M's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 18 Dec 2024 12:54:55 -0800 60 M's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg All Fours 197798168
A semifamous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to New York. Twenty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.

Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.]]> 336 Miranda July 0593190262 M 0 currently-reading 3.52 2024 All Fours
author: Miranda July
name: M
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Rings of Saturn 434903 The Rings of Saturn � with its curious archive of photographs � records a walking tour along the east coast of England. A few of the things which cross the path and mind of its narrator (who both is and is not Sebald) are lonely eccentrics, Sir Thomas Browne's skull, a matchstick model of the Temple of Jerusalem, recession-hit seaside towns, wooded hills, Joseph Conrad, Rembrandt's "Anatomy Lesson," the natural history of the herring, the massive bombings of WWII, the dowager empress Tzu Hsi, and the silk industry in Norwich.]]> 296 W.G. Sebald 0811214133 M 0 to-read 4.26 1995 The Rings of Saturn
author: W.G. Sebald
name: M
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Never Mind (Patrick Melrose, #1)]]> 13514899 Never Mind, the first installment in Edward St. Aubyn's wonderful, wry, and profound Patrick Melrose Cycle, follows five-year-old Patrick through a single day, as the Melrose family awaits the arrival of guests. Bright and imaginative, young Patrick struggles daily to contend with the searing cruelty of his father and the resignation of his embattled mother. But on this day he must endure an unprecedented horror—one that splits his world in two. In Never Mind, St. Aubyn renders this vivid tragedy with profound grace and precision, and introduces us to the unforgettable, complex figure of Patrick Melrose.]]> 181 Edward St. Aubyn 0434734527 M 0 to-read 3.79 1992 Never Mind (Patrick Melrose, #1)
author: Edward St. Aubyn
name: M
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Not a Speck of Light: Stories 216875430
Bram Stoker Award-winning author Laird Barron returns to the dark and dreadful with his fifth horror collection, which weaves sixteen weird tales into a mosaic of the bloody and the macabre.

Bring a flashlight and a book of matches.

Where we’re going, there’s not a speck of light.]]> 372 Laird Barron M 0 currently-reading 4.12 2024 Not a Speck of Light: Stories
author: Laird Barron
name: M
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> A Haunting on the Hill 102188677
Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play, The Witch of Edmonton, she may finally be close to her big break. All she needs is time and space to bring her vision to life. When she stumbles across Hill House on aweekend getaway upstate, she is immediately taken in by the ornate, if crumbling, gothic mansion, nearly hidden outside a remote village. It’s enormous, old, and ever-so eerie—the perfect place to develop and rehearse her play.

Despite her own hesitations, Holly’s girlfriend, Nisa, agrees to join Holly in renting the house out for a month, and soon a troupe of actors, each with ghosts of their own, arrive. Yet as they settle in, the house’s peculiarities are made known: strange creatures stalk the grounds, disturbing sounds echo throughout the halls, andtime itself seems to shift. All too soon, Holly and her friends find themselves at odds not just with one another, butwith the house itself. It seems something has been waiting in Hill House all these years, and itno longer intendstowalk alone . . .
]]> 326 Elizabeth Hand 0316527327 M 0 to-read 3.27 2023 A Haunting on the Hill
author: Elizabeth Hand
name: M
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell]]> 55405181
A sentient, murderous prosthetic leg; shadowy creatures lurking behind a shimmering wall; brutal barrow of all the terrors that populate The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell, perhaps the most alarming are the beings who decimated the habitable humans. In this new short story collection, Brian Evenson envisions a chilling future beyond the Anthropocene that forces excruciating decisions about survival and self-sacrifice in the face of toxic air and a natural world torn between revenge and regeneration. Combining psychological and ecological horror, each tale thrums with Evenson’s award-winning literary craftsmanship, dark humor, and thrilling suspense.]]> 254 Brian Evenson 1566896150 M 0 currently-reading 4.08 2021 The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell
author: Brian Evenson
name: M
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories]]> 99300
Written from a feminist perspective, often focusing on the inferior status accorded to women by society, the tales include "turned," an ironic story with a startling twist, in which a husband seduces and impregnates a naïve servant; "Cottagette," concerning the romance of a young artist and a man who's apparently too good to be true; "Mr. Peebles' Heart," a liberating tale of a fiftyish shopkeeper whose sister-in-law, a doctor, persuades him to take a solo trip to Europe, with revivifying results; "The Yellow Wallpaper"; and three other outstanding stories.

