Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s been a tough year all around. My reading has been off and it‘s been easy to forget that I have read some books that I really love. So here are my top five reads of 2024 (so far).

Tell me your top five in the comments. I need more recommendations

https://wildwoodreads.com/2024/09/18/top-five-books-of-2024-so-far/

So so good!!

Happy Leap Day! I think this is the first post I‘ve ever done on a leap day so that‘s fun. Anyhow it‘s time for my February 2024 wrap up. And let me just say to be such a short month my reading was all over the place. I‘ve had more dnfs than I think I‘ve ever had in a month. But I‘ve also found some new favorites.

What about you? What did you read this month?

My first five star book of the year came from an unexpected contender. I picked up Rosemary‘s Baby on a whim and I was hooked immediately. It check all the boxes that I look for in a thriller. Plus, the ending was totally unexpected. But now I‘m in a total book hangover. 😅

https://wildwoodreads.com/2024/02/16/rosemarys-baby-review/

We went to The Smoky Mountains this weekend. One of my favorite stops to make in Pigeon Forge is the Book Warehouse. It‘s the first bookstore I ever remember visiting. It helped to fuel this obsession. So, it‘s kind of full circle to be writing a post about the place that helped spark this love of reading. I‘m so excited to get to do this Book Warehouse Book Haul.

Full haul here: https://wildwoodreads.com/2024/01/30/book-warehouse-book-haul/

1 of 2024. ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Woah, I LOVED IT!
Perfectly paced, wonderfully eerie, and very well written. I really liked Rosemary, I found her a brilliant protagonist. I love these sorts of horror stories - I find witchcraft fascinating.
Superb!

I want to shout out @TheQuietQuill for picking some amazing reads for the All Hallows Read Swap. Rosemary‘s baby was an enjoyable spooky read and Welcome to Dahmerville was a new book that will become a classic! Thank you so much! 😄

Omg thank you @TheQuietQuill I was so excited to get these books and really wanted to read them both! Thank you so much! 😄 I have a full nights reading before me! @MaleficentBookDragon #allhallowsreadswap #bookswap

I say that this is a "pick", but this book was really hard to stomach in many ways between the sexual abuse and pregnancy horror. It is not at all my favorite kind of scary story, but it was intense.
#Scarathlon #SpookyGhostClub #rushathon #littenlisten #31by31 #falling4books #spookoween #scarathlonatoz @Clwojick @Andrew65 @aperfectmjk @catsandbooks @Read4life @TheSpineView @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES @Texreader

Decided to look up Ira Levin to see if there was personal history that made him so keen to write about women being manipulated/gaslighted by their husbands and got distracted by his stage plays. AKA Guy‘s resume from the book.

Never not good.

Rightly considered a horror classic. I couldn‘t put it down once I got started. Creepy and suspenseful but not gory. Perfect for spooky season 😈

This was really good! But the ending wasn‘t what I was expecting but I‘m glad I read it. This is my choice for #bannedbooksweek!

#scarathlon #TeamCreepinItReal 541 pts
#31by31 #bookspinbingo #falling4books #littenlisten #readysetgoreadathon #RushAThon #Spookoween #promptmaze #20in4

I'm diving into this one! ❣️

Best attempt at my mood board. Some of my favorites reads, practices of Mabon and just over all vibes. Hope it helps. 😊

#hhs23 @wanderinglynn

I finished both my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for April.

I may actually get a #bingo this month! I've got two slots open and plans to conquer those categories before May comes in. Wish me luck!

@TheAromaOfBooks

This was so compelling and readable that I was devouring this on my lunch break. For 3/4 of the book, it read like a domestic thriller but Levin stuck the ending. Wow! That ending!

Definitely recommended if you haven't read the book and looking for occult horror.

This was my #TBRDeckOfCards for April and my #Doublespin for April.

Started this on lunch and all I want to do is get back to it!

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

🔥

I finished this book yesterday, and ended up watching the movie last night. I loved the book from beginning to end! The movie was just as great, and was pretty spot on. I know it‘s a cult classic, and i wish i would have read it sooner.

Starting this one now 😵‍💫

Doing some coloring while 🎧 to Rosemary's Baby #darkcolor

A lover of Poe and all things of the macabre, I finally picked this one up ... and was not scared in the least. Maybe because of all the true day-to-day horrors one has to witness in 2022, this has become a tamer read. Give me a good ghost story, though, like THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson, and then I can be scared out of my wits with the best of 'em. I still enjoyed Levin's writing style, though, and will read more of him.

The suspense building was great. I also enjoyed the 1960s references. This was my bookclub scary pick for October.

Rosemary believes she‘s carrying the devil‘s child. Could she be right? A great tale that's a true classic in horror.

#horror #pregnancy

Mahalo for the #ThoughtfulThursday tag @MoonWitch94 🎃

🔍 or 🔪 pretty impossible to choose. I 🖤them both & a good mystery/thriller featuring FBI profilers is a sweet spot for me! 😱

👻 or 🔪🔪🔪 Love both but I lean slightly to serial killer

😈👶🏻 The tagged book scared the 💩out of me when I was 8-ish & snuck it off my parents‘ shelf & it still holds up today!

Tagging any #TeamMonsterMash friends or anyone who wants to play! 👻

Spooky reading season has started!

That was terrifying. Rosemary, a young housewife in late ‘60s NYC, feels paranoia growing in her (alongside a baby) as her aging neighbors grow a bit too solicitous and her husband‘s career unexpectedly takes off. Strange gifts, odd illnesses, an apartment building with a Satanic past…Levin‘s chilly prose relentlessly turns the screws as Rosemary‘s isolation and fear become unbearable. A masterclass of suspense and horror.

#IndelibleMoments #Childbirth 😳🫣😈

This guy was ahead of his time falling into a rabbit hole like this before the internet even existed.

A horror masterpiece. Levin‘s pacing, suspense building, and dry prose gripped me from the start and I read this in one day. The sense of unease, dread, and then full on terror that Rosemary feels throughout the novel is executed almost flawlessly. The clear commentary on misogyny and its insidious nature is much appreciated. A true classic of the genre, its influence has a rightful place among modern horror. 5⭐️

I‘ve never seen the film and have meant to read this forever and very glad I decided to start it today. I devoured it over the course of the day, it‘s suspenseful, creepy and I found the story so engaging. Perfect for Halloween

This was my book club‘s 🎃 pick. I was excited about the Palahniuk foreword, but it‘s just so-so. Honestly, the book is well-written, but I think the movie spoiled it for me, and man, it hasn‘t aged well. Lots of 1960s references. It‘d be interesting to see a contemporary revision from a more feminist POV. This was definitely written by a man (In the book there are hints to Satan‘s, um, state of endowment) 🙄

Week 1 challenge complete for #screamathon 👿
The book I enjoyed. The movie I did NOT. I couldn't find a copy of the movie that wouldn't cost me a 30 day trial I'll forget to cancel so I went with the remake. It was painful. Always go with the original.

6hrs

Non team theme: 5pts
#littenlisten :60pts
#screamathon :60pts
#bookspinbingo :60pts
#spookoweenreadathon :60pts
#wickedathon :60pts
#scarathlon2021 #teamslaughter

“The baby kicked like a demon. Rosemary told it to stop or she would start kicking back.“

Another instance of being very familiar with the movie, but still being utterly drawn into the story despite knowing the outcome. The sense of paranoia, claustrophobia and dread leapt right off the page and just added to what was already a chilling and disturbing read.
(About the photo…I may have gone a little sticker crazy)
#scarathlon2021 #screamathon

How many hints do you need, girl?? 🤔
#scarathlon

My #bookspin list for October 2021! Hoping for some spooky reads this month. 👻 🎃

#FallTreasures @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
Prompt: Published Year You Were Born

I'm not really sure what my #spookyaesthetic is, but these are a few of my favorite (Halloween-ish) things. @wanderinglynn #HHS

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It's a nice quick read, and I really felt the desperation of Rosemary's plight the whole way through.

Sitting at the mechanic waiting for an oil change thinking about the #conflictedworlds #nightmare prompt and this one came to mind.
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs

A twisted and disturbing horror masterpiece. Levin‘s prose is crisp and dry — as is his humor. It helps make this book a truly memorable and accessible read. I also love this particular version of the book; King‘s foreword is great. #horror

Summer is for reading on the deck with a drink nearby. #horror

#RedandWhite cover for #CuriousCovers Day 2.

I have seen the movie, but still haven‘t gotten to the book. I love this vintage cover though, and it‘s a slim novel so it will be a fast read whenever I do get to it.