Spooky Fall Reads (in a season spookier than many would wish)

Toni Morrison, good ole' Hitchcock, a fantastic new horror novel by Rivers Solomon, and healthy distractions to cope with election anxiety

Time is clearly broken. School just started, yet today is Halloween (a religion here on Capitol Hill), and on Sunday, my firstborn turns 14 years old (!?!).

The ticking clock is inducing strong feelings of resistance this week, especially as I manage increasing levels of election-related anxiety (5 days to go. Who’s counting? Not me. Scrupulously. Every second.).

Perhaps it would have been wise for me to consider the impact of the election as I mapped out my reading choices for this month, but NO, I chose this moment to dive into the terrifying, exquisite horror that is Toni Morrison’s Beloved, while simultaneously dedicating myself to 9-hour deep dive of the Menendez brothers via “Monsters” on Netflix. Strange that I’m not feeling more settled about the world, huh?

Yesterday I decided to relax by conducting a quick Google search on JonBenét Ramsay to see if that case has been solved yet (spoiler: it hasn’t), which is all to say that true crime may not be the ticket for achieving a cool, calm, and collected demeanor right now.

Something tells me I’m not alone. Something also tells me that this may be a valuable moment for us to collectively engage in a conversation about how the f**k to stay grounded as events unfold.

As an avid reader, books have long served as a reliable escape from life. But reading doesn’t come easily during moments of stress.

I remember staring at pages and trying (unsuccessfully) to connect with the words in front of me in March 2020 when the pandemic began. I remember holding unread books in my hands during many long hospital visits following my husband’s brain injury (I’ll never understand why I thought that was the moment to start Sarah’s Key).

As I told a friend the other night on the phone, if all I have left at the end of this life is my ability to read, that would be OK. There would be plenty to keep me busy. But sometimes reading is not the solution to anxiety. Particularly for those of us who choose to read the news.

On Friday, I became extremely uneasy after learning about the Washington Post’s decision not to endorse a candidate this election cycle. With days remaining until the election, it’s difficult to buy owner Jeff Bezos’ reasoning for abstaining. His cowardice makes me wonder how many others are willing to kowtow to the bully who seems to have taken America hostage. Reading about Sunday’s rally at Madison Square Garden did nothing to alleviate my worry. Since then, I’ve been haunted by the marching clock to next Tuesday, and the many possibilities that lay ahead.

Abstaining from the news is one option. And while it would certainly serve Jeff Bezos right (assuming he cares at all about the newspaper he owns), the work of America’s journalists is too important to turn away from. So, I’m working hard to implement discipline in my consumption of it (i.e., no news first thing in the morning, 30 minutes total, no cable TV).

Discipline. And distractions.

We’ll get to those in a moment. But first, please know: if you’re feeling anxious, you’re hardly alone. There are plenty of us out here who will match you worry for worry. But anxiety feeds anxiety, so maybe let’s not all be in the same room together unless we’re doing something healthy like barre class or yoga, OK?

Secondly, this may be the moment to become a very selective reader, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just as I wouldn’t advise a brand new caregiver to pick up my memoir, I wouldn’t advise a friend to consume any content that leaves them fearful. Now is the time to pick up texts that contribute to regulation, not dysregulation, of our nervous systems. Romance novels, fantasy, US Weekly, whatever it is: go for it. And go for it without guilt. While I highly recommend the books below, I’m not advising you to begin them today, only to add them to your shelf for later.

Comfort is important right now. Safety is a collective and essential need. If, like me, you’ve lost hours of your life and precious focus to Ronald Schmumf (name changed because I can’t bear to utter it) and his treasonous agenda, please take care of yourself. And do indulge in some healthy distractions.

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Model Home by Rivers Solomon: I devoured this book on our flight home from France earlier this month, so grateful to have found Solomon’s work. The conceit had me immediately hooked: an upper-middle-class Black family moves into a former model home in an exclusive, gated community in the Dallas suburbs. Then everything goes wrong. Supernatural forces collide with family trauma as the Maxwell siblings, who grew up in the house, confront past demons and work to resolve their parents’ shocking deaths. A haunted house story told through the lens of Black horror, Model Home unearths so much: shame, identity, and the wrenching task of making peace with our former selves.

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel: An ode to the legendary filmmaker, Wrobel’s most recent thriller places Alfred, hotelier of the Hitcock Hotel, and his small group of college friends in a locked room mystery where old secrets and tensions are revealed (think Clue vibes). Hitchcock fans will appreciate the many nods to his iconic films (my personal faves were Rear Window & Vertigo), and the great quotes by the filmmaker that are interspersed throughout. The premise of The Hitchcock Hotel may be a bit campy, but there’s nothing in this fun, easy-to-digest writing that will interrupt your precious sleep, which may make it the perfect thriller for the current moment.

Beloved by Toni Morrison: Before we dive in, allow me to acknowledge my embarrassment. It’s taken until now, the ripe age of 42, to discover that Toni Morrison invented writing. This fact was obvious from page one of the deeply unsettling, soul-changing masterpiece that is Beloved. Yet, at no point in my education was I ever assigned one of Morrison’s texts. In the past few years, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the books I read in high school. Or, more accurately, the books I didn’t read. I grew up in a very white, affluent corner of America and this was reflected back to me in my teachers’ assigned reading choices. What I would give to go back and skip the 1,400-page experience of reading Gone with the Wind and trade it for a novel that unflinchingly entrenches the reader in the experience of slavery.

While Beloved takes place in the Reconstruction era, its protagonist, Sethe, is haunted by the horrors of all she’s endured: the violence to her body, her spirit, her mind. Her home, which is haunted by the ghost of her dead daughter, offers no peace either. Despite the promises of freedom, Sethe remains locked in the terror of her past, until the day she is visited by a mysterious stranger.

This book is brutal. It does not placate the reader, nor compromise its rendering for anyone’s comfort. At what point is a person ready for this book? Never. But it must be read anyway.

You can find my other Beyond the Classroom reading recommendations here.

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Go-To Healthy Distractions

• Meditation

• Paint-by-number art (I lost many happy, chill hours to these sets over the summer)

• Neighborhood walks

• Family board games

• Happy television: Need or have recommendations? Drop it in the comments. I loved No One Wants This on Netflix and I’d love to find my next show.

• Write a novel! National Novel Writing Month starts tomorrow. If you’ve never participated before, it’s a motivating (and supportive) way to tackle a new book project. 50,000 words in one month? No problem! (JK, it’s a serious undertaking, but a fun one). Learn more about NaNaNoWriMo here.