Muriel Schwenck
Beloved Curmudgeon
All the time. But my re-reading doesn't always include ghost/terror/horror/psychic lit.Does anyone else like re-reading books?
Two books I re-read every few years is "Of Human Bondage" and "The Painted Veil" by Somerset-Maugham. I love almost everything by maugham. Also, Rumer Godden's "In This House of Brede" about life in a Benectine monastery.
Sometimes if life is getting harsh and I need a pick me up, I'll go for the old sweet stuff and read all the Anne of Green Gables books. It only takes two days, and I call it "doing the Anne cycle". (I've re-read many L.M. Montgomery books, all very nice. They are wholesome, but have some bite and humour. They refresh me.)
Another favorite go-to is "Annals of the Former World" by John McPhee, which is about geology and much more.
I also like to read books about people on desert islands. My adolescent fave is the memoir "An Island to Oneself" by Tom Neale. Also the novel "Dark River" by Nordhoff and Hall, which I recently re-read and it really holds up.
I also love almost anything by John Buchan who holds a place of honor on my Kindle.
These are great tales but not all horror, so maybe should take that discussion the regular book thread.
As for the subject of this thread, I love any weird story or novel by Algernon Blackwood, Walter de la Mare, Oliver Onions, Guy de Maupassan, M R James. I like the old stuff, and enjoy multiple readings.
"The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner" by James Hogg is a weird story of a religious fanatic and murderer.
"The Monk" by Matthew Lewis is a 19th century corker
AND HOW!Set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid, this is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest. The struggle between maintaining monastic vows and fulfilling personal ambitions tempts its main character into breaking his vows.
And "Wormwood" by Marie Corelli, ca 1890. About an absinthe addict. He rapes his sister!! One day I was at the nursery looking for new herbs, and snatched up the wormwood plant just because I'd read the novel.
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