So, I’m not averse to a little retail therapy, as the saying goes, and given the week that just transpired, I decided to do exactly that. And it’s pretty standard that my kind of retail therapy is, well, books. Books comfort me. I like to be surrounded by them. Obviously, I also like to read them because, that’s the point. (Except when they’re just there in a tower, an obesisk of unread books, serving as a totem to whatever STORY GOD you worship.)
And I thought, hey, maybe you want some books, too. It won’t fix anything, not out there, not in the world. But maybe books fix a little something inside ourselves. One brick returned to a crumbling wall.
As such, hey, I’mma give some books away.
See, I have an ARC (advanced reader’s copy) of The Staircase in the Woods and I’d sure like to send it to one of you.
And I’ll send some other books, too. Whatever I have lying around. Might be some random stuff — I’ll definitely throw in a copy of Gentle Writing Advice and You Can Do Anything, Magic Skeleton, but also some other fictiony bits too. Not sure what I’ve got on the shelves but expect a box of books to come your way if you win.
I’ll sign ’em! Personalize ’em too if you want.
The way to enter is easy: just go into the comments below, and leave a comment with a book recommendation. You must leave the title and author name, at least. You’re free, but not required, to also leave more of a comment as to why you liked it or whatever. It’ll be nice to share the book love.
Share some book love, maybe get some books.
I pay shipping, you pay nothing.
Caveat here is, it’s open to US folks only. I know, I want to do international, but the shipping is high, and the chance to lose a package is also higher than domestic, and that would be sad for everyone. So, US only, I’m afraid.
I’ll run this till Friday, November 15th, 9AM EST. I’ll pick a winner randomly, and will send the books out in the following week.
Sound fair?
COOL.
All right. You know the drill. Get to the comments. Leave a book recommendation (title, author), you might get some cool books (including Staircase!) from yours truly.
Okay bye.
Derek Fox says:
The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck. A collection of intertwined short stories that are so carefully crafted and beautifully told, that you may end up reading it twice.
November 11, 2024 — 11:47 PM
Sandra A says:
I loved My Murder by Katie Williams. Speculative fiction involving cloning and a serial killer but not your usual mystery story.
Also loved Damn Fine story by Chuck Wendig (non-fiction).
November 13, 2024 — 8:47 PM
Doug Cadmus says:
I was gobsmacked by Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir. Offers a voice like nothing I’ve heard before: a weird, queer, and sardonic tale of lesbian necromancers and their machinations in a doomed universe. Delish.
November 12, 2024 — 12:31 AM
ravel says:
Good day.
The book I recommend is Little, Big: or, The Fairies Parliament by John Crowley.
It is an urban fantasy, in the sense of being a magical story set within modern times, as opposed to, say, medieval times or some such. Simply put, it is the best fairy story I have ever read, and I aspire to ever write something so complete and yet so mysterious and solidly whimsical. The story follows a family whose girls come of age in the time of steam engines and their encounters as they seek love, attempt to become themselves and stay true to their family in an impossible constructed house, surrounded by odd mystical creatures and occurrences. The cast of characters in this novel is exemplary, including one of the best women detectives I’ve seen in literature as well as magical fish (I think?). If you have not read it before, good sir, honestly I think you should, it is worth your time.
If you HAVE read it, then you would be the first person I’ve had interaction with since I read it who has, and that is special enough in and of itself.
Have a good day.
Regards,
Noel.
November 12, 2024 — 1:46 AM
Becca says:
God of the Woods by Liz Moore.
The title of your book reminded me of it- great novel!
November 12, 2024 — 2:46 AM
Bean says:
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. Honestly it’s just what I’m reading right now. It’s Stephen King’s attempt at writing a John Grisham style crime thriller, and it’s good.
November 12, 2024 — 3:13 AM
Georgiana Lee says:
I just finished Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel and it completely blew me away. It’s incredibly sad, but it’s beautifully written. It’s very thought-provoking. I didn’t know anything about it before I started reading it so maybe if I’d had some warning I wouldn’t have been so destroyed by it.
