mstrust: Just Creepin' Along

That's right, I've arrived.

Welcome and let me wish you a happy 2023!
I'm Jennifer in Phoenix, and I will hit my 15th Thingaversary in March. If you drop in on me here you'll see that I read all kinds of stuff, but I do have some genres that I always return to, like travel, mysteries and horror. And cookbooks. I don't have a lot of categories but I know I'll fill them. A sense of accomplishment is important.

I Spend a lot of time researching and writing my Substack, "Autumn Lives Here", where you'll find book reviews, recipes, true crime and weird articles. So weird. Stop by! https://substack.com/inbox/post/90410208
I'll be hosting a few Kits this year:
ScaredyKit- April: Horror cookbooks and food horror
September: Haunted Houses
MysteryKit- May: True Unsolved Mysteries

Maybe I should mention here that I truly earn the "creepin' along" of my title, because I'm a slowwww reader. You won't gasp at how quickly I get through reviews, because my reading is between writing, gardening, trips to Vegas and episodes of Dexter. But I do it everyday.
I hope you'll stop in often. Lurch loves meeting people.

Prove It!
(Non-Fiction)

1. You Are Not So Smart- 3.5
2. Eat, Memory- 4
3. Drive-Thru Dreams- 3

Trust Me, I'm Scarier Than You Expect
(Horror)

1. Such Sharp Teeth- 4
2. The Last House on Needless Street- 4.5
3. Hell House- 3
4. The Monster of Elendhaven- 4
5. How To Sell A Haunted House- 4

Harry Taught Me A Code
(Mystery & Crime)

1. Monk and the Two Assistants- 4
2. The Black Dahlia by Rick Geary- 4
3. The Sun Down Motel- 5

Let's Try It!
(New To Me)

1. Charles Dowding's Veg Journal-3
2. The Sea Beast Takes A Lover- 3.5

I Hear Great Things About You
(Most Anticipated)

1. Paul Is Undead- 3.5
2. The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch- 3.5
3. Cackle- 4
4. The Library Book- 4.5
5. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper- 4.5

You Again?
(Favorites)

1. Tales From the Haunted Mansion Volume II- 4
2. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows- 4
3. Tales From the Haunted Mansion IV- 4.2

Don't Pretend You Don't Know Me
(ROOTS)

1. Mary Jane- 3
2. The Red Green Book- 3.5
3. Schooled
4. Embassy of the Dead- 4

Savings & Loan
(Gifts & Library)

1. The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook- 4
2. Epic Tomatoes- 4.5
3. Shelf Respect- 4
4. The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency- 3
5. The Complete Kitchen Garden- 3
6. The Bob's Burgers Burger Book- 3.5

I mean, I'm tired but I could still do it. Come on in!

Oh what a wonderful setup, Jennifer! I really love your graphics, so funny.

I agree - great setup. I particularly like your title "savings & loan". Hope you have a great reading year.

Wow, I love this! Looks like a fun year of reading in 2023!

As an Edward Gorey and Chas Addams fan from way back, of course I love your setup. I'm looking forward to seeing what you read next year.

The "new to me" is a great idea.

LOL. Fun pics! Wishing you a great year of reading and everything else.

>11 MissWatson: Thanks for coming in!

>12 dudes22: Thank you, and I wish you happy reading in 2023!

>13 JayneCM: Good to see you, Jayne, and thanks!

>14 sturlington: Thanks! I'm a fan of them too, obviously, and I expect to include them throughout the year. So uplifting!

>15 mnleona: I started a "new to me" category this year as it makes me look for new authors instead of settling in with known favorites all the time.

>16 majkia: Thank you, and right back atcha with well wishes for 2023!

Oh, and I finished up >1 mstrust:. The Kits I'm hosting in 2023 are listed.


And the link to my Autumn Lives Here, above, will take you to the latest posting (12/13).

Great setup! I am looking forward to stalking you once again in 2023!

Great pics, I love the Addams, I even met Felix Silla (Cousin Itt). Good luck with your reading goals.

Jennifer, what great pictures! Good luck with your 2023 reading plans!

>18 DeltaQueen50: Hooray, I have a nice stalker! Glad you found me, Judy!

>19 lowelibrary: Thanks! And now we need a "meeting Cousin Itt" story! These are the only type of celebrity stories I care about.

>20 Tess_W: Thank you! I hope you'll come by often. Happy reading in 2023!

I also love your pictures, especially those from The Gashlycrumb Tinies! My favorite is "N is for Neville who died of ennui."

Another big fan of your pictures. Happy reading!

Hooray, more weirdos have arrived!

>22 christina_reads: I had a Gorey calendar one year that had the whole poem. Each month was a new and surprising death!

>23 pamelad: Thanks, and to you!

Welcome back and have a great reading year! I look forward to seeing what you fill those categories with.

Thank you, Princess, and I wish you a happy 2023! I have many reading plans that will no doubt take twice as long to complete as I'd like.

I love your pictures, and was so happy to see a couple of Gashleycrumb Tinies!

Hi Jennifer! Wow, you have a substack?!? Where I have been? Oh that's right, I forget. I took a break. Love your category comics! Nothing, in my opinion, can replace the original Addams Family, except maybe the 1991 movie with Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston et al. Love that movie!

Great categories, and such funny pictures!

>27 Jackie_K: Thanks, Jackie! And those tiny little monsters are always welcome here!

>28 lkernagh: Well, look who's here! Haven't seen you around in so long, and I'm glad you came to see me, Lori!
Yes, I started a Substack back in the summer, all devoted to Autumn, Halloween, horror and true crime, because I'm creepy. I'm a fan of both the AF show and movies. I was mostly disappointed by the musical, it wasn't anywhere as spooky as it should have been and the songs were typical Broadway rather than having an Addams feel. Anyway, I hope to see more of you in 2023!

>29 MissBrangwen: Thank you, thank you! Visit often!

Great categories! Enjoy your 2023 reads!

Thanks, Lori, good to see you here!

