Inspired by What She Reads, Pure Imagination Blog, and Stacked.
I admit I’m a book cover snob. Who isn’t though?
Book covers are the first thing that attracts readers to a book. A good cover can draw someone is, just as a bad cover can easily draw someone away. It can essentially make or break a book. Holy, Mother Cover! is where I showcase the book covers that stand out (or make me cringe), and discuss cover changes.
(A big special thanks to Georgie at What She Reads for bestowing me this fabulous name and to Charlotte at The Simple Tales for creating the beautiful feature banner you see before you.)
Archives for September 2022
REVIEW • I Was Made For Him (Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente)
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Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect.
It’s just that he’s away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect.
But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband’s face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can’t quite meet her gaze….
But everything is perfect. Isn’t it?
First sentence: “The Following Agreement is made this first day of the first month between the members of the Arcadia Gardens Homeowners Association [hereinafter known as “the Association”] and the titleholders of 1 Cedar Drive [hereinafter known as “the Residents” and “the Property,” respectively].”
Comfort Me With Apples is a novella that you absolutely need to go in blind because life in Arcadia Gardens is not what it seems to be.
To everybody, life in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. It’s a community that has strict rules, but despite that, Sophia doesn’t have much to complain about—she has a husband who she loves even though he’s been a bit distant lately, a house that’s perfect aside from certain furniture being too big for her, and neighbors to gossip with about the goings arounds in town who keep asking if she’s happy.
When she finds unexplainable items—locks of a woman’s hair that isn’t her own, a finger bone tip—and unsettling people turning up who look at her like they know her, her perfect and happy life is thrown into question.
Comfort Me With Apples gives you a bit of Stepford Wives-vibes—from the way the women, specifically Sophia, is super submissive to the whims of her husband. It makes these characters seem like they’re stuck in a simulation with the Bluebeard lore mixed into this.
The way that Catherynne M. Valente weaves her words together to create this bizarre, unsettling world that’s filled with uncertainty and symbolism is nothing short of brilliant. Her writing is consistently lush, and it always amazes me how she creates these twists and turns that leave me in awe, especially how everything is revealed. It made me go back and reread to see the hints that I missed throughout the novella.
Should you read Comfort Me With Apples? Uh, sure. Though, fair warning, this novella does have biblical references (that I know may dissuade people).
TOO MUCH TBR • September 2022
For those who do not know, Too Much TBR is a way to help me see which books I really need to read and tackle them. Is it effective? Perhaps. It helps a lot seeing a visual of the books on my TBR pile.
Let’s get down to it.
BOOKS IN HAND • What Books Customers Are Buying in August 2022
During the last week of February 2018, I pondered about what type of post to make for “Books in Hand.” At first, I planned to discuss all the books customers came in asking for or buying, but that’s a bit too much because everybody came in asking for different books, and I didn’t remember all of them. My boss showed me a way to check our store’s best selling books, and I found out what we sold a lot of!
And that’s what this post is—seeing the top selling books of August 2022!
FICTION |
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