November’s book for the Madwoman’s Library! The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. Dystopian fiction for November. Muah.
February’s book for the Madwoman’s Library is “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (by the inimitable Shirley Jackson), and will continue on with themes of self-imposed limitation, perceived safety, and how far we will go (what we will give up, how elegantly we can construct systems and rituals) to maintain the constructs that we think protect us. (And they do, in a way, but for the unreliable narrators of both January and February’s books, these constructs also protect violence.) While “The Remains of the Day” hides in duty, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” approaches these ideas from a more feral vantage point. I think it’ll be fun to hold onto Stevens and Darlington Hall as we move into a different old home. Come join us on Fable!!
February’s book for the Madwoman’s Library is “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (by the inimitable Shirley Jackson), and will continue on with themes of self-imposed limitation, perceived safety, and how far we will go (what we will give up, how elegantly we can construct systems and rituals) to maintain the constructs that we think protect us. (And they do, in a way, but for the unreliable narrators of both January and February’s books, these constructs also protect violence.) While “The Remains of the Day” hides in duty, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” approaches these ideas from a more feral vantage point. I think it’ll be fun to hold onto Stevens and Darlington Hall as we move into a different old home. Come join us on Fable!!
February’s book for the Madwoman’s Library is “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (by the inimitable Shirley Jackson), and will continue on with themes of self-imposed limitation, perceived safety, and how far we will go (what we will give up, how elegantly we can construct systems and rituals) to maintain the constructs that we think protect us. (And they do, in a way, but for the unreliable narrators of both January and February’s books, these constructs also protect violence.) While “The Remains of the Day” hides in duty, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” approaches these ideas from a more feral vantage point. I think it’ll be fun to hold onto Stevens and Darlington Hall as we move into a different old home. Come join us on Fable!!
February’s book for the Madwoman’s Library is “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (by the inimitable Shirley Jackson), and will continue on with themes of self-imposed limitation, perceived safety, and how far we will go (what we will give up, how elegantly we can construct systems and rituals) to maintain the constructs that we think protect us. (And they do, in a way, but for the unreliable narrators of both January and February’s books, these constructs also protect violence.) While “The Remains of the Day” hides in duty, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” approaches these ideas from a more feral vantage point. I think it’ll be fun to hold onto Stevens and Darlington Hall as we move into a different old home. Come join us on Fable!!
Wherein I talk with the wonderful Katherine May. Thank you thank you.
this one hit home with Kristin Kreuk. how do YOU stop wasting time.. make it all count? love this lady. fantastic conversation. 🧩🧩🧩 watch on our YouTube channel or listen wherever you get ya pods
It’s been a minute, but I had a blast catching up with Kristin Kreuk this week. From reflections on aging to stories of being fired from a sitcom to surprises at the beginning of Smallville… we always seem to get into something new. 🧩🧩🧩 watch on our YouTube channel or listen wherever you find ya pods
So. I have more than five books I loved in 2025. But these were my favorites. “The Memory Police” was a bookclub read as well as a reread. And (maybe it was my lack of expectation or the place I am at in my life or the fact that we were analyzing and reading deeply) I loved it so much more than I did after my first read. An exploration of power, control, resistance, memory as related to self and collective identity, and the disintegration of those identities. “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” was a gorgeous and gory novel by Stephen Graham Jones that, for me, was a great vampire novel rich with depth and complexity. The others were non-fiction. This was a big year for memoir reading. And Annie Ernaux’s “The Years” was perfect for me and encapsulated how I feel time folds and skips. Sophie Gilbert’s “Girl on Girl” was the book I recommended the most. Brilliant and so very true to my own experiences both as a woman who came of age through the nineties and early aughts and as a young actress facing much of what she details. And Sue Prideaux’s “Wild Thing” is a well researched and fascinating account of Gauguin’s life and career. I told Heath I would break this into multiple posts. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I find creating these posts to be challenging. So! One post. Hahaha. And I’ll add some runners up. Because it’s so hard to pick. The excerpts are from various books. Let me know if you want to know!
So. I have more than five books I loved in 2025. But these were my favorites. “The Memory Police” was a bookclub read as well as a reread. And (maybe it was my lack of expectation or the place I am at in my life or the fact that we were analyzing and reading deeply) I loved it so much more than I did after my first read. An exploration of power, control, resistance, memory as related to self and collective identity, and the disintegration of those identities. “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” was a gorgeous and gory novel by Stephen Graham Jones that, for me, was a great vampire novel rich with depth and complexity. The others were non-fiction. This was a big year for memoir reading. And Annie Ernaux’s “The Years” was perfect for me and encapsulated how I feel time folds and skips. Sophie Gilbert’s “Girl on Girl” was the book I recommended the most. Brilliant and so very true to my own experiences both as a woman who came of age through the nineties and early aughts and as a young actress facing much of what she details. And Sue Prideaux’s “Wild Thing” is a well researched and fascinating account of Gauguin’s life and career. I told Heath I would break this into multiple posts. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I find creating these posts to be challenging. So! One post. Hahaha. And I’ll add some runners up. Because it’s so hard to pick. The excerpts are from various books. Let me know if you want to know!
