Happy Halloween!

 

Trick or Treat? Treat of course! What are you reading today/tonight? 

I'm planning on dipping into some Halloween Anthologies like Blood Lite edited by Kevin Anderson. I also enjoy Halloween and Horror anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow. Lisa Morton is also a good editor when it comes to the topic of Halloween and things that go bump in the night. All Hallows Eve edited by Ellen Datlow is new this year.

Novel wise, I am currently reading Hallowed Bones by Lucy Smoke. It's the first in the Sons of Salem series. The jury is still out on it. It's not exactly what I thought I was getting, but it's not bad.

And if you prefer nonfiction, the History Channel has plenty of information on Halloween.

Also if you search my blog for Halloween, you will find articles I've done in the past on the topic.

Whatever you do, whatever you read, I hope you have a Happy Halloween. Stay safe and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #626: Pride and Poltergeists by Seanan McGuire

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: Seanan McGuire’s New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated InCryptid series continues in this sixteenth exciting adventure, following the Price family as they struggle to protect the cryptological world around us.

Normal, adjective:
1. Confirming to an established standard; not sick or unlike oneself.

Abnormal, adjective:
1. Deviating from what is normal.
2. Of or pertaining to that which is irregular; in particular, behavior that deviates from norms of social propriety.
3. See also “weird.”

For James Smith―now James Price―normal was never going to be an option. The only son of a sorcerer who died before she could teach him how to use his abilities, he was miserable in the town of New Gravesend, Maine...at least until Antimony Price declared him her adopted brother and swept him off to a new life. Among the Prices, James stands out less for being a sorcerer, and more for his poor cryptid-wrangling and hand-to-hand combat skills.

Becoming a Price didn’t come with an instruction manual, and James is still trying to figure out how he fits in this chaotic new family. How can he be a good brother, son, and, maybe―given the looks he's been getting from the cute guy who owns his new favorite waffle truck―boyfriend? And how can he balance it all when poachers and poltergeists refuse to leave him alone, and when the old family mystery of what happened to Aunt Laura starts calling?

Maybe he should have stayed in New Gravesend after all.

Pride and Poltergeists by Seanan McGuire is expected out March 2, 2027 from Tor Books.

Why am I waiting on this book? I've read some of the series. I've enjoyed what I've read. I like the premise of the series and the characters. And the books have all been well-written. 

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our evergrowing TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Hallowed Bones by Lucy Smoke

 

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR! You can also just share what you are currently reading. We make it very easy to play along. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3! Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Ambrosia at the Purple Booker.

1: Grab your current read. 2: Open to a random page. 3: Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title and author so that other people can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teaser!

Aunt Trisha harrumphs and clutches her designer handbag tighter to her chest as if a spider is going to jump out at random and steal it right from her grasp. "Well, they obviously don't know how to manage their money," she huffs.

(Aunt Trisha on the state of the buildings on the Ipswich College campus. 1% through on my kindle)

Hallowed Bones by Lucy Smoke was published October 6, 2026 by St. Martin's Griffin.

 

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #625: Werewolves of Waffle Hutch by Reba McQueen

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: A dynamite horror novel set in a rural West Virginia diner where the coffee’s fresh, the customers are strange, and, lately, something in the woods has developed a taste for the townsfolk.

Grady Hendrix meets The Bear in this terrifying debut about monsters, summoned evil, and found family.

The woods are watching. Something ancient is waking. And the graveyard shift just clocked in.

The Waffle Hutch is open twenty-four hours a day, slinging hash browns and coffee to the weird and the weary. When a string of gruesome deaths rattles the coal mining town of Mahigan, West Virginia, and rumors of creatures in the woods begin to spread, the night crew senses something waiting at their doorstep. And the diner’s newest hire seems to know more than he’s letting on.

Jimmy Hughes was supposed to disappear. A disgraced Michelin-starred chef on the run, he finds refuge in Mahigan behind the line at Waffle Hutch, frying eggs and dodging questions. But as bodies pile up, Jimmy and his coworkers realize that something feral is feeding on their town. Haunted by the past he tried to outrun, Jimmy begins to fear that what he tried to escape may have its claws in those he’s only begun to trust.

