A few more months have come and gone, and that means it’s time for another quick look at some of my favorite reads. You can always follow me on Goodreads to get a better idea of everything I’ve read! But what I want to highlight here are just my favorites.
Middle grade reads:
The Book of Bad Things, by Dan Poblocki
Such a great creepy cover! The Book of Bad Things follows a girl named Clarissa as creepy things start happening in the neighborhood where she spends the summer after the mysterious death of a local hermit woman. Ghosts, zombies, and other creepy happenings helped make this middle grade horror feel unique and original. Very short chapters also made it easy to read in bite-size amounts…or give in to the temptation to read “just one more” chapter.
The Haunting, by Lindsey Duga
Sometimes, you just need something simple, and that’s exactly what you get with The Haunting. After reading the very intense The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (more on that later), it was nice to read something that was just a straightforward ghost story aimed at middle grade readers. No real surprises or anything here, but as a whole, the story is well executed and a good quick read.
My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George
My Side of the Mountain was a favorite read of mine as a kid, and it still held up for me re-reading it again several years later. Sam Gribley’s story of running away to live in the Catskill Mountains on his own definitely falls into the “wish fulfillment” category for me. It’s definitely the kind of adventure I would have loved to have for myself, even though I wouldn’t have been nearly as successful. It has a different writing style than what you’ll find in today’s middle grade books, but it’s considered a classic for a reason.
For adults:
A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction, by Terry Pratchett
I love Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, and after reading his biography, I wanted to re-read some of his books that I have on my shelves. Interestingly, this was the one I decided to grab. It’s an interesting collection of Discworld and standalone short stories that let you trace his growth as a writer. Some of the earlier ones are rough around the edges, but I really enjoyed stories like “The High Meggas,” “Final Reward,” “Troll Bridge,” and “The Sea and Little Fishes.” That being said, you’ll probably get more mileage out of some of these stories if you’ve already read some of the Discworld books.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones
A unique historical fiction horror story that blends a real life massacre of the Blackfeet Tribe with a vampire story. The tale of Good Stab is very dark and often brutal, but it is very well written. It is a heavy book and definitely one that sits with you for a while afterward. I didn’t find the modern-day framing at the beginning and end of the book as interesting as the rest of the story, which is made up of Good Stab’s oral history and the diary of the Lutheran Pastor who recorded it. Still, there’s good reason why this book has gotten so much attention and so many rave reviews.