So. I have more than five books I loved in 2025. But these were my favorites. “The Memory Police” was a bookclub read as well as a reread. And (maybe it was my lack of expectation or the place I am at in my life or the fact that we were analyzing and reading deeply) I loved it so much more than I did after my first read. An exploration of power, control, resistance, memory as related to self and collective identity, and the disintegration of those identities. “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” was a gorgeous and gory novel by Stephen Graham Jones that, for me, was a great vampire novel rich with depth and complexity. The others were non-fiction. This was a big year for memoir reading. And Annie Ernaux’s “The Years” was perfect for me and encapsulated how I feel time folds and skips. Sophie Gilbert’s “Girl on Girl” was the book I recommended the most. Brilliant and so very true to my own experiences both as a woman who came of age through the nineties and early aughts and as a young actress facing much of what she details. And Sue Prideaux’s “Wild Thing” is a well researched and fascinating account of Gauguin’s life and career. I told Heath I would break this into multiple posts. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I find creating these posts to be challenging. So! One post. Hahaha. And I’ll add some runners up. Because it’s so hard to pick. The excerpts are from various books. Let me know if you want to know!
So. I have more than five books I loved in 2025. But these were my favorites. “The Memory Police” was a bookclub read as well as a reread. And (maybe it was my lack of expectation or the place I am at in my life or the fact that we were analyzing and reading deeply) I loved it so much more than I did after my first read. An exploration of power, control, resistance, memory as related to self and collective identity, and the disintegration of those identities. “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” was a gorgeous and gory novel by Stephen Graham Jones that, for me, was a great vampire novel rich with depth and complexity. The others were non-fiction. This was a big year for memoir reading. And Annie Ernaux’s “The Years” was perfect for me and encapsulated how I feel time folds and skips. Sophie Gilbert’s “Girl on Girl” was the book I recommended the most. Brilliant and so very true to my own experiences both as a woman who came of age through the nineties and early aughts and as a young actress facing much of what she details. And Sue Prideaux’s “Wild Thing” is a well researched and fascinating account of Gauguin’s life and career. I told Heath I would break this into multiple posts. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I find creating these posts to be challenging. So! One post. Hahaha. And I’ll add some runners up. Because it’s so hard to pick. The excerpts are from various books. Let me know if you want to know!
So. I have more than five books I loved in 2025. But these were my favorites. “The Memory Police” was a bookclub read as well as a reread. And (maybe it was my lack of expectation or the place I am at in my life or the fact that we were analyzing and reading deeply) I loved it so much more than I did after my first read. An exploration of power, control, resistance, memory as related to self and collective identity, and the disintegration of those identities. “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” was a gorgeous and gory novel by Stephen Graham Jones that, for me, was a great vampire novel rich with depth and complexity. The others were non-fiction. This was a big year for memoir reading. And Annie Ernaux’s “The Years” was perfect for me and encapsulated how I feel time folds and skips. Sophie Gilbert’s “Girl on Girl” was the book I recommended the most. Brilliant and so very true to my own experiences both as a woman who came of age through the nineties and early aughts and as a young actress facing much of what she details. And Sue Prideaux’s “Wild Thing” is a well researched and fascinating account of Gauguin’s life and career. I told Heath I would break this into multiple posts. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I find creating these posts to be challenging. So! One post. Hahaha. And I’ll add some runners up. Because it’s so hard to pick. The excerpts are from various books. Let me know if you want to know!
So. I have more than five books I loved in 2025. But these were my favorites. “The Memory Police” was a bookclub read as well as a reread. And (maybe it was my lack of expectation or the place I am at in my life or the fact that we were analyzing and reading deeply) I loved it so much more than I did after my first read. An exploration of power, control, resistance, memory as related to self and collective identity, and the disintegration of those identities. “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” was a gorgeous and gory novel by Stephen Graham Jones that, for me, was a great vampire novel rich with depth and complexity. The others were non-fiction. This was a big year for memoir reading. And Annie Ernaux’s “The Years” was perfect for me and encapsulated how I feel time folds and skips. Sophie Gilbert’s “Girl on Girl” was the book I recommended the most. Brilliant and so very true to my own experiences both as a woman who came of age through the nineties and early aughts and as a young actress facing much of what she details. And Sue Prideaux’s “Wild Thing” is a well researched and fascinating account of Gauguin’s life and career. I told Heath I would break this into multiple posts. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I find creating these posts to be challenging. So! One post. Hahaha. And I’ll add some runners up. Because it’s so hard to pick. The excerpts are from various books. Let me know if you want to know!
