#The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society

[beganavagabond007]

"It's never as easy as you hope it's going to be, but you always end up knowing more than when you started."

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner

[abookishidentity]

Books finished in January 2024

-The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner started December 30, 2024 and finished January 1, 2025 -4/5 stars. This book was quite interesting. The first few chapters felt different than the rest of the book. The main character was an amateur detective who helped the police catch criminals and such. The reason that there was so much murder in this quaint little town and it was stuck on a time period with no internet access was because of a demon who liked seeing her solve these crimes. Then there was a tone change and shift when this is realized. The book became more interesting after this. I need to read other C.M books.

-Persephone Station by Stina Liecht started January 2, 2025 and finished January 5, 2025- 4/5 stars. Good representation, good science fiction elements, and I liked the plot. It was fun and I liked the characters a lot. It had cool aliens in it too. They had to protect the aliens from capitalism essentially. Characters meeting the aliens/the original people who lived on the land and having to protect them from invading forces is always good to read.

-Network Effect by Martha Wells started January 6, 2025 and finished January 8, 2025- 4/5 stars. It's always good to read about Murderbot again. They are such an interesting character. I liked how different this book was. We got the perspective of murderbot, a different killerware version of it, and a newly freed SecUnit. That was cool. I love Muderbots interactions with the humans. Muderbot seems to be having major feelings in this book.

-Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey started January 8, 2025 and finished January 13, 2025- 3/5 stars. I did not care for this book overall. It was cool that humans populated different planets and there was this virus going around infecting people. But this book was written and published in a different time. If I had read this over ten years I may have enjoyed it but sadly I don't now. There were lines here and there that made me want to throw the book. Also I don't want to read about cops. Even though Miller was fired and all that, an ex cop is still a cop. Not going to read more of this series.

-My Heart is Human by Reese Hogan started January 13, 2025 and finished January 15, 2025- 4/5 stars. This was easier to digest than the previous book. A young trans father doing everything he can to provide for his daughter and gets an advanced AI implanted in his head. This is a world in which technology, like computers and robots, are shut down because of some virus. It seemed at first that all technology was banned but that seemed like it would be unrealistic. It does exist just in basic forms. Once again, the main character essentially falls for a cop. Also I don't know how you can have a relationship with someone if you had shot them in the stomach. Overall a good book though.

-A Bid to Rule by Novae Caelum started January 16, 2025 and finished January 20, 2025- 4.5/5 stars. This is the first book in the series technically but it's the third to be published? Anyway its a prequel which means there isn't much tension because you know at least three characters aren't going to die. This is such a fascinating world. The rulers can do shapeshifting and can really fall into the characters they are trying to be. The main character does an inception kind of shapeshift. He was pretending to be a certain character who was pretending to be another character. It's fucking wild. Good series. I highly recommend.

-Lady Eve’s Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow started January 21, 2025 and finished January 23, 2025- 4/5 stars. A woman tries to con a rich ass man to marry her so she can take half his money but the man's stepsister is on to her con. It's gay and it's in space. What more do you want? I liked this a lot.

-Gnomon by Nick Harkaway started January 24, 2025 and finished January 28, 2025- 3/5 stars. Interesting plot. I like that it's different than the other book I read of the author. I wish we got more of the actual scary science fiction setting instead of the stories of the people in the dissident's head. The book was way too long. Or perhaps I just wasn't into it as I should have been. I like the ending though.

-Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree started January 29, 2025 and finished January 30, 2025- 4.5/5 stars. This book was so relaxing to read after the previous book. I liked this book more than Legends and Lattes mostly because I just love reading about bookstores and libraries. I loved Potroast and Fern's way of talking. Sachel was incredibly cool as well. This was such a fun and quick read.

[nevinslibrary]

Mystery/Thriller Monday

Librarian Sherry Pinkwhistle is very good at solving killings. And she’s also sorta worried that her friends and neighbors in the small town of Winesap, New York, aren’t exactly too worried about the fact that there have been so many killings. Sherry is worried though, and, with the help of some of her friends and a priest, she decides that she’s going to get to the bottom of why all these killings are happening, and if they’re sorta connected too. Oh, and, Sherry’s cat also sorta kinda gets possessed by some sort of ancient demon.