These charming tales are not only highly readable and full of humor and invention, but also offer ample food for thought about the social, economic, and personal relationship of men and women � and how they might be improved.

Collects:
—The Yellow Wallpaper
—Three Thanksgivings
—The Cottagette
—TܰԱ
—Making a Change
—If I Were a Man
—Mr. Peebles' Heart]]> 129 Charlotte Perkins Gilman 0486298574 M 5 4.05 1892 The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories
author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
name: M
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1892
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> The Worm In Every Heart 1657676 278 Gemma Files 1894815769 M 0 to-read 3.81 2006 The Worm In Every Heart
author: Gemma Files
name: M
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crypt of the Moon Spider (Lunar Gothic Trilogy, #1)]]> 195790851 Crypt of the Moon Spider is a dark and dreamy tale of horror, corruption, and identity spun into the stickiest of webs.

Years ago, in a cave beneath the dense forests and streams on the surface of the moon, a gargantuan spider once lived. Its silk granted its first worshippers immense faculties of power and awe.

It’s now 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is touching down on the moon for her intake at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. A renowned facility, Dr. Barrington Cull’s invasive and highly successful treatments have been lauded by many. And they’re so simple! All it takes is a little spider silk in the amygdala, maybe a strand or two in the prefrontal cortex, and perhaps an inch in the hippocampus for near evisceration of those troublesome thoughts and ideas.

But trouble lurks in many a mind at this facility and although the spider’s been dead for years, its denizens are not. Someone or something is up to no good, and Veronica just might be the cause.]]> 88 Nathan Ballingrud 1250291739 M 0 to-read 3.95 2024 Crypt of the Moon Spider (Lunar Gothic Trilogy, #1)
author: Nathan Ballingrud
name: M
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Hawaii 12658 An alternate cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Pulitzer Prize–winning author James A. Michener brings Hawaii’s epic history vividly to life in a classic saga that has captivated readers since its initial publication in 1959. As the volcanic Hawaiian Islands sprout from the ocean floor, the land remains untouched for centuries—until, little more than a thousand years ago, Polynesian seafarers make the perilous journey across the Pacific, flourishing in this tropical paradise according to their ancient traditions. Then, in the early nineteenth century, American missionaries arrive, bringing with them a new creed and a new way of life. Based on exhaustive research and told in Michener’s immersive prose, Hawaii is the story of disparate peoples struggling to keep their identity, live in harmony, and, ultimately, join together.]]> 937 James A. Michener 0375760377 M 0 to-read 4.21 1959 Hawaii
author: James A. Michener
name: M
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name]]> 107633
Whether contemplating the mysterious death of eccentric Speedy Joe, who wore nothing but a red union suit and a hat he never took off, not even for a haircut; researching the details of a one-legged lady gold miner's adventurous life; worrying about her son's first goat-hunting expedition; observing the awe-inspiring Chilkat Bald Eagle Festival; or ice skating in the shadow of glacier-studded mountains, Lende's warmhearted style brings us inside her small-town life. We meet her husband, Chip, who owns the local lumber yard; their five children; and a colorful assortment of quirky friends and neighbors, including aging hippies, salty fishermen, native Tlingit Indians, and volunteer undertakers—as well as the moose, eagles, sea lions, and bears with whom they share this wild and perilous land.

