Get ready for Summer Reading-- Advice from NoveList for All

A few days ago, I posted the PW Summer Reads 2025 database, so I thought it would be good to end the week with some tips focused on increasing participation in your Summer Reading Programs from Novelist. The below post is from their blog and is filled with excellent advice that you can use whether or not you subscribe to NoveList.

While the pieces 13 tips are great, I hope that you focus on the "why" here. Each year we all get so caught up in the tasks and busyness of Summer Reading that we often lose sight of the reason we do all the work-- to encourage leisure reading. Yes we want to foster a life long love of reading for our youngest patrons. But we also need to rekindle the joy of reading in our adults.

So before we are up to our elbows in Summer Reading tasks, take a moment to recenter with this article. 

Guide to a Successful Library Summer Reading Program

By Angel Hursh

Maximize your library’s impact this summer with our top 13 tips designed to increase participation and ignite a love for reading that lasts all year long!

A few weeks ago on LinkedIn, we asked libraries to tell us how the planning for their all-important summer reading program was going so far. More than a third of respondents said they hadn’t started planning yet. Others said they had some bumps in the road or were feeling stressed.

Library staff pour their hearts, souls, and energies into summer reading because it has a significant impact on their community of readers. We know from recent reports that reading scores for students continue to drop. Studies vary but according to Learner.com, the consensus is that 20 percent of children lose up to 2 months of reading progress if they don’t read over the summer. 

Libraries help fill that gap and encourage reading with incentives, fun programs, meals and snacks, and social interaction. And when kids come into the library with their caregivers, we have an opportunity to re-engage with that adult as well!

That's why we created this list of our 13 best ideas for a successful summer reading program. These tips, broken into three strategic categories, will help you work with readers and promote your library. Bookmark this guide and let us help you make this the best summer ever!

Summer Strategy #1: Get ready to recommend books to every reader

Tip 1: Watch this video on how to use NoveList Plus in your everyday work with readers.

Tip 2: Bookmark this guide on using NoveList Plus to support your summer reading program. Or print it out and put it at the desk so you and your co-workers can reference it when you need help.

Tip 3: Check out the special Summer Reading Curated Lists in NoveList Plus. You’ll find them under the Seasonal Reads fiction category at every age level. They match the prompts from CSLP and iREAD. (We recently revamped our recommendation lists to make them easier to use.)

Tip 4: Make sure you are ready to match young readers with books that are right for their reading level by following these expert tips. And, if you are asked to help find books for toddlers, follow these steps. Remember, there is a perfect story element for every reader, even the little ones!

Tip 5: Encourage adult readers to take part too! Use the 2025 NoveList Reading Challenge as an easy way to incentivize adult participation and spark conversation about the story elements your adult readers love.

Tip 6: Get a subscription to Learn with NoveList Plus. Everyone on staff can learn how to navigate challenging genres, work with teen and tween readers, match children with books, and find terrific titles for toddlers! Reach out for details and a free trial—there's still plenty of time before summer gets here!

Tip 7: Get familiar with the new user experience for Core Collections by watching this video. If your library has some collections but not the full suite, consider adding the missing collections to ensure you have a well-rounded selection for readers of fiction, nonfiction, and Spanish-language materials.

Tip 8: Add books to your collection that complement your summer reading program by searching Core Collections by reading level.

Summer Strategy #2: Plan your Summer Reading promotional campaign

Tip 9: If you have LibraryAware, watch our training to quickly create emails, social media posts, reading logs, and more to promote your summer reading program. Use our templates made especially for your summer programs or customize our templates. And don’t worry if you don’t have any design experience. Follow these five design tips for the non-designer.  

Tip 10: Email is the most effective way to stay connected with your readers all summer. This one sent last year by the Manhattan-Elwood Library District in Illinois is a great example. Remind readers to log their reading and invite them to special summer programs. You’ll know if your emails are successful by comparing your metrics to this email benchmark report, the first of its kind created exclusively for libraries. Wondering when to send your summer reading emails? Follow these tips!

