#haikuaday years ago a Litten named Tobey called out for haikus for Halloween/autumn. It was so fun. I‘m in for the rest of this month. It‘s been so much fun reading the ones written this month so far.

A book about a man who is struggling with the guilt that 30 years ago he was camping with his best friend in his backyard, he wakes up and finds the best friend is gone. What a snooze fest. So repetitive. If I took a shot for every time I read I woke up and there was a slash on the tent and Billy was gone in the first 100 pages I‘d be dead from alcohol poisoning. Also, in horror movies there‘s that scary sound at the window during the storm 👇🏼

This takes place 7 years after The Announcement. Human beings were told that we are living in a simulation. A group of people board a bus for a tour of The Impossible Wonders from the Canterbury Trails company. The Impossible Wonders are testaments to the fact that the simulation is not a lie. They are contrary to the laws of physics. Gregory is such a skilled writer. His characters really shine. There was a moment when it felt like there👇🏼

Litsy, I went to the library today because I don‘t have enough neglected books I own staring me down at my place. Excited to see a new Gregory I went to self checkout where it says the book is on hold please see front desk. I took it there where the lady says yes it is on hold, where I let out a playful,”booo.” But then she says we have this finders keepers rule here, I‘ll check it out to you. The Good Samaritan in me was about to say no, no, 👇🏼

Driving to see his sick Bubbe, Abe stops at this middle of nowhere Rest Stop in the middle of the night where nothing is right. Cassidy writes one of my favorite things. When a character is in a high pressure situation, those closest to them start talking to them subconsciously. In this case, it‘s his horrible Bubbe and his golden retriever bandmate Ty. There‘s creepy crawlies, a killer, some Yiddish, and a surprisingly poignant moment. Pick!

Reading these stories made me think of something someone like Quentin Tarantino sprinkled with Rob Zombie would have written. But that would be unfair to this female author. Most violence that happens in the world happens to women so why wouldn‘t she be able to write this? It is raw, gritty. She doesn‘t flinch when telling these stories. It was me who flinched. 13 loosely related short stories, told by different women from Mexico discussing 👇🏼

I loved this book. Annie is in an IKEA when an earthquake in the Pacific Northwest strikes. She‘s 37 weeks pregnant, miserably pregnant, and we follow her on her journey to find a loved one and home. This is broken up by chapters depicting her life leading up to this day. The whole time, she‘s talking to Bean, her unborn baby. This book was a rollercoaster of emotion for me. I was horrified, I laughed, cause Annie is funny, and I cried. Pick!👇🏼

What a book of horror. I‘m not a parent but sometimes I wonder how ya‘ll let your children out into the world. We follow Vanessa in alternating timelines. In 2017 set against the #MeToo movement where she‘s following all the allegations against a former high school English teacher. In 2000 where she‘s 15 and enters a sexual relationship with that teacher. In 2017 she‘s barely coming to realize that she herself was a victim. This was sad and 👇🏼

So my normal bookclub which took place yesterday had to read a Kate Atkinson. I just feel she‘s way above me. We read another book by her and I didn‘t know how to feel. A guy next to me might as well have given his doctoral thesis on it and I just sat there thinking-am I stupid? So instead of reading another Atkinson I went with this book for a mashed up horror scifi group. I didn‘t care for it or the bookclub. The grass isn‘t always greener 👇🏼

If this book was a color it would be a periwinkle or cornflower. The blue that hasn‘t seen the sun yet but has just risen from complete darkness. Sal and Charo are living in NYC, the year, 1999. They‘re friends from the Dominican Republic. And they are lost in life. Sal lives in fear given to him from a tragedy on the island. Charo is in a relationship that‘s starting to feel like a prison. The writing was good. I just wanted more in the end. Pick

I loved this so much,Litsy! 36 six tales of terror written by the same 4 authors pertaining to certain subjects like Cake, Love, Luck, Flowers, Song. Sounds like a charm bracelet right? But no, these are scary, disturbing, well written. I was surprised by how many of them had strong voice, or to encounter a paragraph describing the nature of something and nodding along to it. There was the one about the whalers finding the live boy in the 👇🏼

On my way to Albuquerque, I was listening to Books in the Freezer podcast where one of the guests was saying that her cozy horror pick for her chilling obsession was reading this book. That the first story was about a village who on the 2nd Tuesday of every February spends its day baking cakes for this swarm of fairies that come and eat them. Well this year the supply truck doesn‘t come and the fairy swarm comes and kills, KILLS, all the 👇🏼

This is a haunted house novella translated from Spanish. This house has been inhabited by 4 generations of women some of who are witches. A granddaughter returns home after spending time in jail after being accused of kidnapping the boy she nannies. This is intergenerational trauma, domestic violence, class warfare. I kept thinking of that Mean Girl‘s quote-I don‘t hate you cause you‘re fat, you‘re fat because I hate you. But instead it‘s- 👇🏼

Um, okay, awesome, haunted house book, first paragraph, come through!!!!!

