Oct 31, 2024
From Our TBR Pile

Review — Mosaic by Catherine McCarthy

Mosaic
By: Catherine McCarthy
Illustrator: Devin Forst (Cover Art and Design)
Release Date: August 8, 2023
Publisher: Dark Hart Books
Rating:


2020’s Aberystwyth University Prize for Short Fiction winner Catherine McCarthy incorporates stained glass window repair, long-forgotten churches, and the macabre into one compact tale in her 2023 novella Mosaic. A compelling front cover by Devin Forst draws readers in with its depiction of a woman half-illuminated in the myriad of colors of an unseen stained glass window, that rainbow-colored half portrayed oddly corpse-like.

Continue reading
Post Tags:
 ,
Jun 20, 2024
From Our TBR Pile

Review — How Can I Help You by Laura Sims

Library card catching on fire How Can I Help You
By: Laura Sims
Release Date: July 18, 2023
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Rating:


Laura Sim’s How Can I Help You straddles the line between mystery, thriller, and horror all set in a small library in the Midwest. The darker side of human nature is brought to life and had a spotlight shown on it here. Flawed characters, a long game of cat and mouse, and tense situations galore await you in this 2023 release.

Continue reading
Post Tags:
 , ,
May 20, 2024
New & Upcoming Releases

Review — The Official Stardew Valley Cookbook by ConcernedApe and Ryan Novak

A picnic on a checked blanket witha farmhouse in the background. The Official Stardew Valley Cookbook
By: ConcernedApe and Ryan Novak
Release Date: May 14, 2024
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Rating:


Cookbooks are more than just their recipes, and The Official Stardew Valley Cookbook certainly has a whole lot of packed into a trim 192-page package. This cookbook is an official cookbook based on the beloved farming-sim game Stardew Valley and is co-authored by Ryan Novak and the video game’s creator ConcernedApe.

Continue reading
Post Tags:
 
Feb 13, 2024
From Our TBR Pile

Review — We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets (Translated by Emma Rault)

City landscape against a pink sky We Had to Remove This Post
By: Hanna Bervoets
Translator: Emma Rault
Release Date: March 6, 2021
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Rating:


The novella We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets took BookTube and BookTok by storm. It was all anyone talked about for months and every library in the general vicinity had a hold list a mile long. This was of little wonder; Dutch author Hanna Bervoets holds much acclaim, including being granted the Frans Kellendonk Prize and having her works adapted for film and TV.

Continue reading
Post Tags:
 , , ,
Nov 11, 2023
Uncategorized

Review — Confession by Martín Kohan

Confessions
By: Martín Kohan
Translator: Daniel Hahn
Release Date: 2020
Publisher: Charco Press
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


Martín Kohan’s novel Confession is a look into Argentina’s past. More specifically, it is a look into the life of Mirta Lopez from the time she’s a young girl to her years as an elderly grandmother. These are broken into three main sections of the novel, each one centered on Mirta’s teenage, adult, and twilight years, respectively.

Continue reading
Post Tags:
 ,
Aug 07, 2023
From Our TBR Pile

Review — Small Game by Blair Braverman

Forest with campfires with the text Small Game: A Novel by Blair Braverman over the image Small Game
By: Blair Braverman
Release Date: November 1, 2022
Publisher: Ecco
Rating:


Nonfiction author Blair Braverman (Welcome to the Goddamned Ice Cube, 2016) turns her hand to fiction in Small Game. This thriller novel is set in a landscape familiar to the author: the wild, forested landscape of the US. Braverman’s well-known survivalist skills are well utilized throughout the novel, adding a welcome sense of realism to a situation that is far from everyday.

Continue reading
Post Tags:
 ,
Jul 31, 2023
From Our TBR Pile

Review — Daphne by Josh Malerman

Daphne
By: Josh Malerman
Release Date: August 23, 2022
Publisher: Del Rey
Award: Bram Stoker Award Nominee for Best Novel (2022)
Rating:


Josh Malerman, author of Bird Box, brings us a horror novel in the style of classic 1980s slasher movies. Daphne is the latest, and possibly best, novel Malerman has brought readers to date, something highlighted by the novel’s Bram Stoker Award nomination for Best Novel in 2022. Ghosts, urban legends, and a growing number of inexplicable murders are rounded out by 80s slasher movie trappings that leave readers frantically turning the page to find out what on earth happens next.

Continue reading
Post Tags:
 ,
Jul 24, 2023
From Our TBR Pile

Review — The Spite House by Johnny Compton

The Spite House
By: Johnny Compton
Release Date: February 7, 2023
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Rating:


Author Johnny Compton is perhaps best known for his short fiction and contributions to the fiction podcast world, appearing in podcasts such as Pseudopod, The No Sleep Podcast, and certainly not least, his own podcast Healthy Fears. Debut novel The Spite House is Compton’s first foray into long-form fiction. Like his previous works, this debut novel falls solidly within the horror genre, with plenty of gothic elements for fans of the subgenre to sink their teeth into.

Continue reading
Post Tags:
 ,
Jul 03, 2023
New & Upcoming Releases

Review — Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia

Of Cattle and Men
By: Ana Paula Maia
Translator: Zoe Perry
Release Date: April 11, 2023
Publisher: Charco Press
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


[drocap type=secondary] Award-winning author Ana Paula Maia’s novella Of Cattle and Men, translated from the original Portuguese by Zoe Perry, is an engrossing read that’s impossible to put down. Published in English in April 2023, the novella brings together themes of isolation, death, and slaughter into a slim volume that lingers long after the last page.[/dropcap]

Continue reading
Post Tags:
 , ,
« Older Entries