The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix, $12.18 Paperback 

Release Date: July 2021

Cozy up on your next snow day and read Gary Hendrix’s The Final Girl Support Group. 

Author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (2020), Grady Hendrix succeeds again in tapping into our favorite horror films to deliver this mystery. Six young women make up the “Final Girl Support Group.” Each survived horrific massacres that have been turned into successful film franchises. Movies such as Friday The 13th and Halloween actually happened in this version of America. Twenty years later the spotlight has moved on and society has found new monsters and victims. Still, these women sit in a circle of chairs in a church basement trying to figure out how to live their lives. Paranoid Lynnette Tarkington reluctantly participates in group therapy sessions with Dr. Carol Elliot along with fellow survivors Marilyn Torres, who has buried her emotions in wealth; Dani Shipman, who might have killed the wrong person; Julia Campbell, whose encounter left her in a wheelchair; and Heather DeLuca, who is succumbing to addiction. Some of them are in denial about what happened. Some still live in terror, always looking over their shoulders, imprisoned by their own fears. 

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

After one member of this vigilant sisterhood is murdered and a series of persistent attacks threaten the rest, Lynnette becomes increasingly suspicious that the attacks are originating way too close to their inner circle. “Does this ever end?” Lynnette asks. “Will there always be someone out there turning little boys into monsters? Will we always be final girls? Will there always be monsters killing us? How do we stop the snake from eating its own tail?” The book is creepy enough on its face, but Hendrix’s use of narrative tools heightens the unease.

The Final Girl Support Group isn’t necessarily scary, but the plot is action-packed and delivers its share of gore. The novel is an ultimately entertaining and inspiring take on horror movies, trauma, and self-determination. Available on Amazon! 

I first read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo this past month after my friend and I swapped our favorite summer books. I opened the book one Saturday morning and couldn’t put it down. Despite the fact that it was published nearly five years ago, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo continues to captivate readers’ interest on BookTok, Bookstagram, and Goodreads. 

“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Evelyn Hugo — $9.42 Paperback/$22.36 Hardcover

This story is about renowned Hollywood actress Evelyn Hugo who, after decades of blockbuster hits, is now 79 and ready to give an exclusive interview after years of dodging the press. But the only one granted access is a little-known journalist named Monique Grant. Though she can’t understand why she’s been chosen, Monique goes to Evelyn’s home and finds out Evelyn doesn’t just want to do an interview — she wants to lay out every piece of her truth for Monique to write and sell her biography. 

Though Evelyn won’t answer why she picked Monique to do the job, Monique agrees and Evelyn’s story begins to unfold from her calculated beginnings in Hollywood to the millions she enjoys in the present, each section of her life titled by each of her seven husbands and her reasons for marrying (and divorcing) them. As you journey through Evelyn’s life, it feels as if you’re being granted exclusive access to something you shouldn’t be seeing. It’s hard to believe the characters and events in this book aren’t real celebrities. 

To me, a great book is one that makes you forget you’re reading in the first place, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo does exactly that. It’s an instantly captivating book, thanks in part to the story, but mostly to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing. Her stories flow smoothly, her characters are complex and realistically flawed, and I happily got lost in the pages until the very end. This is the perfect cozy fall read!

On Sunday, March 27, 2022, the 94th Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles. Everybody knows this, despite approximately zero people seeing any of the films nominated for Best Picture. The winner of that Oscar, CODA, was released on Apple TV+. Until learning about this movie Monday morning, I didn’t even know Apple made movies. I do not think I am alone in being surprised that their content offering goes beyond the beloved Ted Lasso.

The reason everyone knows about this year’s Oscars of course has nothing to do with the films themselves. Instead it was the “slap heard ’round the world,” when Will Smith rose from his seat and hit Chris Rock onstage in response to a joke. This moment has been dissected every which way, with viewers analyzing Japanese and Australian broadcasts like the Zapruder film, and partisans coming out of the social media woodwork to defend both Smith and Rock. Setting aside some truthers’ insistence that the whole incident was staged, the main question seems to be: “What would prompt Will Smith, widely considered one of the most likable actors in Hollywood, to do such a thing?”

There are a wide range of theories here, ranging from Smith having internalized the protective nature of his character in King Richard to a long-standing beef between Smith and Rock that dates back several award ceremonies. But no matter where you begin, all roads eventually lead to Will Smith’s relationship with his wife. Though most reporting on their marriage and its resulting “entanglements” has come from Jada’s side of the story, there is one primary source from which we can try and decode the source of Will Smith’s anger.

Will — $18.68

That would be his 2021 memoir, titled Will, co-written with Mark Manson, the bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. In the book, Will Smith dives deep into his family and its sometimes very public problems. Will Smith will probably never come out and admit that he sublimated his anger at his wife and took it out on Chris Rock. But reading about their struggles in his own words may be our only key to deciphering whatever aspect of his psychology that prompted him to lash out in front of millions of viewers.

Why do you think Will Smith slapped Chris Rock? Let us know in the comments!