#the hysterical girls of st bernadette's

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We've got six new releases on our radar this week! Which ones do you want to check out?

Aisle Nine by Ian X. Cho HarperCollins

It’s Black Friday—and the apocalypse is on sale! Ever since the world filled with portals to hell and bloodthirsty demons started popping out on the reg, Jasper’s life has gotten worse and worse. A teenage nobody with no friends or family, he is plagued by the life he can’t remember and the person he’s sure he’s supposed to be. Jasper spends his days working as a checkout clerk at the Here for You discount mart, where a hell portal in aisle nine means danger every shift. But at least at the mart he can be near his crush, Kyle Kuan, a junior member of the monster-fighting Vanguard, though Kyle really seems to hate Jasper for reasons he doesn’t remember or understand. But when Jasper and Kyle learn they both share a frightening vision of the impending apocalypse, they’re forced to team up and uncover the uncomfortable truth about the hell portals and the demons that haunt the world. Because the true monsters are not always what they seem, the past is not always what we wish, and like it or not, on Black Friday, all hell will break loose starting in aisle nine. Perfect for fans of Grasshopper Jungle or The Last of Us comes Aisle Nine, the debut young adult novel from rising YA star Ian X. Cho.

A Constellation of Minor Bears by Jen Ferguson Heartdrum

Award-winning author Jen Ferguson has written a powerful story about teens grappling with balancing resentment with enduring friendship—and how to move forward with a life that’s not what they’d imagined. Before that awful Saturday, Molly used to be inseparable from her brother, Hank, and his best friend, Tray. The indoor climbing accident that left Hank with a traumatic brain injury filled Molly with anger. While she knows the accident wasn’t Tray’s fault, she will never forgive him for being there and failing to stop the damage. But she can’t forgive herself for not being there either. Determined to go on the trio’s post-graduation hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, even without Hank, Molly packs her bag. But when her parents put Tray in charge of looking out for her, she is stuck backpacking with the person who incites her easy anger. Despite all her planning, the trail she’ll walk has a few more twists and turns ahead. . . .

Faeries Never Lie: Tales to Revel In edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker Feiwel & Friends

Faeries Never Lie, the next young adult collection in the Untold Legends series edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, is filled with fourteen short stories to revel in, that center faeries of varying genders and cultures! There’s something to be said for starting your first day in faerie boarding school, for chasing a faerie through Chang’an during the Tang Dynasty, for searching for the missing part of your throuple who may have run away with a faerie prince, for descending into madness after spending countless nights plagued by the same faerie dream—and much more. Fly into this revelry filled with tricksters, lovers, monsters, and the like, in this exciting collection for those who love faeries and those who are experiencing them for the first time! Edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Faeries Never Lie features short stories from beloved authors Nafiza Azad, Holly Black, Dhonielle Clayton, Christine Day, Chloe Gong, Tessa Gratton, Kwame Mbalia, Ryan La Sala, L.L. McKinney, Anna-Marie McLemore, Kaitlyn Sage Patterson, Rory Power.

Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I'd Known written by George M. Johnson & illustrated by Charly Palmer Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

From the New York Times–bestselling author of All Boys Aren’t Blue comes an empowering set of essays about Black and Queer icons from the Harlem Renaissance. In Flamboyants, George M. Johnson celebrates writers, performers, and activists from 1920s Black America whose sexualities have been obscured throughout history. Through 14 essays, Johnson reveals how American culture has been shaped by icons who are both Black and Queer – and whose stories deserve to be celebrated in their entirety. Interspersed with personal narrative, powerful poetry, and illustrations by award-winning illustrator Charly Palmer, Flamboyants looks to the past for understanding as to how Black and Queer culture has defined the present and will continue to impact the future. With candid prose and an unflinching lens towards truth and hope, George M. Johnson brings young adult readers an inspiring collection of biographies that will encourage teens today to be unabashed in their layered identities.