I picked it up because it sounded sort of Murder, She Wrote or Midsomer Murders like. But, then, come to find out that it actually is quite like a Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel story too. Which was awesome, and an added bonus. A really fun read.

You may like this book If you Liked: Bait and Witch by Angela M. Sanders, Death Overdue by Allison Brook, or A Grim Reaper's Guide To Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner

[rheadionne]

Check out my review of The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M Waggoner 

[sandythereadingcafe]

REVIEW:

THE VILLAGE LIBRARY DEMON-HUNTING SOCIETY by #CMWaggoner at The Reading Cafe:

' a fun, bizarre, spooky, clever and entertaining story'

Ace and Roc Books

[thereadingcafe]

[happilylostinwords]

3 star reads: "The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society" by C.M. Waggoner

If you start reading The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society you might find yourself thinking “wait, is this book two or book three in a series?” because it feels like it is. I know I asked myself that question multiple times, and even checked Goodreads and Google to be sure. But reading this novel isn’t jumping into a series late. It’s definitely arranged as the potential jumping-off point for…

[ofliterarynature]

NOVEMBER 2024 WRAP UP

[ loved liked okay nope dnf (reread) ]

Kicking Ice • (The Bride of the Blue Wind) • Animal Farm • The Lost Manuscript • Heart's Blood • Hotel • The Liar's Knot • The Education of Pip • The Glassblower • Terec and the Wall • (The Hands of the Emperor) • The Village Library Demon Hunting Society • One Good Turn • The Silence of Bones • (The Raven Tower) • The Art Thief • Safer Places • Letters to Half-Moon Street

* * * * * *

Letters to Half-Moon Street - an absolutely charming epistolary regency romance told mostly through letters between the main character, his siblings, and his love interest. The mc is gay and demi-sexual (and a younger son) in a queer-norm England where gender norms have been replaced by rules about birth order, and there's magic - it's very Sorcery & Cecelia meets KJ Charles (if not quite as good). As I said, very charming, but when I read the two shorter follow ups, One Good Turn and The Education of Pip, it was pretty clear that the epistolary format (and romance) helped cover a lot of hurts. I applaud the author for including an aromantic character and trying to write stories about finding your place and self-recovery without romance, but in her attempt to create comfort she sacrificed any real development to the characters or the plot. (also, while the rich upper class characters are exceedingly nice to the lower-class characters, we still almost never see any of their servants. hmm.) There's a few more books in the series that are romances (and at least one looks like it might be epistolary), so we'll have to see if she improves. Fantastic covers though!

Safer Places - a comic collection that was supposed to be for my book club but didn't quite work out unfortunately! These comics were very strange and dreamlike, making me not quite sure what happened but very much wanting to think about it. The artist also returned to a story idea several times, sometimes taking on an entirely new shape, and it really lent a sense of connection to the book as a whole. Would recommend!

The Art Thief - I'm not really one for more narrative-type nonfiction or for true crime, but non-violent crime involving fine art? I don't know why I find the fine-art world (and crime) so fascinating, but I do, and I enjoyed this! It was actually a fairly nice, chill read to distract myself with in the middle of the election.

The Raven Tower - revisiting my first Ann Leckie 5 years later - this was incredible! Slow yes, but watching the story build itself out of all the pieces was absolutely fascinating. 100% satisfied with the ending, but it was also a bit of a cliff-hanger? I'll be absolutely fascinated to see what kind of stories Leckie felt compelled to write that take up half of the Lake of Souls collection.

The Silence of Bones - DNF @ 11%. I was very interested in this as a historical mystery with a female protagonist set in Korea, but leery of it being YA. I admit I wasn't a big fan of the audiobook narrator, but an hour and a half into the audiobook I still hadn't hadn't settled into the story, so decided to drop it.

