I’m back with more reading recommendations, this time for television characters who should probably spend less time trying to kill people and more time with a good book. I don’t know if you’re as obsessed with Agatha All Along as I am—raise your hand if you’ve had “The Witches Road” stuck on repeat in their head for the last several weeks—but it has completely taken over my life. This motley coven is living rent free in my brain, with no intention of leaving anytime soon. If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to spend some time with two of my current favorite things: readers’ advisory and Agatha Harkness.
Agatha Harkness should read…
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Agatha keeps a lot of things close to her cloak-clad chest, but we do know that she’s insidious, perfidious, and has been messing up everything all along (and she killed Sparky, too). Agatha revels in causing chaos for her own benefit and she does it so well even Loki would be impressed. She’s not afraid to draw someone else’s blood if it gets her more of whatever she wants. Which is precisely why I’m starting her off with The Salt Grows Heavy. The story begins with a fairytale ending—a mermaid marries the handsome prince—and ends in a nightmare of horror and violence. After the mermaid’s children devour her husband and his kingdom, she and a monstrous plague doctor travel to a strange village full of murderous cult children and things get even bloodier from there. “Survive at all costs,” is the theme of this book, something Agatha is intimately familiar with.
After that enticing treat, I’d hand her Piranesi. It’s a much quieter novel about a man trapped in an endless house by a sorcerer exploiting him for his own benefit. I think spending time in Matthew’s head would be good for Agatha as a way to see the consequences of her actions. With the novel centered on Matthew, she might be able to see herself reflected in the antagonist. At the same time, she might see herself as Matthew, as a person locked into a maze from which they can only escape by trusting a stranger and working together for a common goal. The delicate yet intricate magic of the house would pull her in, and the way Susanna Clarke explores the fraught relationship between Matthew and The Other would keep her hooked.
Billy Maximoff/William Kaplan should read…
Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon
Back during episode 3, I had the lightning strike of a thought that Billy would be absolutely insufferable about Godly Heathens, and thus this list was born. What makes his character so interesting is that he’s not only going through an origin story but is also midstream on another character arc. He’s trapped in the body of someone else, a boy he doesn’t understand and desperately wants to. And he’s coming into his own power as a witch. This is a kid who knows he’s powerful but is only just now discovering just how deep that well of power really is. Hence Godly Heathens. This young adult fantasy duology opener is about a Seminole teen, Gem, who learns they are a reincarnated god from another world caught in an endless cycle of falling in love and getting murdered. How much of them is Gem, the troubled human teen, and how much is the Magician, the all-powerful betrayer, is a question they struggle to answer. Plus, most of the characters are queer, and I think Billy would dig that.
Jennifer Kale should read…
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
Immanuelle is an outcast in her Puritan-esque community, Bethel. She tries to play the good little citizen, but the others look at her with suspicion, even her own family. A terrible incident in the Darkwood carries with it curses and plagues. Immanuelle’s past is the key to everything, but first she must discover her true power. Alexis Henderson’s dark fantasy isn’t a direct parallel to Jen’s character arc or backstory, but I think she’d feel a connection to Immanuelle’s plight. Like Immanuelle, Jen has suffered as an outsider and been cast out by too-powerful men who think she should be punished for the grave offenses of being confident and talented. And like Jen, Immanuelle’s power grab could cost her everything.
Alice Wu-Gulliver should read…
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
After her mother’s death by suicide, Leigh begins to see a red bird following her around, and decides it is her mother’s spirit. To help his daughter process her grief, her father sends her back to Taiwan to spend time with her grandparents. There, she uncovers family secrets and comes to terms with the truth about her mother’s life. I think Alice would find catharsis in Leigh’s story. The two women share a lot of similarities, not just in stories but in personality as well. They’re both trying to figure out how they feel about the troubled mother that left them when they were young, and to understand where they stand in the world without her.
