Juliette’s Book Club: Paranormal Fun and Other Astounding Books You Should Read With Me

You’d think with a lingering pandemic, and horrible air quality (due to Nor Cal wild fires) keeping me inside that I’d be reading a lot more. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case, but I hope to change that situation in September.

Today I’m going to feature books I haven’t read yet. Like some (most) of you I have about 20 books I haven’t read yet just waiting for me. Yes, Marie Kondo, you can go suck it because books will never take away from my happiness. Anyway, here is what I’m reading next.

Bloodless by Preston & Child

This book involves D.B. Cooper, Vampires, and Agent Pendergast.

I’ve been reading books by the creative and unique duo Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child since they came out with Relic (1995). I’ve also read their stand alone books – both fiction and nonfiction. In fact I believe I’ve read all of their books except maybe two. The Cabinet of Curiosities and Still Life With Crows will always be on my list of favorite books. Readers keep coming back for their unique style and wonderful cast of characters. Yes, it is hit and miss. I have to admit that Old Bones was one of the worst books I’ve ever read, but I read it. I think they might have had a deadline to make when they came out with that one. That said, I’ve also written some pretty bad stuff along with my usual entertaining stories and blog posts. Anyway…

I’m reading Bloodless next.

Apocalypse Yesterday by Brock Adams

This book sounds like just too much fun. I haven’t read it yet but I think there is going to be a lot of humor in the tradition of Where is Joe Merchant and Naked Came the Sasquatch (look these books up and read them – you’ll thank me for it later).

Apocalypse Yesterday inside jacket description: With his best and craziest days behind him, a Florida call center employee struggles through mind-numbing drudgery day after day–but he just might have a way to reclaim the madness and his former life.

The zombie apocalypse is over. The humans have won. Life is back to normal. And Rip is bored as hell. It’s not much of a life sitting in a call center in the poor town of Spanish Shanty, Florida, answering emails like a drone and listening to customer complaints. 

Rip was ruler of a tiny kingdom in the Lazy River waterpark, killing zombies by day and making passionate love at night. He misses the danger, the camaraderie, and the blistering love he once knew. He longs to feel Santana–his trusty machete–in his hand, and Davia–the fiercest woman alive–in his arms once again. He can still picture it– life on the razor’s edge–and he would do anything to get that feeling back.

But what if Rip could get it back? He’s totally desperate. Not normal desperate–more like ready-to-restart-the-apocalypse desperate. Condemning humanity to a repeat merely for an adrenaline rush is probably not a good idea. But life at the call center is nothing more than a slow death, and Rip might not be able to go on without trying to find out.

The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr

Sometimes I feel a little mysterious, dreamy, romantic, and willing to spend some time with ghosts. This book seemed perfect for those times.

From the inside front of the dust jacket:

A post-mortem photographer unearths dark secrets from the past that may hold the key to his future in this “sensual, twisting gothic tale…in the tradition of A.S. Byatt’s Possession, Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights” (BookPage).

All love stories are ghost stories in disguise. “This one happily succeeds at both” (KirkusReviews, starred review).

When famed Byronesque poet Hugh de Bonne is discovered dead in his bath one morning, his cousin Robert Highstead, a post-mortem photographer, is charged with a simple task: transport Hugh’s remains for burial in a chapel. This chapel, a stained-glass folly set on the moors, was built by de Bonne sixteen years earlier to house the remains of his beloved wife and muse, Ada. Since then, the chapel has been locked and abandoned, a pilgrimage site for the rabid fans of de Bonne’s last book, The Lost History of Dreams.

However, Ada’s grief-stricken niece refuses to open the glass chapel for Robert unless he agrees to her bargain: before he can lay Hugh to rest, Robert must record Isabelle’s story of Ada and Hugh’s ill-fated marriage over the course of five nights.

As the mystery of Ada and Hugh’s relationship unfolds, so too does the secret behind Robert’s own marriage—including that of his fragile wife, Sida, who has not been the same since a tragic accident three years earlier and the origins of his morbid profession that has him seeing things he shouldn’t…things from beyond the grave.

Blurring the line between the past and the present, truth and fiction, and ultimately, life and death, The Lost History of Dreams is “a surrealist, haunting tale of suspense where every prediction turns out to be merely a step toward a bigger reveal” (Booklist).

And now for the grand finale.

Coming soon from WPaD (Writers, Poets, and Deviants)

Deviant Shadows by WPaD

The talented authors of WPaD have FINALLY come out with their first paranormal anthology, or I should say ParaAbnormal.

I can’t say enough about this brilliantly talented group of authors. Sure, I am among them, but I’m not talking about my stories. These authors always surprise me with their imagination and original stories. I am in awe of their writing.

This book includes stories of ghosts, mysterious happenings, suspense, vampires, weird events, the unknown, magic, and more.

I’ll have more – a lot more about this book soon.

The cover art by the way is by Jason Kemp.

The puppy in the photo here is Brody. He is about 4 months old and lives with my mom. He is exceptionally cute and sweet. More on Brody will be included in future blog posts.

Happy reading everyone. Stay safe. Be kind. Don’t be a dick. Get vaccinated. Wear a mask where you need to and where mandated without complaining. Hug your dog. Commune with your cat. Talk to your kids. Listen to your kids and respect their thoughts and opinions. Make sure they feel safe sharing their thoughts. Check in on those who are elderly and those who need extra help. And kiss a Vampire (you’ll thank me for it later.)

~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman