Litsy

Slouching Towards Bethlehem | Joan Didion

Was unsure of where to start for this month‘s #AuthorAMonth and this was available on Spotify so I started today. Pleasantly surprised to find this essay collection is narrated by actor Maya Hawke, as we‘re in rewatch prep mode for the new season of Stranger Things. 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

Soubhiville

Soubhiville I‘m gearing up for the new season too! 4h

28 likes1 comment

ImperfectCJ

Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature | Becky Siegel Spratford

pick

This essay collection leaves me feeling seen. Like the authors here, I have loved horror from a young age, and in their essays I see many of the things that keep me returning to the genre. They also give me a sense of community as a horror lover, or at least the kind of connection that my father-in-law has with other Corvette drivers---a little secret wave that indicates our shared idiosyncrasy (or weirdness. I'm cool with being seen as weird).

AnnCrystal I like being seen as weird too 😉👍🏼. A neighborhood kid once told my mom and I, “your the strange ones,“ which perplexed us, but then made us laugh. We have officially achieved our goal of being seen as our neighborhood's “Addams Family“ household 😂🤣🤗🥳👍🏼💝. 4d

Reggie I loved this book. I loved the essay by Keene, Hendrix, and Demchuk. 3d

ImperfectCJ @Reggie There were several new-to-me authors (including Keene and Demchuk), and I added so many books to my TBR. This collection helped me to more fully embrace my horror-loving side. LaValle's essay about being tacitly dissuaded from genre fiction in undergrad writing classes resonated with me, too. And Due's family history...wow! 3d

43 likes3 comments

Ruthiella

Trick Mirror | Jia Tolentino

pick

A soft pick. I picked this up because the essay about Tolentino‘s reality TV stint was referenced in “You Wanna Be on Top?” by Sara Hartshorne. Generally I found the collection to be interesting and smart, but maybe it‘s my attention span, the essays were all too long for me - about 30 pages each. I thought a lot about what I‘d have asked her to cut were I her editor. That said, essays aren‘t my usual fare.

#37by37 (only two more books to go!).

MatchlessMarie

Billypar I felt the same. There weren't any essays that I disliked, and all had interesting moments, but I didn't fall in love with any either. I still need to post a review of the tagged essay collection, my favorite in some time. A few are pretty long, but all well worth it.

Thin Places: Essays from In Between

Ruthiella @Billypar Glad I‘m not alone! I rarely read nonfiction and even more rare is an essay collection, so I don‘t have a good idea of what I like the way I do when it comes to fiction and genre. 4d

MatchlessMarie I think most essay collections I read average about 3 ⭐️ for me. Or short story collections too. It‘s kind of inevitable that a whole collection can‘t win you over. 🧁 (edited) 3d

Ruthiella @MatchlessMarie That‘s fair. I also rarely read short story collections. I suspect the short form just isn‘t my style in fiction or nonfiction. 3d

54 likes4 comments

Lands

Pulphead: Essays | John Jeremiah Sullivan

Pulp :Tiny Desk Concert

https://youtu.be/x_KlY-AegeE?si=USDysTBq3M1WJxJV

#TuesdayTunes on Thursday @TieDyeDude

28 likes

ShananigansReads

Readings | Sven Birkerts

Got a new doormat today.

TheBookgeekFrau Love it!!!!! 😍 1w

TheBookHippie Love. 1w

dabbe L📗VE! ♥️🍁🤎 1w

lil1inblue Love. Also want. 😍🤩😍 1w

25 likes4 comments

Cuilin

Wendell Berry | Wendell Berry

#APoemADayIsh #PoetryPals

So much of “selling the world to buy fire” about.

@lil1inblue @dabbe

TheBookHippie I love his poetry. 1w

lil1inblue 💓 💓 💓 Feeling this one. 1w

Cuilin @TheBookHippie same 🧡 1w

Cuilin @lil1inblue yep!! 🧡 1w

dabbe A WH😢AH one. 🧡🍁♥️ 1w

36 likes5 comments

Blueberry

Arcimboldo: 1526-1593 | Giuseppe Arcimboldi

#Harvest. #ARichLife

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Eggs Amazing 🤩 2w

36 likes1 comment

Robotswithpersonality

Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature | Becky Siegel Spratford

pick

This collection gets all the love for the essays I truly enjoyed, but I will say there's a variance, in the quality of the writing, in how the author's chose to address, or seemingly not quite address the topic suggested by the title of the collection.
I don't know if it's a matter of understanding or not understanding the assignment, I think it's more accurate to say that there are essays 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? from authors talking from a memoir perspective about what was formative to their experience of horror, that made them fall in love with the genre at large, in various media, those that talk about their experience of horror, of trauma, and how fictional horror helps, and those talking about the writing of horror and what it means to them. And there are various essays that include multiple or all of these components. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 3/? I will say a number of authors make specific reference to particular personal traumas, so be prepared.

My favourites:
Stephen Graham Jones - Why Horror?: Of course. I love his writing style, anyone who's read the acknowledgements in his books, knows they're in for a treat, his earnest appreciation, the hilarious metaphors.
For similar reasons I loved Gabino Iglesias's Horror is Life: A Blood-Soaked Love Letter.
3w

Robotswithpersonality 4/? Rachel Harrison - Permission to Scream: I loved everything about this, think I officially enjoy her non-fiction writing more than her novels.

Paul Tremblay: An enchanting and concise way to talk about history of experiences with horror and the love of the genre.

Clay McLeod Chapman: Especially liked the end. 3w

See All 7 Comments

Robotswithpersonality 5/? Victor LaValle- Horror Saved My Life:
Just a wonderful experience to read his writing.

Haley Piper - The Giant Footprint of Horror: Apparently I love Hailey Piper's non-fiction writing, I should probably try her fiction writing!

David Demchuck - Of Monsters and Men: To tell a story and also make it an opportunity to write about the reasons you love horror and your personal experiences with it. THIS is how you do it. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 6/? Grady Hendrix - Why I Love Horror: Vulnerable and unsettling, while emphasizing what horror provides in the way of spine chilling doubt, quality work.

Definitely a recognition of seeing oneself in The Other, in horror in a number of essays, particularly liked those from Tananarive Due, Jennifer McMahon. (edited) 3w

Robotswithpersonality 7/? I do appreciate that the editor has a background in horror reader recommendations and she provides an introduction to each author and suggests a starting point and a similar author for further reading, but I do feel like the effort to explain why these essays were arranged in the order and grouping they were in every introduction occasionally felt forced, overall an unnecessary inclusion.

3w

Robotswithpersonality 8/8 ⚠️domestic abuse, child abuse, suicidal ideation, self-harm, miscarriages 3w

8 likes7 comments