Like Bailey White's tales of Southern life or Garrison Keillor's reports from the Midwest, NPR commentator Heather Lende's take on her offbeat Alaskan hometown celebrates life in a dangerous and breathtakingly beautiful place.]]> 281 Heather Lende 156512524X M 0 3.69 2005 If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name
author: Heather Lende
name: M
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/10
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Horror Movie 200101541 A chilling twist on the “cursed film� genre from the bestselling author ofThe Pallbearers Club andThe Cabin at the End of the World.

In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.

The weird part?Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.

The man who played “The Thin Kid� is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions � demons of the past be damned.

But at what cost?

Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film� that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.]]> 277 Paul Tremblay 0063070014 M 0 to-read 3.31 2024 Horror Movie
author: Paul Tremblay
name: M
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Blood, Sweat, and Pixels 34376766 Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it's nothing short of miraculous.

Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart.

Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.]]> 353 Jason Schreier 0062651242 M 4 4.21 2017 Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
author: Jason Schreier
name: M
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/23
date added: 2024/06/23
shelves:
review:

]]> The Return 52308312 A group of friends reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance in this edgy and haunting debut.

Julie is missing, and the missing don’t often return. But Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and she feels in her bones that her best friend is out there, and that one day she’ll come back. She’s right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she’s been or what happened to her.

Along with Molly and Mae, their two close friends from college, the women decide to reunite at a remote inn. But the second Elise sees Julie, she knows something is wrong—she’s emaciated, with sallow skin and odd appetites. And as the weekend unfurls, it becomes impossible to deny that the Julie who vanished two years ago is not the same Julie who came back. But then who—or what—is she?]]> 304 Rachel Harrison 0593098684 M 0 currently-reading 3.56 2020 The Return
author: Rachel Harrison
name: M
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Thrill of it All: The Story of Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music]]> 18966378 509 David Buckley 1780122322 M 0 currently-reading 3.59 2004 The Thrill of it All: The Story of Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music
author: David Buckley
name: M
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Roxy Music, Both Ends Burning 5837710 304 Jonathan Rigby 1905287674 M 0 to-read 3.61 2005 Roxy Music, Both Ends Burning
author: Jonathan Rigby
name: M
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Unknown Pleasures: A Cultural Biography of Roxy Music]]> 78442 372 Paul Stump 156025212X M 0 to-read 3.38 1998 Unknown Pleasures: A Cultural Biography of Roxy Music
author: Paul Stump
name: M
average rating: 3.38
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Disintegration [Trade Paperback]]]> 205461406 288 Darren Speegle 1786369990 M 0 to-read, my-books 3.78 Disintegration [Trade Paperback]
author: Darren Speegle
name: M
average rating: 3.78
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/08
shelves: to-read, my-books
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Jar City (Inspector Erlendur, #3)]]> 280366
As the team of detectives reopen this very cold case, Inspector Erlendur uncovers secrets that are much larger than the murder of one old man--secrets that have been carefully guarded by many people for many years. As he follows a fascinating trail of unusual forensic evidence, Erlendur also confronts stubborn personal conflicts that reveal his own depth and complexity of character.]]> 275 Arnaldur Indriðason 0312340702 M 0 to-read 3.83 2000 Jar City (Inspector Erlendur, #3)
author: Arnaldur Indriðason
name: M
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team]]> 63037307 INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In “one of the most important athlete memoirs of its generation� (Kate Fagan, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Olympian Kara Goucher reveals her experience of living through and speaking out about one of the biggest scandals in running.

Kara Goucher grew up with Olympic dreams. She excelled at running from a young age and was offered a Nike sponsorship deal when she graduated from college. Then in 2004, she was invited to join a secretive, lavishly funded new team, dubbed the Nike Oregon Project. Coached by distance running legend Alberto Salazar, it seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime.

