Favorite Books with Fewer Than 2000 Ratings on Goodreads

These books have fewer than 2000 ratings on Goodreads, meaning they are, well, underrated. Here are ten that fall into this category that I’ve really enjoyed.  Medical Muses: Hysteria in Nineteenth-Century Paris An absolutely stunning and amazing book.  There were many overnight hours spent with a little light, awake and reading.  Hustvedt demonstrates such thorough…

REVIEW: XO ORPHEUS

This not your grandparents’ Bulfinch’s Mythology.  Bernhiemer has commissioned stories from contemporary writers from all around the world.  Their contributions, while inspired by a “classic” myth, are wholly fresh and new. What’s fascinating is that which the Ancients perceived as important or problematic, remain so even now and easily translate into modern sensibilities.  Indeed, these…

GIVEAWAY: YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE, YOUR CHILDREN ALL GONE

Just in time for Halloween, the kind folks at Penguin have sent me a giveaway copy of the new creepy book by Stefan Kiesbye, author of Next Door Lived A Girl. Here is what others are saying: “Creepy in a way that actually made me quite nervous.” —Ben Loory, author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for…

MORE GREAT READS FOR HALLOWEEN

Can’t get enough of ghoulish stories?  Neither can I!  Which means I have even more creepy titles to suggest for Halloween — and any chilly, fall night best spent by the fire. How about something easy to get into and tough to put down?  Try MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs.  It’s…

REVIEW: STORIES FOR THE NIGHTTIME AND SOME FOR THE DAY by Ben Loory

It’s a deceptive little book.  Not too thick; it’s compact and fits easily into your bag.  Just pull it out while you wait at the car wash or in the subway.  Something to pass the time.   But that’s what it wants you to think. Soon you will be swept away into dimensions where a…