I Have Some Thoughts

Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
I honestly think that's the best way to approach this pandemic.
I think we all need to keep both the hoping and the planning in healthy balance.

To those of you who erred on the side of hoping for the best:
I am very sorry if you're struggling to find supplies like toilet paper, diapers, and specific grocery items, but it doesn't help you or anyone else to go online and call all the people who stocked up irrational, panicked, and stupid--even if you're right, which, in a great many cases, you are not.

Once upon a time I took for granted that I could run to the store at any time for whatever I needed, and then I ran out of toilet paper in a snowstorm and had to shovel my driveway and then proceed to slip and slide on unsafe roads all the way to the grocery store, all while needing to pee.
I have not made that mistake since.

That to say: stocking up on supplies, whenever you are able to, is a good practice even on sunny days with smooth roads ahead. You never know when a bad storm or a virus or some other large or small disaster will keep you from getting what you need and want. I don't think it's ever a good idea to take your access to goods and services for granted. I know that might not be helpful to hear right now, but it's something to keep in mind. 

People who stocked up for impending crisis and possible quarantine are not stupid. Some went a bit overboard in their anxiety, but even they aren't stupid. Just human. 

And I think a lot of us planner-aheaders are willing to share our excesses if people would stop bashing us online long enough to ask for help. Right now, I think a lot of people who are willing to share are afraid to admit we have some excess because of the unkindness from our friends and family in our social media feeds every day.

Speaking of friends and family, I know you may not be concerned for yourself, but please be kind to those who are. The at-risk population: the elderly, the already-sick -- they're not expendable.

I have seen so much "Only the old people are dying, so I don't care," rhetoric that I want to be sick. 

I hope you wouldn't walk into your grandparents' house with the flu.
I hope you wouldn't come to work with a fever.
I hope you wash your hands multiple times a day every day of your life.

What's being asked of you, in the face of this highly infectious virus that's, to some unknown degree, more severe than the flu, is that you extend to the grandparents of strangers the same courtesy I imagine you'd extend to your own elderly loved ones. Right now, that means social distancing, and I know that's both an emotional and monetary hardship for a lot of people, but it's not forever. We might never know exactly how many lives we saved by taking these measures, but we will know exactly how many we didn't. 

Please leave your attitude at the door. Please recognize that there are very valid human fears involved in all of this. Please ask yourself whether you're healthfully hoping for the best, or just channeling your own valid fear into denial. And please, please ask for help if you need it. 

To those of you who erred on the side of planning for the worst:
I don't have too much to share with you that you don't already know. You know your anxieties are running too high. You know some of your actions could be hurting other people. You know you have more toilet paper than you can use this month. I submit to you that looking for ways to bless others with your preparedness will help you as well as them. I truly think it will bring you joy and loosen the tightness in your chest. 

If you're currently working from home and still getting paid, please consider setting aside the money you would have been spending on gas and coffee and take-out and all those events that were canceled, and sharing it with those who are out of work, not getting paid, and not sure how they're going to make rent this month. Think too of the single parents and the small businesses, tenants living on your properties, and those struggling with depression in isolation.
Please let your mind dwell on opportunities for compassion rather than fear, for your own sake as much as anyone else's.

I guess what I'm trying to say, to everyone, is let's be kind to each other. Let's help each other, get through this together, and learn as much as we can from this season.








Coming soon on my blog: Book Recommendations for Isolation.

That Time You Made Me Read Your Favorites

                     
If you're wondering what happened to my last blog post, the one you undoubtedly meant to go back and read over and over, I accidentally deleted it, and even after doing much internet research about how to get it back, I could not. Sad.

Moving on.

Back in October, many moons ago, I asked my friends on Facebook to tell me your favorite books, to nominate them in comments, and then to let the likes determine which were the top five favorites of my friend pool.

Make sense?