This was so much fun. Jane and Dan won a raffle to eat at an ultra posh restaurant to celebrate their 19th-maybe 20th wedding anniversary. Jane is a failed novelist who finds herself dissatisfied with life and a soon as she mentions she wants a divorce to Dan, that‘s when the ecoterrorists (eco activists depending on who you ask) show up shoving a gun in Dan‘s face. Can they survive the night? So funny and oddly touching. Oakley does this neat👇🏼

Had the laundromat all to myself. It was nice. Almost done with the book. It‘s been a lot of fun. Happy reading Littens.

This was a well written but hard to read book. I love that the author has her nameless MC say she always wanted to write a book length poem and the book is written in these stanzas that effectively reflect a moment, an idea, but also move the book forward. The MC recounts her 14yr plus relationship with John. And you are right there, living the abuse, almost none of it physical, with the wife. I felt awful. It made me think of friends I‘ve 👇🏼

I‘m halfway through this book and I don‘t know if I can finish it. Has anybody listed to the John Delony Show? I listen because I think as a reader I‘m drawn to the drama but just like this book he has women who call in and ask-I found out my husband was sexting 9 other women and he doesn‘t think it‘s cheating, but we‘ve compromised so that he‘s only sexting 3 now-what should I do? Another woman-My 10yo daughter came home from a play date 👇🏼

There is no joy in this book. There almost feels like there is no through line. It felt like the author had 12 incredible character driven short stories and someone said let‘s put them together and make a book. Despite all this, it was great. We meet Hattie in the 1920s after she‘s left the South for the North. The first chapter, her chapter, is incredibly tragic. The other stories belong to her children all on the bad side of a crossroads. Pick!

This was a tough read. Iris and August meet in a bar on the night before he plays in the NCAA championships. There‘s a spark but she has a bf, Caleb who also is playing the next day on the opposite team. Iris stays with Caleb and we follow her descent into hell as she gets babytrapped, financially, emotionally, and physically abused. She manages to escape, heal herself and makes her way back to August. Kennedy is a great writer who can go 👇🏼

I loved this. Holden is about to surprise his bf of 4yrs with tickets to LA for a chance to compete on Madcap Market, a game show Holden and his mother used to watch religiously until she passed away from cancer. However, his bf breaks up with him and he goes to LA wondering where he‘ll find a partner. Enter Leo Min. They agree to pretend to be together to get on the show. This was steamy (for reals if you‘re not into gay sex sit this one out)👇🏼

Mmnnnnnyghuhh, I did not like the MC, Amerie, (Why don‘t we why don‘t we fall in loooove🎶) but had to remind myself we are meeting her not in a normal period of her life but when she‘s in crisis. Her mom has health issues, her bf dropped her because she spent too much time with her mom, and then her job fired her. Anddddd she gets a notice saying her rent is going up 30%. Then she meets astronaut Vincent at a coffee shop and fake relationship👇🏼

I just wanna say I read 5 books of Abby Jimenez since Valentine‘s Day and she is what I needed. Yes, romance has a formula but for me not to get bored of her after 5 books really says something. I coulda picked up another of hers but it doesn‘t get published until April. She writes quirky, original characters, they have great banter. She writes about tough topics. I cried a lot, laughed a lot, felt my heart get full. Thanks Abby. See you in April.

Justin puts out a Reddit post saying he is cursed being the guy who girls date before finding THE ONE. Emma reads and it and responds saying she is also cursed with guys dating her right before they find THE ONE. They decide to date to see if they can break the curse. They fall in love but this book got a little heavy that I forgot I was reading romance because they both have heavy family issues. This book squeezed my heart so hard. Pick!

