PECKERWOOD BOOK CLUB: How Long Do You Keep Your Books? Plus "Sundial" By Catriona Ward! And, Hey, Watch'cha Readin' These Days?

Welcome back to The Peckerwood Book Club, the first of 2024! If you're like me, your bookshelves are always near-to-bursting. Me and the hubs have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in the bedroom, the guest room, the living room, and in what we call the dining room, or dining area, against the wall next to the kitchen table. Too much? Probably, but Elder Cat has plenty of wee areas in the shelves to hop up on and rest, or to leap from (without warning) if he's so inclined. 

But when is too many books too many? Is there such a thing? Are you panicking just thinking about this? How do you decide which books to keep and which to pitch? And when?

For our part, we moved to a new place last summer, and just after, did a serious inspection of every book in our collection as we unpacked them. We had room for them all - we'd already made sure of that - but knew that our shelves would likely be bursting at the seams (again) in about a year if we didn't take drastic action. And so we did - and we were ruthless, hurling books into a donate pile that we knew we'd never look at again, no matter how much we'd enjoyed them the first time round. We'd done this once before about five years ago, and I honestly can't think of a single book that we got rid of that I've felt the need to read again. It can be done.

For those of you who are all-digital, you don't have this problem, but if you aren't, do you have any criteria for which books you keep and which you toss? And how often do you purge? 

Meanwhile, have I got a literary nail-biter for you, or a book that will definitely give you the shivers. It's called "Sundial," which no less than Stephen King says is "terrifying." Written by Catriona Ward, it charts the adventures of Rob, a young mother who fears that her moody twelve-year-old daughter is a burgeoning serial killer. How does she know this? Let's just say that Rob recognizes all the signs from personal experience. 

"Sundial" manages to incorporate serial killers - yes, there's more than one - lobotomy, mind control, seriously lunatic dogs, and a mother’s unwavering love, and all in a story where nearly every chapter features a unique, hair-raising shocker. The characters keep you hooked. They include both the adult and the teenage Rob, the latter who naïvely, even sweetly, believes that she can escape her family’s psychosis and violence. Equally gripping is Jack, her female fraternal twin, or the “crazy one,” as we’re ominously told. Jack’s and Rob’s ongoing, push-pull relationship, and their demented upbringing, is freakish, to be sure, yet believably - and creepily – plausible in this hothouse arena. Even the novel's minor characters, such as Pawel, a meek lab assistant who’s reveled to have slain his entire family years ago, step forth fully, and scarily, defined. 

"Sundial" is not for the faint of heart. Not that it's especially violent or gory, but let's put it this way: if the movie "Hereditary" was too much for you, then stay far, far away from "Sundial," which also operates in a heart-stopping, psychologically terrifying vein. It's the perfect book to curl up with on a dark winter night. If you dare. 

Speaking of something to curl up with on a dark winter night, your happy-go-lucky Bibliophile Bendy Boy™ is looking for you-know-what, so let him have it, or rather, tell him what books you've really enjoyed lately. And since his bookshelves are absolutely bulging, give him a few tips. How long do you keep your books - and how do you decide which ones to junk? 

Phot Credits: Tor/Macmillan; Instagram