About to see Kerstin Hall speak online! #booksky

I’m in a hotel halfway between Chicago and Nashville but you still get blog posts. First the weekly #HorrorForLibraries giveaway is 2 books for 2 winners by @rebelsam94.bsky.social and Kit Burgoyne raforallhorror.blogspot.com/2025/09/horr...

But what a fine plan it was even as it falls how beautifully it does Joe Henry, Easter

Horror folks, it's the middle of September, and the Stoker Recommended Reading List is looking extremely small. If you're a member of the HWA, go recommend something you've read that you loved! horror.org/awards/curre...

Finished Galloway's Gospel last night -- it's a hugely entertaining horror novel that bookends an isolated cult. One storyline shows how annoyed teen doodles of flesh eating pigs become the foundation of a new faith, whereas the other story takes place a decade later as their god approaches #booksky

Those memories things a lot of social media do can be so strange. They certainly don’t know what emotion posts are going to evoke so of course this well is all aftermath of of Joe dying, lots of me being pretty much shell shocked.

Aligning with the Empire will have consequences that reverberate through the ages... We're excited to share an excerpt from Blood for the Undying Throne by @sung-il-kim.com, sequel to the epic (and necromantic) Blood of the Old Kings! reactormag.com/excerpts-blo...

Wow this plane to Denver is full of people I recognize from Bouchercon!

#bouchercon Day 4 highlights — getting an ARC of the next Cordelia and Ruby book, a fun influencer event, a great paranormal mystery panel, and getting to hear Tracy Clark talk about creating suspense! #booksky #mysterybooks

The Anthony Awards are about to be announced by Alex Segura and Heather Graham! #bouchercon #anthonyawards

#bouchercon Day 3: great panels all day! Here are Tom Ryan and Jonathan Maberry. The last thing was an Underrepresented Author reception with this great game where you collected author signatures for bingos. They also had copies of Crime Ink for sale — a great anthology of queer crime fic! #booksky

My favorite panel yesterday was on genre mashups so I guess this can be my genre mashup shirt for the conference. What would we title our owlbear fantasy cozy mystery? Owl’s Bear in Love and War? Owlbear Home for Christmas? The possibilities are endless. #booksky #bouchercon

Day 2 of #bouchercon was very full and ended with Noir at the Bar where a bunch of authors did readings while we drank delicious beer from Crescent City Brewery. #booksky

"Lori the Librarian launched in late July of this year.+ Copyright of Lori and her material belongs to Dan Goeller Music, Inc. Dan Goeller and his wife Heidi are from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and run an organization called Harmony South Dakota." buttondown.com/wellsourced/...

Thanks for chatting with us today, #ewgc! If you're looking for more recommendations, come and join us on Mondays at our Happy Half Hour, where we chat all about forthcoming adult + YA titles! You can register here: tinyurl.com/y77xdttw 🎉 See you all in October! 🍂

Seeing a cookbook here reminded me of SOJU PARTY — a cookbook unlike any I’ve seen before. It’s all about Korean drinking culture with great bar and party snacks and cocktail recipes. It also includes ways to show respect, ways to show off, and the why of it all. #ewgc @prhlibrary.bsky.social

I’m about a quarter of the way through WE HAD A HUNCH by Tom Ryan and GALLOWAY’S GOSPEL by Sam Rebelein and loving them both — both have me needing to find out what happens next! I’ll report back next later. 😄 #ewgc

Totally spaced #ewgc because I’m at Bouchercon so I’m glad I remembered to pop in really quick!

Also putting in a vote for SPREAD ME by Sarah Gailey — I was worried about the erotic part of the horror, but the character, the tension, and the metaphor of it all completely won me over. #ewgc

THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE by Philip Fracassi is exactly what you get if you pitted the Thursday Murder Club against a slasher obsessed with creating a final girl showdown. #ewgc

Hika Harada’s DINNER AT THE NIGHT LIBRARY is supremely satisfying Japanese healing fiction about a library that houses the personal collections of deceased authors. Many people who love books but are wounded by related professions are rescued into the library to reclaim their joy. #ewgc

OXFORD SOJU CLUB by Jinwoo Park explores Korean identity through the eyes of opposing spy factions and an innocent bystander whose restaurant often hosts the others. The pacing is excellent with this slow build up that suddenly tips into an unputtdownable latter half. #ewgc

CITY OF OTHERS by Jared Poon from @orbitbooks.bsky.social is phenomenal. It’s a gay urban fantasy set in Singapore that has a quippy, quirky crew of magical people vs a deeply emotional world ending force that just broke my heart in the best ways. Amazing character arc for the protagonist too. #ewgc

Some random photos from day one of Bouchercon. It’s been great so far!

My doorbell camera keeps going off. I guess this critter likes being on camera.