Books brought home from Christmas, some gifts, some purchased in Vegas:
Fairy Tale
The Spy and The Traitor
You Are Not So Smart
To The Devil A Cryptid
Out of Sight
Bless Me, Ultima
Beastly Things
America The Edible
Choke
Winterkill
It Gets Worse
The Rough Guide to Horror Movies
Month-By-Month Gardening in the Desert Southwest

>33 mstrust: A great haul! Will keep you reading for a long time!

The images you chose made me laugh out loud! Your threads are always such fun places - looking forward to following you in 2023.

>34 Tess_W: Hi, Tess! I did get some good ones and I've started mixing them in with my expected January reads. Note that I say "expected".

>35 Crazymamie: Thanks so much! It's fun around here because I invite fun people like yourself. And Fester.


The life of the party.

We've really been enjoying Wednesday on Netflix. So your thread makes me smile.

I still haven't started Wednesday! I finished the original run of Dexter last week and went right into the new episodes, and still have a couple of those to go. I finished Derry Girls, so I'll be able to start Wednesday soon.

First for 2023!


1. Tales From the Haunted Mansion Volume II: Midnight at Madame Leota's by Amicus Arcane. The second in the series sees Haunted Mansion librarian Arcane bringing a grieving young man into the mansion because the stranger insists on a meeting with Madame Leota, whom he's heard was the best medium to have ever lived. The problem is that Madame Leota supposedly died years before, and the young man is searching for someone who can verify that she was genuine. That someone is Arcane, who is compelled to tell his visitor the life stories of several of the mansion's residents, such as the young girl who refuses to speak, or the "man" who lives in the mansion's graveyard.
This is the third I've read in the series (I've jumbled the order a bit), and each is sinister and fun, as Arcane can't stop himself from breaking into his own stories with asides for the reader. 4 stars

This went in my You Again? category.

Like others, I'm loving your images! Happy New Year, and Happy Reading! I'm looking forward, especially to seeing what horror/mystery/thrillers you read this year.

Stopping by to say hello.

>40 LibraryCin: Thanks, I think we'll be having fun with the Addams' this year. Happy new year! And I wonder what I'll end up reading this year too, ha!
>41 hailelib: Hello!

The first 2023 volume of Autumn Lives Here is up, with a look at movie tropes, true crime podcasts, and a red champagne cocktail. Come have a look: https://substack.com/inbox/post/94443966

>43 mstrust: very cool!

Thank you, Tess, very kind of you!

2. Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants by Lee Goldberg.

Natalie and her daughter Julie, with Monk tagging along, end up in the ER to have Julie's broken arm set. The nurse happens to be Sharona, Mr. Monk's former assistant, who had left Monk without a good-bye and returned to New Jersey to re-marry her ex-husband. Now, she's left her husband again, but this time it's because he's murdered one of his landscaping clients and is sitting in jail in L.A.
Natalie, Monk's current assistant, begins investigating the case herself, determined to find Sharona's husband innocent, because if he's guilty, Sharona is back for good and likely taking Natalie's job. 4 stars
The Monk book series is fun, especially the ones written by Goldberg. I read this for the MysteryKit, but just realized it's also a ROOT.

>46 mstrust: Used to watch the TV series. Did not know it was based on a book!

Other way round, the show was a hit so they got one of the show writers to write the first books in the series.
I know, usually a mystery show gets to tv after being a successful book.

3. Paul Is Undead by Alan Goldsher. Taking place in an alternative reality that is very much like our own, with the exception that zombies and vampires are a part of the population, The Beatles are still an iconic band of the 60's and early 70's. The major differences are that though they broke up, they are all still around because they are, with the exception of Ringo, zombies. Ringo is a ninja, and he was chosen to be their drummer because the others felt they needed to have at least one living member to be palatable to the audiences, what with their fingers tending to fall off during guitar solos, and they wanted someone with the skills to fight, because not everyone likes zombies.
This is the story of the rise of a "zombie" band, which angers the band The Zombies so much that their singer stalks The Beatles and regrets it. Mick Jagger also follows The Beatles, but that's because he's a trained zombie killer. And Roy Orbison is some kind of galactic creature whose sunglasses are tempering his mighty power. Yoko is a higher level ninja than Ringo.

The story is wild, and some passages are funny. I found the style, that of events being gone over from multiple angles as an investigative reporter interviews everyone involved in the band's history, to make the story drag quite a bit. It isn't what's being said, it's having to keep who's speaking straight because it jumps from character to character so much. But a pretty outrageous tale. 3.5 stars

>49 mstrust: Sounds very strange!

What a fun set up! Happy new year!

>50 DeltaQueen50: It is! The author threw in the most outrageous events, and if the story had an easier flow it would have been more fun.

>51 VivienneR: Happy new year, and I'm glad you found me!

The newest Autumn Lives Here is up and it includes a chocolate cocktail, a slew of short horror movies, and the tragic story of Opal Petty.

4. The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook edited by Kate White. A textured hardcover with many full page photos, and recipes from the most famous mystery writers alive today. Some are family recipes, some were inspired by fans who want the recipe for a dish their favorite characters enjoyed, so the author worked it out. The categories include breakfast, salads, entrees, even cocktails. Authors who provided recipes include Brad Meltzer, Sara Paretsky, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, and about sixty more. There pages that discuss the writer's trade and mystery tropes. 4 stars

5. You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney.
Explaining terms such as "Introspection", "The Affect Heuristic", "Extinction Burst" and "Hindsight Bias", the author then explains why our memories are untrustworthy, why we go along with things that we know are wrong, why fortune tellers still exist, and how easily we are manipulated. 3.5 stars

>54 mstrust: Sounds delicious and going on my WL!

>46 mstrust: I enjoy watching Monk on TV, but I've never read any of the books.

>54 mstrust: I enjoyed that one when I read it.

>56 Tess_W: The book is very well-done, and you can tell the writers who actually cook from the ones that don't. I can't remember who, but one author has a garlic bread recipe. A good one, but still :-D
>57 thornton37814: If you liked the show, you'll probably like the books. All the quirk is still there.
MWOA did a really good job.

