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.
Cassildra says:
I’ve really been loving a cozy Isekai LitRPG fantasy story lately. It’s a weird genre for me but it’s hitting so good!
Demon World Boba Shop by R.C. Joshua.
It’s just so NICE. I really love how kind and gentle it is.
November 9, 2024 — 1:24 PM
Mike Sullivan says:
HI Chuck! I am going to recommend The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen. This is a fantastic modern gothic/horror/ghost story. The story contains all the gothic tropes you expect, but twists them around and presents them in a new way. A great story and compelling characters. Plus rain. Lots and lots of rain. You need an umbrella while reading.
November 9, 2024 — 1:26 PM
Mary Ellen says:
I just finished and loved Victor LaValle’s Lone Women!
November 9, 2024 — 1:26 PM
Kris G says:
My current recs are:
One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon (Holy sh** it’s so good!)
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke (Not new, but new to me and it was outstanding!)
Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller (I thought it would be a cute popcorn read, and it was absolutely not and it was terrific.)
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djéli Clark (He packs so much punch into so few pages.)
I had been reading several political science and women’s rights non-fiction books that were very good, but I returned them to the library unfinished after Tuesday. I don’t have the spoons for that stuff right now.
November 9, 2024 — 1:26 PM
Brandee Crisp says:
God of the Woods by Liz Moore is beautifully written, eerie and compelling. I also recommend All The Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. It’s tense, sad, emotional and full of hope. Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo is not available until next spring, but put it on your list. So beautiful and lyrical, I am trying to savor my advanced copy slowly.
November 9, 2024 — 1:28 PM
Mila says:
I would like to recommend books by Karin Nordin.
Where Ravens Roost and Last One Alive are a pair.
Sweet Little Lies
And her newest one is The Man in Room Seven (only on Kindle in the US currently)
November 9, 2024 — 10:15 PM
JiSe says:
Blank Spots on the Map by Trevor Paglen
A fascinating real story about secret places, and how their existence and operation affects our society.
November 9, 2024 — 10:22 PM
Natalie Brown says:
The Redemption of Morgan Bright by Chris Panatier. A cool, creepy novel with an unreliable narrator. Just wait until you get to the butterfly part
November 9, 2024 — 1:28 PM
Caitlin says:
The City we Became. N.K. Jemisin. It shows people of different backgrounds coming together to vanquish evil, and it is a cool introduction to NYC. Plus sci fi (urban fantasy?) from a cool POC. Let’s go!!
November 9, 2024 — 1:28 PM
Grace says:
Just started reading Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle! It’s a horror story about a Hollywood screenwriter who’s given an order to kill off the two main gay characters of his show. He decides to continue with them anyways but then he starts getting stalked by his own horror creations come to life. I’ve been a fan of Chuck Tingle for awhile because of his satire erotica book collection online, and I’m so glad that he’s getting a lot of success with his more traditional books as well.
November 9, 2024 — 1:29 PM
rebecca vandenbrook says:
Newsflesh series (trilogy) by Mira grant (seanan mcguire pseudonom) first book is feed. There is also a book of short stories.
Is a really good zombie series (they handle the zombie apocalypse way better than we did the pandemic )
They are a great read or listen and weirdly was one of my comfort rereads during COVID.
November 9, 2024 — 1:30 PM
Sue SG says:
I read those a year or so ago and COULD NOT put them down. Ffs, they were good.
November 9, 2024 — 1:32 PM
Jennie S says:
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson! It’s criminal that I didn’t get introduced to her work while getting my literature degree!
November 9, 2024 — 1:30 PM
Sue SG says:
The Witch’s Door: Oddities and Tales from the Esoteric to the Extreme – very cool book of oddities, gorgeous pictures, and goth goodness to make any lover of the dark wiggle their claws in happiness. Definitely recommend the hardcover over any other edition just for the aesthetic. Gorgeous book.
November 9, 2024 — 1:31 PM
serenee3a96496ff says:
Bloodguard by Cecy Robson
It had so much action and there’s nothing better than gladiator gore
November 9, 2024 — 1:32 PM
H.R. Shavor says:
Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia!