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

For over a hundred years, girls have fought to attend St. Bernadette’s, with its reputation for shaping only the best and brightest young women. Unfortunately, there is also the screaming. When a student begins to scream in the middle of class, a chain reaction starts that impacts the entire school. By the end of the day, seventeen girls are affected—along with St. Bernadette’s stellar reputation. Khadijah’s got her own scars to tend to, and watching her friends succumb to hysteria only rips apart wounds she’d rather keep closed. But when her sister falls to the screams, Khad knows she’s the only one who can save her. Rachel has always been far too occupied trying to reconcile her overbearing mother’s expectations with her own secret ambitions to pay attention to school antics. But just as Rachel finds her voice, it turns into screams. Together, the two girls find themselves digging deeper into the school’s dark history, hunting for the truth. Little do they know that a specter lurks in the darkness, watching, waiting, and hungry for its next victim…

Payal Mehta's Romance Revenge Plot by Preeti Chhibber Kokila

This laugh-out-loud debut romance introduces perfectly imperfect Payal Mehta, whose plan to get her long-time crush to finally notice her is destined for success, but only if she ignores her budding feelings for her archnemesis... Payal Mehta has had a crush on popular, athletic, all-around perfect Jonathan Slate ever since he smiled at her in freshman–year Spanish class. At a party during spring break of her junior year, Payal finally works up the courage to ask Jon to hang out. However, her romantic plans are derailed when he vomits on her Keds. Twice. But when Jon offers to take her out to lunch as an apology, Payal is convinced this is the start of their love story. Over chalupas and burritos at Taco Bell, Payal's best jokes are landing as planned. Jon is basically choking on his Coke—and then it happens. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Payal is (finally) about to get the guy. And then he tries to set her up with his Indian friend. Payal's best friends, Neil Patel and Divya Bhatt, are just as mad about the microaggression as Payal is, but they think she’s a little too hung up on him. Determined to teach Jon a lesson by making him fall for her, Payal ropes in her archnemesis, Philip Kim, to help by ceding creative control over their psych project. It’s the perfect plan. Minus Philip’s snarky, annoying quips and lack of faith in its success. But as Payal lies to the people she loves, hides the too-Indian parts of herself in front of her crush, and learns that maybe Philip isn't the worst, she starts to wonder if what she's been looking for has been scowling at her all along...

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's

YA thriller

when an all girl’s school in Kuala Lumpur is struck with numerous cases of girls screaming with no explanation, a girl who is mute after being assaulted by her stepfather starts to investigate, quickly discovering that this has happened before

and a lonely girl who wants to break free from her controlling mother, starts to unexpectedly find some new confidence amidst the changes

both girls dig deeper into the school’s past, and eventually cross paths - but by that time it’s possibly too late for them..

explores trauma, sexism, & sisterhood

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 1/5

Book Blurb:

An all-girls school is struck with mysterious cases of screaming hysteria in this chilling dark academia thriller haunted by a deeply buried history clawing to the light.

For over a hundred years, girls have fought to attend St. Bernadette’s, with its reputation for shaping only the best and brightest young women.

Unfortunately, there is also the screaming.

When a student begins to scream in the middle of class, a chain reaction starts that impacts the entire school. By the end of the day, seventeen girls are affected—along with St. Bernadette’s stellar reputation.

Khadijah’s got her own scars to tend to, and watching her friends succumb to hysteria only rips apart wounds she’d rather keep closed. But when her sister falls to the screams, Khad knows she’s the only one who can save her.

Rachel has always been far too occupied trying to reconcile her overbearing mother’s expectations with her own secret ambitions to pay attention to school antics. But just as Rachel finds her voice, it turns into screams.

Together, the two girls find themselves digging deeper into the school’s dark history, hunting for the truth. Little do they know that a specter lurks in the darkness, watching, waiting, and hungry for its next victim…

Review:

There's a mystery happening at an all girls school..... there's a screaming hysteria happening and a dark history lurks in the school walls. At St. Bernadette's, an all girl's school, only the brightest and best are formed there yet when a girl suddenly begins screaming... it infects the rest of the school and by the end of the day seventeen girls were impacted. Khadijah and Rachel are two girls who find themselves drawn together to try and solve the school's mystery and uncover the school's dark secret, yet the closer they get the closer another victim is getting ready to be picked. I honestly couldn't really get behind the pacing of this book and while the individual characters were distinct, the actual set up and build of the story felt oddly paced and I found myself getting bored while reading it. The book just didn't really connect with me and I just couldn't find myself immersing in the mystery. While it wasn't for me, if you want a mystery with a school filled with girls and deals with the topics of abuse, then definitely give this one a go.