The newest Autumn Lives Here is up, and it's full of monstrous music, the real Twin Peaks murder, and Dexter.
https://substack.com/inbox/post/97274289

6. Epic Tomatoes by Craig LeHoullier.
The author is a well-known gardener who specializes in tomatoes, growing up to 5,000 tomato plants a year.
Besides offering advice about growing, he also provides an extensive trouble shooting section for all the things that can go wrong. The majority of the book is focused on varieties, the author's experience growing that variety, and in-depth instructions that are specific to tomato plants.
If you have an interest in growing tomatoes, well, this book likely has the answer, unless you live in the low desert. There were sections for growing in different regions, even Alaska, but nothing for the particulars of the low desert. 4.5 stars

>60 mstrust: I probably need to read this!

I saw LeHoullier on an episode of "Growing a Greener World", which was solely about his tomato growing, so I had to get hold of his book. Yes, if you plan on growing tomatoes, you'll find useful info there. You can also follow him on Instagram, where he occasionally posts tomato tips and videos.

Plans for the weekend?

Nothing too exciting for us. It's the elder daughter's birthday so there will be a family brunch on Sunday. Other than that, just reading, eating and watching tv!

Mike has been gone all week, so he's on his way home. He was in Vegas while my mom had a minor operation on her knee, but my sister showed up yesterday and will spend a day or two making sure Mom is doing okay.
I finished the third season of "Emily in Paris" last night and have caught the new "The Last of Us". I've been sowing more seeds and bought another rolling garden bed yesterday that should be here in a few days.

>65 mstrust: "The Last of Us" is huge in the news here (I'm in Calgary, Alberta) the past week or so. (And over the past year, periodically.) Much of it was filmed here - well, "much" in Alberta, I think, and some in Calgary. But I don't have any channels to be able to watch it, unfortunately.

It's being heavily promoted here too, and seems to be the next "The Walking Dead". The first episode was interesting enough that I set it to record the series.
I have all the HBO and Showtime channels for maybe another six or seven months, so that's a guarantee that it will be great and I'll want to keep watching, but I won't sign up for another year. So much old crap.

>63 mstrust: How did you know what we were planning for this weekend, Jennifer?!

The tomato book looks like one Craig would enjoy - he has epically failed at growing tomatoes in Georgia, and it is a sadness as his heirlooms did so well in Indiana.

It just seemed like the most likely thing to do!
I grew tomatoes and strawberries and lots of flowers in California when I was a kid, plus we had a big lemon tree and dwarf lime and grapefruit trees, and wild Concord grapes. We didn't need to do much at all, just watered. Now I live in a climate that is probably the most hostile in the lower 48. I'm starting to feel like I need to have a degree in agriculture, yet the proof that I haven't given up is that I'm waiting on the garden bed, and we bought bareroot peach and nectarine trees today!

7. Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison.
Rory has temporarily returned to the town she grew up in to help her pregnant twin sister out for a while, but she soon needs help herself. While walking alone at night, Rory is attacked by a giant creature, and there's no denying that it was a werewolf. The symptoms develop right away and Rory wonders if she'll be able to control her transformations, because she'll soon be living with a newborn, and she doesn't want to close the door on her new kinda boyfriend.
Part horror, part romantic angst. 4 stars

The latest Autumn Lives Here is up, and this week is just for paid subscribers. We're going through a bunch of creepy cookbooks, Lovecraft's lesser known stories, and a visit to Lizzie Borden's house.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/p/autumn-lives-here-735

>69 mstrust: You deserve a medal for your enthusiasm! I see peaches and nectarines will feature large in your cooking soon. My neighbour has a peach tree and gives me bags of peaches every year. For a couple of weeks, everything I cook has a peach element. :)

>72 VivienneR: - Lucky you!

>72 VivienneR: :-D I really am trying my hardest! We were given many bags of tangerines and grapefruits several weeks ago, and I've done everything I can with them, including making tangerine honey tea bread and giving a bag of the grapefruit away to neighbors. I actually have chicken sitting in a grapefruit, tangerine and garlic marinade right now.
I don't know anyone who has a peach tree, so I have to grow my own!

>73 dudes22: Must be nice, huh?

8. Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau.
In Baltimore in 1975, fourteen year old Mary Jane has been hired to be the Summer nanny to five year old neighbor Izzy Cone. Mary Jane and Izzy come from very different households, with the Cones living in a mess, Mrs Cone not bothering to cook and Izzy's coloring book is of human anatomy. Mary Jane has grown up in a strict religious household where her mother controls her every move, which is why Mary Jane knows she has to lie to her mother in order to keep her job, especially when Dr. Cone moves two famous people into the house to treat the rockstar husband for drug addiction.
A coming of age story that focuses on the permissive and sometimes thoughtless parenting of the 70s. The reader has to wonder why the Cones would put a fourteen year old in charge of their daughter, and very quickly, the whole household, as level-headed Mary Jane becomes the housekeeper, cook and sounding board to the four adults in the house. I liked the story more in the beginning when I thought it would focus more on Mary Jane becoming independent of her parents, but it was much more about how the adults in the Cone household were too selfish to protect the children from their disastrous lives. At one point, Mary Jane is forced to take part in a group therapy session about infidelity. I also started focusing on how often these adults were touching her, kissing her forehead, asking about her feelings. Not a winner for me, but I didn't hate it. 3 stars

>75 mstrust: I have this one on my Kindle, but I feel any pressing need to read it. I may just this one linger a while.

I read it on Kindle too. Maybe you'll like it more than I did, it was okay. Eh. *shrug*

I've sown more green onion, bachelor buttons, cherry tomato and marigold seeds in anticipation of Spring. Ha!, I say.
I also identified some garbage that I'd been coddling. In a basket that I'd sowed flowers in, asthmaweed came up around the edges. In my trough of green onions, something called ponyfoot came up, which is a tiny groundcover native to the Bahamas and Southeastern U.S. It grows along the coast. I'm in the low desert.

The original Wednesday Addams, Lori Loring, has died:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/lisa-loring-wednesday-actres...

