Night Owls

Night Owls by A.R. Vishny is the story of two folkloric Jewish monsters, Estries, who run a theater on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Clara loves rules. Rules are what have kept her and her sister, Molly, alive—or, rather, undead—for over a century. Work their historic movie theater by day. Shift into an owl under the cover of night. Feed on men in secret. And never fall in love.

Molly is in love. And she’s tired of keeping her girlfriend, Anat, a secret. If Clara won’t agree to bend their rules a little, then she will bend them herself.

Boaz is cursed. He can’t walk two city blocks without being cornered by something undead. At least at work at the theater, he gets to flirt with Clara, wishing she would like him back.

When Anat vanishes and New York’s monstrous underworld emerges from the shadows, Clara suspects Boaz, their annoyingly cute box office attendant, might be behind it all.

But if they are to find Anat, they will need to work together to face demons and the hungers they would sooner bury. Clara will have to break all her rules—of love, of life, and of death itself before her rules break everyone she loves.

Vishny has written an amazing genreblend of mystery, historical folklore, New York history, romance and more. Read this book! 

Vishny, A.R. (2024). Night Owls. New York: Harper. 

The Brides of High Hill (Singing Hills Cycle #4)

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo is the fourth book in the Singing Hills Cycle series of fantasy novellas that read like folklore. 

After a break at the Singing Hills Monastery, Cleric Chih is back on the road exploring, gathering tales to be kept in the oral history. 

Chih wakes up and cannot remember how they got on a palanquin. They are traveling with a young woman to meet her betrothed. It is a blessing to have a cleric in such an instance, even though that is not what Singing Hills focuses on.

This is all I will say! Read these amazing books! You can finish one in an hour, or savor it for days. 

Vo, Nghi. (2024). The Brides of High Hill. New York: Tordotcom.

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar is a beautiful tale of one family's difficult time during the Islamic revolution in Iran. Translated from Persian.

Narrated by Bahar, a thirteen year old ghost, we follow her family as they flee from Tehran for a small village in the forest. They build a house in the woods where they can continue to enjoy the now illegal music, books and intellectual freedom they had before the revolution.

In the chaos of the time they are only trying to go on living. While the violence of the time intrudes, the writing of this family tale is more folktale than horror story. Infused with magical realism, this based on real life tale, is poignant in our unstable times.

Azar and her translator have created a story that will quickly become a classic. Read this book for the beauty of an ancient culture trying to survive in the midst of political oppression.  

Azar, Shokoofeh. (2017). The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree. NY: Europa Editions. 

The Trickster and the Troll

The Trickster and the Troll by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve is a folk tale from two cultures. Written to reflect the stories of her children's cultures - Lakota and Norwegian - it is the story of what happens to when people stop believing in the stories of their heritage.

Troll moved from Norway with his human family. He went because the mother asked him to watch her sons as they moved to a new land. Troll always do what mother ask of them.

But along the way Troll gets lost. When wondering on the plains looking for his family he stumbles across Iktomi - the Lakota Trickster. Where as Trolls may be mischievous or wicked and are usually gentle and helpful, Iktomi is truly a trickster. He lies and cheats to better lesser beings, including humans. He never does what he can make someone else do for him. And he never learns from his mistakes. Although his other side is Ksa, wisdom, in this story only Iktomi is present.

Iktomi agrees to help Troll find his humans. Once they are found, Iktomi goes to find the Lakota. But he cannot. They are no longer within the ancient grounds. They have been moved to a reservation.

Both Troll and Iktomi find that their people no longer believe in them. What will the tricksters do when they have no humans? How will they survive? And will they be around when later generations hear of their stories or will they be only a memory?

Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. (1997). The Tirckster and the Troll. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

The Sons of the Wind

The Sons of the Wind: The Sacred Stories of the Lakota, edited by D.M. Dooling, is a beautiful look at the creation stories of the Sioux. Beginning from the time before there was anything and continuing to the creation of human, this story is a Genesis that can be seen in nature.

All of the gods can be seen in real life - the rock, the Earth, the sun and the sky are the 4 main Spirits. From there the story goes on to explain how other creatures developed, including the four winds, storms and the moon.

I read this book for the first time as an undergrad in a Native American Religions class. I then spent about 3 years trying to track down my own copy. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in world religions, creation myths, or American Indians of the plains.

Dooling, D.M. (Ed.) (1984). The sons of the wind: The sacred stories of the Lakota. New York: Parabola Books.