#kay chronister

[whilereadingandwalking]

For generations, the Haddesleys have fulfilled their contract with the bog. When a patriarch dies, his body is delivered into its murky waters; in return, the bog sends a bog wife to the oldest son, allowing their family to continue without any outsiders. But their home, their inheritance, has gradually fallen into decay, and the oldest son can’t have children. As the children—including Wedda, who ran away years ago; Eda, the oldest daughter and matriarch; Charlie, the disabled eldest son; Percy, the son who has always craved Charlie’s inheritance; and young, needy Nora—gather around their father, they wonder. What will happen if this time, the exchange doesn’t work? What it will it mean about their past—and what on earth would they do next?

This complex Appalachian gothic, The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister, about family inheritance, isolation, and patriarchy is slow-paced but never boring. The suspense is gradual, the emotional consequences building alongside the narrative ones. In classic gothic fashion, the fantasy is almost beside the point—how much is truly coming from the bog, how much from a magicked past, and how much of it is just base human nature, is just blind, stubborn loyalty to the stories a father imposes on his children? The line between real and false is slimy and impossible to pin down, for the characters and for the reader. People unspool, make irrational decisions, grasp at a story that’s rapidly slipping through their fingers. The novel is rich with grime and cold, wet and muck, Chronister bringing the texture and sensuality of a bog and of a crumbling once-great house to the forefront. A great, eerie fall read.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Content warnings for ableism, implied sexual assault, suicidal ideation and attempt, death, grief, emotional abuse.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Book Haul!: I Am Not Immune To Buy 3 Get 1 Free Sales.

These have all been on my list for a while--I knew the bookstore would have the Jemisin and Jackson books for sure (I'd seen them both there before), and I was hoping they'd have Chronister in paperback (because they had her in hardback). I was glad Turnbull was out in paperback, too! What a delightful evening of book shopping!

[b-oredzoi]

Books I Read in 2024: The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister

Always the bog has belonged to us

and we to it".

[usnea10]

[thehappyscavenger]

"A household that left a tree embedded in a roof for most of a year was not a sane or healthy household."

Kay Chronister, The Bog Wife

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Desert Creatures by Kay Chronister

Author: Kay ChronisterPublisher: ErewhonReleased: November 8, 2022Received: Own (Aardvark) Book Summary: Magdala was born into a cruel world. It’s dry and hot, with very little to offer. While she and her father are fleeing their home, they are exposed to a new horror within the Sonoran Desert. A horror that will linger forever. This puts Magdala on a new journey in life. At first, it’s a…

[spidersrightsactivist]

i love questing characters so much. characters who are chasing after one particular thing with all the strength they have and have been for so long that it’s not even really about winning anymore but about the fact that the quest has become their whole identity. characters who can’t imagine their future because it’s dominated by this one enormous unattainable goal and they know on some level it’ll never happen but they don’t even know if they want it anymore, just that chasing it is the only thing they know how to do

[foxcassius]

i've now read 3 books in a row that utilized pov that changes every chapter (one of them, actually, changed pov whenever it wanted with one of these *** bad boys in the middle of the page) and only one of them was in any way enhanced by this. i would argue the other two were worse for it. just pick a main character.

[notbecauseofvictories]

The full list is quite long, so I didn't want to clutter up the last post with it---still, it is impressive to see them all laid out together. So without further ado!

THE 50 MOVIES AND 50ISH BOOKS I WATCHED/READ IN 2024

MOVIES

The Count of Monte Cristo (2024) Emilia Pérez (2024) Wicked (2024) American Psycho (2000) Heavy Trip (2018) La Planète sauvage / Fantastic Planet (1973) The Slipper and the Rose (1973) Bottoms (2023) I Saw the TV Glow (2024) *We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021) Oddity (2024) Maxxxine (2024) *The Substance (2024) *The Wicker Man (1973) Housebound (2014) Problemista (2023) Showing Up (2023) *Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) It Comes at Night (2017) The Boy and the Heron (2023) Abigail (2024) Seven Samurai (1954) The Iron Claw (2023) Talk to Me (2023) Bodies Bodies Bodies (2023) Rashomon (1950) *M (1931) Lord of Misrule (2023) The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) *Crimes of the Future (2022) Sanctuary (2022) After Yang (2022) **The Florida Project (2017) Pig (2021) The Favourite (2018) Poor Things (2023) Infinity Pool (2023) The Feast (2021) Office Space (1999) *Corsage (2022) Robots (2023) The Deer King (2021) Madame de… (1953) Orphée (1950) Master Gardener (2022) *Something in the Dirt (2022) Black Orpheus (1959) Priscilla (2023) How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022) *The Lure (2015) To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)