Tip 11: Summer is a wonderful time to re-introduce your community to your library’s digital offerings. Use these tips to plan promotions that highlight your online books, databases, and more. Be sure to share this video to let your community know they can use NoveList Plus to find great reading recommendations anytime (even poolside).

Summer Strategy #3: Empower yourself!

Tip 12: Maintain your own summer reading momentum by signing up for NoveList News. Each month, we’ll send inspiration and news to everyone working with readers, promoting their library, and looking for staff training opportunities.

Tip 13: We’ve all seen ChatGPT, or similar generative AI services recommend books. But dig deeper and you’ll start to see the cracks. Remember, your human-powered book recommendations outshine anything AI can do. And there’s nothing quite like the connection you make when you spark joy in a reader.

Did we miss anything?  Let us know! We wish you much success with your library's summer reading program in 2025.

Get in touch

---

Angela Hursh is Manager of Library Engagement, Marketing, and Professional Development for NoveList. She is listening to The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston. 

My Werewolves Among Us Reading List is Live at The LineUp and It Makes a Great Conversation Starter to Display

My latest article in The LineUp is here. I really love how they laid it out on the site. Below I also have the text of my draft article to make the titles searchable here on the blog. But please click through to see the finished piece. which includes links to each book.

But before we get to the list, the entire reason I wrote this piece is to have it land around the time that Nat Cassidy's When the Wolf Comes Home will come out. This book received 3 stars (including one from me), was just blurbed by Stephen King, and is really doing something new and exciting with the perennially popular werewolf trope.

You should use this list to start gathering titles for your own werewolf display-- for right now-- in April. You have MANY werewolf books, so this shouldn't be hard. Make it a while you wait for When the Wolf Comes Home display. Make it a Halfway to Halloween display. Or just embrace the next full moon with this one. But whatever you do, make it interactive by asking your patrons and staff what their favorite werewolf book or movie is. 

Go here for how to turn a conversation starter into a display.

Use my article as the conversation starter online as well.

Speaking of, all of my articles for the LineUp can be used this way. All of them at this link. There are quite a few at this point.

From the Haunted Stacks: Werewolves Among Us

The transformation of the werewolf novel and how it reflects the world around us.

By Becky Spratford | Published Apr 8, 2025

On April 22nd, Nat Cassidy’s latest horror novel will be released– When the Wolf Comes Home [my star review]. Garnering the coveted trifecta of stars (Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers’ Weekly), it seems the consensus is clear- Cassidy has released his best book yet. On its surface When the Wolf Comes Home is an immersive, terrifying, and highly entertaining take on the werewolf trope, but upon further reflection, the novel emerges as more– a moving and thought provoking demand to the reader, forcing them to confront the power fear holds over us all.

It struck me as a very 21st Century way to approach an ancient and well worn trope. Being a librarian whose focus is on matching books with readers, it immediately led me to think about other authors who have used the werewolf as a way to take a deeper dive into the horrors of existing in the world. Today I am sharing those with you. Nine must read werewolf novels, in the order in which they were originally released, in three distinct categories. As you read through this list, not only will you find great reads, but also you will see a modern version of the werewolf story emerge, creating a path that leads directly to Cassidy. 

The Werewolf Confronts the Horrors of the Late 20th Century

These three novels published during the waning days of the 20th Century and into the dawn of the 21st were ahead of their time, so much so that two of the three did not find an audience until closer to the present as their reprints have helped to keep a new, scarier version of the werewolf alive for the next generation of writers.

