on physical fitness: Official exercise plan for women - Parallax Publishing and Pocket Library - 1966

NEW RELEASE: RESOLVE A New Year's Anthology for Choice

NEW RELEASE: RESOLVE A New Year’s Anthology for Choice

NOW LIVE! Resolve: A New Year’s Anthology for Choice is available now & only 99c! What’s your New Year’s resolution? Eleven of today’s most entertaining contemporary romance authors have teamed up to support reproductive choice in the new year. This anthology features feel-good fiction that’s heartwarming, often hilarious, and hot enough to light your sparklers. So raise a cup of kindness to the…

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WWW Wednesday---October 26th, 2022

WWW Wednesday—October 26th, 2022

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading?What did you recently finish reading?What do you think you’ll read next? Personal: Thursday—nothing too spectacular happened. I did get a review written (Steel Fear) and continued my knocking out of my TBR list. Miss R also had an appointment in the morning. Friday—No…

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Murder in a Heatwave (short stories) - various authors

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