I recommend this book so often. 17-year old Eliza Mirk is famous for a web comic, but no one around her knows it and even her biggest fans don’t know who she is. Her two best friends live across the country and in another country entirely. She keeps everything under wraps and on a perfect schedule, until Wallace Warland starts at her school. Wallace is a fan, but more than that he’s known for transcribing the comic into a novel. If you’re into creative things, check this out. It draws you in and as someone who doesn’t reread many books I read this at least once a year.
November 9, 2024 — 1:32 PM
Kent Bridgeman says:
I really enjoyed the West Passage by Jarod Pechacek. It’s a story that could be inside an illuminated manuscript or Hieronymus Bosch painting.
November 9, 2024 — 1:33 PM
James Ball III says:
I’m not leaving a suggestion, because I pre-ordered the book and I prefer to wait to read it until it’s actually released, (it’s just my thing). I just wanted to thank you for your words, all of them, they have so much meaning to me and I know to others as well. Your words kept me sane the first four years, I’m not going to assume that you would do that for the next four, particularly with the meltdown of the former twitter.
I don’t know what the future holds, I do know that there a community and I plan on being there for it and for you to.
November 9, 2024 — 1:34 PM
Larisa says:
Behind the Throne (Indrana) by KB Wagers for space opera with a kick ass heroine, and A Pale Light in the Black (Neo G) by Wagers for swashbuckling and found family. Both are first in their series, and the fourth Neo G comes out on the 22nd.
November 9, 2024 — 1:36 PM
Brian Heitman says:
American Rapture by CJ Leede is so good. It’s smart and powerful and witty, and maybe most importantly, it will make you feel. I think it’s even better than Maeve Fly, which is saying something.
November 9, 2024 — 1:36 PM
Scott Mather says:
Verity by Colleen Hoover is an incredible psychological thriller—a departure from her other books—that left me breathless.
November 9, 2024 — 1:36 PM
Linda Brinkley says:
I recently watched the movie Byzantium which was incredible, can’t recommend enough. So I bought the book it was based on: A Vampire Story by Moira Buffini. It’s really a play, and was different from the movie. Had a humor I wasn’t expecting after the seriousness of the movie. But a humor that I needed, you know? It hits those serious topics, too, and I loved reading it. Wonder if I will get to see the play in the real world. “She won’t even eat peaches, Franklin.”
November 9, 2024 — 1:37 PM
tony says:
Maybe not in the genre your readers lust after, but anything by Lindsay Buroker is great and you should definitely pick something by her up.
One of my favs is Realty Check by Piers Anthony. I don’t know what he thought it was but I like it as a coming of age kind of story.
If by chance you pull my name, pull another one, please.
November 9, 2024 — 1:38 PM
Michelle C. says:
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods was a fun read. Takes a few twists and turns and while most of it gets wrapped up there are a few big unanswered questions at the end that intrigue. Also love the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire and am currently enjoying Cinderwich by Cherie Priest.
November 9, 2024 — 1:38 PM
Linda Brinkley says:
I also pre-ordered, but I love a call to action about books.
November 9, 2024 — 1:39 PM
Leslie A. Aguillard says:
I would LOVE your books sent freely. My recommendation is Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, and later his Beyond Civilization. I need all the support I can get right now, and my husband is having a worse time…his family fled Hungary from the Russian tanks in ’57 and he is not a happy camper now.
November 9, 2024 — 1:39 PM
M.A. Kropp says:
Just looking at my list of books read this year, and this one stuck out:
The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis. An absolute delight of a book about aliens. And conspiracy theories. And the things people are willing to believe. And Las Vegas weddings. And cowboy movies. And actual aliens that are probably not what you expect. And- well, it’s just a really fun read. Maybe just what we need right now- a little escapist fun.
November 9, 2024 — 1:40 PM
Nikki says:
OK I just looked at the summary of Road to Roswell on Goodreads and it looks amazing! I’m putting it on hold at my library now. Thanks!
November 9, 2024 — 3:37 PM
Mica Rossi says:
Connie Willis is the bomb. I haven’t read this one, so thank you for the rec!
November 9, 2024 — 3:50 PM
M.A. Kropp says:
You are welcome. It was a fun read and I hope you enjoy it!