The Nightwalker by Thomas Tessier (1979)

Bobby is an American Vietnam Vet, who accidentally killed his British girlfriend while over in London. At least he thinks it was an accident. But why are his hands tingling, and his anger rising? Tessier’s resurrection of the werewolf novel from near extinction not only set a precedent for confronting the horrors of modern war through the trope, but also, he allowed future writers the freedom of just allowing their werewolves to exist, without the lure of the lunar cycle

The Wolf’s Hour by Robert McCammon (1989)

McCammon takes the 20th century’s biggest villains– the Nazis– and rewrites the history of the days leading up to D-Day focused around Michael Gallatin, one of Britain’s best secret agents, spies, and killers, who also happens to be a werewolf. This sweeping alternative history epic is filled with action, accurate historical details, romance, adventure, suspense, and of course, a werewolf plying his violent power for the good of all mankind.

Shapeshifter by J.F. Gonzalez (2003)

Mark lives with the curse of being a werewolf, but he has also worked hard to keep it under control. When CEO, Bernard, finds out Mark’s secret, he uses it as a way to control Mark for his own nefarious purposes. As violent as any werewolf novel ever written, Gonzalez’s story also gives us a werewolf with heart, one that is an underdog, not an alpha dog out for revenge.

No Longer Lone, The Werewolf Moves in Packs

As the werewolf made its way deeper into the new century, it transformed once again, from loner to pack member. Here we have three critically acclaimed novels that each feature werewolves as they exist together, in groups.

Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow (2007)

Introducing the urban wolf through a cast of characters, men and women, who can morph at will, Barlow crafts a compelling, complex, and violent story of rival packs, roaming between LA and Mexico,involved in underground crime and featuring spicy romance. Written in a free verse style where the ends of each line combine to create the illusion of literal sharp teeth, this is a striking story that continues to find readers almost 20 years after its initial release. 

When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord (2015)

From urban pack to an entire town, Lumen Fowler harbors a very dark secret. Every teenager in her small town “breaches” with each full moon for a year after they hit puberty, transforming into beats that run wild, obsessed with sex and violence, every teen except her that is. Told as a confession from the present, the horrifying shapeshifting action lures readers in from the start, but then the tension shifts and the unease come directly from Lumen herself, her family secrets, and her denial of her true self. 

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones (2016)

An unnamed narrator is being raised by his Aunt and Uncle in their family of werewolves. Readers follow the boy as he waits to see if he will mature into a wolf himself, learning the logistics of both surviving a life lived on the margins in modern America and attending to their werewolf needs. The novel that put Stephen Graham Jones on the mainstream map, Mongrels is many thing at once– a stirring coming of age tale that shines a light on the struggles of the underclass in America, a gruesome and violent horror story, and a novel that adds a whole new level of realism to the age old lycanthropy myth.

The Werewolf Fights Misogyny and More

The first 6 books of this list were all written by men, but as we move chronologically, women have “entered the chat,” and they are angry at having been ignored. Good thing they have the werewolf trope as a way to explore that anger and seek revenge.

Empire of the Wild by Cherie Dimaline (2019)

Joan, who has been searching for her missing husband, Victor, for over a year, hears his voice preaching from the stage of a revival tent in a Walmart parking lot. The preacher seems not to know her, but Joan, along with her nephew and an elder, know they need to fight to not only get Victor back, but also to keep everyone they hold dear safe. Dimaline’s novel is unique on this list as our heroine is not the werewolf herself, but rather, she is fighting the Rogarou, a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of the Métis, indigenous communities of Canada. 

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder (2021)

New mom Rachel is struggling. Her husband is always on the road and caring for her 2 year old leaves no time for her art. Struggling that is until she starts to notice some invigorating physical changes, urges to eat raw meat, sharper teeth, hair in new places, and more. Think Bunny by Awad meets “Metamorphosis” by Kafka, rather than more classic werewolf fare. Thrilling, immersive, weird, thought provoking, and bursting with anger, Nightbitch is the honest, feminist werewolf novel that 21st century readers need.

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison (2022)

Rory never imagined she would return home again, but when her pregnant twin sister needs her help, Rory makes her way back, reluctantly. On the drive home after a night at the local bar, Rory hits an animal. When she gets out to check on it, she is attacked. She survives, but is not unscathed, as she finds out with the next full moon. A USA Today bestseller, Such Sharp Teeth blends dark humor, a compelling pace, and body horror with serious contemplations of trauma, anger, and the vulnerability of love, all of it showcasing why, despite having taken its time rising to prominence, the female werewolf is not going away anytime soon.

