Books: Book Club

BOOK CLUB

WITH ADAM & SAM MORRIS

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Check out these spooky recommendations from the owners of Your Brother's Bookstore in downtown Evansville

HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Danielewski

House of Leaves is an onion of a book written in many layers. The first layer takes place in the footnotes and is about a man, Johnny Truant, after he finds a Zampano’s manuscript. Zampano, a blind man, is the second layer, and the manuscript he writes is about The Navidson Report. The third, The Navidson Report, is a film by Will Navidson that documents a very strange house that is, on its surface, a house 1/8 inch larger on the inside than the outside. All these stories are taking place on the same pages at the same time. To make things even weirder, the physical text in the book changes as the story progresses. The book is unique in a variety of ways, which is why many consider it a modern masterpiece.

THE CHILD THIEF by Brom

The Child Thief is a very different retelling of Peter Pan. This story is much more dark, grim, and at times, gruesome. Definitely not the kind of book to read aloud with the family. The story is told from two perspectives: Peter’s and a boy named Nick. Peter, who is truly a “pan” (meaning he is more like the demi-god than a human), is more of an anti-hero in this retelling and is adored by all the children, except Nick. To Nick, Peter tricked him into entering his violent world and he wants out. Throughout the book are amazing and kind of creepy illustrations of the characters and creatures of the land. Between the art and the story, this book is perfect for this spooky time of year.

ANNIHILATION by Jeff VanderMeer

If you’ve seen the movie starring Natalie Portman, you are no more prepared for this book than if you haven’t seen it. The plot is the same, but the beauty of VanderMeer is that the plot doesn’t matter. The setting is weird, but that also doesn’t matter. The characters? They don’t even get names. The only thing that matters is identity. If everything about you changes except for your self-identity, are you the same person? That’s the central question here. Add to that the unsettling nature of VanderMeer’s prose and you’re left wondering what exactly you just read.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson

A college professor and some students spend a summer in a house that the professor is convinced has a living energy. A classic, one of the best-adapted haunted house stories, and not a ghost to be seen. This is Sam’s favorite kind of horror. It’s not scary. There’s no danger. It makes you uneasy and sad and makes you question what’s real, what is the nature of sanity, and whether or not it matters. And all this aside, the first paragraph of Hill House is the most lyrical, beautiful snippet ever written. We’ve checked.