Probably not. Here's the post from October 4th:

"This is Your Chance to MAKE me read your favorite book!!! But wait, there’s RULES.
The Rules For Me: I must pick five titles from your recommendations and read them all in the month of November. I must take into account the number of times a book is recommended as well as the number of likes on each recommendation. I will then talk about each of these books in a blog post and shout out the recommender.
The Rules For You: Recommendations Must be Fiction, under 600 pages, and Must be something you LOVED and think I will love as well. Must not be part of a Massive Series that I will then take 12 years to complete. "

I then waited a month, selected the winners with only a Very Little Bias (I counted my own likes toward the winners, Sue me), and posted this:

"I'm here to announce the winners of the Make Abby Read Books in November Challenge otherwise known as Reading by Coercion. These titles were the nominations that received the most likes and seconds on my original post. They are as follows:

1) The Indiscretions of Archie by PG Wodehouse, recommended by Philip Bunn

2) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, recommended by Christopher Hamilton

3) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, recommended by Danielle Hines

4) A Pilgrim's Regress by C.S. Lewis, recommended by Rodney Dowty

5) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, recommended by R.e. Stinnette

Thank you so much for these recommendations! I have committed to read these titles this month, and putting out a blog post with my thoughts whenever I finish."

AHA! You Say. IT IS JANUARY. YOU PROMISED. YOU DIDN'T DO IT. BAD YOU.

False. No. I only broke 25% of my promise. I did, in fact, read every single one of these books during the month of November, and not a day later. I am, in fact, giving you a blog post about it. It's just late, a fact which Christopher Hamilton so graciously reminded me.

Not that I forgot. I would never. But I have to admit, telling anyone what I think of their very favorite books is SCARY STUFF, PEOPLE. I have been for sure procrastinating. For sure.

Not that any of the books were bad. They weren't. And most were blessedly short, so that was nice too.

*Deep Breath* Here we go.

To The Indiscretions of Archie by PG Wodehouse, I gave five out of five stars.

This was my first taste of Wodehouse, and while his voice and style are not what I would normally reach for, I had Such a grand time with this book. I loved to hate Archie. I loved to watch him fumble, and, err, and act selfishly, and ultimately end up successful, loved, and a blessing to others despite himself. This book is ultimately, I think, about the Common Grace God gives all of us: that stuff that mitigates some of our flubs, and adds beauty and hilarity back into the world despite us.

To A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, I gave four out of five stars, and for this I am ashamed. The whole way through this post-apocalyptic story about an order of monks, this commentary on post-modernism, etc. I couldn't help but think I'd enjoy it so much more if I got it. Mostly I just wanted Dr. Mitchell or maybe Dr. Grewell there explaining the whole thing to me. My lack of enjoyment translated to my own lack of philosophical versedness. And I truly didn't Dislike it. I had a good time watching about 25% go over my head. If I hadn't seen what was going over my head, I probably would have rated this a three. Solid like.

To The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, I gave five stars. I was pleasantly surprised since I didn't particularly love The Graveyard Book, which I read earlier in the year. This book is a lightly-fantastical story about a man returning to his childhood home and all the memories that come rushing back like the tide from the ocean that probably might not exist in real life at the end of his lane. Or maybe it does. Maybe it's in that bucket by the porch. Anyways. I didn't love it in that 100% way so many of my friends do, but I did think it was sad and sweet and captured so much about childhood and its magic and the way we forget it. Would recommend. Would reread. Likely to love more in a couple years.

To A Pilgrim's Regress by C. S. Lewis I gave five out of five stars, but only because he takes the opportunity in the afterward (or the forward, one of the wards at any rate) to acknowledge and comment on the weaknesses in his story. I thought that was just So self aware and so Lewis and I loved it for everything that it was: a very young man's personal reaction to A Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan and the resulting unapologetic fanfiction. This was the very first book he wrote after his conversion, and as such, I loved it. I also loved it because like Lewis, I Did Not love A Pilgrim's Progress, and I love that we have that in common. I will say, for this book to really make sense, I would recommend reading both A Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, and Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis (his autobiographical conversion story) first. I do not think I would have enjoyed this without that context.

And finally, to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, I gave five out of five stars.

I really loved this just as I have loved everything by every Bronte except Villette by Charlotte. I did not love Villette. I thought it read like a first, first draft of Jane Eyre. But anyway. Wildfell Hall was the one book of these five that was long, but I did not mind at all. It's about a woman who, in the Victorian Era, had the nerve to leave her wicked husband and hide in the country where rumors and unwelcome romance follow her. I was hooked on every word. All the intrigue. All the assumptions. All the scandal. Eek! So good.

And that is all. Thank you all so much if you nominated a book or voted or sat silently creeping in the corner. This was fun, and I would do it again 10/10.

What about you? Have you let friends force-feed you their favorites? How did that go? Leave a comment below, and tell me all about it.