PW Summer Reads 2025 An Epic Year Round Resource

The PW Summer Reads 2025 list is now live. Always the first one of the year to pop up, PW's Summer Reads is also one  of the best YEAR ROUND Resources hands down. Why? Well let's start with a screen shot of the main page.

The PW Summer Reads database is more than the sum of its parts, those parts being the wide swath of categories offered. As you can see, they also make backlist access of every Summer Reads and year end Best Books list going back to 2012 easily accessible from the top of the page.

Let that sink in.... EVERY SINGLE SUMMER READS AND PW YEAR END BEST LIST IN ONE PLACE.

Nowhere will you find a resource that puts this many "sure bet" options in front of you so easily. There are literally hundreds of titles here, at your fingertips, both old and new, that you can confidently suggest to readers immediately. And so many readers. Readers who read across all age levels [down to infants] and in just about every genre. 

And, since every title is annotated, you also have a book talk [or annotation] for each title right there. You don't have to have read the book to suggest it. [Reminder: Use the Words of Others.]

I could keep gushing about how much I love this resource but I would rather you played around with it yourself.

Click through, check out the upcoming titles, but also look back at older titles, read the annotations, check genres you love and those you don't normally read, especially those you don't normally read because you will learn much about the current state of that genre [trends, popular authors] this year and going back a few years. You can both get access to some great sure bet suggestions AND brush up on your genre knowledge all in one place.

Spend some time really getting to know this resource. And then use it-- all of it-- including past years and both summer and year end lists-- to make your own lists for your readers. Make displays and lists [online and in the building], make suggested reading lists by genre, by year, by whatever you want. Just embrace the wealth of information available to you with one click and help readers in ways they would not think to help themselves.

Proof reading this post before publishing it, I realize how many times I am repeating myself about using the entirety of the information that PW is making available here, but I also know from years of suggesting this resource to people that you don't always listen to me. And so, I will keep beating this drum of using best lists all year long and especially checking the backlist until I run out of breath [or strength to type].

Go check out this database of "sure bet" reads for any season, and keep it bookmarked for use anytime you need a solid suggestion [especially for those hard to satisfy readers].

Before I go, I want to highlight a few Horror books that appear on this list for which I am already excited about.  And please note-- only 1 is in the designated Horror section. This speaks loudly about the popularity of the genre as it cannot be pigeon holed. 

• The Country Under Heaven by Frederic S. Durbin. This title is 100% Horror but it landed on the STAFF PICKS section of the PW Summer Reads database. This book blew me away when I read it for the April issue of LJ. Click here to read my thoughts and see the draft of my STAR review.
• The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I just finished this book and WOW. I will have a STAR review in the June issue of LJ. This book might better than Mexican Gothic. Do not miss this one. More on my Goodreads soon.
• The cover person for the Summer Reads issue is Ivy Pachoda. The popular come novelist has her first Horror novel coming out this summer-- Ecstasy. They filed it under Mystery but it is Horror. I had a giveaway of it here.
• In YA, I am excited about The Summer I Ate the Rich by Maika and Maritza Moulite. And, in MG, I love Tiffany D. Jackson's YA Horror novels so I cannot wait for her Middle Grade title-- Blood in the Water.

Get ready, because summer is just around the corner. In fact, on Friday, I am going to share a post about getting yourself ready for Summer Reading. I think we may see more adults joining our summer reading programs this year as a way they can take action in support of libraries. But that's on Friday. Today, go on over and check out the PW Summer Reads 2025.

New Ipsos and NPR Reading Poll

Yesterday, NPR and Ipsos released the results of a new poll of 2,000 Americans which tried to gauge information both about their reading habits and opinions.