Kara was soon winning a World Championship medal, going to the Olympics, and standing on the podium at the New York and Boston marathons, just like her coach had done. But behind the scenes, Salazar was hiding dark secrets. He pushed the limits of anti-doping rules and created what Kara experienced as a culture of abuse, the extent of which she reveals in her book for the first time. Meanwhile, Nike stood by Alberto for years and proved itself capable of shockingly misogynistic corporate practices.

The Longest Race is an unforgettable story that is “as interesting as it is important� (Molly Huddle, two-time Olympian) and also a crucial call to action. Kara became a crusader for female athletes and a key witness helping to get Salazar banned from coaching at the Olympic level. The Longest Race will leave you “motivated, empowered, and ready to take on the world� (Allyson Felix, Olympic gold medalist) as it reveals how Kara broke through the fear of losing everything, bucked powerful forces to take control of her life and career, and reclaimed her love of running.]]> 287 Kara Goucher 1982179163 M 0 4.57 2023 The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team
author: Kara Goucher
name: M
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/10
date added: 2024/01/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Every House Is Haunted 15821236 300 Ian Rogers 1927469198 M 5
Rogers starts off strong with "Aces," on its surface a routine family drama in which Toby's sister has trouble in school and exhibits weird behavior, like many adolescents. This seeming normalcy masks the extreme strangeness of what's really going on with the sister, who is obsessed with finding "aces," playing cards which she discovers in strange places, such has hovering in mid-air. Toby only comes to understand his sister's unusual nature when paranormal investigators arrive and explain.

Another strange and surreal piece early in the book, "A Night at the Library With the Gods" again displays Rogers' skill for creating a familiar, mostly normal world, then gradually increasing the strangeness until the reader recognizes they're in something more akin to nightmare. In "The Dark and the Young," linguist Wendy takes a mysterious job, translating an occult "black book." Some of the rituals described in this bizarre text make Wendy and some of her coworkers hesitant to participate.

A few less mature stories are sprinkled throughout, and in my opinion Rogers could have made a stronger debut impression by omitting these. I understand the desire to include early work, and indeed this flaw is so common in first collections I'm hesitant to mention it. At any rate, the few less-compelling pieces are more than offset by a high overall quality. The more recent stories seem generally darker, more macabre or surreal.Rogers closes the collection with a powerful series of tales, deftly and confidently told.

In "The Inheritor," Daniel Ramis unexpectedly inherits a house from his father, with whom he had a terrible relationship. He visits the childhood home, a place evoking the terrible memory of his sister's early death. Daniel always thought his father had sold the house when he moved, and can't understand why he'd held onto it. Along with the house, Daniel is also left contents of safe deposit box: a gun, and a note from his father hinting at explanation. All that remains is for Daniel to discover what responsibility comprises the most horrible aspect of his father's legacy.

A husband in "The Candle" gives his wife a guilt trip about possibly forgetting to blow out a candle before coming to bed. Time passes, and feeling guilty, he goes downstairs and finds something weird and disquieting in the dark. Here's another story that starts off realistic, then takes a weird disconnect, making a subtle and eerie observation of the ways we open gaps in relationships through small acts of selfishness or distrust.

The last tale, "The Secret Door" makes a powerful ending to the book. Sarah and husband move into an old country house, and find a secret door bricked up on back side. She sleeps, and wakes again to find her husband's not there. Other details, such as the bed and their car, inexplicably have changed. The story veers more deeply into surrealism. Sarah envisions a boy yelling from the bottom of a well, telling her she's the one who put him there, hinting at connection to her earlier decision never to have kids. Her experience swerves between alternating realities, now alone and sick, then with her husband telling her she's not well. It depicts increasing detachment from reality, a creepy back-and-forth between the real and the surreal.