Release Date: September 24,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[the-worlds-between-pages]

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by: Hanna Alkaf

Published by: Simon & Schuster Publication Date: 9/24/2024 First off, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC. All opinions are my own. Secondly, trigger warning for sexual assault, sexual assault on a minor, sexual assault from a parent’s romantic partner, death, predators. Please, be kind to yourself and proceed with caution. Ok, review time. To put it bluntly, I…

[bookaddict24-7]

(New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (September 24th, 2024)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

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New Releases:

The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig

Rabbit & Juliet by Rebecca Stafford

Faeries Never Lie by Various

Everything Glittered by Robin Talley

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf

Aisle Nine by Ian X. Cho

A Constellation of Minor Bears by Jen Ferguson

When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson

Pick the Lock by A.S. King

Signed Sealed Dead by Cynthia Murphy

Payal Mehta's Romance Revenge Plot by Preeti Chhibber

Superficial by Diane Billas

Tears of the Nameless by George Mann

This Fatal Kiss by Alicia Jasinska

New Sequel:

Hunterlore (Hunterland #2) by Dana Claire

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Happy reading!

[musingsofmonica]

September 2024 Diverse Reads

September 2024 Diverse Reads

•”The Fallen Fruit” by Shawntelle Madison, September 03, Amistad Press, Historical/Science Fiction/Time Travel/Cultural Heritage/African American & Black/Women/

•”Where They Last Saw Her” by Marcie R. Rendon, September 03, Bantam, Thriller/Suspense/ Mystery & Detective/Women Sleuths/Cultural Heritage/Native American & Aboriginal

•”Sky Full of Elephants” by Cebo Campbell, September 10, Simon & Schuster, Literary/Science Fiction/Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic/Magical Realism/Cultural Heritage/African American & Black

•”Reservoir Bitches: Stories” by Dahlia de la Cerda,  translated by Julia Sanches & Heather Cleary, September 10, Feminist Press, Science Fiction/Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic/Short Stories/Feminist/Women/World Literature/Mexico

•Rejection” by Tony Tulathimutte, September 17, William Morrow & Company, Literary/Coming of Age/Humor/Satire/Short Stories/Novel in Stories

•”Entitlement” by Rumaan Alam, September 17, Riverhead Books, Literary/Psychological/Family/Life/Social Themes

•”We Came to Welcome You” by Vincent Tirado, September 03, William Morrow & Company, Horror/Thriller/Psychological/Cultural Heritage/Diversity & Multicultural/LGBTQ 

•”Misinterpretation” by Ledia Xhoga, September 03, Tin House Books, Literary/Psychological/Women/Family Life/Marriage & Divorce/World Literature/New York/Albania  

•”Vilest Things” by Chloe Gong, September 10, S&S/Saga Press, Fantasy/Action & Adventure

Fantasy/Romantic/Asian Futurism

•”This World Is Not Yours” by Kemi Ashing-Giwa, September 10, Tor Nightfire, Horror/Science Fiction/Hard Science Fiction/Space Exploration/Alien Contact/LGBTQ 

•”Colored Television” by Danzy Senna, September 03, Riverhead Books, Literary/Family Life/Racial Identity/Cultural Heritage/African American & Black/Women

•”Songs for the Brokenhearted” by Ayelet Tsabari, September 10, Random House, Literary/Historical/Family Life/World Literature/New York/Yeman

•”The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's” by 

Hanna Alkaf, September 24, Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, YA/Thriller/Suspense/Supernatural/Dark Academia/Social Themes/Girls & Women/People & Places/Asia

