1. Pet Sematary by Stephen King - I read Pet Sematary one fall when I was living in a small town in Arkansas. My apartment was at the bottom of a hill next to a dense and dark forest. I lived alone and stayed up late into the night reading about the Creed family and their discovery of a mystical burial ground that brings dead animals back to life. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much during and after reading this truly chilling exploration of death and grief. A very scary book.

2. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters – This gothic novel set in post-war Britain is not really meant to be a traditional horror novel, but it is very spooky nonetheless. Dr. Faraday meets the Ayres family when he goes to their crumbling estate to attend Rodney, who suffers from PTSD. Something is haunting the Ayres family – is it supernatural or can it be explained by their poverty and vanished status in society?

3. The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin – Nicholas Close gains the second sight after a motorcycle crash. Unable to mentally cope with his new abilities he returns to his native Australia to live with his mother. Living in his family home, he begins to ponder the disappearance of his best friend from childhood and discovers that other children went missing too. What happened to them? Evil forests, pagan rites and witches make this novel a dark thriller.

4. The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle – Have you ever wondered about where Heathcliff lived before he arrived at Wuthering Heights? Clare Dunkle’s prequel to Emily Bronte’s famous tale is narrated by Tabby Ackroyd, the Bronte’s actual maid, who is employed to watch over Heathcliff at the brooding Seldom House. Lonely, bored and hostile, Tabby and Heathcliff begin to investigate their reason for being in the damp and isolated mansion devoid of adults. What they discover is a corrupt plan that puts their lives at stake. Gloomy, brooding and eerie, The House of Dead Maids is a fascinating vision of Heathcliff’s origins.

What are your favorite spooky novels?

I apologize that your names aren’t being hyperlinked to your blogs in the comments section! I’m not sure why this is happening. I’ve tried to change the settings in WordPress, but no luck so far.

In honor of Independence Day (which I spent in a small mountain town in Arizona yesterday) I am presenting to you four of my favorite American novels. This is a diverse collection because, as I have written about in the past, I really don’t read a lot of books written by Americans so the ones I have read are a bit of a weird mix. I read three of these (all except The Age of Innocence) for reading challenges and would never have done so if not for it. So, hurrah for challenges! And now here are four of the best American classics I’ve read:

1. A Death in the Family by James Agee – This posthumously published novel is a beautifully lyrical story of the evolution of the Follett family after Jay Follett, the young husband of the family, dies in an automobile accident. Set in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1915 the novel painfully portrays the confusion and grief of a sudden death and flashbacks to happier times in the family’s history. If you like gorgeous writing and stories about families, this one is for you.

2. The Searchers by Alan LeMay – I have only read a handful of Westerns in my lifetime and this was one of them. It happens to be a powerful and fascinating story of two strong men and their search for a little girl who has been captured by the Comanche in Texas in the 1860′s. This novel has a very dark theme with revenge and bigotry central to the story. You may have seen the film based on this novel starring John Wayne – put all thoughts of the weak film out of your head and read this wonderful story instead. It is nothing like the film and is so much more rewarding.

3. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton – This brilliant story of New York society in the Gilded Age is quite possibly one of my favorite novels of all-time. You can read my thoughts on it here.

4. House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday - Abel is a young Native American who’s just returned from WWII to his small village in New Mexico. Tradition remains strong in Abel’s village, but he has seen the modern, industrial world and feels compelled to join it. His father, Francisco, however, expects him to return to the culture of his people. The conflict is nearly too much for Abel to bear and we watch as he descends into despair and confusion. Momaday’s poetical novel is a sad treatise that is saturated with beautiful descriptions of the Southwestern landscape. His prose can be impenetrable, but if you stick with it you will discover a beautiful book that will touch your heart.

What are your favorite American classics?

The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith Jones – I am really fond of reading books about food, chefs and cooking. Judith Jones is a self-taught cook and a long-time editor at Knopf who discovered Julia Child and helped make her a household name in America. In this memoir she talks about her culinary education, her love for France and French cooking and her experiences editing the cookbooks of some of our most famous chefs including Child, Marcella Hazan and Claudia Roden. Her understated and humble style is very appealing and the simple way she discusses food makes food appreciation an art.

My Life in France by Julia Child – I read this lovely book last summer for the Paris in July event and completely enjoyed it. Child is a cheerful and inspiring companion as she leads us through her adventurous life as the wife of a government employee in Paris and Marseilles. As you know, Child was no ordinary housewife – she threw herself into learning everything she could about French cuisine with incredible gusto. The cooking and food details in this memoir are fascinating, but I really loved it for the example of grit, enthusiasm and joyful living that Child embodies. She is inspiring to me.

Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett - I’ve never read any of Patchett’s fiction, but this chronicle of her friendship with poet Lucy Grealy is one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. Grealy got cancer when she was young and as a result her face was disfigured when part of her jaw had to be removed. As an adult she suffered from self-esteem problems, drug abuse and depression. Patchett remained her stalwart and loyal friend to the end, despite wanting to end their friendship several times. This is an intensely truthful look at a sustaining friendship between two remarkable women.

A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena di Blasi - Another book about a chef, this is also a riveting love story. di Blasi, a chef at a restaurant in St. Louis, travels to Venice for a trip and meets a surly Italian who falls in love with her. Before she even realizes what is happening she agrees to marry him and is soon living in Venice with a man who barely speaks English (and she doesn’t speak Italian) . This memoir details their rocky honeymoon phase and her growing admiration and passion for Italy and Italian food. di Blasi, like Child, has an enthuasiasm for life and her writing, as well as her philosophy of living, is motivating.

These are just a few of the memoirs I’ve loved. Do you have a favorite memoir?