November 10, 2024 — 12:24 PM
governmentality says:
Absolutely second this recommendation! It was a rare laugh out loud while reading for me and great fun.
November 9, 2024 — 7:19 PM
Cole says:
The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. One of the first books I actually chose to read and my love for reading has only grown since then. The concept of the book meant a lot to me because I’m always wondering what would’ve been if I had made a different choice or went down a different path.
November 9, 2024 — 1:41 PM
Terri Elders says:
I’d love a copy of that book on writing, Chuck. I read it a few years ago and would like to read it again. Really followed a lot of the advice.
November 9, 2024 — 1:41 PM
Heather M Baier says:
Otherland by Tad Williams, is the first of four books in this series. While they are old books, they detail a journey through VR worlds. Children are getting stuck online and families have gone online to rescue them. Their journey takes them through very unique worlds. In one world they are prey to insects, could you imagine being chased by a ladybug? These series has stuck with me for a long time.
November 9, 2024 — 1:41 PM
freshsecretlyd1538d209c says:
My recommendation is an old book, so it may not qualify for your offer, but I believe it is out there if you search around. It is not horror but there are definitely suspenseful and scary elements, occasionally. It is beautifully written. It is “Watchers at the Pond,” by Franklin Russell. I wrote the very first amazon entry on this book years ago, and here’s what I wrote:
The most moving, awesome book I’ve ever read about ecology. On the surface it simply follows all the life forms around a pond through 1 year. Things are born, hatched, germinated; and they die; 1/4 of the way through all the death really got me down, but I kept reading, and eventually realized that it’s only in my own head that events are “bad” or “good.” Russell succeeded at an extremely difficult task: presenting things as they are. The journey takes you deep into yourself, gives you a new perspective of the living systems that embody and support life on Earth. Dover Books should do a reprint of this book!
November 9, 2024 — 1:41 PM
freshsecretlyd1538d209c says:
I’m sorry, I didn’t put my name/handle in the box: threeoutside
November 9, 2024 — 1:42 PM
Bernice says:
I’m actively reading Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus), The Woman in Cabin 10 (Ruth Ware), One Perfect Couple (Ware), and Pathogenesis–History of the World In Eight Plagues (Jonathan Kennedy). One is hardback, two are audio, and one is Kindle. I have several others in my library ready to read as I lose interest or get bored with or change gears. Happily I do have a lot of other life to live. So reluctantly I put my books away to attend to the other matters of living.
Can you tell that I too am a word nerd? I even have a Wendig in my library!
November 9, 2024 — 1:43 PM
Jess says:
When Women were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
November 9, 2024 — 1:44 PM
Leslie Aguillard says:
From one who is panicy and not calmed down enough yet to read the instructions. So, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is a paradigm shift in what white westerness is about, between the lines, and when that didn’t work Quinn wrote Beyond Civilization to try to answer reader’s questions. I divide my reading life into before Ishmael and after Ishmael. I also would treasure signed books from you, even just one would be wonderful. I am 78 and I share compulsively about Art.
November 9, 2024 — 1:44 PM
Justin Ferrell says:
The Passage by Justin Cronin remains one of my all-time favorites. It is the first in a trilogy set in a dystopian, post apocalyptic world where a virus has effectively destroyed modern civilization. What makes the series more interesting than your typical zombie apocalypse series is that, like your take on something similar, there is an additional layer to the narrative. The novels jump between what is effectively present day and this dystopian future and you learn that this virus is actually the result of a government experiment on convicted felons that effectively turned them into vampires and all of these vampire zombies can trace their lineage back to one of the original convicts. The first half of the first book was adapted for TV by Fox for one very poorly adapted season.
November 9, 2024 — 1:45 PM
Eric Carlson says:
I’ll mention two books by Premee Mohamed, The Butcher of the Forest and No One Will Come Back For Us. I read No One early this year, and I find myself already going back to it randomly. Butcher was just mesmerizing. Premee has quickly become one of my favorite authors.
November 9, 2024 — 1:45 PM
L.J. McLean says:
Really recommend Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg. Real good read when in the bath tub to ignore the world with.