Lilia Calderu should read…
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Lilia has had a tough enough time as it is without throwing some heavy drama at her, so I’m going with Oona Out of Order. It’s not exactly light—no book where someone lives their life nonlinearly could ever be fluffy and inconsequential—but it isn’t dense and sad. Oona Lockhart is on the verge of a big decision at only 19 years old. It’s 1982 when she’s about to choose which path her life will take when all of a sudden it’s 2014. On New Year’s Eve she jumps again and again and again. Every holiday she wakes up at a different point in her life. As hectic and stressful as it is, Oona always strives for more.
Rio Vidal/Death should read…
Metal From Heaven by august clarke and The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht
As with Agatha, I’m starting Rio, aka Lady Death, off with something short, sweet, and very bloody. The Monster of Elendhaven is about a monster who can’t die doing murders on behalf of a wicked master in a dying city seems like something she could get into. It’s a brutal novella with no clear answers and villainous protagonists you both fear and feel for. Anything involving murder and mayhem is going to delight our Lady Death.
I also have to recommend Metal From Heaven to her. Plot-wise, it’s a bit out of left field from Rio’s arc in Agatha All Along, but hear me out. The narrative structure is as off kilter and lurid as Rio is, and I think she’d get a kick out of reading Clarke’s evocative, gnarly sentences. The content, too, is perfectly matched with Rio. I don’t think she’d care too much about the conversations on labor exploitation and anarchist communes, but Marney’s complicated (and kinky) relationships with the various women in her life would definitely appeal to Rio. Just picturing Rio reading aloud That Scene to Agatha is…whew.
Mrs. Hart/Sharon Davis should read…
Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
I just know Sharon is the kind of middle class suburban white lady who secretly read Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey on her kindle with a big bottle of cheap wine close at hand. She needs something fun and sexy. I’m starting off with the first book in the Midnight, Texas series because it’s a quick, enthralling read about a seemingly normal small town that turns out to be weird and magical. Everyone has secrets and they all want to sleep with each other. If she likes this as much as I think she would, my next steps would be Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series and Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake books.
The Salem Seven should read…
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
These seven witches can think of nothing but revenge on Agatha, and for good reason. Getting all your magic sucked out of you and being left for dead isn’t my idea of a fun-filled afternoon. Although I would enjoy being able to shapeshift into a rat. That would be pretty cool. The Salem Seven could stand to read a book about women whose relationship is fractured and then healed by magic. In 1893, estranged sisters Agnes Amaranth, Beatrice Belladonna, and James Juniper reunite at a suffragette rally in New Salem. One has become a quiet librarian, another is a riotous factory girl, and the third is feeling some feelings about having killed someone and running away from home. To reclaim their witchy powers, the women must work together to sort through their tangled pasts. The Once and Future Witches would be a great group read. Maybe they could start a book club. Give them something to do that doesn’t revolve around Agatha Harkness.
Ralph Bohner should read…
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Poor Ralphie has had a hard go of things. First, Wanda traps him in his town-turned-tv-set. Then Agatha forces him to kill a dog. Now he’s hiding from SWORD and begging for cash from teenagers. Dude needs a break, so I’m handing him The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams’ classic science fiction novel is light and very funny, but also poignant and thoughtful. Arthur Dent is a nobody leading a boring life in a small town until the day unstoppable forces far more powerful than he come to Earth. Everything he’s ever known is destroyed and he’s thrust onto a journey that will take him to the end of the universe and the beginnings of human history. It’s not a journey he wanted to take, but he comes out of it a better man. Mostly, though, I think he could use a good laugh.
Herb should read…
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
This YA fantasy is about an ordinary teen boy living in an extraordinary world. Mikey isn’t the Chosen One. He isn’t fighting monsters or being worshiped as a god. He’s just a kid trying to get by in a world where something terribly supernatural is always happening around him. He can see through the tropes and cliches enough to be sarcastic about the whole thing. Sound familiar?
