The Woods Are Lovely, Dark & Deep #Wyrd&Wonder 2022

All of May 2022, the fantastic #Wyrd and Wonder 2022 meme is in play. Pick your very cool prompt, pick your matching SFF books. It’s all up to you whether you want to do the weekly posts, the book bingo, the readalong, or make a book tag of it all.

This year, the theme is all things forest and woodlands — and here’s a list of some of those forest setting books that I’ve found memorable. Here’s to Mother Nature, who is fascinating both on and outside of page!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

I wonder if this was the first forest-setting fantasy book I ever read? (In adaptation form, of course). Puck plays havoc, and the faeries are up to no good, but all’s well that ends well.

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

Marra must complete 3 tasks so that she can save her sister. All the skill she has is weaving, but who said nettle weaving isn’t useful? She and her ragtag companions have their work cut out for them.

Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock

There’s a forest out there that is the origin of all mythological characters and there’s a part of the human brain that resonates with it. How can you resist studying a forest like that? Even if it ruins you and your family for the real world.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

To save her ensorcelled brothers, Sorcha must live in the forest, weave seven shirts from nettles and never speak a single word as she is hard at her task. Besides the wild animals, there are malevolent forces who would do anything to break her vow of silence and her will of iron.

Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip

McKillip excels at building magical worlds, and often those worlds adjoin the woods on the outskirts of human cities. This is a Tam Lin retelling but not in the way you expect it. It is deliciously dark and suspenseful, and you never know how it will end.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

There’s a magical forest out there that is slowly gobbling up towns and humans and usurping kingdoms for itself. Why has the forest turned against the people? And is there any way to stop its corruption? Amazing book, amazing book covers.

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

This graphic novel is lovely but not for the faint-hearted. Five creepy and brilliant stories are all yours, if you can just make it through the woods….

Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori

This is not SFF, but Nature is never ordinary. Nature is also the source of so much historical and cultural lineage for human beings. This book is the perfect antidote, and if you have a hardcover with those gorgeous illustrations, nothing like it.

Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen

Bio-engineered elephants in outer space! But these are no ordinary elephants; they are anthropomorphic, with no memory of their human connection, and have been exiled to the rainy ghetto world of Barsk.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The only escape from a Zombie-like viral spread is the Ocean side, but the only route to the Ocean is through a forest infested with Zombies. What a conundrum, and who is going to make it through?

The Wood Wife by Terri Windling

One of those older Urban Fantasy reads. Here’s a famous quote:

“The night, blue lapis. The mountain, onyx. Saguaro, verdigris with a cooper dish of moon. The wind rustles dry mesquite. A coyote howls. A star falls. And the night cracks me open, with beauty sharp and poignant as grief. The night cracks me open, like a geode, exposing the crystal veins of God.”

In the Woods by Tana French

A young girl is murdered in the woods bordering Knocknaree, in a manner eerily similar to an unsolved crime back from 1985. Have you read this book/ watched the show? Then you know why this book is on this SFF list.

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

A book from 1926, set in a small town that is hell-bent on denying that Faerie exists and might even be kin. Well, there be a reckoning — starting with the black market for the addictive and eerie goblin fruit.

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

A dark retelling of the old Snow White and Rose Red tale. Three women are caught on the outskirts of a forest that is about to burst into brutal mayhem. The old sanctuary is no more.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

Classic old tale of a mystery set in the secret forest. A headless hunter looms large over the small town of Sleepy Hollow. The hunter, it appears, is searching for his own lost skull that has been stolen.

The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater

Brilliant YA series combining tarot symbology, ley line magic, sleeping king mythology, and the powerful magic of a sentient magical forest called Cabeswater.

I loved this meme in 2021, and I love this meme this year too! Are you participating in #Wyrd and Wonder 2022? Which prompts caught your eye? And if you have any recommendations — add them on!