November 12, 2024 — 4:10 AM
Sidney Willims says:
I will suggest a book by a friend, Tom Lucas, a Lovecraftian work with an insane spin. It’s called Research Randy and The Mystery of Grandma’s Half-Eaten Pie of Despair. It’s about a boy detective who moves to a town called Effingmouth.
November 12, 2024 — 6:03 AM
Lilliana says:
The lies of locke lamora by scott lynch was one of my favorite books ever when i first read it and definitely holds a special sweary place in my heart. The world building is so cool, the characters are so fun, i love it. Close runner up is Armageddon’s children by terry brooks. I read it without knowingg anything about the world of Shannara and it fucked. So. Hard. Such a cool book to read, really informed my love of grim post apocalypse.
November 12, 2024 — 8:11 AM
Jill Olson says:
I loved Fever House and The Devil by Name by Keith Rosson. Fast paced and as a Portlander I loved the local setting
November 12, 2024 — 8:50 AM
Jill Olson says:
I loved Fever House and The Devil by Name by Keith Rosson. So fast paced and fun
November 12, 2024 — 8:57 AM
maskedplatypus says:
I know it’s out of genre but, Graham Greene _The Power and the Glory_ is still my most loved. It’s the story of a not-so-pious Catholic priest struggling in a Mexican province while communists hold control of the government; said insurgents execute all priests who do refuse to marry (thus making them no longer priests). It’s a grail story where it’s hard to see who is the hero and who is the wounded king because it calls into question what is a hero.
And I suppose that last sentence makes more sense if you have studied The Fisher King character and such. Anyway, it’s hard but good.
I’ll keep it to one, although I keep a list. I will provide more if, at any point, the unlikely happens and someone expresses interest.
November 12, 2024 — 9:19 AM
mattw says:
The Sasquatch Hunters Almanac by Sharma Shields. It’s such a weird and wonderful book, beautiful and melancholy. It’s hard to describe, but it’s one of those books that you wish you could erase from your memory after reading it to read it for the first time again.
November 12, 2024 — 9:55 AM
Deb says:
This looked so good I went and bought it. Thanks for the recommendation
November 13, 2024 — 3:57 PM
Melyssa says:
“Space Station X” by A.Z. Rozkillis is really good. It’s a debut novel for the author and was only published a few months ago through a Kickstarter campaign, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a queer sci-fi horror with a lovely amount of comedy sprinkled in. Lot of cosmic dread and sass, it’s a great read (and it’s great to support emerging authors).
November 12, 2024 — 10:06 AM
Craig says:
My go-to book recommendation is always The Gone-Away World, by Nick Harkaway. It’s fun as hell – stuffed full of weird ideas. The first chapter is a little non-representative as to what kind of book it is, so if you want to give it a try I urge you to read the first two chapters before deciding if it’s for you
November 12, 2024 — 10:22 AM
AstroDavid says:
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler. Just a fun book playing around with time loops. It’s lighthearted for a book with lots and lots of violence. The world building was also fun and interesting. I’m not a D&D player, but you can recognize the inspiration there, along with Warcraft and a few others the author talks about in the notes at the end.
November 12, 2024 — 10:26 AM
Brian M Kennedy says:
Your latest books have inspired me to read more horror and I recently finished Joe Hill’s Horns. It was both laugh out loud funny and thought provoking. I really enjoyed it.
Side note, I’m still processing Black River Orchard. I listened to the audiobook with my daughter as we drove cross country from Oregon to Alabama this summer to drop her off for college. We both loved the book! It really helped get us through some of those long stretches of west Texas. Thank you!
November 12, 2024 — 11:48 AM
Deb Schneider says:
Just finished Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library. A strange book that is both depressing and uplifting. Nora Seed finds the library filled with books offering alternative lives. What if she had pursued her dad’s dream to be an Olympic swimmer? Or married the guy she left at the altar? Each book in the Midnight Library offers a different path, and Nora must choose one.
