Breaking the silence with some books

 

Hello ghostlings,

It's been a while. I haven't had much to say or share here but I found this draft from 2022 and had the strongest urge to update it and share it. Below are some books that I have personally loved and wanted to share with you, and I must say I have had a good amount of time to read some great ones since the start of the pandemic and just before. These last few years have been an excellent time for some literary escapism in-between the learning and unlearning from all the events we have experienced in that time. Here I will share some books I really enjoyed since 2020ish until now and my thoughts on them:

1. We Have Always Lived in the Castle 
by Shirley Jackson
I wished I read this book in the summer time when gardens are full bloom and fresh crops are available. This book could inspire anyone into homesteading, within capacity of course. The ways Jackson talks about all the magic that happens in the kitchen makes your mouth water! Aside from the kitchen magic in this book, I found the story really pulled me in. The way the character's dialogue creates more questions and leaves you wanting even more answers had me glued to this book! The mystery around it all was so fun, maybe a little predictable, but satisfying to have possibly deduced it yourself and find out you were correct!


2. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane 
by Katherine Howe
Where are my Salem people at? I loved this book. It was a really interesting historical fiction story about a young woman studying in Cambridge, MA, who slowly, through odd instances, learns how she is tied to the Salem Witch Trials and about her ancestry. As someone who loves learning about this piece of history in hopes to break old patterns from happening again in today's world, this was a really wonderful read. If you're craving some subtle witchy goodness, I would strongly recommend giving this book a read.


3. Cursed Bunny
by Bora Chung
This book felt like reading the movie 'Parasite' but in so many other forms it could have taken. To the unease the author plops you in throughout her writing, to the really interesting social commentary the stories touch on within their horrors makes this book so captivating and hard to put down. Of all of the recent books I have read (which isn't that many), this was the one I read the quickest. If you're sensitive to mild to moderate body horror tread carefully, but if not, this book will be a trip worth traveling. 


4. Red Rabbit 
by Alex Grecian

I would describe this as a 'Witchy Western" and I need more of this genre since reading this book. I know it does have a sequel which I will be hunting down at some point, but I digress. This book was a lovely southern gothic novel, following a couple of really likeable characters, with even the unlikeable ones having some redeeming traits later. This was action packed, which I did not expect to enjoy, and full of mystery, mysticism, and thrills. You don't realize how desolate the west was until you are transported to that time and place in this book. I highly recommend this read!

I was going to do a 5th book, but I don't know if I have one that I could excitedly talk about. Since beginning to write this post (which I started in 2020..) a lot has changed, even the books on this list for the most part! 

Have you read any of these books? Excited to try one? Let me know!