November 9, 2024 — 1:45 PM
Linda McCann Jeffers says:
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa is a great, short novel, translated from Japanese. It will transport you and you will still be home.
This is a great idea. Thanks, Chuck!
November 9, 2024 — 1:46 PM
serenee3a96496ff says:
Bloodguard by Cecy Robson
It had so much action and there’s nothing better than gladiator gore!
November 9, 2024 — 1:48 PM
Sue SG says:
The Witch’s Door: Oddities and Tales from the Esoteric to the Extreme – a gorgeous (I recommend the hardcover) book of things to make your favorite goth wave their claws happily.
November 9, 2024 — 1:48 PM
Gunnlaugr says:
For a novella, The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne (Chuck has probably read it). I want this book to get some more love because I want to see more from this story world Kevin created.
For a full book, on a whim I picked up Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen. A different take on vampires with a great woman led story about a muscian just trying to get through her undead life and play in a band. Just a light and funny story about music and family.
November 9, 2024 — 1:48 PM
Frederick Doot says:
Book Suggestion: T.C. Boyle Stories
I read the short story “Greasy Lake” from TC Boyle in middle-school and thought to myself, “if I could write something even remotely close to that level of prose, I could consider myself a writer.”
I have no idea if I’ve written anything that qualifies yet, but 34 years later, I’m still trying.
Good luck fellow readers and writers, and thank you Chuck for your generosity and words of wisdom.
November 9, 2024 — 1:49 PM
Jack says:
Ooooo I loved TC Boyle’s Drop City! I went through a phase pre-election where I only wanted to read books set in 70s hippie communes because they calmed me down.
November 9, 2024 — 3:23 PM
Sue SG says:
The Witch’s Door: Oddities and Tales from the Esoteric to the Extreme – a gorgeous (I recommend the hardcover) book of things to make your favorite goth wave their claws happily.
November 9, 2024 — 1:49 PM
Jeremy Gardner says:
Between Two Fires by Christopher Beuhlman. Medieval Horror. Full of beautiful Hell. Broke my heart. Absolutely sticks the landing.
November 9, 2024 — 1:49 PM
Steven Bernosky says:
Any novel by Chuck is an excellent read. But he wants a specific recommendation. Black River Orchard is one of my favorite reads EVER. A true horror classic. The protagonist (if appropriate) devolves into a horrible person. His daughter rises to the occasion to save the day. I am not a reviewer. I like what I like. And I LOVED BRO. The you should go read The Book Of Accidents, Wayward and The Wanderers.
November 9, 2024 — 1:50 PM
Erin says:
Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis. Gripping stakes, nearly perfect metaphor(s), page turning read. Highly recommend!
November 9, 2024 — 1:51 PM
Kevin Pech says:
Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty.
My absolute #1 favorite story of murder, revenge, and love. And it’s Irish.
November 9, 2024 — 1:53 PM
Craig Grimes says:
I re-read The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. We need to hope for “pleasant days and long nights”.
November 9, 2024 — 1:55 PM
James W. says:
Read The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander.
It’s a brutal, beautiful alternate history with a deep vein of feminist rage. It’s far and away my favorite book ever and it’s a novella so you can read it in a day… But it’ll stay with you forever.
November 9, 2024 — 1:58 PM
Tyler Wilson says:
Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer (anything of his, really). Heartrending, hilarious, surreal, and full of obscenities.
November 9, 2024 — 2:00 PM
Jeffrey Scott says:
Hey Chuck, I recomment The Bad Guy by Steve Rzasa. I’ve been enjoying reading this one and think you would also. Also the author is a friend of mine and I enjoy his writing.
November 9, 2024 — 2:01 PM
Michelle Hawley says:
I just finished The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir. It’s an Icelandic horror novella that’s translated into English and the writing holds up nicely. Iounn is exhausted and wakes with mysterious injuries. Her doctor is dismissive of her symptoms because tests look good. She continues to wake with more serious injuries. Then the neighborhood cars start disappearing. There’s also a dead sister.
I need someone else to read it so I can figure out if what I think happened is what actually happened.
TW: pet torture, SA
November 9, 2024 — 2:03 PM