Reader Recs with Kelly

1) Introduce yourself!

Oh, hi! I’m Kelly, reader, horror enthusiast, and pop culture aficionado! You can find me obsessing over books, movies, and all things horror over at @thefinalfangirl and diving into my life at @popkelture. 

By day, I work in philanthropy, but by night, I love horror novels, revenge thrillers, or, anything dealing with witches (especially stories that have a good female rage plot), and (dark) folklore.

2) Book (s) that you are currently reading and your thoughts so far.

Right now I’m about halfway into “The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden & the Trial of the Century” by Sarah Miller. Lizzie’s story is one that has always intrigued me (the entire investigation was SO botched). Was she a victim of the time and patriarchal thinking? Or did she manipulate the system and get away with murder?

The book is great - it tells the story in narrative form, so it doesn’t feel like you’re reading a textbook - but keeps true to facts. 

Fun fact - the rhyme “Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her father forty whacks…” is inaccurate. Mr. Borden (Andrew) received 11 blows, while Lizzie’s stepmother (Abby) received 19, not 41.

3) 2 books that you recommend. Any books, any genre!

“When Women Were Dragons” by Kelly Barnhill, and “Don’t Breathe a Word” by Jennifer McMahon.

4) Has a book ever changed your life or is there one that you still think about constantly? Tell us why!

See above! “When Women were Dragons” stayed (stays) with my for DAYS after I read it. The fantasy was woven so seamlessly into the story, I forgot it was talking about ACTUAL dragons. Beside that, the story of women fighting to be their true selves in a world that just wants to make them as small and meek as possible, resonated with me on a primal level. I cried (sobbed) through the entire last act and immediately went out and bought a copy to annotate. 

5) You have a WIP novel. Spill what you can about it:

Okay, I ALWAYS have a WIP (or 4) in my mind. I wrote a (HORRIBLE) witchy tale MANY years ago - it reads like bad fan fiction, but at least I finished it. 

Currently, I’m working through the outline of a decent possession story. Another one of my macabre interests, possession stories are some of my FAVORITES, but “The Exorcist” is probably the only one that tells a story the way I want to hear it. I want to build on that, but go deeper into the religious aspect (if I can’t go into the vaults of the Vatican to read hidden texts, you better believe my MC is going to) of possession and exorcism.

Follow Kelly at @the.final.fangirl

@popkelture