The Village Library Demon Hunting Society - This was very high on my watch-list for 2024 due to my love for CM Waggoner's first book Unnatural Magic, but was somewhat leery of the cozy-fantasy vibes it was giving. My first shock came when it turned out to have a fairly modern and contemporary setting and was not in a fantasy other-world, though as expected it was definitely going for the cozy-fantasy and elderly-person-solves-murder vibes that are popular right now, and with which I've personally had mixed results. Overall though, it was aiming to be a sort of meta-commentary on cozy mystery tropes, which I think it was successful at! I think it definitely did better than its sci-fi cousin, the Midsolar Murders series by Mur Lafferty. I just wish it had a better title, this one is a bit of a mouthful and only semi-relevant.

The Hands of the Emperor - started slowly rereading this a few months ago with the intention of getting around to my first reread of the sequel. Honestly, the perfect book to be reading during an absolutely horrible election, I imagine I'll be burying my head in the Nine Worlds a lot in the upcoming years.

I wasn't quite ready to head directly into AtFotS after finishing Hands, so jumped around to some of Victoria's short stories I hadn't read yet. Terec and the Wall is the second Terec story - I admit I really don't have much interest in this sub-series? This one in particular was at least interesting in the second half because of its crossover with the Greenwing & Dart series, so I recommend you don't read this until you've read that. The Glassblower was...fine. It showed promise, but it was so short! I hope the second part fleshes out more, but idk. It's also related to the Ysthar collection of books, which is the only part of the Nine Worlds that I haven't bothered to revisit yet. To skip ahead a bit, the third of the Sisters Avramapul novellas is finally out! It's been a while so I decided to reread the first two books, starting with The Bride of the Blue Wind. It's a Bluebeard retelling and deals with pregnancy/body horror and is not for the faint-hearted! Sardeet was SO YOUNG in this, I don't think I quite realized before. Good but not my favorite of the series.

The Liar's Knot - loved loved loved. These books are so good even if (or because?) all of the plot twists are somewhat soap-operatic. I think this is my favorite in the series because the characters are a bit more settled but also having to learn to trust each other. And all of the secret identity reveals!!! I had a wonderful time.

Hotel -DNF @ 8%. picked this up at a recent library sale because a mystery at a hotel sounds cool! Then I started it on audiobook and realized it was a thriller (not my thing) written by a guy in the 60's (ditto). What I read was certainly passable and maybe I could have gotten through it, but I lost interest.

Heart's Blood - I've seen Marillier's work around somewhere, and picked this one up at a library book sale at some point. I got so close to DNF'ing this early on and almost wish I had. It wasn't bad I think, it has some beauty-and-the-beast vibes, but it felt excruciatingly slow, and something that I couldn't quite put my finger on was annoying the heck out of me. It made me wish more times than I should admit that I was reading Chalice by Robin McKinley instead. I'm not entirely scared off of trying Marillier's other work, but I'd proceed with extreme caution.

The Lost Manuscript - DNF @ 19%. A surprisingly lighthearted novel told in letters about a woman who finds a manuscript in a hotel bedside table and proceeds to track down the original author, only to discover someone else had added to the manuscript at some point after he lost it. She and her contacts try and trace its history back to find the mystery author. Seemed very nice, if you're looking for something calm and lighthearted? Just not what I was looking for at the time.

Animal Farm - somehow managed to escape reading this for school, and a podcast I listen to loves recommending this, so I picked up a copy at the same sale as Heart's Blood. I feel like I spent most of the book sagely nodding my head, like yup, that's how it can be! Very smart book, not a favorite but I'm glad I read it.

Kicking Ice - backed this on Kickstarter ages ago when I was still deep in my Check, Please! fervor. Finally picked it up because it was short and I needed to finish another book for my owned-tbr challenge. It was ok. Maybe a better choice if you're a young girl interested in hockey or sports in general? I also didn't like the art style used for most of the book, so a pass from me. I'm sure a lot of the info about the NWHL is also outdated by this point.

