The Grady Hendrix Experience
Currently reading:
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
Books finished this week: 1
★★★★☆
Where this book came from: Ordered twelve days ago from Barnes & Noble.
Why this book: Two words: Grady Hendrix. (Technically, this one should fall under the rule of “it’s by an author I adore, so it doesn’t count as breaking the no-buying-books rule,” but I’ve already broken the rule so many times, I don’t think I can be lenient with myself.)
Thoughts: It’s wild how visceral Grady Hendrix’s writing is, gross imagery to scary moments to just incredibly obnoxious characters driving you up the fucking wall. That last note is why this one wasn’t a five-star read for me. We got a lot of wind-up at the beginning, and a lot of that wind-up featured incredibly frustrating characters. When the horror happened, it was good. But until the back half, those moments were few and far between, and I didn’t find myself as drawn to Louise and Mark as I’ve been drawn to past Hendrix characters. The pacing is a bit slow and some of the language is repetitive (and not in a way that I think is meant to tell me something about the characters——it felt more like a “this is Grady Hendrix and we don’t really edit him anymore” situation). Anyway, the last two pages still made me cry, as the last two pages of all of his dumb books make me do, so goddamn it, Hendrix, but I will continue to follow you anywhere.
Library updates:
Winter returned to New York with a vengeance this week. There were days that genuinely felt like spring again (mostly when I had somewhere to be and found myself wearing a sweater and a winter coat as I power-walked down the city streets, like a buffoon), but yesterday (Saturday) it was cold. More bearable today, if still chilly. I’m embracing it, though. I enjoy a cold winter day, especially when I have nowhere to be and nothing to do.
I saw two shows this week, because I’m Cultured. It’s been really exciting to get back into the swing of Broadway. I was doing really well with seeing shows back in early 2020, because I suddenly realized that I lived and worked in New York and I wasn’t taking full advantage of it. Obviously, I then went on a bit of a hiatus, but I’m back to it now. (I am not sponsored by TodayTix, but really, I should be.) Every show feels like an adventure, and can bring so much joy before, during, and after. The planning, the anticipation, the viewing, the talking to friends who have seen it afterward, tucking away your Playbill as a keepsake.
The biggest event this week, though, was that my cat, Miss Moneypenny, turned five! When I adopted her, I knew she was roughly a year and some months old, and I desperately wanted to give her a James Bond-related birthday, for obvious reasons, but nothing really fit the timeline. So I chose February 3, instead——Gertrude Stein’s birthday. That felt appropriately literary and regal.
In a few months, Penny and I will also be celebrating four amazing years together. I feel so genuinely blessed to have found my girl, who most enjoys ham cold cuts and sitting on my laptop when I’m trying to type up blog posts. Happy birthday, Penny!!
To close out this week’s missive, I thought it would be fun to rank the Grady Hendrix books I’ve read, to celebrate my reading of his latest this week. I am utterly in awe of how this man’s mind works; my secret desire is to one day write a horror novel, mostly to get him to blurb it.
Anyway, my Official Ranking of Grady Hendrix Novels is as follows:
My Best Friend’s Exorcism: My first, my last, my everything.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
The Final Girl Support Group
How to Sell a Haunted House
Horrorstör
We Sold Our Souls (blech——sorry, Grady)
And now off to Barnes & Noble for a lovely Sunday visit, to (not) buy more books!!
Closing thoughts:
Find an author who inspires you—to read more, to write like them, to dream up fanfiction and dream movie casts—and devour all the work by them that you can get your hands on.
