Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The People in the Castle
The People in the Castle: Selected Strange Stories | Joan Aiken
26 posts | 13 read | 98 to read
Praise for Joan Aiken's stories: "Wildly inventive, darkly lyrical, and always surprising . . . should be cherished."Publishers Weekly "Darkly whimsical stories. . . . Aiken writes with surpassing spirit and alertness, her elegant restraint and dry wit never fail to leave their mark."Kirkus Reviews "Will appeal to readers of short stories and literary fiction. Highly recommended."Library Journal "Aiken's pastoral meadows and circus chaos, gothic grotesques and quirky romances . . . have a dream-like quality executed with a brevity and wit that is a testament to her skill as a story-teller."California Literary Review "Fantasy is combined with magic, myth and adventure to form weird, wonderful and immersive tales."For Book's Sake Here is the whisper in the night, the dog whose loyalty outlasted death, the creak upstairs, that half-remembered ghost story that won't let you sleep, the sound that raises gooseflesh, the wish you'd checked the lock on the door before dark fell. Here are tales of suspense and the supernatural that will chill, amuse, and exhilarate. Features a new introduction by the late author's daughter, Lizza Aiken. Best known forThe Wolves of Willoughby Chase,Joan Aiken (19242004) wrote over a hundred books and won theGuardian and Edgar Allan Poe awards. After her first husband's death, she supported her family by copyediting atArgosy magazine and an advertising agency before turning to fiction. She went on to write forVogue,Good Housekeeping,Vanity Fair,Argosy,Women's Own, and many others. Visit her online at joanaiken.com.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
kwmg40
post image
Pickpick

The stories in this collection really drew me in. Some are spooky, some are creepy and some are heartwarming, but all of them are exceedingly imaginative.

#skeletoncrew #scarathlon @Emilymdxn
#OutstandingOctober #DeweysReadathon #BirthdayBashReadathon #PopupWeekend
@Andrew65 @DeweysReadathon @TheAromaofBooks @AmandaBlaze

47 likes2 stack adds9 comments
blurb
kwmg40
post image
blurb
Chittavrtti
post image

2 likes1 stack add
blurb
Toria
post image

Thank you @CherylDeFranceschi !
I love my #Cupidgoespostal gift.

I love the bookmark, and I am super excited to read all the books :D

Thank you @BookishMarginalia for setting this up. 😊
My auntie lives in Illinois as well. She is, I think, two hours away from Chicago. Is the bookstore you work at a chain or an independent bookstore ?

CherylDeFranceschi It's an indie. One of a kind! 8y
Toria Neat! Does your store specialize in any genre or is it a bit of everything? 8y
CherylDeFranceschi It's everything. Mostly we're about literary fiction and our kids section is super great. 8y
50 likes3 comments
blurb
BookishFeminist
post image

Book mail day!! 📬

Thank you @shawnmooney!! He's the best and mailed this all the way from Japan for my birthday back in October! Now that it's made to way around the world it finally got here. I bet you didn't think you were sending two presents did you? Sherlock & Noodle have been playing with the packaging since I opened it. 😂😂🐭🐻

#thebookishferrets

shawnmooney Yay! Glad it finally arrived - enjoy!! ♥️♥️♥️ 8y
MrBook 😻 8y
Shortstack Is this one of the ones you were talking about reading next year, too? 8y
See All 11 Comments
BookishFeminist @Shortstack Yes! I can't wait to read it 😀 8y
BookishFeminist @shawnmooney Yes me too! You were right- just about two months for its journey around the world. 😂 thank you again!! Can't wait to read it. 8y
Shortstack @BookishFeminist I need to go back through our convo and grab all the book recommendations you gave me. #damnitlitsy 8y
LeahBergen Awww! That's so sweet! 8y
Libby1 Yippee! So kind, @shawnmooney . I love Joan Aiken. I've only read the Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Black Hearts in Battersea so far. You'll have to let me know what you think of this one! 8y
TheLondonBookworm Love, love, love Joan Aiken one of my favourite authors as a child ☺ 8y
TheNextBook That cover is freaking awesome! 8y
[DELETED] 1409720085 These little babies! 😍😍😍 8y
146 likes3 stack adds11 comments
review
Centique
post image
Pickpick

As a child the only short stories I read were Joan Aiken's. The image of the tree in "Room full of leaves" has stayed with me always, to name just one. Theres a haunting quality about the premise in each story. Things aren't completely explained; hints to larger truths - like the "discarded words" in Portable Elephant. I don't know how this would feel if you weren't returning to a favourite childhood author. For me, it's delicious!

