It’s hard to believe it’s nearly September, but here we are! And, as I’m always impatient for Halloween—and chilly weather—I’m not going to complain. Though, admittedly, I was sad for my kids summer break to end this week.
Normally, I’m thrilled when the kids are back in school, so I’m not sure what is going on there. LOL.
This month Read Around the Rainbow has decided to talk about our top three non-romance reads. I’m always up for talking books, but narrowing a list of beloved books down to three seemed an impossible task. To make it easier, I thought I’d give myself a few ground rules.
1) No Charles Dickens. Everyone loves Charles Dickens.
2) No Comics. It already goes without saying that if Neil Gaiman’s the Sandman didn’t already shape your teenage years, you need to find the issues—or pickup up the collections—and read it now.
3) No using the same author twice.
With those rules in place, and eventually breaking down and telling myself it doesn’t have to be the end all and be all book list, just a list, and stop putting so much pressure on myself, I began.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
I can’t praise Shirley Jackson enough. The woman has a way with atmosphere and subtle storytelling, and The Haunting of Hill House is a masterpiece. I have read it many times, and still, I can read it and notice something I have missed in previous reads.
As far as haunted house stories go, I think it is probably the best I’ve read, and you can see the book’s influence on so many other works.
Oh, and if you are all about film adaptations, this story has been done more than once. And the 1963’s The Haunting is the closest to the book.
Check it out on Goodreads.
Check it out on Amazon.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Yeah, yeah. I know. But this is one of my favorite books of all time. So much so that I own several copies, including one signed by the author.
Like Sandman, I read it the first time in my twenties shortly after it came out in 2001, and it is so much of what I love and perfectly done. (I love Anansi Boys too, but it is very, very different.)
Gaiman has a way of writing with just enough reality mixed in with myths that you almost feel like the story he is telling is somehow real. Like he’s letting you in on this secret reality. While there are authors that I read and love and that make me long to write, reading Gaiman has always had the opposite effect. He makes me feel like I don’t need to bother. LOL
And yes, I know there is a TV mini-series. I haven’t seen it, but maybe eventually I will. I always fear an adaptation will ruin it for me, but now that I’ve watched the Sandman adaptations and loved it, I’m less hesitant. LOL
Check it out on Amazon.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Of course! Dracula is a favorite for a lot of people, and it’s one of mine. But I actually finally settled on this last pick because it took years, and countless rereads for me to appreciate this book.
I’m not sure what it was. Maybe it was like my dislike for Hammer Horror in my twenties, and then suddenly being utterly enamored by their movies in my thirties. Perhaps it was because I refused to believe all these people had never heard of vampires—not considering that it was Stoker who brought vampires into the mainstream—or maybe it was that Van Helsing doesn’t use his words! Dude! Just tell them what you think is going on! Lucy was just munching on a baby FFS!
Whatever it was, now I really enjoy this book. And it’s become one of those things I read every year—like a Christmas Carol but I’m not supposed to talk about Dickens—and I enjoy it all over again, each time.
Check it out on Amazon.
There you go! Three of my top non-romance reads. Check them out or share some of yours. And don’t forget to check in with the other Read Around the Rainbow authors. I plan to. And I’ll be taking notes!
You can check out the other Read Around the Rainbow authors by clicking their names below!
Addison Albright • Holly Day • Lillian Francis • Fiona Glass • Ofelia Gränd • A.L. Lester
