Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

I think you could go a lot of different ways here. Hopefully we can come up with some creepy books as well as some that are more subtle for those who don't do scary.

The two that come to mind for me are:
The Graveyard Book
A Christmas Carol

Other books about ghosts?

I'm going to read The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

I loved Ghost Bride by Yangsze Cho

Dangit, I didn't even think of "The Graveyard Book" for this one... I opted for Graveyard Clay: Cré na Cille, seeing as it's been sitting on my shelf for awhile. But "Graveyard Book" can be my backup if I start reading "Clay" and hate it...

Little Darlings
The Broken Girls
The Shining

The Sherwood Ring not scary, charming, YA but held up beautifully when I reread at age 61.

Ghost Story by Peter Straub

The Haunting of Hill House

The Clockmaker's Daughter is historical fiction. A ghost observes occupants of a house for several decades. It's not creepy at all.

You don't know that one of the characters is a ghost until the end of (view spoiler)[ The Sugar Queen (hide spoiler)]. (At least, I didn't catch on.) Also, not a creepy story. It's more of a light romance or women's fiction book.

I'm pretty sure Beloved by Toni Morrison will work for this prompt! I'm currently reading it but I might leave the rest of the book for 2019.

Past Perfect by Danielle Steel if you want a light, easy ghost read.

Ghosts, you say??

*puts hair in a bun*
*clears throat*
*pulls up PowerPoint presentation*

I'm glad you asked!!

Affinity - Brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular. (But very sad.) It does feature "spirits" instead of ghosts, but whatever. A scholarly, deeply unhappy woman begins visiting the women's prison in hopes of distracting herself from her father's death and a failed relationship. While there, she meets a spirit medium imprisoned for fraud. But are her powers to commune with the dead actually real?
The Little Stranger - An up-and-coming country doctor strikes up a friendly relationship with an aristocratic family after treating their maid. Although the association is at first a happy one, things quickly go sideways as the family disintegrates, and they rely on the doctor more and more as their connection to the outside world. Ghosts? Mental illness? Gaslighting? You be the judge. This was recently made into an adequate movie, but the book is so much better.
Heart-Shaped Box - An aging rock star buys a ghost over the internet. Sounds ridiculous, but is genuinely chilling!
Dark Matter - Arctic fur trapper ghouls.
The Ghost Bride - A non-scary ghost story, if you frighten easily. A poor but respectable Chinese girl agrees to become a "ghost bride" for a powerful, rich, and recently deceased heir to a wealthy family. This goes a lot of places you don't expect.
The Woman in Black - A solicitor must travel to a remote manor house to settle the estate of an imposing old widow. Locals try to warn him off, but he has no time for their superstitious nonsense, and spooky doins' ensue.
The Winter People - I read this one a while ago and don't remember too much about it, but I remember there's a ghost! The teenage daughter of a hippie-ish family wakes one morning to discover her mother has disappeared. As she struggles to balance searching for her mother with caring for her younger sister, she begins to wonder if there isn't something more supernatural at work in their home.

As for myself, I may read Beloved, but hopefully there still be some new recommendations I can choose from!

Peony in Love is another "ghost bride" fiction for those not into horror. I love Lisa See. Definitely not my favorite by her, but a good time all the same.

I'l probably use this prompt to read the next book in the The Haunting of Sunshine Girl series. For what it's worth, I usually dislike horror, but I enjoyed this YA series so far, because it's a good story and not just creepy for the sake of being creepy.

Wuthering Heights has a ghost angle, but to be honest, I really disliked it, and would only recommend it if you're really wanting to finish off a list of classics or something.

Thornhill is on my TBR

A few others that come to mind:
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. Disturbing, psychological YA. Think Orange is the New Black meets Black Swan with a paranormal twist.
Sing, Unburied, Sing I haven't read this, but wouldn't it work?

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by Josephine Leslie

because, c'mon, there must be some other members out there old enough to remember watching that TV show!!

If not that, then I think Simone St. James to the rescue, with The Haunting of Maddy Clare.

Tracy wrote: "Peony in Love is another "ghost bride" fiction for those not into horror. I love Lisa See. Definitely not my favorite by her, but a good time all the same."

YES! This was the first See book I ever read but I don't remember it one bit so was thinking of re-reading this! :D

I am seriously on the struggle bus with this one. I feel like I should have more books with a ghost story. So far I've only come up with:

A Christmas Carol
The Turn of the Screw
Beloved

Johanne wrote: "Thornhill is on my TBR

A few others that come to mind:
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. Disturbing, psychological YA. Think Orange is the New ..."

Nadine wrote: "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by Josephine Leslie

because, c'mon, there must be some other members out there old enough to remember watching that TV show!!

If not that, ..."

Johanne wrote: "Thornhill is on my TBR

A few others that come to mind:
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. Disturbing, psychological YA. Think Orange is the New ..."

Johanne wrote: "Thornhill is on my TBR

A few others that come to mind:
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. Disturbing, psychological YA. Think Orange is the New ..."

I remember the TV series. It was one of my favorites when I was a child.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was excellent!!!

There are multiple cozy mystery authors who have ghostly series, for those who like something a bit lighter:


E.J. Copperman has a "Haunted Guesthouse" cozy mystery series that features multiple ghosts in each book.

Nancy Atherton -- Aunt Dimity series

Sue Ann Jaffarian -- Ghost of Granny Apple series

Alice Kimberly -- Haunted Bookshop series

Sharon Pape -- Portrait of Crime series

Tonya Kappes -- Ghostly Southern series

Carolyn G. Hart -- Bailey Ruth series

Casey Daniels -- Pepper Martin series

Rose Pressey -- Haunted Vintage series

Leighann Dobbs -- Mystic Notch series

Kathleen Bridge -- Hamptons Home and Garden series

Juliet Blackwell -- Haunted Home Renovation

Jana Deleon -- Ghost-in-Law series

Molly MacRae -- Haunted Yarn Shop

Dixie Lyle -- Whiskey, Tango and Foxtrot series



And for those who like something a bit creepier:

Amanda Stevens -- Graveyard Queen series

I love the ghost stories of Susan Hill. The Woman in Black
The Small Hand
The Man in the Picture

Also love John Harwood.
The Seance
The Ghost Writer
The Asylum

Kelly wrote: "Ghosts, you say??

*puts hair in a bun*
*clears throat*
*pulls up PowerPoint presentation*

I'm glad you asked!!

Affinity - Brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacu..."


The Ghost Bride sounds really interesting. I think I might do that one. No matter what it has gone to my TBR list. As usual when the list comes out my TBR list grows and grows even though the goal is to lower it. :-)

Stacey wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Peony in Love is another "ghost bride" fiction for those not into horror. I love Lisa See. Definitely not my favorite by her, but a good time all the same."

YES! This wa..."

I really enjoyed it... a lot. But I really love Lisa See so I enjoy everything I read by her. She's just so talented and I always learn so much. She's given me an obsession with Asian culture.

I threw Horrorstör on my plan since I didn't get to it this year and I really wanted to. Ghosts in Ikea? Yes please.

Tracy wrote: "Stacey wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Peony in Love is another "ghost bride" fiction for those not into horror. I love Lisa See. Definitely not my favorite by her, but a good time all the same...."

I remember enjoying it too but can't remember anything that happens other than people leave things out for the hungry ghosts. xD

My sister, her mother-in-law, our sister-in-law and I all enjoy reading Lisa See books so they get passed around a lot in my family! :P

I recommend Leaving Time for this one. It's my favorite Jodi Picoult book and as some of the other recommendations, not a typically creepy ghost story. Lots of fascinating facts about elephants woven in as a bonus!

I absolutely loved Lincoln in the Bardo They are not "ghosts" but they are dead and talking so I think it could work. Anyone else read this one?

I'd highly recommend Little Girls. I'm usually not a fan of anything scary, but this book was really good!

One of my favorite "under the radar" books that nobody's heard of is Far Far Away The first person POV narrative is from a ghost, the dead Jacob Grimm. Its a really wonderful story, has that dark fairytale kind of vibe.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read yet, but this would be a good prompt to read in October.

I read and liked The Broken Girls by Simone St. James earlier this year so I think I will go for Silence for the Dead.

I read Rooms by Lauren Oliver last year and there are two ghosts in that book. Would also work for the multiple POV's

Johanne wrote: "Thornhill is on my TBR

A few others that come to mind:
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. Disturbing, psychological YA. Think Orange is the New ..."

Sing, Unburied, Sing definitely works for this! For anyone looking for authors/characters of color, or social justice issues, check out Ghost Boys and Long Way Down (which also counts for a book that takes place in a day).

YA suggestions?

Raegan wrote: "YA suggestions?"

The Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier has a ghost in it, although its not the main focus.

Raegan wrote: "YA suggestions?"

If you can find it, I recommend Ghosts by Antonia Barber, which was one of my childhood faves.

This book from her is perfect for the challenge.



I also recommend the books of Mary Downing Hahn for someone looking for a smaller read, she writes middle grade books.



Shannon wrote: "I read and liked The Broken Girls by Simone St. James earlier this year so I think I will go for Silence for the Dead."

I think I'm going to go with The Screaming Staircase. I've heard a lot of good things. I'm pretty sure it's YA

Raegan wrote: "YA suggestions?"

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl

You could probably also count this one: The Summoning. She can raise 'zombies' but she can also just talk to dead spirits without sticking them back in their bodies.

For anyone looking for a more philosophical option there's this:

Between Heaven & Hell

They're not 'ghosts' as such, but it is a hypothetical conversation between three people who are dead at the time.

Oh, and I think a couple people have mentioned trying to fit in an LOTR re-read to this challenge--The Return of the King does contain ghosts, even thought they're not through the whole book.

Tonya wrote: "I think I'm going to go with The Screaming Staircase. I've heard a lot of good things. I'm pretty sure it's YA"
I love the Lockwood series! It's YA, but still just a good story with good premise.

I will also use this opportunity to push my favorite series Rivers of London. Among the many many mystical oddities going on, there are serial killer ghosts.

AnneElisabeth wrote: "I absolutely loved Lincoln in the Bardo They are not "ghosts" but they are dead and talking so I think it could work. Anyone else read this one?"

Yes! I liked it a lot. And I would say it definitely counts.

The Time of the Ghost is a good middle grade option. I don't remember much about it at all but I loved Diana Wynne Jones as a kid.

I have a book with short stories by Washington Irving, whould it be ok for this prompt or it has to be a one story book?

I recommend Thin Air which takes place on a 1935 Himalayan expedition.

The Woman in Black was also wonderfully atmospheric.

Anybody know if The House of the Spirits would work?

Raegan wrote: "YA suggestions?"

Took: A Ghost Story
A number of my middle school students read this one and loved it. I haven't read it myself yet though.

Nathalia K. wrote: "I have a book with short stories by Washington Irving, whould it be ok for this prompt or it has to be a one story book?"

I feel like that is totally up to you. I would count it. The challenge should be personal not about "following rules."

Ghost Boys

Nathalia K. wrote: "I have a book with short stories by Washington Irving, whould it be ok for this prompt or it has to be a one story book?"

A story is a story. I would say even just one short story from that book would count, so long as there's a ghost in it. I have on occasion used individual short stories to fulfill prompts. it's all up to you!

the Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold should fit here. It is also a brilliant book!