Why I've Been Gone So Long

                         

I haven't posted since the fifth of November: Guy Fawkes Day, for those of you who know or care about British Holidays. Stay tuned for my Boxing Day Post! (Joke. Probably.)

Why have I been gone so long? I'm so glad you asked, because I have some fantastic excuses!

As I write said excuses, I am watching The Knight Before Christmas with Vanessa Hughens on Netflix. Here's a preview if you're interested, and I'll put a mini review at the end of this post.

Excuse Number One November was NaNoWriMo, the month in which I wrote 50,191 very rough words on two different story projects. So I was a little bit busy, and by the time I got done writing 2,000ish words a day, I had No Desire to blog, even though I had a whole string of fun seasonal posts planned. I'll just have to condense some of that content here. When I'm done making excuses.

Excuse Number Two I started a new job! After a good year and a half at Carefree Kitchens, I was offered the position of Development Associate at Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit organization that ministers to post-combat veterans and their families, healing the wounds of war. And can I just say, it's an honor.  I went from a job that paid the bills to some of the most meaningful work I've ever done. But it's been an exhausting emotional adjustment learning a new job and building relationships with new people. I hate change. I hate it so much. Even when it's obviously a really, really great change. I started the second day of December, and until today, I haven't had the leftover bandwidth to write anything. But as you can see, it's getting better.

Excuse Number Three I'm in a play! I've mentioned this before, but as show dates approach, more and more of my time and energy has gone into rehearsals and such. If you're interested in seeing me play a country wench in a love triangle in William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost sometime between January 16th and January 19th, you can get tickets here. Early bird pricing holds through the day after Christmas! *Shameless Plug*

ALRIGHT ENOUGH EXCUSES


                       

I was going to do a post where I complained about how I can't enjoy Pumpkin Spice Lattes without being called Basic (which I really hate). I was going to do a little rant about how horrible it is that humans can't seem to just let each other enjoy the little, simple, and silly things in life without putting down each other's tastes. Why is it so fun to be a hater? Let me know what you think in the comments.

I was going to combine my Pumpkin Spice Rant with my thoughts on the Appropriate Time to Begin Listening to Christmas Music debate, but then my thoughts and theories on that developed so far beyond the Pumpkin Spice Rant realm, that I decided to do a whole separate post on that and just scrap the Pumpkin Spice thing altogether. Stay Tuned.

MOVING ON for now to the Christmas books I've read so far this season:

                  

                               

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
Four Stars
When Sophie goes through a breakup just before Christmas, her big Italian family gathers around her and conspires to lift her spirits. They wrap her up in closeness and love and get her to agree to ten blind dates. I thought this book was adorable, funny, warm, and sweet. It's not crazy-deep, but it's exactly the light, aggressively Christmas thing I want this time of year.

Chasing Christmas Eve by Jill Shalvis
Two Stars
This is a novel about a runaway author and a rich California guy. For a book with Christmas in the title, this was the least Christmas-y Christmas book I've ever read. It happens to be a romance set around Christmas time. That's it. There are zero Christmas vibes. Zero. I could have forgiven that if the romance had been any good, but it really wasn't. I gave it two stars instead of one because I liked a few parts, and there was a cute dog.

Greenglass House by Kate Milford
Four Stars
I really liked this book. It's a middle-grade novel about adoption from the child's perspective, ghosts, role-playing games, smuggling, mystery, and magic. The whole aesthetic was unique and fascinating. This was a high four stars for me. I couldn't quite give it five, but it's right up there. I love a good children's book at Christmas time!

One Day in December by Josie Silver
Four Stars
Another Christmas romance novel, but this one had so much more depth and emotion and raw life to it. It's a star-crossed love story spanning ten years and a host of good, bad, and grey relational choices. Some parts made me laugh, some made me cry. It's heartfelt all around, thought-provoking, and troubling in places. Takeaway: love in real life can be as ugly as it is beautiful.

Entwined by Heather Dixon
Five Stars
A familial love-filled, mildly-allegorical retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I read this for the first time four years ago, and reread it again this November. It spans one year of enforced castle mourning from Christmas to Christmas and the exploits of twelve girls, who only want to dance, and have no idea what sort of magic they're getting mixed up in, as well as a sad father who'll do anything to keep them safe. Highly Recommend.

And the ones I'm currently reading:

                 

Because I haven't completed these yet, I can't give them ratings, but I can tell you that all three are perfectly lovely so far.

Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
Three novellas about three pairs of high school kids whose story threads weave together, or so I hear. It just got a Netflix adaptation, which I'm excited to watch the minute I'm done reading.

Frostheart by Jamie Littler
I've barely started this, but it's been getting just a ton of love in the bookish community, and the illustrations are adorable. It's about a little orphan boy with a big heart and a magical ability that frightens his snowy, little village. Also snow leviathans and a stoic yeti. Yes, please.

My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins
I'm about halfway through this collection of short stories that cover everything from Christmas to Yule to New Years. I've been impressed with the depth of each tale and the quality of the themes being discussed. So far, highly recommend.

Alright, that's *nearly* all for now, although I did promise to give a little review of The Knight Before Christmas.
                      
I'm going to judge this on the Christmas movie scale, not the movie movie scale, because on the movie movie scale it was like a two and a half out of five stars, but on the Christmas movie scale it was a four and a half. Cute. Made me smile and laugh. All the Christmas vibes. Includes accidental time travel and a knight trying to learn how to talk to Alexa. Golden.

What are your favorite Christmas books and movies? Are you a Hallmark person? Have any holiday pet peeves? Leave a comment below, and thanks for reading!

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

                  

                   "The Fifth of November" English Folk Verse (c.1870)
                                                              (Found here)

    Remember, remember!
    The fifth of November,
    The Gunpowder treason and plot;
    I know of no reason
    Why the Gunpowder treason
    Should ever be forgot!
    Guy Fawkes and his companions
    Did the scheme contrive,
    To blow the King and Parliament
    All up alive.
    Threescore barrels, laid below,
    To prove old England's overthrow.
    But, by God's providence, him they catch,
    With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
    A stick and a stake
    For King James's sake!
    If you won't give me one,
    I'll take two,
    The better for me,
    And the worse for you.
    A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
    A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,
    A pint of beer to wash it down,
    And a jolly good fire to burn him.
    Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
    Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
    Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

^Poem says it all, right? Or do I need to explain myself?

                   

Explain myself, it is.

Ever seen V for Vendetta? That's a movie (obviously) that mined its plot from the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 (PLOT, see what I did there?). The Gunpowder Plot was an anarchist/Roman Catholic conspiracy to blow up the Protestant government of the time, which included King James I, his wife and son, and all of Parliament. However, Guy Fawkes, one of the plot's members, was caught by the gunpowder stockpile, allegedly with a match in his hand, and what would have been one of the most devastating terrorist attacks of all time was averted. Imagine how the USA would celebrate 9/11 had we stopped it before it happened...

                     

Remember, remember the 5th of November.

That's why the United Kingdom celebrates Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes Night, on this day every year. To the British, this holiday is as significant as July 4th is to Americans, with some of the resonance of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 thrown in. Festivities include fireworks, bonfires, iconic Guy Fawkes masks, and the burning of Mr. Fawkes in effigy.

                     

How, you might ask, being American, do I even know about all this? Well. When I was younger and living in Africa, many of my family's missionary neighbors, coworkers, and friends were from the United Kingdom. It followed then, that on every 5th of November, we constructed bonfires of sizes that would make Smokey the Bear cringe, hid a box of fireworks in the pile for shock-and-awe, and burned that nasty Fawkes guy time and time again.

                      

It sounds a little terrible, I'll give you that, but I have such fond memories of this holiday. I love the spirit and aesthetic of it. It's very much a light-up-the-darkness/stop-the-evil-men-in-their-tracks celebration of justice and averted crisis. It's a simultaneously sassy and relief-filled holiday. Even after all these years.

Being in America now, however, I've had to be a bit more creative about celebrating. This year I treated myself to Nadine Brandes's YA historical fantasy book Fawkes, which I Highly recommend. 5/5 Stars.
                                            

Brandes uses the allegories of color magic, masks, and a spreading stone plague to suss out the Roman Catholic/Protestant tensions of 1650. Our main character Thomas Fawkes is the (fictional) son of Guy Fawkes, and, terminally ill with the plague, he is turning into stone. Guy Fawkes and a band of conspirators believe that if they kill the king, the curse that is the plague will end. Thomas must decide what he believes, why, and how far he'll take his convictions. It's fun. It's thought-provoking. Poignant in places. Colorful in a great many ways. I started it last night and finished it this morning, and I will say, I haven't loved an allegory so much since The Chronicles of Narnia. You should check it out.

