Haunting Books: Three Historical Novels About Remarkable Women
In past Octobers, I’ve written about haunting books—which I define as stories that linger after I have finished the story. These aren’t usually frightening books (I don’t read many of those), but their characters and stories keep returning to my mind. Three historical novels I’ve read recently have haunted me in that way: The Pirate […]
Three Haunting Books for 2025
During the earlier years of this blog, in a nod to Halloween celebrations, my October posts sometimes covered books that “haunted” me—that stayed with me long after I finished them. This year, I’ve read several excellent historical novels that qualify as “haunting” books, and I decided to write about three of those today. All three […]
A Dozen Haunting Books for 2021
I have usually devoted at least one October post to “haunting books,” because October is both National Book Month and the month we celebrate Halloween. This year, I have a long list of books I’ve read in the last twelve months that could be considered haunting. I’ve winnowed the group down to a dozen books, […]
Hits and Misses in Other Book Clubs
I wrote in my last post about one of my book clubs, the one I call the Best Book Club Ever. But I am also in two other book clubs at the moment, and they each have their benefits as well. A year ago (in pre-pandemic days), I joined a new parish and began attending […]
Hits and Misses of the Best Book Club Ever
Traditionally, in October, National Book Month, I have posted about “haunting books”—books that have stayed with me after I read them. This month, I thought I’d focus on what I’ve been forced to read because of my participation in various book clubs. Left to my own devices, I would probably read mostly popular fiction—thrillers and […]
Haunting Books Read in 2019
Most Octobers I have posted one or more reviews of “haunting books” that I’ve read in the past year. This month, because of other things I’ve had to write about (a novel about to be published, a family wedding), I haven’t posted any book reviews yet. This post remedies that situation. Here are a few […]
Haunting Books: The Buddha in the Attic, and Other Novels of the Asian-American Experience
This post is mostly about The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Oksuka, which my Book Club is reading this month. But I’ll also mention two other novels I’ve enjoyed that also deal in part with the Asian-American experience—Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See, and Love and Other Consolation Prizes, by Jamie Ford. […]
Haunting Books: Too Close to the Nightly News for Comfort
I thought about only including historical fiction in my “haunting books” this year, but a few novels set in current times haunted me more—because their plots are so similar to what we see in the news all too often. These novels are Luckiest Girl Alive, by Jessica Knoll, This Is Where It Ends, by Marieke […]
Haunting Books: World War I and Its Aftermath
Today’s “haunting book” post features two historical novels, Fall of Giants, by Ken Follett, and A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. Follett’s book is a panorama of Europe and the U.S. from before World War I through that war’s conclusion. Towles’s book is an exquisite cameo of life in Russia after World War I […]
A Summary of Haunting Books for 2015
In past years, each October I have used this blog to review books that I’ve found “haunting” during the year. But this month I have other things I want to write about, so this will be the only post on haunting books this year. I’ve read a bunch of them. I reviewed Go Set a […]