My Week In Reading

A short story, a novel, and more Substacks

Photo by Niklas Tidbury on Unsplash

If you’re new here, this is Binge, the section of my newsletter where I give you my reading list and ask for yours. I also wanted to invite all my readers to join in on a new Kindling book club - The Barrens. We read Stephen King, talk craft, story, and nerd out on his works. Next Saturday, July 1st, we launch with Carrie. If that sounds up your alley, devour the book this week and join us!

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Summer is finally here (Happy Solstice) and I’m feeling it. Happy, energized, eager to work. This week has been a busy one for me. I finished a novel, re-read some Ray Bradbury, and found a couple of Substacks to share with you. The stories are flowing, and I have two days to get a ton of writing done, so I’ll make this one quick, but some of these were too good not to share.

Sundial, by Catriona Ward.

Catriona Ward as featured in Paste.

Catriona Ward is my new horror find from last year. She is a British/American horror author and a Bram Stoker nominee this year for her novel, Sundial. I’m making my way slowly but surely through that list of books, and I finally read hers this week. It did not disappoint.

This is the second book of hers I’ve read, and I think I’ve picked up on some of her storytelling style. She writes in first person, alternating characters in each chapter, weaving the story together from past and present perspectives. For me, it’s very effective. I also find it a very difficult thing to do well, so bravo to her for making it happen.

Sundial is the story of Rob, a mother to two daughters, one of whom is exhibiting disturbing behavior, wife to an abusive husband, and the product of an extremely strange childhood. Rob grew up with her twin sister Jack, on Sundial Ranch. Instead of being surrounded by family, she lived with two scientists dedicated to researching violent behavior, attempting to create gene editing technology for people with psychotic tendencies. The subjects of their research: a pack of dogs and their pups who were rescued from an abusive puppy mill in the little town they live near.

When Rob’s daughter Callie starts collecting animal bones and whispering to imaginary friends, Rob decides to take her to her childhood home in the Mojave Desert. She has to protect her younger daughter Annie and make sure Callie can’t become the monster she fears she is.

But Callie starts to worry about her mother and their little trip. Rob seems far away, not herself, and Callie wonders if her mother’s solution is murder.

A tense story of surviving abuse, nature versus nurture, and the secrets we keep to protect ourselves and our loved ones. I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys thrillers.

The Veldt, by Ray Bradbury.

Every writer has a book that made them want to tell stories. The Illustrated Man is that book for me. I spent many years living apart from my dad. Our relationship was kept up through phone calls and gifts he and my stepmom sent me in the mail. I don’t remember them all, but I remember this one vividly.

I must have been in fifth or sixth grade. It’s hard to place it now. The package came with a purple backpack and a beautiful copy of The Illustrated Man. I still remember talking to my dad on the phone about it, hearing him ask if I’d read him before. Farenheit 451? Dandelion Wine? I hadn’t.

There’s a picture on the back of the book, Ray Bradbury with a cat in his lap. I remember in the years following, when my dad moved to the same city I lived in, he would often talk about Bradbury’s approach to writing. That it should be joyful. I’m drawn to writers with that attitude, though I don’t always feel that way myself. It shouldn’t be torture, letting these stories flow.

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

-Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

The Veldt is the first short story in the anthology, The Illustrated Man. It tells of two parents struggling to bring their family together. Their two children have become obsessed with the nursery in their home of the future. The walls are screens that the children can change to any imagined playground, but recently, the walls have displayed nothing but the African savannah, lions always in the distance, the hot buzzing of flies. Taking it away sends the children into fits. They don’t want time with their parents. They only want the nursery.

When was this written? 1950.

Strange to see how true parts of that dangerous predicted future were. Fiction writers are sometimes fortune tellers in disguise. Science fiction writers in particular have a knack for calling out the scarier parts the future holds. The obsession children have with technology, while not always as dark as Bradbury’s telling, has certainly come true in so many ways. If only the Steve Jobs of the world had read this, and not been inspired.

Missing Girl: Found, by Olivia St. Lewis

I have two short pieces for you to check out. The first is a short story by Olivia St. Lewis, of Wednesday Afternoon. When Maybelle brings home a bone, the mystery of a missing girl is solved, but not everyone wants those secrets told.

I really enjoyed reading this story, and I think some of you might as well. Well written, engaging, and great characters. Check it out!

Missing Girl: Found

Cataclysm, by Justin Deming

This piece was a response to a fifty word story challenge that Justin hosted on his Substack, Along the Hudson. The prompt: Write a fifty-word story (fiction, poem, or work of CNF) incorporating stars, a starry night, or a constellation.

Fifties by the Fire ~ Starry Night

I read his response in the comments and was really moved by the imagery. I hope you enjoy.

Yellowstone erupted on a calm Sunday morning.

“Daddy, when will the ash go away?” Max asked as we fled east.

I choked on words; nothing came out.

On the seventeenth night, stars reappeared. We held each other—hugged strangers in our impromptu roadside camp.

A small sliver of hope remained.

Isn’t that beautiful?

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And now it’s your turn. What did you read, watch, listen to? Anything you want to share?