As far as further celebrations, my sister, Liz and I have some stuff planned. And by stuff I mean, we plan to light up the grill and cook some pork chops and then cook some Guy Fawkes. And then we will eat the pork chops and stomp on the ashes of Guy Fawkes, and we will probably do all this on Instagram Live for your amusement somewhere between 9 and 10 PM; so here's a link to my Insta, if you don't currently follow me, and don't want to miss out on this action: abbypaulielibby.

In other news, today, November 5th, 2019 is the Release Date AKA Book Birthday of not one, but two of my most anticipated releases of The Whole Year. These are:

The Toll by Neal Shusterman, finale in the Arc of the Scythe trilogy, which I HIGHLY recommend.
And Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater, first book in the Dreamer trilogy, spin-off to the Raven Cycle, which I AdoreSoMuchICan'tStandIt.

                  

In short, between Guy Fawkes festivities and book releases, I have absolutely no chill today. NO CHILL. I expect it will be a November 5th to remember. *Remember*

Is ANYONE ready for NANOWRIMO? Because I'm not.

                         
Nanowrimo. November. The month of 50,000 words. Or maybe 8 words (*counts on fingers* It. was. a. dark. and. stormy. night. Yep, that's 8.) OR MAYBE ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS. Or maybe 20,000 words. Maybe 2,000. We're going to just do our best okay?

Today I'm going to give you a gift. I'm going to give you the gift of the Super-Top-Secret-Making-This-Up-As-I-Go-Along-Nanowrimo-Success-Checklist.

READYSETGO

• Step One: Throw Away Your Writing Standards. Seriously. Toss them right now. Unless you're some sort of super-human, you are NOT going to write a complete, polished, plot-hole free novel in one month. You are not. The point of Nanowrimo is not to write a book that's ready to publish by December. The point of Nanowrimo is to write a Rough Draft. Emphasis on Rough. And to connect with other writers while you're at it. 
• Step Two: Connect with other writers while you're at it. Nanowrimo connects authors and aspiring authors together in a community of support, ideas, and general shenanigans. The community has always been the reason I do Nanowrimo. There are coffee shop write-ins, virtual write-ins, library write-ins, and unofficial Abby's-living-room write-ins all month long. There are chat rooms and prompts and pep talks and sprints all available on The Official Website. Lots of stuff to help you through. Also you should join my Super Top Secret and Exclusive Facebook Group.
• Step Three: Speaking of the Nanowrimo official website, use the official website. Update your wordcount, and watch your numbers climb on an automatically-generated graph. Let the website's algorithms let you know how you're doing. If you're ahead. If you're behind. How much you need to write any given day in order to finish on time. Oh and you can earn badges. It's brilliant. 
• Step Four: Purchase Swag. This step is not entirely necessary, but there's nothing like a shirt that says "I survived Nanowrimo 2019" to motivate you to survive Nanowrimo 2019. 
• Step Five: Either outline beforehand (you have less than a week left! *screaming*) or don't make yourself write the story in chronological order. This year will be the first that I attempt to work from a chronological outline. In the past I've found that the only way I can maintain pace is to write scenes as the ideas hit me, whether or not they're in order. I've spent many a December cutting and pasting and putting my chapters in order. Pro Tip: Do Not, I Repeat, Do Not attempt to number your chapters. You will invariably add one later and then have to renumber everything and it's............just don't do it, okay?
• Step Six: Give yourself a big coffee budget. 
• Step Seven: Hide your cell phone. No Distractions!!!
• Step Eight: Tie your husband/significant other/cat up, and put him in the closet. No Distractions!!!
• Step Nine: Alternatively remind your husband that the new Skyrim game is coming out on the 11th. "Absolutely babe, whatever you want, I just want You to be happy. Yeah can you just wear your headphones, and not yell too loud, thanks."
• Step Ten: Write every day. Even if it's just a little bit, make it a habit. You only have to do 1,667 words a day. They don't have to be good words. They don't have to be punctuated or spelled right or even entirely story. As long as you sit down and write, it can be a tirade about how you can't think of anything to write and everything you hate about your main character, and you Will Still Get Somewhere. A lot of writing, so I hear, is teasing out your thoughts and your imaginations and tackling the questions that knock about in your head. Nanowrimo is about putting all that nonsense on paper so you can See it and start to make something of it. 
• Step Eleven: Find some good writing music. I learn toward slow, nostalgic stuff like Sky Sailing, Fleurie, Handsome Ghost, and unnoffical playlists of every song on all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries. Alternatively, find some good white noise. I recommend Rainy Cafe, which has rainstorm noises and cafe noises that you can adjust and mix together in whatever volume combination you like. I usually do Rain: 100%, Cafe: 50%, but you do you. 
• Step Twelve: Read. It might sound counter-intuitive to read when you're supposed to be writing, but reading books and writing books go hand in hand, and it's a much better place to go looking for story inspiration during Nanowrimo then Netflix or Hulu. My Nanowrimo Reading list? So glad you asked. 

