October Staff Picks!
"This is the paradox of tolerance, the treason of free speech: we hesitate to admit that some people are just fucking evil and need to be stopped." --N. K. Jemisin, How Long 'til Black Future Month?: Stories
For our staff picks this month, some chose to keep the spooks going and others chose some dark themes! We're eager to see if our customers go for the tricks or for the treats!
Recommended by Alisa
Brother by Ania Ahlborn
There’s a growing sense of unease as the Morrows’ sick family history unveils, and it had me turning the pages of this book fast. The true horror is slow to come to light, but with genre-typical tropes like kidnapped girls, bodies in the cellar, and uncomfortably close family dynamics, this book is great for both slasher and psychological horror fans.
Recommended by Andrew
Corruptible by Brian Klass
Does power corrupt? Are corrupt people drawn to power? Do ordinary citizens entrust power in the wrong people or are the institutions of power enabling corruption? In this insightful volume Brian Klaas provides an answer to those questions and more.
Recommended by Anna
Cats Pajamas by Ray Bradbury
From sci-fi to comedy to horror, Ray Bradbury is truly a master of literature. This collection of short stories was written over the course of 60 years and contains an excellent variety of fast and enjoyable reads.
Recommended by Babette
Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Forget ACOTAR – THIS is my favorite fantasy series ever. From the author of Six of Crows comes the story of a girl plucked from obscurity and told that she is her kingdom’s only hope of salvation. I was hooked from the start, and the series only gets stronger as it goes along. Featuring a reluctant heroine with badass powers, a twist I did NOT see coming, and the OG #ShadowDaddy, this is a book you’ll want to revisit again and again.
Recommended by Ben
Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton
How did Halloween become the holiday we know and love today? How have other festivals such as the Celtic Samhain and Catholic All Souls’ Day influenced the spookiest day of the year? Is a pumpkin really a fruit? Lisa Morton answers these questions and more in this rapturous and easy-to-consume history of Halloween.
Recommended by Chloe
How Long 'til Black Future Month?: Stories by N K Jemisin
Award-winning science fiction writer N. K. Jemisin is a weaver of worlds, which she has beautifully braided together in this gripping anthology where not only the lagoon, but the creatures too are Black. How Long ‘Til Black Future Month asks all the right questions, tackling social issues alongside the paranormal (because what’s spookier than racism?). Recommended while listening to Janelle Monae.
Recommended by Elisabeth
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
In Marilynne Robinson’s haunting first novel, two orphans are raised by a succession of relatives in a remote lakeside town in Idaho. Her writing is singular and musical; passages and images from this book have stayed with me for years. Housekeeping often makes “100 best books” lists, and when it doesn’t, that’s a mistake!
Recommended by Jordan
Cult Following by J. W. Ocker
For people who want to know the history and psychology surrounding different cults around the world comes an eye-popping compendium of the most infamous, audacious, and dangerous cults in history.
Recommended by Katie
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
A beautiful, weird, and unsettling novel about a man trying to save his son from a life of servitude in a paranormal cult in Argentina set during the years of the Argentinian dictatorship. Described as more of a fiction of horrors than a horror fiction, Our Share of Night is gory, allegorical, and political, and will keep you guessing the whole time.
Recommended by Kris
Maeve Fly by CJ Leede
Maeve's day job is to dress as a princess at the happiest place in the world, but at night she prowls dive bars with a book in hand because she's different. She's not just different, she's a psycho, but no one really needs to know that, right?
Recommended by Liora
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
From the author of The Kite Runner comes this moving portrait of female friendship and resilience in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Hosseini beautifully weaves together Laila and Mariam’s stories into a heart-wrenching tale that is sure to stick with you.
Recommended by Llalan
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Here's a book about something truly scary: people burning books! The Library Book is about the terrible 1986 fire in the LA Public Library and the library's history. I know, a book about a library sounds sooo boring, but Orlean is a nimble storyteller. She explores the mystery of who set the fire and the potential libraries have to save us all.
Recommended by Sara
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.
“If you don’t go out in the woods, nothing will ever happen, and your life will never begin.” Learn how to balance taking care of your pack while preserving your own boundaries from the master storyteller herself. This book is absolutely fascinating and beautifully affirming; you’ll never see yourself the same way again.
Recommended by Author's Corner*
Delinquents and Other Escape Attempts by Nick Rees Gardner
"A tonal echo of Sherwood Anderson's Midwest, along with Denis Johnson's recognition that addiction and storytelling provide different but related escape hatches. An excruciating, gorgeous debut." - Emily Fridlund, author of History of Wolves and Catapult: Stories
*The Inner Loop's Author's Corner supports local authors' independently published books by spotlighting them across all our programming and through community collaborations.
Recommended by Aly
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
Sure, Jade is the half Native, horror obsessed girl who tried to commit suicide and is therefore allegedly unstable. It doesn't mean she can't spot the beginning of a slasher when she sees one. Too bad nobody believes her. Poignant, terrifying, and refreshing, My Heart is a Chainsaw redefines what a Final Girl can be while showing that a checkered past doesn't give someone a jaded heart.
Recommended by Kris
October Ghosts & Autumn Dreams by K. A. Opperman
Happy Halloween--but with poetry!
Recommended by Jordan
Chopping Spree by Angela Sylvaine
Paying homage to 80s horror, this twisty horror is the perfect read for the spooky season!
Recommended by Anna
In Ghostly Japan by Lafcadio Hearn
Originally published in 1899, In Ghostly Japan is more than a collection of ghosts stories, it’s a reflection of life and the perspective of death in old Japan.