8 likes2 stack adds
blurb
SarahK
post image

Turned to corner to get a little reading done only to find my spot has been taken. But with a face like that how can I be upset? #itsarazworld #dogsoflitsh

DebinHawaii Ack! That face is so cute and sweet I can't even!!! 🐶❤️❤️❤️ 8y
LauraBeth I ❤️ your dog 🐶❤️ 8y
19 likes2 comments
review
shawnmooney
post image
Bailedbailed

Bailed half-way, because I was hate-reading. Out of the 10.3 stories I read, I only really liked one, "Listening," a quirky, rich tale about art and passion and cats that was a work of art itself. Not one of the others here measured up, and several just angered me the way only unsatisfying fiction can do. But I'm glad other readers enjoyed it more than me - different strokes, eh?

BookishFeminist That's a shame! Was hoping you'd enjoy it. I'll see how it goes for me because I know our tastes diverge somewhere. 8y
shawnmooney @BookishFeminist I certainly hope you do enjoy it! Most readers seem to, but this was definitely not my cup of tea. (One, maybe 2, stories did really work for me, though.) 8y
Angelala007 Hate-reading 😝 8y
RealLifeReading Pity! I did really like her Serial Garden collection of stories. And was curious when I saw this one at the library. Might still check it out and see for myself. 8y
40 likes4 comments
quote
shawnmooney
post image

BookishFeminist Did you get the chance to talk with the Litsyer that is going to Japan?? Was it @ Brien? Don't want to tag in case it's the wrong person, but noticed he will be in Japan soon. 8y
shawnmooney @BookishFeminist Thanks! No, the Litsyer I was thinking of was definitely female, and until you drew my attention to Brien I hadn't followed him. 8y
BookishFeminist Better luck next time then--still keeping my eyes peeled. 😊 8y
34 likes1 stack add3 comments
quote
shawnmooney
post image

30 likes1 stack add
quote
shawnmooney
post image

Dolly Now that's just plain sneaky teasing us like that! I wish I hadn't read that page🤐. 8y
31 likes1 stack add1 comment
quote
shawnmooney
post image

quote
shawnmooney
post image

29 likes1 stack add
quote
shawnmooney
post image

SusanInTiburon 😍 Joan Aiken ❤️ 8y
30 likes2 stack adds1 comment
quote
shawnmooney
post image

quote
shawnmooney
post image

blurb
shawnmooney
post image

Totally random TBR pile

Soscha I'm reading an older Joan Aiken right now, A Cluster of Separate Sparks. It's quirky, liking it. It's from 1972. 8y
49 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
RealLifeReading
post image

Don't you just love this cover?

KarenUK Gorgeous ❤️ 8y
BookishFeminist I am waiting very impatiently for this to come in for me at the library! 8y
RealLifeReading @BookishFeminist hope you get hold of it soon! 8y
35 likes2 stack adds4 comments
blurb
Snakes6atx
post image

Another library find! "Selected Strange Stories" are just what I need.

Liberty Love this book! 8y
6 likes1 comment
review
ElvinaGB
post image
Pickpick

Currently reading plus library holds. #torontopubliclibrary

blurb
shawnmooney
post image

Looky looky what arrived in the mail! This one I had to order right away after hearing Liberty rave about it. She was even more exuberant than usual, which is nearly impossible! @Liberty

28 likes6 stack adds
quote
mcxanthus
post image

"Night now. And a young man." #soexcited #gonnascaremyself

review
Liberty
post image
Pickpick

28 Joan Aiken stories handpicked by her daughter and Small Beer Press?! Plus an introduction by Kelly Link!!?! OH YES IT'S TRUE. This is a magical collection full of weird wonderfulness.

squibblesreads I have this!! I'm gonna get into it soon, after I finish Sleeping Giants 🙌🏼 9y
shawnmooney From your Quick Pick review: "They gave me that feeling where you‘re nostalgic for something you aren‘t even familiar with yet. That‘s magic." Ok, I'm sold! 9y
Mystic.Archives.Of.Dantalian What kind of strange?🤔 8y
69 likes38 stack adds3 comments
blurb
Liberty
post image

I would read anything that says "Selected Strange Stories" on it, but the fact that it's Joan Aiken makes it even better. Small Beer Press rules! BONUS: Preface by Kelly Link!!!!

39 likes18 stack adds