monday musings: vol. 10

The one where I talk about only spooky bewks 👻

Last Thursday afternoon I briefly found myself downtown and solo, and I knew just where I wanted to be: Papercut Books. An uninterrupted hour to peruse bookshelves and I still had a giftcard courtesy of my sister from Christmas time to use? Win-win!

Every year the joyous autumn season rolls around, I remind myself that I want to be a seasonal reader and lean into the spooky thrillers and cozy mysteries. But in between trying to wrap up my endless summer reads I blink, and suddenly it’s Christmas and I’m trying to cram all the cheesy hallmark novels in during the shortest and BUSIEST span of four weeks. So while scanning the shelves at Papercut, I realized:

a) Halloween was somehow only two weeks away?!

b) I currently had zero holds for said seasonal books at the library.

c) Knowing it’s probably too late to request them from the library without a long/existing wait list before next week, I decided to scoop up the following:

1. In the Company of Witches is a paranormal cozy mystery that follows Brynn Warren, a witch who can commune with ghosts, as she investigates the death of a guest at her family’s bed and breakfast to clear her aunt’s name. The novel is a charming story about family, grief, and solving a murder in a magical New England town. 
2. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a cozy fantasy novel about Mika Moon, an isolated witch who is forced to hide her magic and live a solitary life, but whose life changes when she takes a job tutoring three young witches at a secluded estate called Nowhere House. She finds a sense of belonging and a potential family among the eccentric residents, including a prickly librarian named Jamie, but must decide whether to risk everything for her new life when a threat to the group emerges.
3. A Flicker in the Dark is a psychological thriller novel about a psychologist, Chloe Davis, whose life is upended when a series of new murders in her hometown eerily mirror the crimes her father confessed to years ago. As new disappearances begin, Chloe must confront her past and question whether a copycat is at work or if her father was innocent. The book is a debut novel that has been praised for its suspenseful plot twists. 
4. I might have picked up Spell Booked just based off of the cats on the cover, but it also piqued my interest because it was featured on a shelf dedicated to local authors! The story follows three aging witches in Wilmington, North Carolina, who must find new witches to pass their spellbook to before they retire. When one of them is murdered and the spellbook is stolen, the remaining two must solve the crime and reclaim their magic. Are we sensing a theme? Lol, I’m here for all the cozy mysteries!
5. A bonus book because we can’t forget true crime! I also checked out a copy of American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper at the library. This details Eliot Ness’s investigation into the “Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run,” a serial killer who terrorized Cleveland during the 1930s. The book explores the brutal murders, the public panic, and Ness’s efforts to catch the killer, while also providing a nuanced look at Ness’s own career and personal decline. 

I hope I’m not being too ambitious to hope of finishing at least a couple of these before Halloween!

I love to swap book recs for seasonal reads this time of year!

🎃🦃🎄

Please feel free to share any good page turners you’ve recently finished, or what’s on your TBR pile that you’re looking forward to dusting off soon.

Happy reading!!