•”The Beauty of Us” by Farzana Doctor, September 17, ECW Press, Contemporary/School & Education/Boarding School & Prep School/Social Themes/Girls & Women

•“We're Alone: Essays” by Edwidge Danticat, September 03, Graywolf Press. Personal Memoir/Essays/Short Essays/Essay Collection/Reportage/Ethnic Studies/Environmental Conservation & Protection/Caribbean & Latin American/Haiti

•”The Cottage Around the Corner” by D. L. Soria, September 03, Random House Worlds, Contemporary/Romance/Romantic Comedy/Fantasy

•”When Haru Was Here” by Dustin Thao, September 03, Wednesday Books, Contemporary/Romance/Social Themes/Death, Grief, Bereavement/LGBTQ

•”Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour” by Nora Nguyen, September 24, Avon Books, Contemporary/Romance/Romantic Comedy/Women/Cultural Heritage/Asian American/World Literature/Vietmam

•“We'll Prescribe You a Cat” by Syou Ishida, travel by E Madison Shimoda, September 03, Berkley Books, Contemporary/Family Life/Animals/World Literature/Japan

•”We Need No Wings” by Ann Dávila Cardinal, September 10, Sourcebooks Landmark, Contemporary/Magical Realism/Family Life/Death/Women/Cultural Heritage/Hispanic & Latino/World Literature/Spain 

[dreamsinfiction]

Weirdly am very much in the Halloween spirit this year! Maybe it's also because I'm deep in my TVD rewatch heh.

If anyone has recommendations for spooky reads please send them my way 🎃

(Currently have my eyes on The Hysterical Girls of St Bernadette's but waiting for payday to come before purchasing on Kindle)

Leanne Hatch on Instagram

[bookclub4m]

Episode 203 - Dark Academia

 It’s episode 203 and time for us to discuss the genre of Dark Academia! We discuss aesthetics as genres, cosplaying as academics, anti-intellectualism, the differences between Canadian and American university experiences, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda, translated by Sarah Booker

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The Cloisters by Katy Hays

The Cloisters (the museum)

And He Shall Appear by Kate Van Der Borgh

Other Media We Mentioned

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Howl's Moving Castle (film)

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Goth House Experiment by S.J. Sindu

Includes “Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc”

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Bunny by Mona Awad

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

The Gormenghast Novels by Mervyn Peake

Faust

Links, Articles, and Things

Dark academia (Wikipedia)

Episode 115 - New Weird

Kurt Vonnegut

Episode 134 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

University of King's College

Sour Patch Kids

Magic Circle

Bottle episode

Episode 202 - A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking

Skull and Bones

Episode 172 - Domestic Thrillers

Cottagecore

15 Dark Academia by Authors of Colour:

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by POC (People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé 

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf

Bunny by Mona Awad

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

Babel by R.F. Kuang

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi 

Land of No Regrets by Sadi Muktadir

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao 

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, December 3rd we’ll be talking about the genre of Cozy Fantasy!

Then on Tuesday, December 17th it’s time for our “best books of the year” episode!

[omgwhyisshestilltalking]

The hysterical girls of St. Bernadette's 3/5

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s by Hanna AlkafMy rating: 3 of 5 starsIf a book is about a boarding school/academy, I’m in. 100%. The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette (how much do we love that title??) is told from multiple points of view. Khadijah doesn’t speak. There is some allusion to an incident in her past, and we do find out about it. She has two very loyal friends who don’t seem…

[achraf1149]

TWELVE HILARIOUSLY FUNNY BOOK CLUB BOOKS

Are you trying to find funny book club books to enliven your next meet? notice hysterical, quirky, and utterly relatable titles during this book list!

Disclosure: This web site contains affiliate links for products and services I like to recommend. after you create a buying deal through Associate in a Nursing affiliate link, at no extra price to you, I'll earn a little commission.

Because generally you only want a decent laugh. And your book club buddies don’t invariably wish to over-analyze serious sh*t.