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner

This is a cozy paranormal mystery that features an amateur sleuth and middle-aged librarian named Sherry Pinkwhistle. The body count keeps rising in her quaint village, and after her lover becomes one of the victims, her cat is possessed by an ancient talking demon, and the villagers start acting strange, she begins to suspect that something supernatural is afoot. And that she might need an exorcist as well as the police.

So, banding together with the new priest, who is not keen on demon possession, as well as an array of village friends, who are an eclectic mix of grieving widow and neighborly busybody, they form the Demon Hunting Society. However, it is up to Sherry to solve the case and rid the town of demons.

If I had to characterize this, I'd say it was a mix of Murder, She Wrote and Miss Marple with a sprinkling of the occult. I thought it worked well as a cozy mystery because of its Stars Hollow-like setting and its quirky, endearing characters, but the supernatural elements felt out of place at times. Almost unnecessary. Granted, I did find the Lord Crowell cat possession to be humorous at times. However, I think I might've preferred the story without the paranormal elements because it would have made for a more seamless narrative.

All in all, though, this was lighthearted and amusing. A perfect read for snug autumn vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

3/5 stars

**Follow me on Goodreads

[wormwoodandhoney]

Do you have any recommendations for any cozy or spooky (not scary) autumn book?

sorry this has lived in my inbox for 45 years, i have been ~*depressed*~!! here are my recommendations for spooky not scary and cozy books! if you have triggers, please check for them before diving in, as even cozy spooky books might sneak something in!

the shady hollow series by juneau black: literally soooo cozy. a mystery series set in a beatrix potter-type world in which an intrepid fox reporter solves various murders in her small woodland town.

spirit hunters by ellen oh: a middle grade spooky story about a young girl with the ability to see ghosts, and how she must save her younger brother.

garlic and the vampire by bree paulsen: a sweet graphic novel about an anxious anthropomorphic bulb of garlic who must save her friends in the garden from a vampire.

cackle by rachel harrison: more "adult" than the other books on this list, this is about a woman who, after a bad breakup, moves to a small town and befriends a mysterious older woman who has untold powers. note: this is not sapphic and it should have been!!

the strange case of the alchemist's daughter by theodora goss is about the daughters of jekyll and hyde and the club they form with other historical horror daughters.

the butcher of the forest by premee mohamed: definitely the darkest on this list, but i wanted to give you a darker option without gore (or at least without much gore). this is a novella about a wild, dangerous forest that has taken the king's young children, and the older woman tasked to save them, as she is the only person to have ever made it back out.

on my own cozy tbr this october: practical potions and premeditated murder, chaos at the lazy bones bookshop, the village library demon-hunting society

[ninja-muse]

2024 Release TBR

🏳️‍🌈 - queer MC     🇨🇦 - Canadian author    ⭐️ - BIPOC MC 📘 - have an ARC bold - newly added

The Secret History of Bigfoot - John O'Connor (travel/history) - February 6

Ending the Pursuit - Michael Paramo (sociology) - February 8

Tomorrow’s Children - Daniel Polansky (post-apocalypse) - February 27

The Baker and the Bard - Fern Haught (YA cozy fantasy) 🏳️‍🌈- March 5

The Tower - Flora Carr (historical fiction) 📘 - March 5

Parasol Against the Axe - Helen Oyeyemi (literary fiction) ⭐️📘- March 5

Those Beyond the Wall - Micaiah Johnson (science fiction) ⭐️📘 - March 12

The Floating Hotel - Grace Curtis (cozy science fiction) 🏳️‍🌈 - March 19

The Angel of Indian Lake - Stephen Graham Jones (horror) ⭐️ 📘- March 26

This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances - Eric LaRocca (horror) 📘- April 2