There are MANY take aways from this survey's results and I know I will be using them in my talks going forward and I am sure I will write a few posts about what is here, but for today, I want to make sure everyone has all of the information to use as they help their patrons.

Here is the full survey with the results, question by question.

Here is the Ipsos breakdown document

Here is access to the audio and text versions of the 2 minute story from NPR yesterday. This post includes som useful charts as well.

As I said above today is for posting the survey data. We need time to think about using this data as we move forward to help out patrons. I will say though, upon my first few readings, not a lot surprised me here except for that fact that among readers and non readers, 2 in 5 people still don't think audiobooks are reading. This strikes me as odd when viewed alongside the HUGE growth in audiobook listening we have seen in other surveys. 

Please use the links above and think about the results, compare what you see here to your experience working with leisure readers, and use all of it to strive to serve your readers better.

I will be doing the same thing over the next few weeks as well.

Show Your Patrons the Library Has Something for Every User with "Intergenerational Displays"

Earlier this month I mentioned "intergenerational displays." I know people don't always click through to my  links to other posts within a post. But, I also know that this is a concept I mention in many of my talks, a question for which I get a lot of pushback.

Many libraries claim they are not allowed to put books for all ages on one display. I argue back that how else are be going to show our communities that the library is for everyone if we don't show them. I then say, well I have people higher up than me who argued for this and got it done.

And those higher up than me were from Cuyahoga Library as I learned about this from them at PLA almost exactly 1 year ago today. So I think it is time to repost this for more eyes.

In the post below, I also share an example from a library in Appalachia where I first saw this. Back in 2015 (ish).

Take a look at the below post and give serious thought to how you can make something like this happen at your library as well. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024

Show Your Patrons the Library Has Something for Every User with "Intergenerational Displays"

Last month at the PLA conference, on the final day, I went to one of the best programs I have been to at a library conference.  I wrote about the program extensively here but here is the program title and description:

My final program of the day was also excellent and a perfect book end to the first. Curating Diverse Community Collections for Patron Engagement:

Much has been written about the need for diversity audits in library collections, but little follow-up has been offered to assist collection development and public service staff in creating real change. Panelists will discuss proven best practices for diversifying and curating community collections. Attendees will leave with a three-point action plan that will work for any size library, no matter the demographics of their particular community.

The slides are here and the presenters were from Cuyahoga County Public Library.

Please go to my full write up because this program was FULL of useful tips on how Cuyahoga made their library inclusive. The presenters were from across the organizational chart as well which makes a huge difference. They discussed funding and administrative issues while also making sure to emphasize the work of individuals at the branches. 

Today, I want to talk about one small thing that was mentioned during that program, something that I made a huge note about when it was said. From my write up post:

I loved that they also do a display right near the door that is always "intergenerational." no matter the topic they have books for all ages of patrons. I LOVE THIS. I tell libraries to do this and they tell me the can't. You can. Just do it. You won't go to library jail.

For years I have been telling libraries to have a display as close to the entrance as possible that showcase items for all age groups in one place. So if you have "Spring" as your topic, you have books from adult fiction, nonfiction, as many genres as possible, board books, MG, YA, Graphic Novels, audio books, movies, even any gardening items people can check out. 

At the very least you should have books for all age levels on this display. So for National Poetry Month this month, you should have a display near your entrance that has poetry for all ages.

I have seen this done at an itty bitty library in rural Maryland and at my own library where we have our "Lucky Day" collection in the main lobby. That display has options for all readers on one display, right as you walk in. The one in Maryland was in the entranceway. They a huge picture of a dog and then around it, books from across their entire collection. 

What better way to show your patrons that you have a book for them....all of them, not just a book for them if they happen to go to their siloed section. When a family walks in, they can find items for all ages immediately. Often when a caregiver brings children in, they never get the time to go to their section. Even if the person who walks in does not check an item from that display out, at the very least, an intergenerational display it is showing people that their library has something for them. Isn't that the message we want to present?

Why instead are we so focused on filing everything away in places where they have to work to find them?