So. I have more than five books I loved in 2025. But these were my favorites. “The Memory Police” was a bookclub read as well as a reread. And (maybe it was my lack of expectation or the place I am at in my life or the fact that we were analyzing and reading deeply) I loved it so much more than I did after my first read. An exploration of power, control, resistance, memory as related to self and collective identity, and the disintegration of those identities. “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” was a gorgeous and gory novel by Stephen Graham Jones that, for me, was a great vampire novel rich with depth and complexity. The others were non-fiction. This was a big year for memoir reading. And Annie Ernaux’s “The Years” was perfect for me and encapsulated how I feel time folds and skips. Sophie Gilbert’s “Girl on Girl” was the book I recommended the most. Brilliant and so very true to my own experiences both as a woman who came of age through the nineties and early aughts and as a young actress facing much of what she details. And Sue Prideaux’s “Wild Thing” is a well researched and fascinating account of Gauguin’s life and career. I told Heath I would break this into multiple posts. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I find creating these posts to be challenging. So! One post. Hahaha. And I’ll add some runners up. Because it’s so hard to pick. The excerpts are from various books. Let me know if you want to know!
So. I have more than five books I loved in 2025. But these were my favorites. “The Memory Police” was a bookclub read as well as a reread. And (maybe it was my lack of expectation or the place I am at in my life or the fact that we were analyzing and reading deeply) I loved it so much more than I did after my first read. An exploration of power, control, resistance, memory as related to self and collective identity, and the disintegration of those identities. “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” was a gorgeous and gory novel by Stephen Graham Jones that, for me, was a great vampire novel rich with depth and complexity. The others were non-fiction. This was a big year for memoir reading. And Annie Ernaux’s “The Years” was perfect for me and encapsulated how I feel time folds and skips. Sophie Gilbert’s “Girl on Girl” was the book I recommended the most. Brilliant and so very true to my own experiences both as a woman who came of age through the nineties and early aughts and as a young actress facing much of what she details. And Sue Prideaux’s “Wild Thing” is a well researched and fascinating account of Gauguin’s life and career. I told Heath I would break this into multiple posts. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I find creating these posts to be challenging. So! One post. Hahaha. And I’ll add some runners up. Because it’s so hard to pick. The excerpts are from various books. Let me know if you want to know!
I ultimately chose to do this book club because I find that is what I like using the social internet for most. Sharing books and ideas and knowledge (and nature pictures). (Also Heath made me. Jkjk.) And, my goodness, how much more deeply I’ve been able to connect to The Buffalo Hunter Hunter through the book club’s insights, feelings, wisdom, experience, and critique. Thank you to all of you for making it a warm and thoughtful place. Escape the attic. Keep the books. @themadwomanslibrary
What kind of word is bruckle? 😂 #MurderInASmallTown returns this Tuesday on #FOX, next day on @hulu.
My bestie and I against the world! 💪💕 No new episode of #MurderInASmallTown this week, but stream the season so far on @hulu.
I’ll be interviewing the excellent Stephen Graham Jones on November 1st. Join us on Fable (links in bio) to discuss books. 📚 We are just using the rest of 2025 to figure it all out… call it a beta. So, you are all helping us shape this thing. And remember, if you buy your books from the Madwoman’s bookshop.org shop, you are supporting indie bookshops, and, on certain months, a charity. Which this month is (as selected by SGJ) the Firekeeper Alliance which aims to prevent suicide in the youth of the Blackfeet Nation (as well as other Indigenous youth in Montana). @themadwomanslibrary #awin
I’ll be interviewing the excellent Stephen Graham Jones on November 1st. Join us on Fable (links in bio) to discuss books. 📚 We are just using the rest of 2025 to figure it all out… call it a beta. So, you are all helping us shape this thing. And remember, if you buy your books from the Madwoman’s bookshop.org shop, you are supporting indie bookshops, and, on certain months, a charity. Which this month is (as selected by SGJ) the Firekeeper Alliance which aims to prevent suicide in the youth of the Blackfeet Nation (as well as other Indigenous youth in Montana). @themadwomanslibrary #awin
I’ll be interviewing the excellent Stephen Graham Jones on November 1st. Join us on Fable (links in bio) to discuss books. 📚 We are just using the rest of 2025 to figure it all out… call it a beta. So, you are all helping us shape this thing. And remember, if you buy your books from the Madwoman’s bookshop.org shop, you are supporting indie bookshops, and, on certain months, a charity. Which this month is (as selected by SGJ) the Firekeeper Alliance which aims to prevent suicide in the youth of the Blackfeet Nation (as well as other Indigenous youth in Montana). @themadwomanslibrary #awin
Join us tomorrow when Kristin interviews author Stephen Graham Jones. #book #books #booksbooksbooks #booklovers #bookish #bookworm #bookstagrammer #bookstagram