I love a decent WWII novel, however genre alliance aside, a number of my best book discussions are over lightsome, realistically funny books. have to say a handful of bottles of wine, a comfortable couch, and your best girlfriends and you’ve got yourself a direction for the proper night.

Whether you’re a mama trying to find an evening away or a dedicated reader simply trying to find one thing lighter, these kinky and funny book club books can speak to your heart.

TWELVE FUNNY BOOKS FOR YOUR NEXT BOOK CLUB

funny book club books - The Rosie Project

THE ROSIE PROJECT BY GRAEME SIMSION

I don’t assume there’s a book I’ve suggested additionally like a professional person than The Rosie Project. Simsion’s novel may be a good balance of queerness and humor.

Single, psychoneurotic compulsive biology faculty member, Don Tillman decides it’s time to search out a better half. His set up – The better half Project – is to eliminate undesirable candidates through an easy form.

Rosie is on a probe of her own, to search out her birth father. once she asks Don for facilitating, the 2 square measures drawn to at least one another, although square measure a terrible match on paper.

Rosie challenges Don’s psychoneurotic habits and encourages him to be spontaneous. will these 2 truly be a match?

The Rosie Project is Associate in Nursing intelligent, a however sweet romantic comedy with protagonists World Health Organization square measure awkward misfits, however winners in their ways that.

funny book club books - Where'd You Go, Bernadette,

WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE BY MARIA SEMPLE

My coworker and that I have a running joke. She recommends Where’d You Go, Bernadette, like I like to recommend The Rosie Project. Laugh aloud funny. Literally.

Where’d You Go Bernadette is one among those spit your sip of wine out funny books, good for an evening of book club laughs.

15-year-old Bee Branch’s folks, software system genius, Elgin, and former creator, Bernadette, promise their female offspring a cruise to the continent. Bernadette although, is on the brink of disaster.

After a feud with a neighbor and a faculty fundraiser went wrong, Bernadette disappears. Bee determined to induce everybody on board – virtually – together with her cruise, picks up her mother’s path. She weaves along with emails, faculty memos, and conversations together with her Bernadette’s Indian assistant, Manjula.

Will Bee and her father notice Bernadette? Is she fully insane of simply sane enough? this can speak to the little bit of crazy all told people.

ELEANOR OLIPHANT is FINE BY GAIL HONEYMAN

We all understand Associate in Nursing Eleanor. Socially awkward. Hasn’t cut her hair since she was 13. will crossword puzzle puzzles throughout lunch. Weekends square measure bookended with bottles of hard drink and phone conversations together with her mother. Her coworkers assume she’s socially underdeveloped and she or he thinks them, idiots.

Eleanor doesn’t understand that life ought to be something over fine. however, an opportunity encounter Eleanor and Raymond, a coworker, have with Associate in Nursing senior man World Health Organization collapses on the road changes everything.

As clues to Eleanor’s unhappy, troubled past surface, her new relationship with Raymond drives her to break from isolation.

But wait, this doesn’t sound funny…

Eleanor Oliphant is Fine is kinky and affirmative, despite themes of loneliness and psychological injury, funny. Awkwardly humorous and bizarre, Eleanor charms the hearts of readers and rakes in additional than a handful of guffaws.

funny book club books - a person known as Ove

A MAN knew as OVE BY FREDRIK BACKMAN

Ove may be a miserable, senior citizen of Associate in Nursing previous man. At fifty-nine years previous, Ove may be a widowman who’s tried (and failed) to kill himself multiple times. His neighbors decision him the bitter neighbor from hell.

But, one morning, his chatty new neighbors accidentally run over Ove’s mailbox, and he, sadly, must refer to them. And apparently, teach them a way to drive. What follows a funny tale of human values, community, and relationship.

A Man known as Ove speaks to what it suggests that to not simply live, however, be alive. Humor mixed with real human feelings can have you ever crying one moment and happy following.

funny book club books - Confessions of a Domestic Failure

CONFESSIONS OF A DOMESTIC FAILURE BY BUNMI LADITAN

Ashley Helen Adams Keller may be a career girl turned to occupy home hot-mess, momma, to eight-month previous Aubrey. Emily Walker keeps a Pinterest-worthy home and runs a palmy momma journal and media empire.

When Ashley snags a spot in Emily’s maternity higher Bootcamp, she sees an opportunity to boost as a mother and housewife. Ashely tries to navigate her manner through crafts, momma teams, and makeovers.

But hot mess mater may be a title more durable to abandon than she realizes. however, she’s on the point of the amendment during a manner the maternity higher Bootcamp may ne'er have ready her for.

Speaking to the pressures of period parenting – Associate in Nursingd living – this title can resonate with anyone World Health Organization owns a telephone or has an Instagram account. Or anyone World Health Organization has ever felt or laughed at the requirement to be good.

funny book club books - St. Brigid Jones's Diary

BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY BY Helen FIELDING.

Bridget Jones’s Diary chronicles the lifetime of {bridget|Bridget|Saint St. Brigid|St. Bridget|Brigid|Saint Brigid|St. Brigid|Bride|Saint Bride|St. Bride|abbess|mother superior|prioress|saint} Jones, one thirties living in London. Through her journal entries, we tend to follow her struggles with weight loss, career advancements, family and friends, and, most significantly, finding love.

She’s smitten for her boss, however, her folks have their sights on Mark Darcy, a single-family friend. the net gets pretty tangled.

Loosely supported Pride and Prejudice, this adaptation marks the start of the chick-lit movement. jam-packed with trendy, romantic humor (even twenty years later) St. Brigid Jones’s Diary may be a must-read for ladies all over.

WOMAN LAST SEEN IN HER THIRTIES BY CAMILLE PAGAN

Maggie Harris is gayly married with 2 healthy youngsters. Anxious naturally, she contains several not invariably rational fears, like fraud and falling air-conditioners.

The least of her worries is finding herself single at thirty 3. however once her husband walks out on her, Maggie comes face to face together with her biggest concern – herself.

After years of caring for everybody however, Maggie embarks on a visit to Rome, begins a brand new career, and even enters into a brand new relationship. however, once disaster strikes – once more – what's going to Maggie risk to keep up her new sense of self. And avoid a nervous breakdown?

BOSSYPANTS BY TINA FEY

Tina Fey tells her own story. Not simply the story of Saturday Night Live and Liz Lemon, however her story.

Through biographic essays, Fey delivers magazine vogue parodies of her beauty program, faculty romance, and her “me time” as a brand new parent (ha!). beat jest, of course, this provides a novel angle into however this comedienne came to be.

WHEN LIFE provides YOU LULULEMONS BY LAUREN WEISBERGER

Emily Charlton, a la The Devil Wears Prada, returns post-Miranda Priestly. A somewhat palmy authority herself, Emily lands in borough CT with the work of relaunching former model Karolina.

Karolina finds herself in plight when her legislator husband’s public indiscretion and her arrest for drunk driving. Her solely friend is Miriam, a brand new dynasty lawyer turned to occupy the home mater.

Together they’ll navigate this new territory…the suburbs.

THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN World Health Organization CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED BY JONAS JONASSON

Alan Karlsson had Associated in Nursing eventful life. He turns a hundred in exactly daily and his rest home is coming up with an enormous celebration…though he’d like that there be additional hard drink.

He’s in good health and isn’t all that fascinated by celebrating. therefore Alan escapes out the window and embarks on a humorous and stunning journey, complete with a grip jam-packed with cash Associate in Nursingd an elephant.

Alternating together with his adventures square measure flashbacks from his wildly fantastic past. Alan befriended President Truman, helped create the atomic bomb, dined with Charles Charles de Gaulle, and have become a spy. maybe the rest home was simply too quiet for him.

[richincolor]

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf Salaam Reads/ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publisher Summary: An all-girls school is struck with mysterious cases of screaming hysteria in this chilling dark academia thriller haunted by a deeply buried history clawing to the light.

For over a hundred years, girls have fought to attend St. Bernadette’s, with its reputation for shaping only the best and brightest young women.

Unfortunately, there is also the screaming.