The new Autumn Lives Here is up. Come have a look at The Melon Heads and learn about the curse of the Salem Sheriffs!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

9. Shelf Respect by Annie Austen.

A collection of short essays and lists about books and bibliophiles. Topics include "Is It Compulsory to Finish A Book Once We've Started It?", "In Praise of the Bookcase", in which the IKEA Billy bookcase is discussed, the topic of merging book collections by new couples, and "Strange Things Found in Books". A fun little read for book lovers. 4 stars

>80 mstrust: A BB for me!

I think you'll like it!

Read but not counting as it's a short story:



Bake Off: A Granny Horror Short Story by D.M. Guay.

It's the yearly baking competition in Happy Hollow, and the usual contestants have lined up to have the judges, lead by Ida Mae, taste their entries. Issues arise immediately when the cherry pie begins fighting back, followed by the vegan carrot cake, and then nearly every entry, forcing everyone in the tent to battle for their lives.
This is available on Kindle.

10. The Facts of the Departure of Miss Finch by Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli and Todd Klein.

A graphic novel about a writer who has agreed to come along with a couple of good friends because they are obligated to take Miss Finch out for an evening and want the writer to be a buffer. Miss Finch turns out to be a joyless biogeologist who lectures everyone about what is and isn't correct. The group end up at a weird circus of the macabre, and it's here that Miss Finch is separated from the others, possibly forever.
I'd known about this one for years but finally came across it. 3.5

The new Autumn Lives Here is up. I've got the curse of Macbeth, I've got Stephen King news, and I've got a listing of upcoming maple festivals!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/p/autumn-lives-here-735

11. A Treasury of XXth Century Murder: Black Dahlia by Rick Geary.

I've read just a few of Geary's graphics and they are meticulously researched. This is the case of Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, who was found murdered and cut in two in Los Angeles in 1947. Elizabeth's family and childhood years, her years of waiting tables and dating soldiers are chronicled, and her multiple stays in L.A. in the hopes of becoming a movie star. There is the discovery of her body, and the investigation that had big holes in it, then the various suspects and accusations of police cover-ups.
I've read, listened to, and seen the case, not really studying it, so this book had several aspects I'd never heard of, such as Short's disapproving father briefly being a suspect. I also didn't know about the eventual shake-up in the L.A. police department. 4 stars

>86 mstrust: I, too, have read a lot of books that touch on the Black Dahlia murder mystery but actually know very little about the case. I am going to make a note to myself to check out the non-fiction books about this murder as it comes up so often in noir books that I feel I should know more about it.

You know, I've never read a non-fiction of it either. You're right, it's an angle in lots of noir, and between that and having watched a few true crime shows and heard some podcasts, you just know the case by osmosis. I don't like thinking of the crime scene photos. Even among other ghastly murders, the Black Dahlia is exceptionally disturbing.

12. The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward. When Dee was barely a teen, she and her family spent the day at the lake. It was crowded and Dee met a boy she wanted to hang around with, so she told her six year-old sister Lulu to go away, a decision she has now spent over a decade regretting, as the loss of Lulu made the family fracture. Now Dee is the only one left, and her one focus is to find Lulu, whom she believes is still alive.
Ted lives in his childhood home with his teenage daughter Lauren, who isn't allowed to leave the house. He also has his cat Olivia, who doesn't leave the house because she's been in the dark so long that she can't take the sunlight. Ted provides everything Lauren and Olivia need to barely survive, but Lauren hates Ted and always looks for a way to escape.

A horror throughout, but it turns on its head 3/4 of the way through and become a different story. Though tense and involving child abuse, it's still a page turner. 4.5 stars

>89 mstrust: I really enjoyed this one as well when I read it last year. I just finished one of her earlier novels that's been published for the first time in the US since she got success: Little Eve.

I just read the summary for Little Eve. Ward doesn't do her horror halfway, huh?

>91 mstrust: Tour touchstone points to The Animal's Christmas Eve, which made me smile because it seems horrible in quite a different way.

Huh, that's weird that touchstones would choose that!

The Valentine's Autumn Lives Here is up, but you know I can't do sweet romance, now don't you? I've got murder!
Btw, if you read ALH on the computer, it's misaligned. Subscribe, get it on your phone, and it's in perfect order. Just in case you've always wondered why it's a little wonky.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

13. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley. The fourth in the series. It's Christmas time and Flavia's father has had to rent out part of their crumbling ancestral home, Buckshaw, to a film company. To everyone's delight, the movie being filmed will star Phyllis Wyvern, the most famous movie actress. She even agrees to give a charity performance of a scene from Romeo and Juliet that captivates the audience of locals, who then find they've been snowed in during the festivities, making Flavia's discovery of a dead body a narrow pool of suspects.
Brilliant and self-confident Flavia is always fun, but who would have guessed that an eleven year-old would be so comfortable handling a corpse? 4 stars

I Brought Home A New Pile of Books

Today's event was the VNSA book sale, the most wonderful day of the year! Though the prices went up yet again and for the first time, there were empty tables at opening. The mysteries were slim pickings, and both horror and history were about bare. I still managed.

Mystery/Thrillers

Escape from Five Shadows
Mr Monk on the Road
Mr Monk is Miserable
Mr Monk in Trouble
Mr Monk is a Mess
The Secret of Annex 3
Strip Tease
Squeeze Me
In a Dark, Dark Wood
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
Cold Storage, Alaska
The Burglar in the Closet
Watch Me Die
Morse's Greatest Mystery
Changeless

Non-Fiction

A Good Month For Murder
You Are Awful (But I Like You)
Shadows in the Vineyard
The Castle on Sunset
The Truffle Underground
Norwich by Karen Crouse
The Sweet Life in Paris
Previous Convictions
Family Man
It Looked Different on the Model

Fiction

Four Past Midnight
The Eyeball Collector
Headhunters
The Obituary Writer
The Free-Lance Pallbearers
The Unbearable Bassington
Flash for Freedom!
Rules of Civility
Lori
Christmas Pudding and Pigeon Pie
Lost in a Good Book
The BFG
Going Solo
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
The Sea Beast Takes A Lover
The Library of Lost and Found
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
The Black Album
Cell
The Broken Girls
Dead Connection
Bark
Choke
Diary
V.S. Pritchett's More Collected Stories

and two for Wade:
Debt of Bones and Robot Visions

>96 mstrust: Great choices. Looking forward to the reviews. Saturday is my major book sale of the year. The annual OKC Friends of the Library sale. If I stay below $150 I come out a winner.