                                          

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern was originally a Nano novel, so I thought it'd be a perfect fit for this month. 

                                          

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is about an internet-famous fan-fiction author. So, perfect. 

                                          

And Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater, a spin-off of the Raven Boys Cycle, is about a boy who can pull things from his dreams and make them concrete, which is basically what writing is all about, right? I cannot tell you how ridiculously excited I am for this November 5th release!!!

                                           

Speaking of November 5th, November 5th is the English holiday, Guy Fawkes Day, in case you were a plebeian/peasant/American and didn't know.  In celebration I will be reading Fawkes by Nadine Brandes, burning a very small effigy of Guy Fawkes on my landlord's grill, and, naturally, writing a blog about it for your general enjoyment. You're welcome. 

And finally, I'll need to make time for the Booksplosion Book Club book of the month: 

                                          

Cursed by Frank Miller is a feminist twist on the Arthurian legends in the vein of "What if the Lady of the Lake drew Excalibur from the stone? It's also got illustrations, and it's going to be a Netflix series starring Katherine Langford, so that's exciting. 

And wow. I should really quit before this post devolves into a 200-item-long books-I-really-wanna-read-right-now list.

Are you doing Nano this year? Can I talk you into attempting Nano this year? Join my Facebook Group. Leave a Comment! Talk to you soon!

Abby and Liz Recommend Spooky Books

                          

A Quick Reminder About What the Stars Mean:
1 Star-Hated it, 2 Stars-Disliked it, 3 Stars-Soft Like, 4 Stars-Hard Like, 5 Stars-Loved it
And these are general quality/enjoyment ratings not specifically "amazing writing style" or "contains only moral excellence" or "I promise you personally will feel the same way," they're just overall ratings.

Abby: Well hello everyone! My little sister and I thought we'd do a collab for you today. We've got a list of good books to read around Halloween: everything from lightly spooky and atmospheric to true crime to horror/thriller. We've got some new releases, some tried and true classics, and some titles you probably never knew were books before they were movies. We tend to be of the opinion that you shouldn't know too much about a scary book going in, so we're only going to provide short teasers and Expect You to Take Our Word For It *Cackling*.

In case you get overwhelmed by the sheer number of options we're about to present to you, we're going to give you our top recommendation up front.
It's short. It's a classic. And it's creeeeppppyyyy.

                                      

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (Published 1948) *5 Stars* 

Recently made into a Netflix series, which neither of us have watched, this book is the Standard in haunted house stories. It's an absolute horror classic, and if you don't read Anything Else from this post, Liz and I both agree, you should read this. It's about a group of supernatural experts who take a holiday in Hill House in order to study it. And bad things happen. Obviously.
Do Not Read Alone In The Dark.

Spooky Young Adult Fantasy 

                       
                                   
                             

Abby House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig (Published August 2019) *4 Stars*
                               
A nail-bitey retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, this fairy-tale adaptation is briny and chilly and full of ghosts(?) and nightmares and pretty dresses and dancing slippers. It revolves around what may or may not be a deadly family curse, a suspicious death, and a wicked(?) stepmother. The seaside atmosphere of this book is fantastic; you can just Smell the salt. The plot wasn't the Greatest Ever, but it was a good time, and I recommend it for anyone who loves the fairy tale and the sea.

Abby The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh (Published October, 2019) *5 Stars*

Vampires in post-civil war New Orleans. That's all you need to know. Booktube is raving about the resurgence of vampires, and I think they have a right to. I wouldn't say this book is scary, it's just vampires. And murder. No biggie.