Anyone know anything about wasps? I have a mystery. I can’t figure out how they are getting through the screen (my one cat did scratch some of the horizontal bits out but the vertical parts are all fine) and why they want to anyway? Every time it’s sunny there’s a whole bunch. #wasps

I love getting the time to add more games to the library collection! So far today: Women Are Werewolves: a Nonbinary Story Game, Paranoia: The Uncooperative Board Game, Brindlewood Bay, and Outrun the Bear. #games #nontraditionalmaterials #boardgame #ttrpg #libraries

I see there’s a lot of cover art talk going on today. Have you seen the amazing cover @louceph.com did for The Writhing, Verdant End???? No AI there!!! And great lettering by @alandistro.bsky.social!!!

Oh my gosh. As an ex-archaeologist, I don't think I've been more excited about a horror essay. 😁 (also, now I want to go through my shelves and find all the archaeological horror I have!)

1. The year anniversary of Joe's death is almost here 2. Obviously I'm not doing great 3. People don't like to hear that 4. I'm told by a friend life is unbearable now because they don't see their partner enough each day. Drastic changes ensue 5. Maybe they should understand absence a bit better?

Any of our Washington friends wanna go to a con?

I say, "Well, I didn't buy anything, but won an award." Her face lights up. She says, "Wait oh my God you WON A HUGO??" I blush and mumble. "Is there a duty on that?"

just saw someone sincerely arguing that they need AI bc they don't have "natural" artistic talent and idk how to make you understand that nobody comes by this shit naturally. it's just...work. it's being bad at it for a really, really, really long time. it's intention, pursued over time! wtf!!!

Saltcrop by @yumewrites.bsky.social 25 ARCs, ends today! app.thestorygraph.com/giveaways/02...

My first day of Worldcon was so fun! So many excellent panels that featured favorite authors of mine — Daryl Gregory, Sarah Rees Brennan, Jared Pechaček, Seanan McGuire, Isabel Cañas… 😁

Quite pretty flying into Seattle. 😁

YES. I've worked in libraries where the message is we must "treat this like a business" which seems to forget that we have impact beyond spreadsheets tracking door counters. (our metrics are often flawed) The business of libraries, I think, is to enrich communities and provide opportunities.

If you've ever loved any of Cherie Priest's horror you will absolutely love It Was Her House First -- such a perfect haunting! Ronnie may be my favorite character of hers now, as she and the ghosts in her new rotting home navigate their complicated guilt, grief, and anger. #booksky #horrorbooks

And make sure you RSVP and join us for our Fall 2025 Preview, featuring special guest @raforall.bsky.social! RSVP Here: www.simonandschuster.net/p/adult-libr... #EWGC

And four upcoming books I hope to get to see: IT HAD TO BE HIM, EVERY DAY I READ, THE VILLA ONCE BELOVED, and MURDER AT THE BLACK CAT CAFE. #ewgc #booksky

I've talked about Yume Kitasei's SALTCROP in a prior month, but I see the ALC is up on Netgalley now, so if you've been waiting for that nudge to read it... www.netgalley.com/catalog/book... #ewgc #booksky

I'm also about a quarter of the way through SPREAD ME because I love Gailey's work, even though I'm not sure erotic horror was my thing... So far it's confirming that I'll let Gailey's words lead me absolutely anywhere they want to take me. Loving the characters and the eeriness. #ewgc #booksky

Not super far into RED WINTER by Cameron Sullivan, but I'm loving the characters, the vibe, and the footnotes so much as a man and his demon head out to investigate the Beast of Gevaudan for a second time. #ewgc #booksky

HEMLOCK AND SILVER is Kingfisher's upcoming Snow White inspired horror novel -- and you know you're not going to look at mirrors in the same way after reading this one! #ewgc #booksky @macmillanlib.bsky.social

THE MARIGOLD COTTAGE COLLECTIVE will really hit that spot for people who want a mystery with a hefty dose of community. A kindly landlady confesses to a crime to nudge her tenants into finding the true culprit so their neighbor isn't railroaded back to prison. #ewgc @minotaurbooks.bsky.social

Is it just me or does @tachyonpub.bsky.social put out some of the very best short story collections? Goss has a lyrical prose that perfectly blends wonder and heartache. The stories truly feel as if they've crossed imaginary lands -- her own & others scattered along fantasy's history. #ewgc #booksky

Some DC ARCs showed up this month and, though I've been away from DC for a long time, I really enjoyed these new origins for the character. Superman comes to a dystopian Earth as a shy child who's learned advocacy from his parents and Wonder Woman was raised by Circe in Hell. #ewgc #booksky #comics

This one went up on Patreon and Ghost today! More sad plants trungles.ghost.io/oh-my-god-th...

July reading wrap-up. 😁 17 books, 4 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 reads. An excellent reading month. Hard to choose, but I think When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory was my favorite -- it fit a lot of where I am in life. #booksky

Well, our D&D starter sets check out really well from the library so I thought we should see how other TTRPGs go if we include dice and the like. What are some of your favorites? #ttrpg #nontraditionalitems #library #games