I know the answer, because for years we have been gatekeepers, using "rules" to make access to our materials hard. I hate this way of thinking. Instead, we should be doing as much as we can to get our items out and into people's hands. As I like to say-- your job isn't done until every single item is checked out at the same time. 

Intergenerational displays are a great way to get more books into people hands because you are showcasing that you have books for every age level. It reminds people that there is something for them in the library. It encourages them to use our entire collections because we are reminding them that we are away of our siloed spaces and while we cannot change that easily, we can highlight books on a rotating basis that remind people to check out every section of the library. 

In other words, not only do intergenerational displays show all users that the library is for them, but also, they lead to more checkouts.

And yet, people tell me all the time they aren't allowed to mix books for different age levels together. I was told this on Monday. Again, the argument is old and out dated. Too often those in charge are unwilling to rethink positions as the world changes, but we have to. Nothing stays the same. The way the library was organized and functioned in the late 1980s when I was a kid is not the way it does now. Stop with this, those are the rules, arguments. I am sorry but it used to be the rules to not let Black people in the library. We changed that rule because it was wrong. And yes, I am purposely picking an obvious change to make the person you would argue with uncomfortable.

This attitude of we can't even put a book for a kid next to a book for an adult is DUMB and against everything we preach about being "for everyone."

Intergenerational Displays as Cuyahoga has named them, are key to their vision of making the collection engaging to their community. At the branch where that speaker is in charge, they have a table that is always a display of books around a topic or display idea that has books for any reader, at any age or ability. Again, it is part of their larger mission to be community centered. It works in conjunction with the other initiatives they have started throughout their system.

If your library has a rule against doing this, I encourage you to ask why? Counter with the slides and information from PLA. Use the contact information they have provided to ask them to help you explain why intergenerational displays promote belonging and showcase the breadth of your collection the second people walk in. Use your mission statements about serving everyone to bolster your argument. Remind those in charge that there is no better way to make sure your community knows the library is for them than to simply show them that the second they enter your building with the items you have collected for them to use.

I hope this encourages you to try an intergenerational display at your library. Again, use PLA and the Cuyahoga library's example as your conversational starter at your library. And of course, tell them Becky told you to discuss it if that helps. I am always up for my readers and training attendees to blame me for bringing up touch questions. Share my contact info and encourage your managers to call me to argue. 

COVER REVEAL: Why I Love Horror Edited by Me with an Excerpt from Grady Hendrix

 

Pre-Order now

Today CrimeReads has the cover reveal of my upcoming book. Out 9/23/25.

Click below to read the excerpt. I picked Hendrix's essay for the excerpt because it is right in the middle of the book and it is one of the best in the book. It leaves you on a cliff hanger and let me tell you, the rest of the essay is totally worth it. Early readers agree. I have received MANY comments as they finish this essay.

You can pre-order WHY I LOVE HORROR anywhere books are sold. Here is the Bookshop.org link. Digital ARCs will be available at Library Journal's Day of Dialog on 4/17 where Alma Katsu and I will be there to discuss her essay and her upcoming book FIEND and soon on NetGalley and Edelweiss. Paper ARCs will be at StokerCon and ALA Annual.

Thank you to CrimeReads for hosting the cover reveal.

Here is the link.

What I'm Reading: April 2025 Booklist

Monday we had my 8 book LJ column but today I also have 2 reviews in the April 1&15, 2025 issue of Booklist. Both are must purchases and super easy hand-sells. One got a star, but the other is also excellent. 

Enjoy my draft reviews with bonus appeal info and my three words below.

Also I have paper ARCs of both of these books. They will be available in future #HorrorForLibraries giveaways. There is not a giveaway this week, but it will be back next week with a strong of titles for which I have posted reviews for this week. You can go here to see how to enter for future giveaways. 

STAR

The Night Birds
by Christopher Golden
May 2025. 320p. St. Martin’s, $29  (9781250285911). 
First published April 1, 2025 (Booklist).