Catchpenny - Charlie Huston (science fiction) 📘- April 9

The Proper Thing and Other Stories - Seanan McGuire (fantasy) - May 1

Plain Jane and the Mermaid - Vera Brosgol (YA fantasy) - May 7

Dreadful - Caitlin Rozakis (fantasy) - May 28

Tidal Creatures - Seanan McGuire (contemporary fantasy) - June 4

Echo of Worlds - M.R. Carey (science fiction) - 📘 June 25

Bury Your Gays - Chuck Tingle (horror) 🏳️‍🌈 - July 9

I Was a Teenage Slasher - Stephen Graham Jones (horror) - July 16 📘⭐️

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop - Emmeline Duncan (cozy mystery) - July 23

The Wordhunter - Stella Sands (mystery) - August 6

The Dollmakers - Lynn Buchanan (fantasy) - August 13 📘

Radiant Sky - Alan Smale (science fiction) - August 27

Buried Deep and Other Stories - Naomi Novik (fantasy/short stories) - September 17

Nightstrider - Sophia Slade (fantasy) 🏳️‍🌈- September 17

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society - C.M. Waggoner (fantasy) - September 20

Villain - Natalie Zina Walschots (superhero fiction) 🇨🇦🏳️‍🌈 - October 1 suspect this has moved to 2026

The City in Glass - Nghi Vo (fantasy) - October 1

Swordcrossed - Freya Marske (fantasy) 🏳️‍🌈 - October 8

My Kind of Trouble - L.A. Schwartz (romance) - October 8

Shoestring Theory - Mariana Costa (fantasy) 🏳️‍🌈 - October 8

Sorcery and Small Magics - Maiga Doocy (cozy fantasy) 🏳️‍🌈 - October 15

We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord - Garth Nix (middle grade fantasy) 📘 - October 15

The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door - H.G. Parry (fantasy) - October 22

Usurpation - Sue Burke (science fiction) - October 29

The Improvisers - Nicole Glover (historical fantasy) - November 5 ⭐️

Inkworld: the Color of Revenge - Cornelia Funke (middle grade fantasy) - November 12 📘

The Rivals - Jane Pek (mystery) 📘🏳️‍🌈⭐️- December 1 🏳️

[beganavagabond007]

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner ❤️

[abookishidentity]

Books to be read after I finish my library books

Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky- I was wondering I was going to get this book in my possession. I am borrowing this book from my parents. I am interested in what this book will be like. I am eager to read how the spiders and humans coexist together.

Persephone Station by Stina Leicht- I don't know anything about this book. I saw it on a coffee table at my parents house and I thought it looked interesting and fun. I was told it was for me to read which is good.

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C. M. Waggoner- This book looked interesting. I bought this book randomly because I was buying a book for my brother for Christmas and I needed to spend a certain amount of money to get free shipping. This book has an awesome name. Very wordy but its entertaining.

[cherrypikkins]

Here is my contribution to today's prompt from @fe-oc-week! Oct 13 - Joy

Once again with more Kitt lore :3

(cw blood, injury, body horror)

everything below the read more!

Gwyn, the Unsung Hero - Part II Though the story of Gwyn is little known in Fodlan society, one tale that has recently surfaced from obscurity is that of the Ghost of Annwen.

Legends say that the spirit of a fallen warrior sleeps for a hundred years at a time, deep beneath a lake hidden in the Oghma Mountains. When it wakes, it shows one of two faces - that of a great hero or a terrible demon. None may know which face it will show when it awakens - only that the world will be forever changed. Even in sleep, it guards the mountains, ensuring peace and order, answering the prayers of those who are in great danger. However, those who dare incite violence and tragedy within the ancient sanctuary will be hunted down without mercy by the Demon of Annwen.

There was a time in ancient history when it brought unfathomable destruction and chaos to Fodlan, and was condemned to death for its misdeeds.

And yet, there was another time when it saved Fodlan from certain doom, sacrificing itself in the process.

The hero is just and fair as much as the demon is cruel and wretched, so says the tale. So different in their natures, yet they are bound together, trapped to wander this mortal realm in a hopeless, never-ending search for salvation. But what is the true meaning of the 'salvation' that it seeks? How does one grant salvation to that which is already dead?

