- Laura Bliss Morris
- Friday, January 13, 2023
I am not a fan of Horror books--psychological, thriller, slasher--essentially anything with even a remotely scary feel has me quaking in my ballet flats.
Which is why I was shocked to find myself literally hanging on to every word during Stephen Graham Jones' recent visit to Richland Library.
To be fair, I may never eat watermelon again (those of you who were there understand why 😳) but I was absolutely fascinated by his writing style, attention to detail, and approach to giving an author talk. He essentially stood in front of a room of people and picked short stories to read at random from his very robust catalog.
That was the moment I knew I needed to broaden my bookshelf--to read outside of my comfort zone.
This approach gives my Type A personality its own set of heebie-jeebies but man it works for him. So much to the point where I couldn't wait to ask my book club if any of them had read his works and to describe to them the way he delivered an angsty teen cannibalism story to a room of devoted fans from all walks of life in the middle of the library on a weeknight. I remember looking around the room during the lecture to see if anyone was as horrified by this story as I was and what I found was a room enraptured by the horrific thrill instead.
That was the moment I knew I needed to broaden my bookshelf--to read outside of my comfort zone. Because if this one lecture could evoke this much discomfort/thrill/horror/angst/enlightenment, I can't help but imagine what an entire book can do.
So this February I'll be hosting my book club's session and you may be horrified (or delighted) to find out that we'll be reading My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones.
Oh and if you don't know much about Stephen Graham Jones but are now totally intrigued, check out this one-on-one interview we did with him during his visit--the man writes while carrying sharp objects around 🔪.
OFF BOOK: STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES
Ready to broaden your reading horizons and step outside of your comfort zone? Try our #BroaderBookshelf Reading Challenge. Fresh prompts for the new year can be found, here.