When a student begins to scream in the middle of class, a chain reaction starts that impacts the entire school. By the end of the day, seventeen girls are affected—along with St. Bernadette’s stellar reputation.

Khadijah’s got her own scars to tend to, and watching her friends succumb to hysteria only rips apart wounds she’d rather keep closed. But when her sister falls to the screams, Khad knows she’s the only one who can save her. Rachel has always been far too occupied trying to reconcile her overbearing mother’s expectations with her own secret ambitions to pay attention to school antics. But just as Rachel finds her voice, it turns into screams.

Together, the two girls find themselves digging deeper into the school’s dark history, hunting for the truth. Little do they know that a specter lurks in the darkness, watching, waiting, and hungry for its next victim…

Note from author -- "It includes discussions and descriptions of sexual assault, trauma and PTSD. If this is too much for you right now, please set this book down and come back to it when you can. There is no shame in protecting your scars." 

My Thoughts: Even before beginning, my worries went down a bit after reading the note from the author. I am not a person who reads horror as a general rule, but for some reason knowing what was coming, helped prepare me and also let me know that the author had thought ahead to care for the readers. This made me more willing to dive in even though scary books are not what I usually grab first. 

There are definitely creepy and rather horrifying moments within the pages of this book, but it was also incredibly intriguing. It has Salem witch trial vibes with what seems like random hysteria and it's not something easily explained. When there is so much that is unknowable, there is a lot of room for imaginations to run rampant. 

The author shares the story through two perspectives and that choice helps readers see everything unfolding from very different contexts. And there are many layers to what is happening so it is good to have more than one way to pick up the clues that are scattered here and there. 

Like the characters, readers are likely to wonder if this is all created or manifested due to humans and their own issues or whether there may be some monsters lurking about. The answer is a complex one that I will obviously not reveal, but the many moments of wondering kept me flipping the pages rapidly. 

Beyond the actual screaming, there are questions or ponderings about how girls are perceived, how they are meant to act, who listens to them and when and how they use their voices. There's a lot going on beyond the ghost/monster portion of the story though there is plenty of that for those readers who love that aspect.

My Recommendation: Get it as soon as possible. Do not skip it unless it would be too much right now. This would be a great Halloween read, but could work anytime really. It's a unique story that raises many questions and for me the ending was particularly satisfying. This was one of my favorite books of the year.

Pages: 352 Review copy: ARC via publisher & library copy Availability: On shelves now

Extra: Brief talk on mass hysteria - Hanna Alkaf on TikTok

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Interview with Hanna Alkaf

Today we're excited to hear from author Hanna Alkaf whose latest release THE HYSTERICAL GIRLS OF ST. BERNADETTE'S fits in with the creepy vibe that's often happening in general at this time of year. If you want to know more about the hysterical girls, you can hop over to our recent review. 

I'm not generally someone who reads horror stories, but I really loved QUEEN OF THE TILES [Audrey's review here] and THE WEIGHT OF OUR SKY [Crystal's review here] so this was one I had to pick up. I read THE HYSTERICAL GIRLS OF ST. BERNADETTE'S at a rapid clip. It was fabulous and I'm so glad I moved out of my comfort zone. Thanks to you though I am having to look over my shoulder when I hear dry leaves moving around. ;) It's fall here so that is happening often. Does that sound bother you at all?

The sound of dry leaves doesn’t particularly bother me, but at the risk of sounding totally cruel, I love that it now bothers you! One of the things I love most about horror is its ability to take something completely innocuous and mundane and turn it into something ominous and dread-inducing. A kind of dark magic, if you will.

You have several works that lean toward or are classified as straight up horror. Have you been a horror reader/watcher/writer for a long time?

I absolutely love horror as a genre, whatever the medium — I think it stems from my friends and I whispering scary stories to each other as kids. Ours was a mission school very much like St. Bernadette’s in the book: Old, gothic in design, full of shadowy corners and unnervingly quiet spaces, and rife with rumours about the atrocities Japanese soldiers had committed on school soil during the occupation. It was fertile ground for young imaginations to populate with all manner of ghosts.