STAR

The Night Birds

By Christopher Golden

Ruby Cahill and Charlie Book broke up almost 2 years ago, but during a hurricane, Ruby returns, without warning, another woman and baby in tow, at the Galveston dock where Book is about to leave to shelter on the sunken ship, where he commands a team studying the mangrove forest that has taken root there. They are on the run from an ancient coven of witches who will stop at nothing to have the baby, a baby whose mother is Ruby’s estranged sister, the woman, that sister’s partner, and the sister, dead. Drenched with unease from the opening pages, Golden [Road of Bones] takes readers on a bleak, but captivating ride told over one harrowing night, shifting the point of view to allow the characters to develop organically without ever sacrificing the quick pace. Heartbreakingly beautiful, filled with action, evil, shape-shifting witches, superior world building, and visceral terror, this is a tale where every detail matters, and reader’s emotions will be put through the wringer, but not left without hope. A strong choice for Horror or Thriller readers, this story will ring the most true in the space where fans of Hex by Olde Heuvelt overlap with This Wretched Valley by Kiefer.

Three Words That Describe This Book: pervasive unease, multiple povs, captivating

Further Appeal: I loved how the tension drenches every page just like the lashing rain. As the storm rages on, things go from uneasy to terrifying to heart breaking.

Notes I took while reading:

• Remarkable – captivating and original setting– pacing, heartbreakingly beautiful and terrifying bleak entertaining
• EVERY DETAIL MATTERS (That made it an easy star-- the details and the compelling story that allows you to get lost and not think about the details and yet you notice when they pay off)
• A perfect example of a Horror-Thriller. But please note-- it is Horror first and Thriller second. Not a 50-50 split. The tone and the storyline are Horror first. 
• More words: original trapped, witches, bleak, balance of character and action, original and captivating world building, heartbreakingly beautiful, every detail matters (one of my favorite things and something that makes a book rise to the top of the top), entertaining from start to finish.
• Original setting. The unease is pervasive because of the setting-- a sunken ship that has become a mangrove and a hurricane. But also the title-- every time a bird is mentioned, even before you learn the "truth" you as a reader are a bit uneasy.
• Golden does superior world building here-- both the ship but also the witchcraft and its original. HE is also great at developing characters (sympathy and flaws) and place without sacrificing the action and keeping the plot moving forward. He does that in every book, but here it is top of his game.
• The characters-- Book and Ruby are the main ones, but POV is spread to a few other key figures (no spoilers) and the details and information the reader gets from those chapters is important. Not a word is wasted here. We see the characters, flaws and all, and we sympathize with them. No POV is unnecessary tot he story and our enjoyment of it. 
• Golden is already a must buy at your library, but this one will be an easy handsell to anyone who likes supernatural thrillers. bonus if they like witches or sunken ships. 
• But please note-- it is Horror first and Thriller second. Not a 50-50 split. The tone and the storyline are Horror first. 

Readalikes: This reminded me of ARARAT and ROAD OF BONES-- two of Golden's best ever.  But for readalikes, I think it is for readers in the Venn diagram who liked Hex by Thomas Olde Huevelt (the witch parts and the bleak and menacing tone) and This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer (the trapped trope and the multiple point of view for character development that keeps the story moving). Also both Horror books that appeal to a wide audience.

Laid Barron fans will like this one. The Troop by Cutter also a good readalike. 

The Butcher’s Daughter: The Hitherto Untold story of Mrs. Lovett
By David Demchuk and Corinne Leigh Clark
May 2025. 418p. Hell’s Hundred, $27.95  (9781641296427); e-book (9781641296434). First published April 1, 2025 (Booklist).

It’s 1887 and London journalist Emily Gibson is missing. Police do find her dossier of papers all tied to Margaret Evans, the woman who Gibson is convinced is the “real” Mrs Lovett. Unveiled in a well paced, epistolary style, this clever and entertaining tale is Margaret’s life story as relayed in her correspondence with Gibson. Her voice is confident, her story filled with hardship, but it also features exciting twists as she uses her wits and strategically placed lies to find her footing. While readers know from the title that she will end up a villain, Demchuk and Clark imbue Margaret with sympathy throughout, even as murder victims are cut up and made into delicious pies. However, there is an even more shocking reveal in the novel’s final pages, a horror that will punch readers in the gut and reverberate off the page and into history. Those who enjoy being immersed in the gritty, visceral, and historically accurate world of Victorian London as seen in Victorian Psycho by Feito or From Hell by Moore will eagerly devour this tale.

Three Words That Describe This Book: strong sense of place, fiction about fictional characters, epistolary 

Further Appeal: More words-- fun, clever, compelling, atmospheric, menacing, psychological thriller, visceral (but from the start readers should be prepared if they know the story of Sweeney Todd. The thing is though, it is visceral throughout)

Readers will be immersed in the second half of the 1800 hundreds in the streets of London. All five senses. 2 main time frames-- 1887, the story's present when Margery is an older woman to back to beginning in her childhood (50 years before) and moving forward to the present as she tells journalist Emily Gibson her story though letters and diary entries. 

The entire novel is framed as the dossier given to the head investigator-- documents gathered by Gibson, a journalist trying to figure out who Margaret really was. It has the letters and diary entries but also correspondences that Gibson received as part of her inquiry. The dossier was found at the start of the novel in Gibbons rooms but she is missing. 

So we have a double mystery of who Margaret is and where Gibson is? 

This is a story of a woman pushed into the shadows of a famous story being given her moment to be the star. Yes, she is fictional, but the story that is told feels real and even makes connections to things that really happened and places that exist. So in making her real-- the way Margaret was able to move around the world despite being poor makes sense within its time. She can only act when desperate and in certain allowable ways. She must use those with power to allow her to act. The reader is frustrated for her.

But, as will come as a surprise to no one, she is also the (fictional) accomplice to Todd, a woman who took his murder victims and turned them into meat pies. Yes, we the reader have been knowingly enchanted by and are rooting for a horrible human. But again it is not a surprise-- it is in the titles for goodness sake. And this is important, because when you give away what some would think of as the twist in the title, you have to deliver a story that not only keeps people reading but has its own new revelations and still elects and emotional response. Don't worry, they do.

The discoveries here come from revealing Margaret's story-- all its twists and turns-- and it all pieces together up thru and even AFTER her turn as Mrs Lovett. Only in this time period and as a woman would Margaret be able to take on the identity of some many different people and live so many different lives. The whole book is an indictment of the way women were treated and still are in many ways. But also as we have sympathy, we readers also know that she is a horrible person, a murderer, and yet we read on-- wanting to know more and feeling badly for her.

That feeling we readers have to sit with as the authors not only "close the book" on Margaret's story but also Gibson's is the biggest reveal and totally worth the price of admission here. The emotional punch is awesome. The authors rely on you thinking you know where the story will go to add another wrinkle that allows the fear and horror to travel off the page and reverberate onside the reader and into history as well.

I will never be able to experience Sweeney Todd the same way again which says a lot about this book. It reminds me of how no one can watch he Wizard of Oz the same way again after Gregory Magure wrote Wicked. This story is much more menacing and darker but same idea.

Readers unfamiliar with Sweeney Todd should be okay as the fiction character and actions are explained, but I do think the authors use the reader's knowledge of the story to their advantage and you would enjoy this novel more if you read at least a synopsis of the story before reading this book.

Readalikes: The two above are the best matches. but I wanted to add this but had no room: Like Gregory Maguire’s Wicked did for the Wizard of Oz, readers will not be able to look at Sweeney Todd the same way again. So this is a readalike as well.

Further readalikes-- The Historian by Kostova and The Alienist by Carr as well-- to backlist favorites.

So many books to send readers to with this one. Really anyone who loves gritty Victorian set novels will rejoice with this one.