What a great haul! I'm delighted to see dear old Flashy in there.

>97 lowelibrary: Have a great time! We brought home 56 books, two vintage magazines and a cd for a total of $87.

>98 MissWatson: Thanks! Only took two trips through the pay line. And I was happy to see a Flash I didn't have already, and really delighted by the stack of Monk mysteries I didn't already have.

The new Autumn Lives Here is up. This is a paid week and we're talking about the horrors of Jordan Peele, an update on the Delphi murders and books that need to be filmed, pronto.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>97 lowelibrary: - That must be an awesome sale!

>96 mstrust: What a fantastic book haul!

>96 mstrust: LOL, yes, you did "manage!" A great haul!

>102 mathgirl40: Thanks, I'm always thrilled with Book Day!
>103 Tess_W: I made the best of the situation and filled my old lady rolling cart to the top. Then called Mike over to go through check-out so I could fill it a second time. Determination!

The latest Autumn Lives Here is up! Featuring monster artist Basil Gogos and the Sourtoe cocktail, plus books that need to be filmed.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

14. Eat, Memory: Great Writers At the Table Edited by Amanda Hesser.
A compilation of essays by a selection of international writers, all discussing pivotal moments in their lives that involved food. Ann Patchett discusses a trip to Paris with her boyfriend, sitting in a romantic restaurant and nearly breaking up because he didn't understand a word game she tried to teach him. Gary Shteyngart writes of growing up in Queens on a bland Russian diet that didn't satisfy him, and Chinese author Yiyun Li writes of the American drink Tang coming to China and becoming a status symbol. British author Pico Iyer discusses the importance of the local convenience store in the Japanese neighborhood, and George Saunders has a very funny essay called "The Absolutely No-Anything Diet", in which food is replaced with alcohol.
4 stars

Great book haul, Jennifer!

Thanks, Judy! Oh, why can't the book sale happen every Sunday? Because I'd need to live in an airplane hangar, that's why.

My garden has plenty of lettuces, golden pear tomatoes, and French radishes. I've been slicing the radishes up in our salads, but last night I ate a whole one about the size of a green grape. It set my mouth on fire. The peach tree we planted a few weeks ago has a pretty pink bloom and lots of green shoots.

The new Autumn Lives Here is up, and I have a discussion about the horror roles of Bette Davis, and my top true crime documentaries.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

8. Hell House by Richard Matheson.
A group of four people, selected and paid an enormous amount of money by a dying man, enter the infamous Hell House, site of dozens of murders and other strange deaths in the 1920s. It's known as the most haunted house. Staying there is a parapsychologist, his wife, a well-known medium, and a man who was a famous medium and survived Hell House as a teen 30 years before, but has stopped using his talent. He's there solely for the paycheck, which will come after spending a week living in Hell House and either proving or disproving that the afterlife exists.

Matheson has created an atmosphere of evil, as the dead who roam Hell House died from madness after months of non-stop orgies and death. The man who owned the house had the ability to control others, and that may have continued in the afterlife.
Published in 1971, the story features some spooky episodes, and the characters are pretty well mauled. Something that began drawing my attention away from the story was that the author had that 1970s male author way of writing female characters. The two women in the house are sexualized in a way the male characters aren't. By halfway through, the women are ripping their clothes off whenever a man is around. And Edith, the wife of Dr. Barrett, has apparently been involved in his work for years as an assistant, yet she hasn't retained any information at all. They don't have conversations as equals, instead, she asks questions about his work and health non-stop while he explains everything and gives her instructions. So, this was so-so for me just because I could predict how the characters would react. 3 stars

16. The Red Green Book: Wit and Wisdom of Possum Lodge by Steve Smith and Rick Green.

I was in the mood for something lighter after my last one, and this book was on my shelf and provided some nostalgia. I was a fan of the show and its weirdly clever tips for life. This book adds on that, with advice for getting a first job that includes "Be sociable. Ask your co-workers what they are eating. Ask to try some." "Get on a winning team and let them carry you."
The Possum Lake Lodge also has activity badges that can be earned, such as a Book Lover's badge that is earned by 1. buying a thick book and 2. explaining the plot and characters to the tester by just glancing over the blurb on the back cover.
A fun read for fans of the show. 3.5 stars

Congratulations, Jennifer! Terrific book haul! And it didn't break the bank. You've hit me with a few BBs!

Our local library has a booksale twice a year with the leftovers going on a permanent sale table in the library that is constantly replenished with donations and weeded books.

Thanks, Viv! I've looked over the list and haven't started a single one yet, dang it.
Our library system used to do a good sale twice a year, when they would open their storage facility to the public. They stopped that. Somehow, I'm still doing okay as far as bringing home books.

Just showing off one of my pretty little strawberries

>114 mstrust: So pretty indeed! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you!
I'll just mention that I sowed some fenugreek seeds just a few days ago and it has already sprouted, and I pulled up a two inch mushroom that came up in my peach tree barrel overnight. It wasn't there when I was out watering yesterday.

The new Autumn Lives Here is up, and we're going to the scariest motel in Nevada, remembering a tragic night out with Keith Moon, and I have some recs. Come by and look at the spectacle.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

I'm hosting April's ScaredyKit, everyone's welcome to the food horror month!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/349399

17. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James.
In 2017, 20 year-old Carly drives cross-country to the little town of Fell, New York, to look for answers to a family mystery. In 1982, Carly's aunt Viv left home to go to New York City. She got to Fell without money or a car, and just landed the night shift at the Sun Down Motel. It doesn't take long for her to realize that really sinister things have happened at the motel and that the little town has an inordinate number of women who have been murdered.
She begins investigating the murders and the motel deaths.
In 2017, Carly is investigating the disappearance of Viv, which leads to the creepy motel happenings and the multiple murders.