BOOKS

The Shambling Guide to New York City, Ghost Train to New Orleans, Mur Lafferty What Feasts At Night, T. Kingfisher *Bad Girls, Camila Sosa Villada Don't Fear the Reaper, Stephen Graham Jones *Vintner's Luck, Elizabeth Knox The Barrow Will Send What it May, Margaret Killjoy You Know How the Story Goes, Thomas Olde Heuvelt Bloodchild, Wild Seed, Octavia E. Butler The Angel of Indian Lake, Stephen Graham Jones The Default World, Naomi Kanakia Fantasyland, Mike Bockoven Something is Killing the Children, issues 1-15 The Night Eaters Book 1, Book 2, Marjorie Liu This Wretched Valley, Jenny Kiefer These Deathless Bones, Cassandra Khaw *Dead Inside, Chandler Morrison Mental Diplopia, Julianna Baggott A Human Stain, Kelly Robson The Shape of My Name, Nino Cipri Daughter of Necessity, Marie Brennan The Mist, Stephen King A Skinful of Shadows, Frances Hardinge The Chalk Man, C. J. Tudor *The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton Come Closer, Sara Gran The Underwater Welder, Jeff Lemire Blink, Christopher Sebela Pulling the Wings Off Angels, KJ Parker Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock, Maud Woolf An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good, Helene Tursten Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher HEX, Thomas Olde Heuvelt Midnight Rooms, Donyae Coles Aglaeca, Mohnfisch Dr. Limos Plays God, Stevie Barot Home by the Rotting Sea, Otava Heikkila Last Crane, Narsid Sacred Bodies, Ver No Trouble at All, Various Authors (short story collection) *Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand Glass House, Paul Jessup Agony's Lodestone, Laura Keating * Big Swiss, Jen Beagin House of Rot, Danger Slater Dreadful, Rebecca Rozakis *Diavola, Jennifer Thorne Lute, Jennifer Thorne Regrettably, I Am About To Cause Trouble, Amie McNee The Rules Upheld by No One, Amie McNee The Sacrifice, Rin Chupeco The Bog Wife, Kay Chronister The Unmothers, Leslie J. Anderson *The Eyes Are the Best Part, Monika Kim Paying for It, Chester Brown Snow, Ronald Malfi Midnight on Beacon Street, Emily Ruth Verona Haunt Sweet Home, Sarah Pinsker The Doll-Master, Joyce Carol Oates The Third Person, Emma Grove The Werewolf at Dusk, David Small It's Lonely At The Centre Of The Earth, Zoe Thorogood Mom's Cancer, Brian Fies Mary Astor's Purple Diary, Edward Sorel Impossible People, Julia Wertz Roaming, Jillian Tamaki

[petite-gloom-mail]

so sorry to bother you, just wanted to tell you about the book "The Bog Wife" by Kay Chronister. Don't know if it's up your alley but,, bog.

yes! i actually looked at it in waterstones a couple of days ago. i thought from the name it was something like the time travellers wife but its horror

[elssbethtascioni]

9 Books for 2025!

I was tagged by @barbarawar to share 9 books I plan to read in 2025! (thanks dear 💕)

I’m terrible at planning future reads so who’s to say what I’ll really read buuuut. Pulling mostly from my library holds list as those are most likely to get read (rip to my physical tbr)

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig - this hold just came in and has another after me so it will get read in the next 3 weeks so help me!

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney - this is my book club’s January pick so this must also get read in the next few weeks

Our Hideous Progeny by C. E. McGill - this I also already have checked out from the library so again will likely be read within the next month or so

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - I started reading this last year on libby when work was slow but really I just need to pick up a hard copy and finish it

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman - I really love the Thursday Murder Club series so I’m curious to see how this one is

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - need to see what the cozy japanese lit hype is all about

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë - this one’s actually from my physical tbr but if I only read one book I already own this year, it’ll be this one

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry - new year, new Emily Henry. Chances are I will read it as soon as the library gets it

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister - sometimes when work is slow I go thru the new releases and add books to my list, this is one such case

tagging (if you want!): @eohwyyn @alicenthighstower @rosamundpkes @sarahlancashire @the-frankenman-writes @imogens-temult @regardstosoulandromance

[glassamphibians]

how did you read so many books??! that’s so cooll

do you have a favorite from this year? :)

most of my reading is done by listening to audiobooks while driving/doing chores/etc! I moved to receiving at work this year too which means I get to listen to books while I unpack books for like seven hours straight it rules. For physical books i literally just always have one on me and take it out whenever i can.

I read so many good books this year I Cannot narrow it down to just one so I'm doing ten under the read more <3

GLASS AMPHIBIANS 2024 FAVES BY GENRE KIND OF IF YOU SQUINT:

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark: This book is just so vibrant. I was immediately in love with steampunk Cairo and the protagonist, Fatma, is easily one of my favorite female characters of all time. You need to read everything Clark writes i am so serious.

