What I read in October 2022
Fittingly, I went a bit mad for short horror in October. It’s not just for Halloween, though - not only am I planning to read more such collections in November, but I’m attempting Flash Nano (NaNoWriMo but with 30 days of short stories rather than one big novel) and planning to give all my scribblings a horror/unsettling flavour.
I also read one of my own short stories on a podcast! Listen to A Hug from the Moon S3E3 on Anchor.fm.
Here’s everything I read in my head in October…
Miracle Number Four, by Paul Marriner - 4*
The Maids of Biddenden, by GD Harper - 4*
Shrines of Gaiety, by Kate Atkinson. One of my books of the year, for sure - 5*
Close to Midnight, edited by Mark Morris - 5*
A Sliver of Darkness, by C. J. Tudor. New (to me) author to get obsessed with? Yes - 5*
With Dust Shall Cover, by Paul O’Neill - 4*
The Pain Tourist, by Paul Cleave - 4*
The Chalk Man, by C. J. Tudor. See above - 4.5*
When Things Get Dark, edited by Ellen Datlow - 4.5*
Looking ahead…
A lot of my recent reading and writing has been inspired by Shirley Jackson, so it’s only right that I get Just an Ordinary Day off my TBR pile.
Alison Moore’s contribution was one of the highlights of Close to Midnight for me, so I’m looking forward to reading her own latest collection, Eastmouth and other stories.
As indicated above, in October I read some C. J. Tudor for the first time and have been kicking myself for not getting into her before. I must rectify this by reading all of her books, hence I’m planning to read The Taking of Annie Thorne this month.
I actually borrowed the eBook of Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett from the library a couple of years ago, but I got some of the witches books in their fab new covers for my birthday, so I’m going to give it a re-read before diving into the others for the first time.