Spooky Books for Halloween

My go-to scary book is Wait Til Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn. It is basically a children's book, but my sister and I read it in our pre-teen years and it scared the shit out of us. I'm also a big fan of The Turn of the Screw, which my husband and I read aloud one Christmas (because Christmas is scary too. Recall Scrooge McDuck's adaptation of A Christmas Carol), although I must admit we had to read a lot of cliff notes to figure out what was going on in that book. The answer is that no one actually knows.

Anyway, if you'd prefer some more sophisticated recommendations for scary books to enjoy this Halloween, look no further than Flavorwire and their 50 Scariest Books of All Time.

This Week in Books: Patti Smith Woke Up Like This.

First of all, this happened and it's everything.

I've stated before that I'm not really doing YA coverage, but if I were, I'd start with Francesca Lia Block, probably the most influential writer of my teen years. I read all her books, and I hope they're still in a box somewhere (Mom?) so I can revisit them someday. This interview she did with The Rumpus was excellent, but also made me feel out of touch because she has published so many new titles since I stopped paying attention.

Flavorwire is one of my favorite sources for literary coverage on the web, and no one understands my love is reading lists more than they do, which is why the new "50 Novels by Women Under 50" list made my week. Besides the obvious cross-over appeal between the list and what I cover on the blog, it also had everything I want from a reading list-- I got to feel smug and proud about the books I've already read; I got affirmation on a lot of books that are on my radar, waiting to be read; and I got to discover so many new books that I trust I'll enjoy, because their other recommendations are so spot on.

Patti Smith reviewed the new Haruki Murakami novel for the NYT. Nothing else to say.

This Week in Books: the Ethics of Shelving, Authors on the Internet

I loved this article from The Atlantic about shelving books in book stores. They actually call out the common Gabriel Garcia Marquez foible (I have actually pointed this out to a grateful book store employee before; in the 'M's people!). 

Marja Mills' new pseudo-biography of Harper Lee came out on Tuesday and has been getting tons of press. Harper Lee herself has been against the publication, which she deems "unauthorized," and she reiterated her sentiments this week.

Flavorwire had a nice round-up this week of "The 35 Writers Who Run the Literary Internet." Some of these I strongly agree with (Teju Cole, Roxane Gay), and others I'm very ambivalent about (the number of Twitter followers does not equate with quality level). However, if you're new to the world of contemporary authorship on the Internet, this is a good place to start. Add a few of the mentioned Tumblrs to your RSS feed to become better acquainted (and don't forget that most of these folks have actually physical books that were recently published, if you're a total ludite).

This Week in Books: David Sedaris,

David Sedaris got addicted to FitBit and wrote about it for the New Yorker. I'm not sure what more background information you need to want to read this...

Flavorwire gave a run-down of 2014's best fiction thus far. Some of their picks are surprising, as are some of the titles they left off, but I love them for their book coverage, and it's worth checking out as always.

The Atlantic has an excellent piece on Lydia Davis that includes her own commentary on some early stories. I love her work and I'm still trudging my way through the Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, and her recently published volume is very much on my radar. I'm also happy to report that I got my mom into Lydia Davis as well, so I'm doing my part.