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A Chilling Halloween Read: Mexican Gothic

28 Oct

So with Halloween close upon us, it’s about the time that many of us start seeking out reads that will send a chill up our spines, something that makes us stay up at night or look over our shoulder. There are quite a few different types of horror one can explore and for many, they may want something with a gothic, creepy feel rather than something that’s filled with gore.

That’s where Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia comes in. After receiving a desperate letter from her newly wed cousin, Catalina, Naomi Taboada heads out to High Place, an ancient English Mansion in the center of the Mexican countryside to investigate and bring Catalina home. From the moment she arrives, everything about High Place unsettles her, from the manor itself to the members of the Doyle family that live within, save one, the gentle and shy Francis Doyle, brother to Catalina’s husband.

Through the book, we are woven a narrative of dark family secrets, ghosts that roam the halls, and everything one would look for in a gothic-horror novel. The fear factor slowly creeps in on you with well crafted prose and pulls you into a world that keeps you looking over your shoulder. While a good chunk of the novel is spent focused on the creepier side of things, there are parts that will bring in blood, its handled in a way that doesn’t come of as merely shock factor.

So if you’re looking for something spooky to read to put you in the mood for Halloween or the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos, Mexican Gothic is one that is highly recommended. It is available as ebooks and digital audiobooks from eLibraryNJ and eBCCLS!

Written By:
Lauren Lapinski
Circulation Assistant

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A Buzz Worthy Read: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

9 Sep

Recently, I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz around the new book A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green. I knew it was a sequel to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, which has been on my to-read list for a while, so I decided to finally cross that book off my list.

I was honestly surprised at how good this book was! An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is the story of April May, a young woman who becomes viral on Youtube after filming her encounter with a large statue she names Carl. It turns out that there is much more to Carl that meets the eye, as several Carls turn up around the world and they are made of a material
whose properties make absolutely no sense on planet Earth.

The story is an impressive description of what happens to people on social media. It accurately describes how social media exacerbates certain human emotions: the need for attention, the need to be liked and seen, the need for validation, the need to be right. It demonstrates the destructive nature of it, but Green also demonstrates how it can be used to bring people together. The tension felt throughout the book is that of hope vs fear.

And it’s no surprise that the world of internet fame is so well-described一the author is one-half of the famous Vlogbrothers Youtube channel which he shares with his brother, John Green (yes, that John Green), and the brains behind many other projects such as the CrashCourse channels, SciShow, etc. But don’t let his online persona or his association with his brother affect your view of this story. I must make this clear: This is NOT a John Green book, nor does it cater to the same audience. Hank Green very much has his own voice, and frankly, it’s one worth reading/listening to without needing to compare it to his brother’s.

I’m very much looking forward to checking out A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, although first, I need to recover from the emotional hangover An Absolutely Remarkable Thing left me with!

Written by:
Sam Evaristo
Circulation Assistant, Grand St. Branch

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