My Summer Reading 2023

Once again this summer saw me make multiple trips to my local libraries and book shops to delve into the pages of as many books as I could get my hands on.

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury: Once again I kicked off the summer with a venture into Ray Bradbury’s idealistic Midwest town and the summer Douglas Spaulding came of age. With joy and heartbreak in equal measure, Dandelion Wine is the quintessential summer read that I make sure to read every year when the weather starts getting hot.

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward: Intellectually disabled Ted lives in a dilapidated house in the middle of nowhere with his cat Olivia and sometimes his daughter Lauren. There is obviously something far darker going on in his life that we have to piece together in this book’s every shifting POV. What exactly is Ted hiding in the freezer and what does it have to do with a girl who disappeared years before. Catriona Ward lures readers into a trap where once she has us in her clutches, she takes us on a roller coaster of suspense and twists piled upon each other in this fantastic book.

Malfunction Junction edited by April Jones: As a Memphis writer myself I always try to support other Memphis-based writers. This book features a variety of writers here in the Bluff City telling weird, scary, and funny tales set in this city. From an alien invasion on Beale Street to vampires at an all-night diner and more these were fun stories with the bonus of allowing me to go “hey I know where that is”.

Devil House by John Darnielle: A while back I read, and hated John Darnielle’s book Universal Harvester. But a cool retro cover for this novel convinced me to give the writer another shot, a choice I regretted. In order to work on his new book a true crime writer moves into “the Devil House” where a Satanic Panic-style double murder occurred in the 1980’s. This sometimes protagonist also wrote a book about a wrongly convicted woman who was executed in the 1960s and sometimes this book is about her. The same problems I had with Universal Harvester are present here with Darnielle’s plodding and pretentious writing style and an ever-shifting narrative that changes before any one story gathers any momentum or has anything interesting happen.

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix: It is no secret that Grady Hendrix has solidified himself as the hottest writer in modern horror. Having enjoyed the hell out of his latest release How to Sell a Haunted House earlier this year, I decided to delve into one of his early works with Horrorstor. Working at a second rate Ikea is already mind numbing enough for Amy it gets even worse when she has to spend the night with a number of her coworkers to catch a vandal. What she learns is that where this store now stands was once a horrific prison and the ghosts of the inmates and sadistic warden have not left.

The Joker: A Serious Study of the Clown Prince of Crime edited by Robert Moses Peaslee and Robert G. Weiner: Last year I read this book strictly for work (go buy a copy of We are Gotham to discover the fruits of that labor) but this year I got to read it strictly for fun. It is no secret that the Joker is one of the most fascinating characters in fiction across multiple forms of media. So it is fitting that a number of scholars and pop culture experts get to explore the Jester of Genocide in a series of rich essays detailing why the Jester of Genocide has been such a popular character for decades.

101 Films You Could See Before You Die by Billups Allen: There have been plenty of books about important films any self-respecting cinephile should see, but none have the punk rock energy of this book fittingly published by storied record label Goner Records. With chapters like “Hi, Karate?”, “Franchiseus Interruptus” and “Dangers on a Train”, author Billups Allen brings a unique perspective to cinema. If you think the likes of Black Belt Jones and Manhunter deserve far more respect, then check this book about the movies you need to see, or more fittingly could see, before you die.

Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano: When the employee I always talk horror books with at my favorite book store walks goes out of her way to lead me to a book, I am more than willing to dive into it blindly. Hoping to find answers to the death of her son, Willow ventures to Clifford Island, a community seemingly stuck in 1994. This creepy slow burn mystery will keep you hooked while also letting you indulge in some fun nostalgia.