Starting off with a bit of gratitude and sappiness
Ummm.. Do you know who you’re talking to? A perpetually sentimental baby girl LOL
We met yesterday for our third synchronous book club meeting to discuss “I Was A Teenage Slasher” by Stephen Graham-Jones. While the reviews were varied, we had a wonderful discussion on the horror genre overall, and the themes it forces us to ruminate on.
I want to express gratitude for the folks who have joined the book club, as it’s become such a glimmer of hope for me to look forward to each month. The online book community is so special, and I love that we can talk across time zones via Instagram, Discord, DMs, and share posts to read whenever we have the spoons. It’s an accessible way to experience friendship far and wide, and I won’t discount that.
However, there’s something even more magical when you get to talk to someone in a video call. For me, seeing their facial expressions, hearing their tone, and being able to respond in real time (even if it’s goofily, awkwardly, and imperfectly) just *does* something to me. I’m telling you, it sparks up the same chemical reactions I feel when I get a really nice hug, when I play with my dog, and when I am laughing uncontrollably over something inconsequential. I’m giddy, and more importantly, through these meetings, I feel more deeply connected to the folks who are bravely sharing their reflections on a book, which is not always about “just” the book. I also just feel more connected and more belonging to the world around me.
I love how these book club questions get us thinking about how intersectional media (and everything) is. They also remind me that the people I’m talking to online have full lives beyond books and media. I recognize that’s an incredibly silly thing to admit, but to be cringe is to be free — I’m admitting it baby! Bookstagram is a niche corner of the internet, and sometimes, I don’t get to see the fullness of each person I’m interacting with. Yet, when I’m on a call with them, I learn even more lore about them, banter naturally comes through, and I think that’s really special.
So, this is really just a long-winded way (lol, when am I not long-winded?) of saying thank you to the folks who have joined book club so far: Monique, Andrew, Lucia, Cass, Katelyn, Jen, Raven, and Jaynelle. Yall don’t know how much it means to me to connect with you all in this way.
Anyway, now that the mushy stuff is over, here are horror book recommendations from us that we discussed during our most recent book club meeting. NOTE: Not all of them will fit into #TheDiverseBaseline challenge, but I wanted to share these recommendations since we had such a great discussion on the horror genre as a whole.
From Jen, who can be found on Bluesky:
One horror book I really liked was "We Don't Swim Here" by Vincent Tirado* - which does a great job of answering the "this is why this is happening" question on the end.
From Jaynelle, who can be found on Instagram:
Kayla Cottingham, Vanessa Montalban, and Krystal Sutherland for YA Horror
Rachel Harrison - more like comedy ish or culty
The Reformatory* if you want your heart ripped out
From Katelyn, who can be found on Instagram:
From Lucia, who can be found on Instagram:
From me, your Diverse Baseline co-host and corny book club organizer:
I put an asterisk* next to the ones you can add to #TheDiverseBaseline prompts, most notably for horror, but if you look up the authors, you can find out their backgrounds.
Look… If you’re not in book club yet, I get it. But I urge you to join us, because I’d love to read and chat with you hehe. Below are the all links you need!
I hope the week is treating you gently, and I hope to hear from yall soon. Keep posting your reviews with the hashtag #TheDiverseBaseline, and drop your horror novel recs in the comments (:
The light & love in me honors, respects, and is rooting for the light & love inside of you,
Brittany Jade