I really appreciated your caring note at the beginning of the book. It truly did help to be prepared for what was coming, but also let me know that the author was mindful of the fact that readers come to books with a lot of different backgrounds and experiences. That said, what was it like to research for a book about ghosts and monsters be they human or another form? It seems like some of that could also be challenging to process.

Unfortunately — or perhaps fortunately, depending on your perspective! — I’ve had a lot of experience in writing the darkness, whether it’s natural or supernatural, and have learned what I need to do to cope with diving into that abyss. That includes building in breaks and days off where I immerse myself in spending time with my kids, sketching, or binge-watching romantic K-dramas (the fluffier the better). It also means having a safety net in the form of a husband who knows to watch for signs that I’m having trouble pulling myself out of that darkness, and steps in when necessary.

What led to your choice of having two perspectives? Were there complications or surprises to using that format?

I wanted to contrast two very different perspectives and experiences of the same situation, and two very different ways of processing trauma, while hopefully showing readers that both of those voices were still true and valid and deserved support and belief. Multiple perspectives is such a tricky thing to pull off — you do have to make sure those voices don’t start blurring together, making them as distinct as possible from each other. But I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed being in each character’s head, and how fun it was to weave their stories together.

Do you write with a set schedule each day or are you a writer that fits it in all throughout the day in smaller chunks of time?

When my kids were very little, I had to utilize whatever time I had to get writing done, and it was often in small chunks — 20 mins here, half an hour there, at least one blessed hour during nap time. Nowadays, thankfully, they’re much older and I’m able to carve out time in the day to write while they’re in school — though I often also snatch some writing time in the midst of shuttling them to various after-school activities.

Are you one to manage multiple writing projects at a time or do you like to just focus on thing?

I prefer to focus on one thing at a time — though sometimes, that really isn’t possible!

And what is it that keeps you writing?

The idea that my kids, and kids like them, won’t have to look far to find themselves within the pages of a book.

Are you allowed to tell us about your current and future writing?

Next year, I have a middle grade anthology coming out that I edited called THE BEASTS BENEATH THE WINDS! It’s an illustrated collection of short stories about mythical creatures from Southeast Asia, each written by some of the most brilliant SEA and diaspora kidlit authors; truly, it’s been such an honor and a dream that they agreed to be part of it. I also have another middle grade book in the works, though I can’t tell you too much about that yet. And eventually, when I have some breathing room, I’d like to start working on my first novel for adults.

Do you also read young adult books and if so, are there some newer or forthcoming books you've enjoyed and would recommend for us and our readers?

I loved Wen-Yi Lee’s THE DARK WE KNOW, and I’m excited to dive into THE SCARLET THRONE by fellow Malaysian author Amy Leow!

We always appreciate when authors take time to chat with us. Thanks so much and we look forward to reading more of your work in the future!

[aroaessidhe]

read in october

audio favourites

Inara: Light of Utopia - 4

The Crimson Crown - 3.5

Blood Over Bright Haven - 4.25

This World Is Not Yours - 3.5

This Fatal Kiss - 4.25

Graveyard Shift - 4

The Scarlet Throne - 4.25

The Summer Queen - 3.75

The Unfinished - 3.25

The Gods Below - 4

The Brightness Between Us - 4.5

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s - 4

Long Live Evil - 4.25

At The Feet Of The Sun - 4.5

Old Wounds - 4

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye - 3.75

Mirrored Heavens - 3.75

Petty Treasons

Metal From Heaven (reread) - 4.75

Those Who Hold The Fire

Clever Creatures of the Night - 3

Don't Let The Forest In - 4.5

gn/comics

Not Even Bones (the webtoon) - 4.5

Our Bones Dust - 3.5

The Worst Ronin - 3.25

nonfiction

Recognising the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative

[bookclub4m]

15 Dark Academia by Authors of Colour

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by POC (People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé 

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf

Bunny by Mona Awad

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

Babel by R.F. Kuang

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi 

Land of No Regrets by Sadi Muktadir

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao