Discovered in a Livejournal

Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.

“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales.

In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch.

Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved.

This isn’t the first of Moreno-Garcia’s stories that move around in time, the characters joined together by often horrifying events. And though it tends to slow the start of the book down in order to allow the reader to get to know all the characters, it still works well.

Minerva’s and Alba’s arcs are told from their perspectives, the granddaughter being directed by her memory of tales told to her by her great-grandmother. Beatrice’s, on the other hand, is the reading of her manuscript by Minerva. That, unfortunately, made it harder to know her the way I did Minerva and Alba.

What makes the book intriguing is that you don’t know (well, I didn’t,) who the witches are. They hide behind a mask of normalcy. There are no black hats, brooms, or cats (well, there is, but it’s Minerva’s,) to give any hints. So, though not totally surprised at the reveals, there was still a bit of mystery to it all.

I’m slowly making my way through all of Moreno-Garcia’s books; this one is a fine example of her intriguing stories.







Witches
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A rollicking history of England's earliest kings and queens, a story of narcissists, excessive beheadings, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars, and more, from award-winning British actor and comedian David Mitchell

Think you know the kings and queens of England? Think again.

In Unruly , David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects’ destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear to us today in their portraits.

Taking us right back to King Arthur ( he didn’t exist), Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England right up to the reign of Elizabeth I ( she dies), as the monarchy began to lose its power. It’s a tale of bizarre and curious ascensions, inadequate self-control, and at least one total Cnut, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed King.

How this happened, who it happened to, and why the hell it matters are all questions Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit, and the full erudition of a man who once studied history—and is damned if he’ll let it off the hook for the mess it’s made of everything.

A funny book that takes history seriously, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how the monarchy came to be—and who is to blame.

Obviously, this isn’t a comprehensive look at a thousand years of English history; more a collection of anecdotes regarding some truly terrible behavior. As Mitchell notes at the beginning of the book, unless you already know something about these (mostly) men, the book might not make a lot of sense. As far as he’s concerned, you pass the test if you know that, in 1066, William the Conqueror became king of England.

The book is mildly humorous, as Mitchell points out the rulers’ foibles, though their accomplishments are mostly overlooked. Which sort of placed basically good rulers (Henry II, Edward III and IV,) which some really bad ones (John I, Edward II, Henry VI.) I thought the book would have been better with a more balanced view.

What the book does best is show how the idea of kingship came about, and how, and why, it’s evolved over the years. The years covered are those when the power was nearly absolute and stops when that’s coming to an end.

Of course, much of this is his opinion, which seems to be not very good when it comes to professional historians, so there’s that. Some of what he wrote I thought spot on. Some, not so much. The book comes in long at slightly over 400 pages, but it’s an easy read and, while not as funny as I thought it would be, still entertaining.




( Mount TBR 2025 Book Links 1-35 )


36. The Regulators by Richard Bachman (Pseudonym), Stephen King
37. Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn
38. The Nun's Story by Kathryn Hulme
39. The Bones Beneath My Skin by T.J. Klune
40. They Thirst by Robert McCammon
41. Blue World: And Other Stories by Robert McCammon
42. Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens by David Mitchell












AUG - “Vacation Location”: Read a book that takes you to a location you’d love to visit OR read a book that explores elements of that place or culture.

Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens by David Mitchell