I have just started reading Black River Orchard and am loving the apple stories. I was involved with the North American Fruit Explorers for many years and enjoyed finding rare apples myself. My favorite is Ashmead’ s Kernel which I got to taste at a heritage orchard in Vermont. Really enjoying your book!
November 12, 2024 — 11:56 AM
thoroughlytidalwave2d50975c84 says:
Novel – The Covenant of Water By Abraham Verghese
Set in India during the last century. About several generations of a family.. and the families affliction. Each generation at least one family member and often more die by drowning. Despite their avoidance of water.
Bonus short story – The Egg by Andy Weir
Free to read, just need to google it.
November 12, 2024 — 2:54 PM
Krystina Miller says:
I just finished The Music by T. Marie Vandelly and it was the first book in a very long time that kept me WANTING to read it.
November 12, 2024 — 4:41 PM
swordsoftheancients says:
One of the best things I’ve read over the last (almost) decade is Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, starting with Every Heart a Doorway. It’s beautifully written portal fantasy exploring what happens to those kids when their magical worlds no longer have a place for them.
November 12, 2024 — 5:10 PM
Laura LaTour says:
I just finished Nat Cassidy’s novella Rest Stop and…WOW! It has everything; unrequited love, terror, gruesome kills, generational trauma, existential crisis and, of course, rock and roll! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
November 12, 2024 — 5:11 PM
Laura says:
Jonathan Abernathy, You Are So Kind by Molly McGee; because it’s that magical combination of depressing and weirdly-hopeful that suits my mood in times like this.
November 12, 2024 — 8:08 PM
Allison says:
I just finished Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez and it was phenomenal. The characters were so real! The story was compelling throughout! And the body horror parts were perfectly horrific! I definitely and highly recommend it.
November 12, 2024 — 9:16 PM
Lance Bates says:
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, the first book to make me laugh out loud in a while. It’s fun and energetic while also fascinating. I loved it and hope it becomes a series.
November 12, 2024 — 9:59 PM
Gunnlaugr says:
Pretty much several of his one shot books are great. Starter Villain, Fuzzy Nation, and Red Shirts are also great.
November 13, 2024 — 1:58 PM
Reeby says:
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith. This is the beginning of a middle grade series about a couple of kids who go to live with their uncle who they’ve never met, who turns out to be a cryptid hunter. The first book features the mokele-mbembe, and later books have other cryptids (or former cryptids) such as giant squid, bigfoot, and chupacabra. It’s a fun adventure series, but it’s also got a lot of themes around family, personal identity, and animal conservation.
November 13, 2024 — 12:32 PM
Jimi Albert says:
I just finished The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe—such a fantastic story, with a fast-paced plot that kept me hooked!
November 13, 2024 — 12:59 PM
Rachelle says:
I read fiction 90% of the time and agree with the comments above about The Covenant of Water, The God of the Woods, and several others. This may be a surprise, but I’m going to recommend Lucky Loser by Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig, which is about “he who shall not be named” (hint: he’s orange). Because I think it’s important to know what we’re dealing with these days, I found this book to be both revelatory and educational. It’s also extremely well written and moves quickly.
November 13, 2024 — 1:51 PM
Rebecca says:
In times of trouble, I turn to picture books. Stay with me! Because they remind me there is so much love and hope in the world. A recent one that has stayed with me is Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E Pendziwol & Todd Stewart. Very much about place, and nature and the sheer joy of being out it in it in winter.
PS have just finished reading Gentle Writing Advice. Thank you for putting it out into the universe.
November 13, 2024 — 3:58 PM
Matthew Mercier says:
It’s hard to pick just one book, but I highly recommend “CITIZEN VINCE” by JESS WALTER. A small time con man is living in the Witness Protection Program
out in Spokane Washington, when his past comes back to haunt him on the eve of the 1980 presidential election. A comic-noir of the highest order that also happens to be pro-democracy rallying cry–the Vince of the title, after a lifetime of being a criminal, is voting in his first election and he will not be denied, even if he’s being chased by killers and thieves.
