Emily's Reverie

This is so creative! May I use this as an exercise at my UU church? Giving full credit, of course.

Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge. Book cover shows an old-fashioned typewrtier against a blue background.

Murder at Agatha Christie's manor house! Her capable housekeeper seeks out clues, once she is unimpressed by the police response. With a houseful of guests and a full staff present - lots to dig into.

This one charmed me. Not too cute, and we get enough clues to play along too. #books #booksky

Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles - cover shows an unsmiling young Black woman holding a doe, drinking a cup of tea with butterflies coming out of it.

Not your Grandma's Gothic: a Victorian-era biracial woman with limited options is offered marriage, in exchange for not asking questions at the Manor house. Things it goes SO sideways- audaciously. Fever dreams, fairy tales, and faeries oh my. It doesn't play safe, thankfully. #books #booksky

Bog Queen by Anna North

I LOVED The Bog Wife & Blood on Her Tongue. This bog-body book is quieter, and about smart young women navigating complex dynamics.
2 timelines: A Druid Priestess makes friends & enemies; a scientist examines an ancient body in a town fighting over whether to raze its bogs. #books #booksky

"Is White British" is a completely legitimate wording for this chart but also made me laugh

This book is really original

🎯🎯

Tantrom by Rachel Eve Moulton book cover shows an Eldritch horror emerging from a baby stroller.

"Evil baby" has become its own #horror sub-genre, but this one genuinely surprised me. Baby Lucia is 12 weeks old but has teeth and like to bite. She also cheerfully baby-talks some genuinely disturbing wishes. Short, twisty, not deep, some fun dark humor. A palate cleanser. #books #booksky

The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste cover show a silhoutte of a woman, whose reflection in a pool of water shows there is someone standing next to her that we cannot see

Portal #horror: 25 years ago, a street in Ohio vanished. Few escaped - the three best friends who got out CAN return, briefly, but now it's spectral time capsule.
This inventive, short, queer, character-drive book is full of mysteries, secrets, grief, and ghosts. #books #booksky

Heartwood by Amity Gaige book cover shows a picture of the New England wilderness in the shape of a woman's silhouette.

A character-driven novel disguised as a survival thriller. Told from the POV of 42 year old Valerie, lost in the Maine wilderness; 62 year old Lt Bev, who leads the search team; and Lena, 76, an armchair detective. Tender, well paced, with exquisite prose. Best on audio. #books #booksky

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong

This horror-tinged popcorn thriller has a great cover. Sam gets a big inheritance ONLY if she stays on the haunted family property (which comes with a hot, grumpy caretaker).
You don't get a lot of Headless Horseman themed novels in 2025!
A low stakes spooky page-turner.
#books #booksky

Don't Let the Forest In by CG Drews shows an image of a bloodied young blonde teen in a suit. The image has been clawed open, and flowers and thorns are coming out of the claw marks.

This folk horror tale is set in a boarding school. Fragile young writer Michael is secretly in love with his volatile roommate Thomas- who may have killed his parents. Or is he something... otherworldly? Starts quietly eerie, gets increasingly gruesome & macabre. That ending! #books #booksky

It gets the push-pull of it. There are people trapped because they can't complete impossible assignments. Someone is stuck in Pride because they bragged about exam results too much. And YET, I enjoyed playing along, solving clues, anticipating traps, figuring out Easter Eggs.......

Katabasis by RF Kuang cover shows an Escher-like drawing

'Hell is a campus': a satire that skewers academia. A PhD student goes to Hell to retrieve a crucial recommendation. This hell is not dangerous, but it is full of puzzles, petttiness, references, and archetypical campus figures.
Read it for vibes if you've been a grad student.
#books #booksky

Nothing fancy, just a hitchhiker ghost.

Silver Elite by Dani Francis

A secretly psychic woman is forced to join the training program for the elite squad that hunts secret psychics.

Think Divergent, but not YA.

The romance is meh, but the twists and set pieces were fun. I can't defend it on literary terms. But did I have a good time? Absolutely.

#books #booksky

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina cover shows a stylized campfire with a skull in the center and an arrow at the bottom

Mystery + Horror:

Anna, age 17, works as a maid in the tribe casino. When a couple of teen girls go missing, she starts putting pieces together. #MMIWG

Meanwhile she knows a folklore entity is coming for her. A disembodied head, rolling towards her, always. SPOOKY.

#books #booksky

Isola by Allegra Goodman cover show a woman in a long gown on a rocky cliff, looking down at the ocean.

Isola is a novel about Marguerite de La Rocque, who in 1541 was marooned with her young lover on a island. But the most tense chapters are her childhood, where she learns that an orphan girl's survival takes cunning. A story of courage, resilience, reflection, and redemption. #books #booksky

This photo just about sums it up

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison book cover shows a devil tale wrapped around a purple house

This is a haunted house page turner has wit and a touch a rage.
I enjoyed our POV character Clio, a clever NYC influence with a chaotic streak, who observes early on "The easiest way to tell who a man really is, is to injure his ego and see how he reacts".

Best in print.
#books #booksky

a man wearing sunglasses and a hat says " walk " in white letters Alt: long walk - the major

I liked that guy until I saw this movie ...........still wrecked!!!

Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang

5 stars - perfectly paced fantasy / dark academia
This is a book anti-colonialist and feels very relevant.

Sciona aspires to be the first woman archmage in Bright Haven. As she rises, she uncovers uncomfortable truths. TW gore, misogyny, racism

I gulped it down. And that ending!

#books #booksky

Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Lute by Jennifer Thorne shows an image of 7 transparent women and girls

Folk Horror: In a war-torn world, the island of Lute is peaceful and protected. But every 7 years, there is "The Day" where tragedy happens as a tithe. Nina, who moved here almost 7 years ago by marriage, doesn't buy it, thinks she's being hazed ... no gore, evocative.

#books #booksky

I just started season 2 of This is Us and I don't want to cancel Hulu. Of course I did, because of course I did. Fuck them for making me miss this goddamn tearjerker show.

So far gone by Jess Walter

The most 2025 novel of 2025.
7 years ago journalist Rhys punched his MAGA son in law at Thanksgiving. Then he went off grid. Now his grandkids show up needing help.
What comes next is a wild ride: a road trip, guns, and Rhys trying to figure out cell phones. This book is ALIVE. #books #booksky

The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James show a woman on a cliff near a mansion

This is a dual-timeline atmospheric gothic mystery set in Cornwall. In 1947, Alice is the new governess in a spooky manor house that the locals are wary of..... the modern part is about an orphaned woman who inherits that house, now abandoned. Good horror-adjacent fall pick.
#books #booksky

Elk Woman She Wants Revenge Woman in the woods antler Men in an old truck hunting knife basketball court on fire

Fall Book Aesthetic: The Only Good Indians by @sgj.bsky.social

We are all the Same in the dark by Julia Heaberlin

This literary mystery-within-a-mystery is atmospheric; it makes Texas drip with menace and regrets. Featuring a mute child with one eye - secrets hidden in cookbooks - biblical verses as threats - a missing homecoming queen named Trumanell. The twists are *chef's kiss*.

#books #booksky

Evvie Drake starts over by Linda Holmes

Evvie is leaving her crappy husband when he unexpected dies. She gets a renter: a struggling pro baseball player. Both are experiencing complicated grief.

This is in the "romance as self discovery / therapy" subgenre, but it's smart, honest, funny and feels grounded.

#booksky #books