One of the best books I'll read all year, and I already know it will be in my Top 5 for the year. The mystery within a mystery was so expertly done, and Viv and Carly, and their various accomplices, are so smart. I'm glad I already have another from St. James on the shelf. 5 stars

Did you see that there will be a new TV movie of Monk? Tony Shalhoub is producing :) https://crimereads.com/youve-probably-already-heard-but-monk-is-coming-back/

New Monk! How exciting!
But dang it, I have about six different streaming services, but not Peacock. Thanks for telling me about it. I hope it will be on one of mine soon after.

>120 mstrust: I really liked that one, too!

Very excellent book! I know I've seen lots of reviews for it since it came out but I dragged my feet.

18. The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers by Caleb Warnock.

Didn't see this one coming, did you? I am neither Mormon nor a pioneer, but my mom picked this up for me somewhere because of the gardening chapters. Published in 2011, before the homesteading movement really took hold, this has lots of info on building a garden from traditional crops such as lettuce, grapes, beets, squash, etc. Also beneficial flowers, and how to hand-pollinate certain plants as well as how to long store and make cuttings, types of Mormon heirloom crops, and how to make beet sugar. There are also a couple of chapters on how to keep and care for chickens, if that's your thing. 3 stars

Make it epic!

>120 mstrust: Ooooo looks good! Going on my WL!

Time well spent!

Just showing off my first sunflower that's opened. It's an heirloom called Red Sun, so while the petals aren't uniform and perfect, it's a vibrant color and the whole stalk is covered in buds that will open and be spectacular. It's about three and a half feet tall and I have five of them. The bees love them.

That's a really pretty sunflower and a great picture too!

>129 mstrust: Gorgeous flower! And terrific photo - it looks like a painting!

>129 mstrust: That's stunning!

>129 mstrust: Beautiful!

>129 mstrust: That is impressive and so beautiful!

>130 dudes22: Thank you and thank you!

>131 VivienneR: Thanks! I think it has a little Van Gogh about it.

>132 MissWatson: Why, thank you!

>133 Tess_W: Thanks!

>134 MissBrangwen: Thank you! I admit that I go out and look them all over a few times a day to see if other flowers have opened.

I now have honey bees and hummingbirds in my backyard, as I have two hummingbird feeders hanging in a sumac tree. I was out there at the hose yesterday afternoon and saw what I thought was a big black moth flying behind my back. I turned around and it was a male hummingbird, very dark back but with an amazing metallic purple throat. He just wanted to say "What's up?"
When I'm off the computer, I'll be hoeing.

19. The Complete Kitchen Garden by Patrick Bowe.

It suddenly occurred to me that I should be actually designing my backyard rather than doing this spur of the moment, "dig a hole here" that I've been doing. I got a stack of garden planning books from the library which included this one. Lots of pretty garden pictures of English, French and Colonial kitchen gardens, but not much for the regular peasant homeowner who is working with less than 100 acres. 3 stars

20. The Bob's Burgers Burger Book by Loren Bouchard.

You know the funny burger names on Bob's chalkboard? Well, a fan started making recipes for those punny burgers, cooking them up, and blogging about it. So the show writers got involved, providing the fan with the back-up of two professional cooks, and this book is the result.
A few of the burgers are too out there for most people, like the "Edward James Olive-Most", which has strips of zucchini, yellow squash, black and green olives and garlic cloves, and I don't know about the couple of recipes that call for blueberries on the burger, but I bought the ingredients for the "Bleu is the Warmest Cheese", a Buffalo wing-style burger. The recipes are so creative and they will definitely get a lot more vegetables on your burger. 3.5

The new Autumn Lives Here is up, and we've got monster breakfasts, a French ghost story and a visit to the scariest island I could find.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

21. Charles Dowding's Veg Journal by Charles Dowding.

From the well-known British gardener, this is a month-by-month guide to what should be done in the garden, if you live in the British climate, which I do not. Dowding favors the no dig method, which means laying the soil and composts on top and gardening from there, rather than digging a raised bed.
Because his zone is so opposite to mine in the low desert, I couldn't use much of the advice and I'm not dealing with the same obstacles, such as badgers. But I did find lots of vegetable and fruit varieties I'd never seen before. 3 stars

Here are a couple from this morning:

The same Red Sun with a few more flowers opened.

>140 mstrust: Stunning!

And if you've never seen Bronze Beauty lettuce:

Leaves that go from deep olive to chocolate brown, almost a metallic sheen. They grow in both single or bunched together like aloe.

>141 Tess_W: Thanks! One sunflower right next to this one is going to be the traditional bright yellow. Same seeds.

We've had rain for two days, which wipes out two weeks of hoeing. The weeds grow so fast and so big, unlike all these vegetables I'm babying.

22. Tales From the Haunted Mansion Volume IV by Joe Esposito.

Middle schooler Shelley shows off in class by bringing the frog she's dissecting back to life. Already an outcast, this display of her scientific genius makes things worse, but it does bring her former best friend Hank back into her life. Hank's brother died a few years ago, but Shelley might be able to help.
Then we meet obnoxious Chris and his two friends, who don't really like Chris. When the class takes a trip to a local lighthouse, Chris claims he saw the legendary, and dead, pirate captain who is said to have hidden his treasure along the coast, and Chris talks the others into risking their lives to retrieve it.
The stories are all tied together by the story of asylum patient Prudence Pock, who was a famous horror writer at one time, but who now sits in her cell making up stories and waiting for visits from Dr. Ackerman, who finds her both terrifying and intriguing.

Another superb volume in the series, these fall under the tag of "horror lite" for me. They feature some horrible situations (children often die) and plenty of humor. 4.2 stars

The newest Autumn Lives Here features the scariest shows from the BBC radio vault, spiked coffee, and the origins of the McNaughten Test. It's an open house week, everyone come get creepy.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

23. Schooled by Ted Fox.

Jack had a high school nemesis, Chad, who lied about having cancer in order to win class president over Jack. They went their separate ways after high school, with Jack helping to found a company that did very well. Then he had a mishap in the breakroom and set the building on fire, and was fired in a video that went viral, forever labeling him as "that guy".
He's spent the last six years as a stay-at-home dad while his wife rises in her company, which means spending less time at home.
And then Chad moves into their neighborhood, and he's also a stay-at-home dad. The two both decide to run for president of the elementary school board, thereby recreating their high school friction.

