Welcome to Litsy!

I enjoyed this novel set in Kentucky and written by a Kentucky author. It was refreshing to relate to the unique features of Kentucky, such as its flowers, limestone, hollars, and sinkholes. It‘s a tale that delves into the complexities of difficult emotions, particularly those stemming from loss. I had an unfortunate problem with my copy though - a major oversight by the publisher.

Full Review abookandadog.com/blog/starling-house

Shirley Jackson does creepy so so well.

Also, my goal of having fewer than 100 books on my TBR by the end of the year is in danger because of book purchasing. *sigh*

Super unsettling and actually difficult to listen to in parts (this was an audiobook with excellent narration). The characters behave in ways that are so reprehensible I actually yelled in anger, but nothing in the story is what it seems at first—it‘s not cheap tricks though, just layers being peeled back. I could guess the mystery but that didn‘t make the story any less engrossing.

This was excellent! Not ultimately super scary, but such a great exploration of toxic family dynamics!

A little late but here's May. The 4th book was Ghost Wall (2.5 stars).

@Blueberry

A dark love story, set in a haunted house.
Enjoyed it for a “change” of genre 😂

The kind of horror I can cope with! This was at times just a bit bonkers but I actually really enjoyed the story of the adult siblings regrouping to sell their parents house and unearthing generational trauma along the way. A blame it on Litsy from when it was first published I finally picked up on my indie bookshop crawl at the end of last year

A slow-build Gothic novel that took me in a direction I wasn‘t expecting it to go in.

Book 45/60, Page 15,094/18,000 #read2025 @DieAReader

May wrap courtesy of StoryGraph. This was definitely a heavy essay/memoir month, but I managed to get some fiction in as well. Diavola stands out as one of the best horror books I've read in a while, and it was my only 5⭐ read of the month.

There aren‘t many surprises in this ghost story. Pretty early on, we know what happened in the past, and how it has affected a family‘s lives whose ancestors committed unspeakable crimes. In Ms Sandeen‘s capable hands, I didn‘t care; she writes so well, and creates such deep characters!

With her Chicago life in ruins, Jermaine Barker accepts job offer from the Duchovny family that seems too good to be true and of course it is — breaking a curse.