November 14, 2024 — 9:22 AM
Erin says:
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen! It is one of my top horror of the year, about a group of contestants on a reality tv dating show who arrive on a mysterious island, only to be greeted by Patricia, a temperamental, but woefully misunderstood local legend desperate for a connection of her own. Fantastic queer/ spectrum sexuality representation! Can’t not recommend enough!
November 14, 2024 — 11:01 AM
Erin says:
I’d like to suggest Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen. One of my top horror reads of the year! It is about a group of contestants on a reality tv dating show that travels to a mysterious island. At this island they come face to face with Patricia, a temperamental local legend, who is just as desperate for connection! A fantastic queer spectrum representation novel! Can’t suggest enough!
November 14, 2024 — 11:06 AM
Edward says:
Moonheart by Charles de Lint. Prior to reading that novel, my fantasy go-to books were by Tolkien and Moorcock. Urban fantasy opened up a whole new world to dive into.
November 14, 2024 — 12:14 PM
chukg says:
I would like to give some book love to The Book of Love, by Kelly Link — it’s her first novel after tons of amazing short stories. Hard to describe how great it is, it’s some small town teenage friends who have a band and also there are some nearly god-like mystical entities? And one of the teens used to be dead? The characters are super well drawn and the prose is amazing, and there’s so much music in it too.
November 14, 2024 — 2:43 PM
Ceal says:
At first I was going to recommend Watership Down because when I read it in the back of an elementary school classroom 45 years ago, it tore out my young heart with its little rabbit claws and served it back to me with a garnish of tears. But these are darker times, deserving of dark, funny, and foul thoughts, so try The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, which will probably leave you with unwanted images and scents, may make you weep, and will almost certainly make you laugh.* (I’ve reread it three times. It clears the palate if you’ve recently heard somebody murder language.) Also, to repeat another commenter’s earlier recommendation, do read Chuck Wendig’s Gentle Writing Advice, which is not only nutritious and good for you, but also *really* funny.
P.S. Thanks to everyone for excellent recommendations! I’ve added several books to my “to read” list.
*Note: The author reads the audio version if you prefer to listen, which is what my husband did and which is also irresistible.
November 14, 2024 — 6:27 PM
Maureen Macomber says:
I’d love to rec “The Thing Between Us” by Gus Moreno, if you haven’t read it yet! I went in only knowing it was horror, and was so glad I didn’t know anything else about it because BOY did it get me good. I accidentally read it in one sitting, which I also recommend as it’s not a terribly long read. Clean, evocative, visual writing at a decent pace with some startling turns.
November 14, 2024 — 11:07 PM
Sean J says:
Love the great recs here, filling up my To Read list! I’d share these:
Keeping It Real – Justina Robson (1st in the Quantum Gravity series, fantastic characters, really cool sci-fi/fantasy mashup)
Acid For The Children – Flea (his voice drives you through the pages like his bass does his music)
November 15, 2024 — 2:38 PM
Ceal says:
(Apologies if this repeats–I think Akismet ate my recommendation yesterday. Dear Akismet: I am a primate, not a botfly.)
At first I was going to recommend Watership Down because when I read it in the back of an elementary school classroom 45 years ago, it tore out my young heart with its little rabbit claws and served it back to me with a garnish of tears. But these are darker times, deserving of dark, funny, and foul thoughts, so try The Blacktongue Thief, by Christopher Buehlman, which will probably leave you with unwanted images and scents, may make you weep, and will almost certainly make you laugh.* (I’ve reread it three times. It clears the palate after you’ve heard somebody murdering language.) Also, to repeat another commenter’s earlier recommendation, please do read Chuck Wendig’s Gentle Writing Advice, which is not only nutritious, lovely, and good for you, but also *really* funny.
P.S. Thanks to everyone for excellent recommendations! I’ve added several books to my “to read” list.
*Note: The author reads the audio version if you prefer to listen, which is what my husband did and which is also irresistible.
November 15, 2024 — 2:43 PM
Caro says:
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. So weird, so well written, so funny. A tome with side stories, and a whole universe behind it. Truly wonderful and comforting.
November 15, 2024 — 2:48 PM