A mostly light story that has some fun backstabbing and sabotage, along with much about the difficulty of parenting. The ending was unsatisfying for me, as *spoiler* it seemed like Jack let a lot of people down but was happy with himself. 3 stars

Glad you are still enjoying those fabulous sunflowers, and the lettuce looks very interesting.

I enjoy gardening books even if I never make any use of the advice. Dowding's Veg Journal looks good.

I love those red sunflowers, but the bigger, yellow sunflower next to it is getting my attention because of the weird things it's doing. Yesterday I found a second double-headed bud, and one of them has long yellow petals growing from the center, where the seeds grow.
I've you live in a cold climate, you might get some good advice from the Dowding book. I need low desert gardening books for the climate/soil/broiling heat info, but most desert gardening books focus on desert plants. My front yard has desert plants, and the aloes have sent up their lovely coral colored shoots.

Just a little heads up- there will be an extra Autumn Lives Here sent out tomorrow to paying subscribers.
Free subscribers can expect their next post on April 11th. Drop by and keep it creepy all through Spring!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

And if you are so inclined, join us over at April's ScaredyKit for "Food Horror!" month: https://www.librarything.com/topic/349399#n8105487

24. Drive-Thru Dreams by Adam Chandler.
The history of the best known American fast food restaurants, almost all chains that went national. The beginnings of McDonald's and quite a bit about Ray Kroc, and the start of Carl's/Hardee's, Dairy Queen, Burger King, White Castle, and many restaurants you know. There are discussions of car culture in America and how that affected these establishments, how certain foods are changed or replaced in international markets, and the author interviews author Michael Pollan about fast food and health.
I thought this book would be more fun, and there are little bits of humor here and there, but the author tends to be a little verbose while delivering his research, and I don't think the reader picking up this book about fast food history is expecting to end up knowing about the author's political leanings. But lots of research here, so I would recommend it for someone looking into the topic. 3 stars

The latest Autumn Lives Here is up, with chilled pumpkin juice from Orlando, the story of the man who hated Poe, and a list of things I don't care for either.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Well, look at what I found:

Addams Family Easter eggs!

>152 mstrust: Those are adorable

I agree, too great to peel and eat.

I suddenly realize that I forgot my Thingaversary a few weeks ago. I've been on LT for 15 years now. I'll bet my library has nearly doubled in that time.

Happy Easter to you!

>152 mstrust: Love those! And happy Thingaversary to you!

Happy Thingaversary, Jennifer!

>156 christina_reads: >157 DeltaQueen50: Thank you, ladies! I can't remember what I did that day so let's just say I danced around with books in my hands.

>158 mstrust: As is the ancient custom!

The new Autumn Lives Here is up, and I've got Elvira collectibles, the Donner Party, and Bat Boy!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

25. Cackle by Rachel Harrison.
Annie has been dumped by her boyfriend of ten years and needs to find somewhere new to live because she can't afford NYC. She accepts a teaching post in an upstate school and find an apartment in a small town not far away in a quaint and lovely town, and despite her depression, Annie looks forward to meeting people here because she really doesn't have any close friends.
Meeting Sophie changes everything. Charming, helpful and beautiful, Sophie wants to be friends with Annie because she's lonely too. But Annie gets the feeling that the people here are afraid of Sophie, and after seeing the two women together so much, they seem afraid of Annie too. The more Annie learns about Sophie, the more confused she is about whether Sophie is her kind friend or an evil tyrant.
This fits in perfectly with this month's Food Horror theme on the ScaredyKit group. There is so much food being made, eaten, and shopped for: roast chicken dinner, pie, cake, pancakes, and Annie chooses a different flavor coffee every time she visits the local coffee shop.
4 stars

26. The Sea Beast Takes A Lover by Michael Andreasen.
A collection of short stories that range from heart-breaking to surreal to disturbing. The title story is the fun, weird one, in which a giant octopus has fallen in love with an 18th Century ship, wrapping her tentacles around it so it can't leave her while she tries to be a part of the crew's life.
In "Our Fathers At Sea" the narrator is preparing for his father's Crating Day in a society in which the elderly are put in containers and dropped in the ocean. "Jenny" is narrated by Jenny's brother, her main caretaker, as Jenny was born headless. She can sign and walk, and feels herself to have some independence because she's unaware that her brother is maintaining what life she has and that he has added the burden of guilt when she's sexually assaulted. I skipped past the rest of "Andy, Lord of Ruin" when it became a litany of the small animals and creatures Andy kills. "Rockabye, Rocketboy" is the story of a porn star who is obsessed with teenage Rocketboy and contains some strange and graphic scenes.
It's an uneven collection, some with engaging writing and others long-winded. 3.5 stars

I'm hosting May's MysteryKit for a month of unsolved mysteries: https://www.librarything.com/topic/350254

The new Autumn Lives Here is up, and we're looking at Shirley Jackson, spontaneous combustion and sprucing up the house with new decor.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

The latest Autumn Lives Here is up! I've got wendigos, Eve Ibbotson, and the twisted tale of Dr. Brown, which is really something. Have a look, this is a free post!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

27. The Library Book by Susan Orlean.
Orlean investigates the cause of the disastrous 1986 fire that engulfed the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, burning millions of books, periodicals and rare items. An incessant liar and part-time actor was arrested, with police and fire investigators sure that he was the culprit, but layers upon layers of circumstances worked in the suspect's favor and he never stood trial.
The fire and investigation are the framework of this book, but woven through is the history of how the L.A. public library system came to be, the stories of its various head librarians, the challenges of dealing with an increasing homeless and mentally ill population who come to the library just to be somewhere, and the vast number of services the library provides to the community. 4.5 stars

A pic of the tiny strawberries I picked the other day:


And the beautiful bloom that opened two days ago on my porch cactus:

