Shelf Motivated

Happy Spooky Season! That means this is our Annual Spooky Season Reading Episode, so break out some Halloween candy and dig in. We talk about folk horror, classic horror, horror comedy and more. Come for the horror, stay for the shocking realization that our reading tastes and habits shift and evolve over the years! Books discussed include: Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley The Rednexorcist by Frank Sloane (Grady Hendrix) Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix Midnight Pleasures by Robert Bloch Dwellings by Jay Stephens Salem's Lot by Stephen King Ocultos by Laura Perez Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones TBRs: The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne Restoration by Ave Barrera trans. by Ellen Jones and Robin Myers

We're back! After a break, Sharon, Sarah, and Eric are back behind the microphones to bring you episode 33 of Shelf Motivated. Come for the book chat, stay for continued discussion of a movie that Sarah says was better than the book! Here's a hint… we've been talking about this book on the pod since 2024! Sharon explores the darker end of the cozy spectrum, Eric reads one of the most popular books of the year, Sarah reads about kids books, and retired killers (not in the same book…don't worry). All this and more! Books Discussed: Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac Barnett Life In the Iron Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis Blood on the Forge by William Attaway Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell Flesh by David Szalay Too Old for This by Samantha Downing Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann trans. by Anthea Bell The Meg by Steve Alten   Cozy: Secret Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams TBRs: Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout Middlemarch by George Elliot The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck  

'Tis the season! It's time for another Shelf Motivated end of year holiday extravaganza! Come for the time-tested classics… stick around for the Victorian Ghost Stories and Folk Horror adjacent seasonal reads. Sarah discusses a stone-cold Christmas Classic… and also a book by LM Montgomery that technically takes place during the winter for part of it. Sharon gets into the ritual of reading when it's cold outside, and like the Ghost of Holiday Podcasts Past, revisits some titles we discussed on early holiday episodes. So, grab a holiday cookie or two, a warm beverage, and hunker down with us for a Winter Holiday book chat! Books discussed: A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery The Dead of Winter by Sarah Clegg Advent by Gunnar Gunnarsson The Valencourt Book of Victorian Ghost Stories Volumes 1-6 Twelve Nights by Urs Faes (translated by Lee Searle) Rock Crystal: A Christmas Story by Adalbert Stifter (translated by Marianne Moore) Cozy: A Totally 80s Christmas: A Holiday Novella (Totally 80s Mysteries) by D.A. Wilkerson

Happy Spooky Season! This year on the Shelf Motivated Spooky Season Spectacular Special we get into a few classics of American horror from the 1970s, some folk horror, some horror anthologies, and a few British books that are horror adjacent. Come for the horror, stick around to hear Sharon talk about literary fiction that has ghosts, and Sarah take one of her all-time favorite writers to task! Break out the candy!     Books discussed: Hide by Kiersten White The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty Cuddy by Benjamin Myers When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson ed. by Ellen Datlow Flowers of Mold by Ha Seong-nan trans. by Janet Hong Mother Naked by Glen James Brown TBR: A Dark Corner by Celia Dale A Helping Hand by Celia Dale House of Day and House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones Cozy Recommendation: Autumn Alibi (A Wiccan Wheel Mystery) by Jennifer David Hesse

Even if you aren't a comics reader, come for the graphic novel chat, stay for the dive into a hyper-local figure who changed the face of comics and publishing forever! This time on the pod we sit down with MLPL Clerk Chris Lutes and talk all things graphic novels and comics. Chris is a graphic artist and has had experience in comic shops and bookstores before coming over to Library Land… and he gave us homework! We discussed a BUNCH of books this time around, but we really dive into: Life Drawing by Jamie Hernandez Friday by Ed Brubaker Jim Shooter: Conversations ed. by Jason Sacks, Eric Hoffman, and Dominick Grace