Once there was a scholar who penned this tale in full, even citing evidence that attributes this tale to Gwyn, the Unsung Hero of Annwen. However, this script has since been struck by the Church, under the orders of Seteth. How strange that such a simple tale would be condemned as blasphemy under the eyes of Seiros.

Supposedly, the librarian Tomas took such an interest in the tale that he traveled to the Oghma Mountains for months at a time to visit the village of Annwen, hoping to learn more. In recent years, he seems to have returned to his duties working at the Garreg Mach library full-time. When asked of his research, he said that his efforts bore little fruit - it seems that the so-called 'Ghost of Annwen' is little more than a fanciful story.

These days, it seems more and more likely that no such spirit exists today - for Demonic Beasts now roam and rampage the once tranquil mountainside where Annwen formerly stood, and there is neither a hero nor a demon present to keep the peace. And yet, those brave enough to venture into the forbidden wilderness will find it mysteriously strewn with corpses - that of both monsters and sinister mages garbed in masks and dark robes.

The Capricious One - Part IV Of all Nabateans, the Capricious One was said to be the most talented in their ability to shapeshift and transform.

They even had the ability to suppress the power of their Nabatean blood, hiding their Crest in order to better assume the guise of a common beast or a human.

Some said they were the weakest amongst their family. Others said they simply preferred to keep their true strengths hidden, and were not to be underestimated.

Little did the Children of the Goddess know, that so great was their power to transform that they could split their physical forms voluntarily, with each part fully alive and able to act independently of the other. But to do so repeatedly and for extended periods of time would invite confusion. Changes in personality. Distorted memories. A loss of self. And eventually, madness. Thus, whether in form or in spirit, all parts must one day rejoin, lest existence itself become unbearable.

The only one who knew of this power was the Hammer of Judgment. When the two were younger, he saw that the Capricious One was eager to test their limits, and so asked his sibling, "Do you not fear losing yourself forever?" The Capricious One laughed at this and answered, "To remember who I am, I need only to look towards The Beginning."

Now, Sothis is gone, leaving behind nary a beacon to guide a lost and shattered soul from the depths of madness. And to this day, there exist countless Demonic Beasts that carry even the smallest essence of the Capricious One's blood in their veins. With each one felled, they reclaim a part of themselves, that even in death they may someday become whole once more.

[clonerightsagenda]

#recently read October 2024

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle. When a screenwriter resists corporate pressure to kill off his gay leads, he starts being stalked by his own horror character creations. *Fun concept, very on the nose, also was convinced the boyfriend was going to be evil because he was Too Placid and Perfect but he was just like that. Shame.

Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik. El tries to survive a killer magic school while not turning into the dark sorceress she's prophesied to become. *Very readable, appreciate the interest in structural inequalities in access to education. Feel like it should be classed as YA though.

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C M Waggoner. Small town librarian Sherry solves murders in her free time, until she begins to realize there's a greater force behind the high mortality rate in town. *Has fun prodding at cozy mystery tropes

Scarlett and Browne 1&2 by Jonathan Stroud. A post-apocalyptic UK Weird West setting following an outlaw and a teen who escaped from a facility for children with... unusual abilities.

Miserable showing this month, but I was very busy. Also I guess Scholomance is three books which would've padded this list out a lot. I am not writing a novel this November so maybe I will have time to read more.

[cinaed]

for book asks: 1, 4, 2

Bonus: was there a book that was pretty mediocre Except *a particular scene, trope, concept, or even just nice turn of phrase*

How many books did you read this year?

119!

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Yael van der Wouden and Ferdia Lennon!

Did you reread anything? What?

Two of Martha Wells' fantasy novels since she republished edited versions and then Jane Yolen's Wizard Hall because I was in the mood for her prose.

Was there a book that was pretty mediocre Except a particular scene, trope, concept, or even just nice turn of phrase

There were quite a few books where I thought the premise was great but the execution fell flat, like with The Restless Dark by Erica Waters, The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner, and I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane.