Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

We all have those books that have stuck with us for years. Maybe it's something you read as a teenager that you can't stop thinking about. Maybe it's a new release that's been "haunting" your Instagram. Or maybe... you just really want to read a ghost story.

Whichever definition you choose to use for "haunting", this week is sure to be spooky!

Spooky Book Lists: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/sp...
The Most Disturbing Horror Novels I've Ever Read: https://www.whatisquinnreading.com/bl...
Popular Ghost Story Books Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
15 Horror Novels You Can Read in One Day: https://www.whatisquinnreading.com/bl...
Books You Can't Stop Thinking About Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
9 Books We Can't Stop Thinking About: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/9-bo...

ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

What are you reading for this prompt, and how does it fit?

I might read The Haunting of Hill House or The Lovely Bones. Or I might read a Grady Hendrix book. I tend to read a book along these lines every October.

This is one that I think I will leave open. I'm sure I'll read something about ghosts at some point, but I want to wait and see whether there's something else I read that I just keep thinking about (for me, this year, that book was Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. I read it and enjoyed it and thought I'd move on, but I just keep thinking about it / seeing things that remind me of it / bringing it up in discussions. I've bought a copy and can't wait to read it again.)

So this could be a different kind of fill, where I don't slot it in right away, but only a few months later. Of course, that would depend on my not having used it for another prompt!

Oh I just bought Doppelganger for my Secret Santa in book club... I think she's going to like it, and hearing a positive review from you confirms!

I have my eye on We Are All Ghosts in the Forest about digital ghosts after the internet collapses.

Thanks for the suggestion Ellie - that looks interesting!

I'll probably go for The Broken Girls by Simone St. James, there's a possibility of ghosts at the boarding school, and a few of the reviews describe it as haunting.

Can attest that The Broken Girls is haunting - and was my favorite by the author!

I'm considering All Hallows' Eve and Last Night in Montreal.

Emily wrote: "Can attest that The Broken Girls is haunting - and was my favorite by the author!"

That's good news :) I've read a few of hers and enjoyed them all so far.

I was sort of thinking about approaching this prompt using definitions of haunting like "poignantly sentimental," "enchantingly or eerily evocative," and "beautiful or sad in a way that cannot be forgotten."

But then the gothic prompt didn't make the list .... and I have several creepy books that I'd like to get to next year .... so we're going with the frightful ghostie definition of haunting. Final determination yet to be decided (but probably something by Laura Purcell).

I've always wanted to read The Mists of Avalon, but it is that book that gets shuffled ever downward on my TBR. In that sense, it is haunting me. From what I've read about it, it seems that it might be haunting in a poignant and evocative sense. If I'm totally off base here, someone please let me know.

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

I agree with Dalex, was planning something poignant, lyrical or sad. It will difficult to plan, I will know it when I read it

Joanna wrote: "This is one that I think I will leave open. I'm sure I'll read something about ghosts at some point, but I want to wait and see whether there's something else I read that I just keep thinking about..."

I loved Doppleganger. No ghosts, but many of the ideas have been haunting me all year. I think this will be worth rereading. I know I didnt absorb it all, especially toward the end. She is truly an original thinker.

My twist on this prompt is an oldie - Sophie’s Choice by William Styron. A main character is forced to make a choice that haunts her.

I'm looking forward to The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading. I'm also planning The Haunting.

Donna wrote: "My twist on this prompt is an oldie - Sophie’s Choice by William Styron. A main character is forced to make a choice that haunts her."

That book haunted ME after I read it too...I read it decades ago and occasionally something will remind me of the last scene and I get a second or two of chills

I'm going with ghosts!

I read Still Alice Lisa Genova. It is obviously not a traditional ghost story but it is certainly haunting me. I still cannot shake the scene where (view spoiler)[ the daughter at 27 learns she has a 100% chance of getting Alzheimer's, or the scenes where Alice loses her ability to read (hide spoiler)]. it is a different definition of haunting but I think it works

I read The Name of the Star full of ghosts and a great read

For this prompt, I read a book filled with surrealism, supernatural, and bizarre occurrences:
State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg - 3* - My Review

I finished A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay.

I read What You Leave Behind, the description said it was a haunting thriller so that was enough for me.

I would recommend:
When the Reckoning Comes
The Sun Down Motel

Denise wrote: "I agree with Dalex, was planning something poignant, lyrical or sad. It will difficult to plan, I will know it when I read it"

I agree with Dalex and Denise: "...poignant, lyrical or sad."

I'm reading by Tananarive Due.

I read The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading and Hidden People.

I enjoyed the first book - there were some books I wouldn't have included, and some that I missed, but that will be the same for any reader.

The second book had a MC haunted by the memory of a girl he met once, hints of fairy magic, and the descriptions of the Yorkshire countryside were magical in both senses of the world. Also a book haunted by folk tales, poems, and a novel.

I read We Do Not Part by Han King. It was haunting on multiple levels: writing and subject matter.

I’d love suggestions for not-really-scary books that meet this prompt, for the ‘fraidy cats among us!

I read Wild Dark Shore. It has a haunting atmosphere and story. One character also talks to a dead spouse. I don’t necessarily consider that a ghost, but who knows?

I read Day Four by Sarah Lotz

I read



It has a very haunting, unsettling vibe to it. Just felt fitting for this prompt.

I absolutely would consider Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield a haunting book on many levels. It's also a modern gothic.

Another is A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James but in a totally different way.

Also Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale has haunted me since I read it in the late 1980s.

I'm taking "haunting" the ghost story route. I am reading Anyone But Her by Cynthia Swanson. The book is from the perspective of one woman as a grown up in 2004, and when she was a teenager in 1979. Her mother is murdered, and she is one of the ghosts that the MC sees. It's set in Denver where I live, so that's fun as well. It's really good so far.

I read:
The Haunting of H. G. Wells by Robert Masello

REJECT: A book featuring a protagonist who is in mid-life

Finished: 06/25/2025
Rating: 4 stars

From Goodreads:
It’s 1914. The Great War grips the world—and from the Western Front a strange story emerges…a story of St. George and a brigade of angels descending from heaven to fight beside the beleaguered British troops. But can there be any truth to it?

H. G. Wells, the most celebrated writer of his day—author of The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man—is dispatched to find out.

martha wrote: "I’d love suggestions for not-really-scary books that meet this prompt, for the ‘fraidy cats among us!"

The Haunting of H. G. Wells - not scary at all

I read The Only Good Indians. 5 stars

I read Bag of Bones by Stephen King for this topic (Read August 10th; 4*)

I read The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden. I had originally chosen a different book to use for this prompt, but 1) my IRL book group chose this one, so I wanted to see if I could slot it in to one of my remaining prompts, and 2) the book I thought I'd read here is very similar to another book I just read, so decided to give them some time between readings. "Haunting" had to do with aftermath of WWII.

This is a tough one to review. I liked the sentence level writing style. BUT in the first 3rd there weren't any characters I liked (which I'm seeing is something that is at least somewhat important to me). Things shifted in the second third that made it more interesting, but still didn't love it. In the last third a revelation was made that changed my understanding and definitely made it more interesting. But I think this author risked losing some readers (I almost DNF'd it in the first third) by structuring it this way. I suppose it made sense in the story, but I'd feel better if I'd read another novel by this author and knew I could trust her. Not possible with this as this is her first novel. But I'd be willing to try another should she write one again.

Tracy wrote: "I read The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden. I had originally chosen a different book to use for this prompt, but 1) my IRL book group chose this one, so I wanted to see if I could ..."

I was thinking about reading it soon, but I think I need something more engaging. I have a Russian SciFi that is supposed to be funny but I’m not getting the humor yet.

What’s the Russian SciFi NancyJ?

I read The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. by Washington Irving for the spooky season. This collection includes his most famous stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, as well as many (mostly) interesting "sketches" from his time in England as the first American celebrity writer only a few decades after the Revolutionary War. From the Headless Horseman, to old British funerary rites, to spectre bridegrooms and a talking book in a medieval library at Westminster, this haunted book fit the category perfectly.

My full review can be found here.