It‘s 5%enemies to lovers and 95% fake dating and 100% my favorite book of Abby‘s so far. Only Just For the Summer left. Bri is a firecracker of a woman who is approaching divorce day from her cheating husband. Jacob is trying to find a date for the wedding of his brother who is marrying Jacob‘s ex, you know, so it won‘t be awkward. I laughed so hard but just like in her other books there were hits to the heart. What Abby excels at is those👇🏼

I finished this 2 days ago. Popular influencer, Vanessa, has a crying baby left by her sister who has problems with addiction. Enter next door hottie lawyer, Adrian who needs some sleep who doesn‘t know it yet but his gf Rachel is about to reveal to him she‘s married, helps Vanessa with baby Grace. They become friends and more. Vanessa had a tough family hand dealt to her and she handles it with grace, not the baby, but actual grace. lol, pick!

This was Dr.City Mouse who was conditioned to accept the emotional abuse of her now soon to be cheating ex by watching her parents, is coming back from a funeral back to her big city but swerves to miss a raccoon and gets stuck when Mr. Country Mouse pulls her out and introduces her to the life of his small town that has a big heart. All the love she‘s been missing hanging out with people who have money. This was lovely. Another Jimenez hit. Pick!

This was the most horrific book I‘ve read in a while. The first 100 pages just details this super hurricane that obliterates this family living in a podunk town in Florida. A woman gives birth during that hurricane and names the baby after the hurricane, Wanda. My stomach was in my throat those 100 pages. We follow Wanda as she grows up and learns to survive a Florida who has run out of time due to climate change. This book was full of love 👇🏼

My gosh I loved this so much. 2 years after his death, Sloan is still beholden to the grief of losing her fiancé in a motorcycle accident. Until she finds a dog who leads her to his owner, Jason, who is better known as Jackson a bearded, budding rockstar. This was so good. Jimenez is a rockstar at banter, at romance, and at making me sob through the penultimate moment before the HEA when u think it‘s not gonna work out but it does. Pick!

The guy on the left, Zachary Webber, narrates Jason in the tagged book. The other MC, Sloan, Jason‘s love interest is narrated by a woman. They do their own alternating chapters. There is a lot of banter but when they do their own chapters they also voice the love interest. Like Zachary will voice Sloan and when he does it‘s soooooo cute cause it reminds me of Fred Armisen‘s crazy character from SNL, Regine. Hilarious.

I liked this. A female rage story. Nicole and Steve Warby move back to his hometown and join the Lilian Church. When Nicole asks to be on the church council which has only be filled by men, it starts off this chasm of centuries retribution of what the men, especially the priest, call the witch of the woods surrounding the church. This was how everyone needs a villain, I‘m just always shocked when men choose women to be theirs. This was great.

I read this for bookclub this upcoming Friday. A brother and sister grow up in this mansion called The Dutch House and are thrown out of it when their dad dies and their stepmother takes over. I will admit for a minute I thought it was boring. But it got great. Patchett really knows how to write the minutiae between family members that endears them to you. Also, sometimes we think it‘s the place that matters but really it‘s the people. Pick!

@Jas16 😭😭😭Thanks so much for sending this to me. We follow this boy‘s coming of age set in a neighborhood outside Madrid. Growing up he realizes that he‘s a she. With the help of his community and some very colorful women, the she inside of him realizes her full potential. There is a lot of hurt in this book. The internal prison she keeps herself in because of shame and fear of losing family but also her physical safety was hard to read. Pick!

First off much respect to Anne Rice. While most of us think we could write a book, she wrote not only one but several. She gave up Catholicism in support of her son who was gay. One of her books, Cry to Heaven, gave me a huge inkling I might be gay. However, I read Interview back in 9th grade and thought it was boring. I‘m rereading it again for a bookclub next week and man those feelings came back. Her writing is a heaping helping 👇🏼

CJ Leeds went on The Books in the Freezer podcast and said that most of women‘s horror is basically reducing the woman to just being a vessel for childbirth. And there was a neon sign of her statement in here. But Grady Hendrix does such a great job of humanizing these young girls who are basically shunned and dropped off at a home for pregnant girls in the late 1960s. It‘s very readable, it‘s light on the witchcraft for me but I didn‘t care.👇🏼

Litsy, there are times I eat with family and for the 1 1/2 hrs I am with them it‘s pure torture, so I can only imagine what 9 days in a Tuscan villa with 6 dysfunctional family members feels like for Anna. A nagging mother who wants stuff to happen so she can be a mother. An emotionally absent brick wall of a dad. A clingy twin who can‘t take responsibility for his choices. A sister so insecure, who just comes off so hateful and jealous. 👇🏼

