In which I remember what I forgot...

I remember what Spooky Season book I forgot to review! It is, of course, Carmen Maria Machado’s brilliant short story collection Her Body and Other Parties, which, as usual, I read several years after its heyday. I knew I was missing one!

Is there even a point in reviewing this? What can I possibly say that hasn’t already been said? It’s fantastic. Machado’s stories are eerie, sure—but they’re also fleshy and potent and heartrending and some of them make you feel like you’re going a little bit insane. She captures exactly what it’s like to be a woman, even if the plots of the stories are more extreme than what a regular woman might experience. Extreme isn’t the right word. The stories are more…supernatural? Other-worldly? I can’t quite name it.

Personal favorites: “The Husband Stitch,” which references every creepy-kid’s favorite childhood story about Jenny with the green ribbon around her neck; “Especially Heinous,” which takes the beloved characters of NBC’s long-running hit Law & Order: SVU in directions you’d never expect; and “The Resident,” a gothic tale of a writer headed to a secluded, rural residency to work on her book.

I read “The Resident” right before I traveled to the Tin House YA Workshop on Oregon’s coast, so I experienced a bit more trepidation about my trip than I’d expected.

Should you read Her Body and Other Parties? Yes, you absolutely should. Everyone is correct when they tell you to read it. Can confirm.

I’m glad I remembered that I read it! That makes 41 books in 2019.