Abby The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (Published January 2018) *4 Stars*

Dark fairy tale characters come to haunt the granddaughter of the woman who published their stories? Yes. Sign me up. This book examines the relationship between happy fairy tales and dark fairy tales, and between stories and reality. It's not scary exactly, but the deep-deep-woods-fairy-tale tone is unsettling and perfect for the season. Sequel arriving in 2020!

Liz The Cabinet of Curiosities by Stefan Bachmann, Katherine Catmull, Claire Legrand, and Emma Trevayn (Published 2016) *4 Stars but only because they're not all by Stefan*

This is a collection of creepy, unsettling stories. Some of them are quiet and unnerving, but others will stick with you for years to come. I may be biased (I’m not biased), but Stefan Bachmann’s stories are clearly the best ones.

Liz and Abby A Drop of Night by Stefan Bachman (Published 2014) *5 Stars* 

I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have a literary crush on Stefan Bachmann. Why would you say that? This book was amazing. It's about a group of kids studying an underground palace in France. Creepy stuff happens. I don't remember the rest it was kind of a blur. You should read it. 

Adult Thrillers

Liz Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (Published 1990) *5 Stars*

Raise your hand if you’ve seen the movie. Okay, put it down now, no one cares. Everyone’s seen the movie. But have you read the book? Have you read it, huh? Yes, the movie was good, but *transforms into raging bookwyrm* *breathes fire* the book was better. From the slow build, where everyone ignores vital details until the problem has progressed out of control, to the dramatic climax, the story is both an adventure in blind terror and an essay on cruel mathematics. I love how it calls us humans on our arrogance in assuming we can play God by controlling every aspect of our environment.

Liz Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (Published 2009) *5 Stars*

Most of you are familiar with Hannibal Lector. More specifically, most of you are familiar with the movie The Silence of the Lambs. But what some of you might not know *cough* Abby *cough* is that the character of Hannibal originated in a four book series, of which The Silence of the Lambs is the second book. Red Dragon is the first, and if you’re tempted to skip it to get to the action that is Silence, you’d be missing out. This book has it all: a serial killer you sympathize with, smart cops, impending doom, and so much more. And while Clarice is amazing, and I would never say otherwise, you haven’t experienced Hannibal until you’ve seen him reflected in Will Graham.

Liz I’m A Therapist And My Patient Is Going To Be The Next School Shooter by Dr. Harper (Published January 2019) *4 Stars*

If you are familiar with the thread /r/nosleep on Reddit, then you’ll know it’s a forum where people commonly post fictional horror and everyone pretends that it’s real, because it’s more fun that way. (Unless… *checks over shoulder* Unless it /is/ real.) Obviously, with threads like that, you have to wade through some junk, since everyone and their uncle are free to post, but you can find some really cool story concepts as well. That’s where I’m A Therapist And My Patient Is Going To Be The Next School Shooter originated, before the author self-published it and its sequel. While it is not perfect, and the sequel has even more plot holes and weaknesses, it is twisty and fascinating and references the dark web and sugar free Haribo gummy bears and everything else that’s a true nod to Reddit. What’s not to love, I ask you?

Abby Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (Published 2017) *5 Stars* SECONDED BY LIZ
Holy Crap. Is what I said when I finished this book. This is a magical realism novel with lucid dreaming and mysterious strangers. So good, though I will warn you that the plot turns on an extramarital affair. But trust me, no part of this book is suggesting that an affair is a good thing that will take you lovely places. Not at all. Not. At. All.

Stephen King Novels

                    

Liz Needful Things by Stephen King (Published 1992) *Five Stars*

This book, guys. While everyone, including Abby, is getting distracted by mainstream Steven King books like It *Abby, don’t hit me, there are witnesses*, some of his other stories get overlooked. But seriously, you need to read Needful Things. It is, first and foremost, about greed. Is there something you need, more than anything else in the world? Is there one thing that can make your life perfect? You can buy it at Needful Things, for a price. Here’s the catch: maybe you didn’t know you needed it before, but once you see it in the shop window, you will be willing to do anything to acquire it, and anything to keep it, and when you have it in your possession, you will be so terrified of losing it that your life will fall to ruins.