Dropping in to remind my visitors that it's Halfway to Halloween, Summerween, Half-o-Ween, whatever you want to call it. The countdown begins. Start decorating.
I spent the last two days at the Tiki Oasis in Scottsdale, attending seminars, shopping, sampling cocktails. I have some pics at my 75 Challenge thread, so stop by if you want.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/349603#n8130633

I'm 50 volumes old!The latest Autumn Lives Here is up for my subscribers. This week:my favorites. Prepare yourself for movies, books and a maple cocktail.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

28. Embassy of the Dead by Will Mabbitt.
Jake runs into a scary stranger who wishes him good morning, then hands him a box, which turns out to contain a withered human finger. Not knowing what to do, he carries it around in his backpack because his parents have recently split and Jake can't decide on who to tell. His indecision may save his life, because the scary stranger returns and is required to bring Jake, an unlicensed human to opened Embassy property, to the Embassy of the Dead for eternal punishment.
A fast moving and original story about mistaken identity and all the red tape involved in being dead. It features the worst illustrations I've ever seen in a book. I won this from LT's ER, then shelved it and forgot about it until I was notified that I've been naughty. 4 stars

The new Autumn Lives Here is up, and I've got a special tribute to Mom, plus, her favorite thing (besides you). And learn about book curses through the ages. Why not?
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com

29. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold.

The author's focus is firmly on the lives of the five canonical victims of Jack the Ripper, not their deaths and not the unknown man who killed them. The amount of research done and the skill with with the author was able to show that these women had families who loved them, had struggles to survive, relationships and hopes, and most of all, that not all of them were prostitutes but simply poor, often homeless women who were lumped in as prostitutes simply because the police saw nearly all the women they dealt with in the East End as "fallen" women.
If you're looking for information about the actual murders, you'll find very little here, except for the aftermath on the families. 4.5 stars

>172 mstrust: That sounds interesting. Most books on the topic delve into the bloody-ness of the murders.

Every book I've read about the Ripper focuses on him too, and as this author says, the women he killed become a sort of background. I always assumed that we read so little about the victims because little was known about them, but Rubenhold proves that isn't true, it's just that no one was interested in the women.

30. The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht.

An original, odd little horror story. A boy grows up alone along the shore, being abused until he's big enough to fight back. Killing is remarkably easy for him and he likes to do it. He notices that Herr Leickenbloom, a small dandy who is the last of a aristocratic family, is a sorcerer, though one who works in insignificant ways. Johann, as the man who believes he's a monster has named himself, takes on the job of Florian Leickenbloom's manservant, partly because he's so attracted to the snob, but he also recognizes that Florian is an angry man who has been plotting for years. 4 stars

>176 mstrust: LOL!

Took 24 hrs, but I got a laugh from someone! Thanks, Christina!

>178 mstrust: Took me a minute because I am not a big horror fan (too much of a scaredy-cat), but I got there eventually! :)

Ha!

The latest Autumn Lives Here is up, and I've got a buncha international horror. Plus, meet a super mean woman, Bricktop Jackson from New Orleans.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Just noting that The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James arrived today.

And now noting that Eat Brains Love arrived. Thanks to Judy for pointing this one out.

Took a pic this morning of this beautiful bloom in my front yard.

I DNF Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran. I got nearly halfway through, but it wasn't even close to being as funny as How To Be A Woman.

>184 mstrust: Gorgeous flower! And I do hope you enjoy Eat Brains Love when you get to it.

>185 mstrust: It's funny, I've had Moranifesto on my shelves for years (I preordered it) but never got around to picking it up and couldn't put my finger on why. Your DNF'ing makes me feel better about that :D

>186 DeltaQueen50: It was stunning. Unfortunately it only lasted two days, but there are multiple buds on the same little cactus. It's a flashy little thing.
I'm looking forward to Eat Brains Love!

>187 rabbitprincess: I've had it on my shelf for a year or two and kept meaning to get to it because I really liked How To Be A Woman and her show, Raised By Wolves. But the very first paragraph has American politics in it. It was published in 2016, so peak ranting period. It's a book of her newspaper columns, most of which were so mundane. But there is a good one about the mess that was the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebration.

We went to a furniture store yesterday looking for a new sofa for the den and a new lamp for the office. We came home with a new chair and matching ottoman for the den, and a bookshelf for the office that's on order. We need to focus.

A new Autumn Lives Here is up. This week: the Villisca ax murder house, hot weather horror movies, and maple latte icebox cake.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/


Here's a huge piece.

>190 mstrust: Yum, I'll take a slice!

This is a free week, so go get the recipe. It's ridiculously easy.

31. How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix.
Louise's parents are killed together in a car crash, which means she has to leave San Francisco and return home to South Carolina. Along with planning the funeral and cleaning out a house full of her mom's homemade puppets and huge doll collection, Louise knows she will have to deal with Mark, her hated loser brother, and he turns out to be just as childish as she remembers.
And then the strange stuff with the dolls start, and Louise makes the conscious decision to ignore it because she needs the house to sell fast so she can go home to her daughter. Determined to prove to Mark that there's nothing wrong with the house, Louise makes bad decisions that bring out the wrath of Pupkin, their mother's favorite puppet.
I thought this would be a straight up haunted house story, which I was looking forward to, but it's more roundabout. Hendrix is good at injecting humor into horror stories, and it's here. If dolls and puppets freak you out, this will be the scariest story you'll ever read. Dolls and puppets, toys in general, don't bother me, so while it had some intense scenes, it wasn't that scary for me. Now, the bigger plot, that of a Southern family with lots of buried secrets that come out in shocking fashion? Yeah, that's in my wheelhouse. 4 stars

Noting that A Guide to Haunted New England arrived today.

> 193 Taking a BB for this one. Creepy dolls sound spookily interesting.

It is both spooky and interesting. Everything from Hendrix is, and he's one of my favorites even when the subject doesn't get to me.

Come visit my new thread!

>193 mstrust: I was about to add this to the tbr, but it's already there!

>198 LibraryCin: You forgot what good taste you have ;-D

>199 mstrust: LOL!