OMG IT‘S HERE!!!!!!‘ Alas, I will have to start you tomorrow BUT you‘re here and that‘s all that matters. 🖤🖤🖤

Lol, the amount of times I shouted what?!!!! Or what are you doing?!!!! astounded me. Jane is on sabbatical, living with her husband and 2 kids in a house loaned to them by a friend. She‘s finishing her second book so hopefully she can tenure and nothing will go right. She‘s mulatto and keenly observant on all things mulatto and race. Sometimes being so fixated on one thing doesn‘t allow you to see where the betrayal comes from. Oof. Big oof. 👇🏼

This book kinda hit deep for this gay country mouse. Mimosa is a GN about 4 very super queer people dealing with different issues as they‘re in their 30s. Which in queer world means they feel like they have also become invisible. The thing that hurt the most was seeing a 5 page montage of their friendship as it has grown only for them to grow in different directions realizing that their friendships no longer served them. Which, is sometimes 👇🏼

After reading Woman on the Train and thanking the universe I wasn‘t an alcoholic, I said it was good but that was enough Hawkins for me. Well my bookclub had other ideas. Tomorrow I‘ll be my 13th meeting with them. So there is a river that runs through this town. It starts off with a woman‘s body being found in the river that everyone wants to just say it was suicide. But it‘s not. All the characters in here are somewhat unlikable and messy👇🏼

This GN is about 4 women scientists in cryochambers on a ship headed towards a volatile planet in search of a plant that could cure many diseases back home. Their ship gets hit by an asteroid and they crash land on to the planet. One survives and leaves the other alive scientist for dead because she can‘t open the chamber. Later on her guidance system lets her know the other woman is alive. It turns into a fight to the death because their 👇🏼

I liked this so much. 3 siblings reunite after the death of their parents in the home they grew up in. The home they all believe is haunted. This is about how as adults we can be haunted by the trauma we experience as kids from haunted houses, from parents, from racism. There was a lot in here and it ends up being darkly brilliant. The writing is strange. Sentences will start out lovely but will end jarringly. It disorients you. Pick!

Tom Lake and Unsheltered take my top spots for the year. Books about people ending up nowhere they thought they‘d be written in the loveliest of languages coloring scenes that talk to me months later. The Haar- elderly, gory horror, romance? I loved this book so much. AnnieBot-AI sentience and dysfunctional, abusive relationships-infuriating but give me all of it. Eyes are the Best Part- a daughter finding out she has a starting obsession 👇🏼

Shoutout to the new Barnes and Nobles in Santa Fe who didn‘t have the one book I wanted (isn‘t that always the way) so I came home with this. I really liked this collection of short stories who reminded me of Nathaniel Balingrud‘s short stories. The monsters aren‘t the horror, it‘s the people going through some of the toughest days of their lives. There are some, though, that made me so angry because he would take a character to the edge 👇🏼

This was for bookclub where none of us cared for it. It gets a meh for me because there was a part where there was potential if she had rewritten the book. Is that a meh, Litsy? Idk. There was a man whose whole thoughts on the book were-This is an insult to our group. It‘s an insult to readers everywhere. I wanted to give him a hug. lol Because the book was so bad we went off topic and had some great discussion. Here‘s hoping for a better book!

@sprainedbrain Jenni thanks for posting about this one. It‘s easily gonna be in my top10 this year. Gene is is a trans man on a triple A baseball team when someone from his past shows up and shakes up his season. This was lovely. When the world thinks less of you how do you exist? Are you allowed to hope for something? Are you allowed to want something for yourself? I cried quite a few times on this. This is trans joy at its best. Pick!

Call it the leftover internalized homophobia but I wanted to scream at this pansy pollyanna to get it together. We follow Domenic as he is put into some really hard places during the bachelor and bachelorette parties of his 2 straight friends getting married. 2 words of advice. 1. You can just extricate yourself from your straight friends when they act crazy. 2. Alcohol is not your friend when you have secrets to keep. This book was a hot mess👇🏼

I liked this book so much. It‘s a romance that drags you through the hard stuff. Two divorced men, one from a man and one from a woman are now engaged and are taking part in a tradition known as the early moon. It‘s the trip you take together to enjoy time to yourself before the craziness of getting ready for the wedding. But for these two men nothing will go right. Listening to it on audio in the car I couldn‘t see some of the road cause I 👇🏼