Liz The Shining by Stephen King (Published 1980) *Five Stars*

Speaking of mainstream Stephen King books, The Shining is also pretty good. Of the books on this list, this one has the most spiritual horror, so if that’s something you shy away from, then be forewarned. When Jack brings his wife and son, Danny, to the Overlook Hotel, which they will take care of over the winter, they expect nothing bad to happen. But the Hotel is sentient and evil. It has fixated on Danny, and it will use anything, even Jack’s addiction, to claim him. In typical Stephen King fashion, the horror in this book comes less from the outside influences themselves, and more from the worst they bring out in the characters. P.S. The Shining's sequel, Dr. Sleep, has a movie that's hitting theaters soon.

Abby It by Stephen King (Published 1986) *Four Stars*
At the risk of quoting my own Facebook statuses...
I was terrified to pick this book up, both because I've heard horrible things, and because it's So Much Book. But honestly it wasn't that bad. I mean it was. But it wasn't.
Also I had to constantly lay it upside down when I wasn't reading because the cover was too scary.
I have issues.                   **Trigger Warnings for Everything**
Once you get through 1,000 pages of well-written documentation of the filth of the human condition the book is SHOCKINGLY Hopeful. There were a couple plot points that made me angry, and I wish they weren't there, but I'm not Stephen King, and no one asked me to help edit this book before it hit presses in 1986 before I was even born (I know, Rude). This is a book about a monster that's been living in the sewers of Derry, Maine for decades if not centuries. It comes out to play (*tear people to pieces*) once every 27 years or so, but this time the Loser's Club of Derry believes they've defeated it. Except they haven't. King tells this story in constant time-jumps from kids-fighting-It to grown-up-kids-fighting-It with interludes of other vile moments in Derry's history.
I would only recommend this book to those with reasonably strong stomachs and enough security in their own faith and morality to descend into the sewers of humanity (literally and metaphorically) and admit that the scariest thing living in the world is NOT INTER-DIMENSIONAL SHAPE-SHIFTING CLOWNS but human beings. But if you're willing to take it on, I promise it's worth it. So much to think about.
            
Real Life Scary

Liz Obviously we’ve been talking about fiction so far, but if you want some truly disturbing material (in case Stephen King isn't enough for you), you only have to look at real life. Here are some true crime titles to freeze your blood.

                                   

The Man From The Train by Bill James (Published 2017) *Five Stars*
I’ve talked about this one on my blog before, but it bears repeating. This is a chilling work of research. Bill James has taken a string of brutal ax-murders from the twentieth century, discovered additional murders that were never linked, and come up with a possible name for the perpetrator. Even if he is wrong (which I don’t think he is, but then again, I’m not a detective), his research is still impressive.

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule (Published 2011) *Five Stars*
A lot of you are very familiar with Ted Bundy, but maybe some of you don’t know that the popular true crime writer Ann Rule knew Bundy before he became infamous. (I didn’t.) It’s probably bad that I’m geeking out a little about this, but I like firsthand accounts, and I like books by people who know what they’re talking about, and this one sits in the middle of that Venn diagram.

Christian Thrillers

JUST KIDDING

Abby But seriously, we really tried to bring you some Christian thriller recommendations. We both picked up Frank E. Peretti novels since Peretti is allegedly the Stephen King of the Christian Publishing World. But we did. not. like. what we read, and can't recommend it. We found the plotting poor, the spiritual aspects problematic, and the characters, particularly the female characters, flat.  We're not saying that all Christian thrillers are low-quality, we're just saying that we have yet to find any worth recommending, sorry. We do share an opinion that Christian thrillers tend to make a poor parody of the Powers of Darkness in an attempt to create jump scares. We find this concerning.

If you'd like to take our word for it, go ahead and avoid:

                                   

I read House by Frank E. Peretti and Ted Dekker, and found the portrayals of demons, rednecks, women and retarded humans, to all be so problematic (for various reasons) that I gave this book 1 star out of sheer disgust. Liz read Monster by Frank E. Peretti, and found it both less problematic and less entertaining. She DNFed it, and she didn't rate it. It was simply not well plotted, in her opinion, which I trust or I wouldn't have invited her to collaborate on this post!

Speaking of...

Give it up for Liz, everybody! She had far more to bring to this post than I did, because she reads way more scary books than me. *Shocker* We actually had to cut a bunch of her recommendations for space, so if you're looking for more adult thrillers or true crime novels, hit her up, okay?

Have you read any of these titles? Planning to pick up one or two in the next couple weeks? Strongly disagree with any of our opinions? Have any recommendations for us? Leave a comment! 
Oh and please direct all hate mail to Liz at 140 B***REDACTED***