The West Passage by Jared Pechaček: this Expertly conveys incomprehensible enormity and humbling smallness in a way that i have never read before!!! Possibly one of the most unique fantasy novels I've read AND each chapter has beautiful illustrations done by the author! huge for fans of Piranesi or Monument Valley.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez: also one of the most unique high fantasies i've ever read this was fucking insane. An experiment in perspective and world building that honestly made me a danger to other people driving do not handle large machinery while trying to follow this. This is a love story to its blade-dented bone.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler: Duh. Post apocalyptic novels full of spiteful, unrelenting optimism and compassion are the most important things in the world. genre ever. idk what else to say like its octavia butler of course its gonna be on here

A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons: one of those horror novels that i desperately need to see made into a movie. For some reason I started this thinking there was no supernatural aspect and jesus christ was i wrong there's a Creature in here!!!! a very gross and scary and weird one!!! So action packed with a disgruntled, dislikable female protagonist I would literally follow to the ends of the earth she's so kick ass.

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister: a more literary horror novel that i can really only describe as damp. I seriously considered dunking my copy in a creek so its appearance would better match whats going on inside. This fucked up family dynamic and decaying, sodden mansion was so up my alley, and Chronister's prose was so easy to fall into.

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad: An actress returns to Palestine and ends up involved in a contentious production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Hammad's prose is unreal. She published a speech on Palestine and storytelling this year that goes perfectly with this book. The protagonist's relationship with Palestine is beautifully explored I could not put this book down.

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters: This is an extremely introspective, character driven novel about transfemininity and motherhood that I read in march and have thought about at least once a week since. Peters captures the messiness and complexities of queer identities so perfectly. She has new book coming out in 2025 that i am frothing at the mouth waiting for.

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado: A memoir and a poem and a horror novel and a film criticism and a choose-your-own-adventure story and so much more. Machado plays with genres and tropes in order to articulate her time in an abusive lesbian relationship. Incredibly creative and addictive read, Machado is so talented. My mom had to stop me from trying to read this while waiting for a wedding to start.

The Women's House of Detention by Hugh Ryan: Researched with so much care and time, this follows the history of this prison and the lives of the people who were incarcerated there. Some are famous, like Angela Davis, but the vast majority of its inhabitants were forgotten. Ryan specifically follows queer individuals and looks at how the Women's House of Detention impacted the queer history and culture of Greenwhich Village. Must read for anybody interested in prison abolition.

there were a billion trillion more phenomenal reads this year i love u books i love u reading xoxoxoxo

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: DESERT CREATURES by Kay Chronister.

Up next! I'm heading back into my Driscoll revision project next month, WHICH MEANS: I can start reading through my Driscoll-vibes TBR shelf again!! I have been promised weird desert body horror (with a side of cannibalism? yikes?), and I'm excited to see how this goes.

[googledocsdyke]

FAVOURITE READS OF 2024 SO FAR. henry henry by allen bratton. y/n by esther yi. the bog wife by kay chronister. erasure by percival everett. come and get it by kiley reid. greta and valdin by rebecca k reilly. headshot by rita bullwinkel. crime and punishment by fyodor dostoevsky. can everyone please read those so we can chat

[thehappyscavenger]

He had spent his whole life learning a version of his father that was gone, and he didn’t know how to behave around the man that his father was now."

The Bog Wife, Kay Chronister

[sleepysak]

10 People I’d Like To Get To Know Better Tag!

Tagged by @annchovi :D yay ty

~~~~~

Last song: Sun & Moon (I Love You Too)

Fav color: Grey-Navy! (it's. basically Grey Warden Blue but i sWear I've liked that color since I picked it out as my favorite pencil when i was like. 9)

Last book: currently reading The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. I also have Bog Wife by Kay Chronister haunting my side table bc I haven't started it yet.

Last movie: HONESTLY? I don't remember! I don't watch movies often and the ones I "watch" are often bc my roommate is watching one in the living room lmao.

Last game: Technically shiny hunting in Pokemon Scarlet, but REALLY I've been playing Dragon Age: Veilguard :)

Miravas my beautiful daughter you make so many choices <3

Last show: ... back to the roommate thing of He Watches The Media BUT I have seen several episodes of Leverage and oh I Get It!

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Sweet but specifically like, how fruit are sweet. Mild sweet. I am so particular about this sdfskjfhskf

Relationship: Single but me and the roomie have a platonic thing going on. he listens to me talk about Snail Teeth and he's very nice about it despite the fact He Does Not Want To Know Forbidden Snail Knowledge.

Last internet search: 'what age does a betta start showing its colors' [face in hands] might as well share how I got a Surprise Betta Fish for Xmas and uh. Yeah Holly Chobani the baby betta is living it up in a 10 gallon with two Nerite snails while Im Mad at my family for doing that LMAO But! baby betta fish develop their colors as they mature so holly's got like 3-4 months at LEAST of color change ahead. that should be fun!

Obligatory "I talked about my pet so you get a pic now" tax. She knows every Cuss Word and is a chronic Beggar Of Foods. Also you can see the Snail Teeth Marks on the glass!

Tags if you want to play: (no pressure ofc!!)

@simothys @mushroom-circles @oldsneaks @halohampster @spherekuriboh @jupiterplanetpower

and i already know u fellas REALLY well in comparison but i figured youd have fun: @quaxorascal @subcorax @cantodelcolibri @samusthedude