Set in a forgotten corner of Appalachia where ancient forces still hold sway and told in alternating points of view from the diner’s unforgettable ensemble cast, Werewolves of Waffle Hutch is a feast of camp, terror, and darkly comic storytelling that reimagines werewolf mythology through the lens of eco-fiction and Appalachian folklore. Equal parts horror and heart, it’s a story of monsters, outcasts, and the broken people who fight like hell to protect their own.

Werewolves of Waffle Hutch by Reba McQueen is expected out May 25th, 2027 from Hyperion Avenue.

Why am I highlighting this book? It sounds interesting, The Waffle Hutch makes me think of the chain Waffle House which can provide sanctuary for the late night crowd as well as the daytime folks. Some people get in the habit of going late at night after work or a midnight movie. It's not a real stretch to imagine the found family part of the plot there. And I'm looking forward to reading more about the reimagining of werewolves from the different points of view. And it doesn't hurt that it says darkly comedic storytelling in the synopsis.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our evergrowing TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: The House That Eats the Dead by Max Doty

 

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR! You can also just share what you are currently reading. We make it very easy to play along. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3! Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Ambrosia at the Purple Booker.

1: Grab your current read. 2: Open to a random page. 3: Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title and author so that other people can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teaser!

And the truth was, the house charmed me right away. It was older than any other place I’d seen. It looked almost like the way a child would imagine a home, with a strange turret on one side and a great glass room on the other. Its light-brown shingles could very well have been made of gingerbread.

Max Doty. The House That Eats the Dead, Kindle Edition. 2% through on my kindle.

The House That Eats the Dead by Max Doty was published August 18, 2026 by Bantam.

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #624: The Southern Sorority of Superstitious Witches by Katie Ortiz

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher: In this spellbinding Southern Gothic novel, three women weave together old Southern folklore and magic to fight sexism and educational discrimination in post–Civil War Alabama, perfect for fans of Hester Fox and Louisa Morgan.

When Lucille, Catherine, and Victoria are invited to participate in a trial semester for women at Alabama's most prestigious university, they each have their own reasons for accepting. Lucille wants freedom from both her father's control and reminders of her traitorous first love. Catherine wants to escape an arranged marriage meant to halt her attraction to women. And Victoria wants to run from the guilt that haunts her after the death of one of her fellow mill girls.

The trial semester will determine whether or not women across the state will be allowed to attend other universities. But the enrolled women quickly learn that success is not guaranteed, and some of their male cohorts are determined to see them fail. When the men's pranks go too far Lucille, Catherine, and Victoria form a coven under the guise of a sorority and call upon witchcraft steeped in the traditions of Southern folklore to fight back.

As they gather their fellow witches, they discover there is something darker at work at the university, a force that is determined to expel all the women at the university, and they'll need all the allies they can get if they want to succeed.

For fans of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls and Weyward, this historical speculative novel explores the darker side of human nature and the ways in which women navigate—and survive—oppressive, male-dominated societies.

The Southern Sorority of Superstitious Witches by Katie Ortiz is out now as of October 6, 2026 from Alcove Press.

Why am I highlighting this book? Normally I wouldn't put a spotlight on a book that was already out, but this one sounded so good. I love southern gothic stories. This one seems to put the women as the underdogs who harness magic. And it compares it to Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. I enjoyed that book. So I'm thinking I have a good chance of enjoying this one as well.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our evergrowing TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

The Top 11 Books Challenged in 2025 as determined by the American Library Association

ALA documented 713 attempts to censor library materials and services, 487 of which targeted books. 

The Top 11 Most Targeted Titles in 2025 were: 

1. Sold by Patricia McCormick  

2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky  

3. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe  

4. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas  

5. (tie) Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo  

5. (tie) Tricks by Ellen Hopkins  

7. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas  

8. (tie) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess  

8. (tie) Identical by Ellen Hopkins  

8. (tie) Looking for Alaska by John Green  

8. (tie) Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout 

"ALA defines a “ban” as the removal of materials from a library based on the objections of a person or group. A “challenge” is an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted, based on the objections of a person or group. In 2025, OIF documented 5,668 books banned from libraries (66% of the total challenged). An additional 920 books were censored through access restrictions such as relocation or requiring parental permission. This is both the highest number of titles censored in one year and the highest rate of challenges resulting in censorship from 1990–2025."  

I used the ALA Banned Books Week website to generate this blog entry. 

For me, I feel like we should be able to decide for ourselves what we read. I can understand guidance from parents for their children, but they shouldn't seek to prevent all people from reading what they don't want to read or have their children read themselves.