Every House is Haunted is an above-average short fiction collection, especially noteworthy as a debut. The writing is both transparent enough for mainstream readers, and artful enough for those who like their prose with an edge. At his best, Rogers is very compelling, and the growth demonstrated within these pages suggest he's one to watch. 4 1/2 stars.]]> 3.94 2012 Every House Is Haunted
author: Ian Rogers
name: M
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2013/03/10
date added: 2023/11/20
shelves:
review:
Many of the 22 short stories in Every House is Haunted, the debut collection by Ian Rogers, feel connected. As the title suggests, this is a book about hauntings, though the stories Rogers tells venture beyond the well-worn template of the haunted house tale. On top of this unifying theme, several stories also feature paranormal investigators, something like agents Mulder and Scully of the X-Files, or hint at a shadowy group overseeing such intrusions. Rogers seeks to establish a common world in which paranormal events and entities are controlled, studied and policed by a broad and shadowy organization devoted to these functions.

Rogers starts off strong with "Aces," on its surface a routine family drama in which Toby's sister has trouble in school and exhibits weird behavior, like many adolescents. This seeming normalcy masks the extreme strangeness of what's really going on with the sister, who is obsessed with finding "aces," playing cards which she discovers in strange places, such has hovering in mid-air. Toby only comes to understand his sister's unusual nature when paranormal investigators arrive and explain.

Another strange and surreal piece early in the book, "A Night at the Library With the Gods" again displays Rogers' skill for creating a familiar, mostly normal world, then gradually increasing the strangeness until the reader recognizes they're in something more akin to nightmare. In "The Dark and the Young," linguist Wendy takes a mysterious job, translating an occult "black book." Some of the rituals described in this bizarre text make Wendy and some of her coworkers hesitant to participate.

A few less mature stories are sprinkled throughout, and in my opinion Rogers could have made a stronger debut impression by omitting these. I understand the desire to include early work, and indeed this flaw is so common in first collections I'm hesitant to mention it. At any rate, the few less-compelling pieces are more than offset by a high overall quality. The more recent stories seem generally darker, more macabre or surreal.Rogers closes the collection with a powerful series of tales, deftly and confidently told.

In "The Inheritor," Daniel Ramis unexpectedly inherits a house from his father, with whom he had a terrible relationship. He visits the childhood home, a place evoking the terrible memory of his sister's early death. Daniel always thought his father had sold the house when he moved, and can't understand why he'd held onto it. Along with the house, Daniel is also left contents of safe deposit box: a gun, and a note from his father hinting at explanation. All that remains is for Daniel to discover what responsibility comprises the most horrible aspect of his father's legacy.

A husband in "The Candle" gives his wife a guilt trip about possibly forgetting to blow out a candle before coming to bed. Time passes, and feeling guilty, he goes downstairs and finds something weird and disquieting in the dark. Here's another story that starts off realistic, then takes a weird disconnect, making a subtle and eerie observation of the ways we open gaps in relationships through small acts of selfishness or distrust.

The last tale, "The Secret Door" makes a powerful ending to the book. Sarah and husband move into an old country house, and find a secret door bricked up on back side. She sleeps, and wakes again to find her husband's not there. Other details, such as the bed and their car, inexplicably have changed. The story veers more deeply into surrealism. Sarah envisions a boy yelling from the bottom of a well, telling her she's the one who put him there, hinting at connection to her earlier decision never to have kids. Her experience swerves between alternating realities, now alone and sick, then with her husband telling her she's not well. It depicts increasing detachment from reality, a creepy back-and-forth between the real and the surreal.

Every House is Haunted is an above-average short fiction collection, especially noteworthy as a debut. The writing is both transparent enough for mainstream readers, and artful enough for those who like their prose with an edge. At his best, Rogers is very compelling, and the growth demonstrated within these pages suggest he's one to watch. 4 1/2 stars.
]]> The Shipping News 7354
A vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary American family, The Shipping News shows why E. Annie Proulx is recognized as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today.
(back cover)]]> 337 Annie Proulx 0743225422 M 5 3.88 1993 The Shipping News
author: Annie Proulx
name: M
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2014/02/01
date added: 2023/10/31
shelves:
review:

]]> The Glass Teat 453228 319 Harlan Ellison 0441289886 M 4 4.15 1970 The Glass Teat
author: Harlan Ellison
name: M
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1970
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Looming Low: Volume II 63032313 Kurt Fawver - "Radius Unknown"
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro - "Undo"
Brian Evenson - "Vigil in the Inner Room"
Michael Kelly - "Dead but Dreaming Still"
Gwendolyn Kiste - "To the Progeny Forsaken"
Anya Martin - "The Other Cat"
Clint Smith - "Lovenest"
Jeffrey Thomas - "Strangler Fig"
Simon Strantzas - "Still Packed"
Brooke Warra - "We Don't Live Here Anymore"
Michael Griffin - "We Spend Weekends With Dad"
Matthew M. Bartlett - "The Cryptic Jape"
Craig Laurance Gidney - "Impz"
Cody Goodfellow - "Protect & Serve"
David Peak - "Zones Without Names"
Erica Ruppert - "Ex Astris"
Richard Gavin - "The Intercessor"
Kaaron Warren - "Songs We Sing at Sea"
S.P. Miskowski - "Across the Darkness"
A.C. Wise - "Into the Green"
Gemma Files - "Bb Minor"
Nadia Bulkin - "Your Heart is a House on Fire"]]> 370 Justin Steele M 0 to-read, my-books 3.67 2022 Looming Low: Volume II
author: Justin Steele
name: M
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/14
shelves: to-read, my-books
review:

]]> Burn the Place: A Memoir 54978611 Nominated for the National Book Award, chef Iliana Regan’s debut memoir chronicles her journey from foraging on her family’s Midwestern farm to running her own Michelin-starred restaurant and finding her place in the world.Iliana Regan grew up the youngest of four headstrong girls on a small farm in Indiana. While gathering raspberries as a toddler, Regan learned to only pick the ripe fruit. In the nearby fields, the orange flutes of chanterelle mushrooms beckoned her while they eluded others. Regan’s profound connection with food and the earth began in childhood, but connecting with people was more difficult. She grew up gay in an intolerant community, was an alcoholic before she turned twenty, and struggled to find her voice as a woman working in an industry dominated by men. But food helped her navigate the world around her—learning to cook in her childhood home, getting her first restaurant job at age fifteen, teaching herself cutting-edge cuisine while hosting an underground supper club, and working her way from front-of-house staff to running her own kitchen. Regan’s culinary talent is based on instinct, memory, and an almost otherworldly connection to ingredients, and her writing comes from the same place. Raw, filled with startling imagery and told with uncommon emotional power, Burn the Place takes us from Regan’s childhood farmhouse kitchen to the country’s most elite restaurants in a galvanizing tale that is entirely original, and unforgettable.]]> 255 Iliana Regan 1982159162 M 0 currently-reading 3.93 2019 Burn the Place: A Memoir
author: Iliana Regan
name: M
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/04/15
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> High-Rise 70256
Within the concealing walls of an elegant forty-storey tower block, the affluent tenants are hell-bent on an orgy of destruction. Cocktail parties degenerate into marauding attacks on ‘enemy� floors and the once-luxurious amenities become an arena for riots and technological mayhem.

In this visionary tale of urban disillusionment society slips into a violent reverse as the isolated inhabitants of the high-rise, driven by primal urges, create a dystopian world ruled by the laws of the jungle.

This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Iain Sinclair, Ali Smith, Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs.]]> 272 J.G. Ballard 0586044566 M 5 3.85 1975 High-Rise
author: J.G. Ballard
name: M
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/02/17
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review:

]]> Fairy Tale 60177373 Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes deep into the well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for their world or ours.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets Howard Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill. In the backyard is a locked shed from which strange sounds emerge, as if some creature is trying to escape. When Mr. Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie the house, a massive amount of gold, a cassette tape telling a story that is impossible to believe, and a responsibility far too massive for a boy to shoulder.

Because within the shed is a portal to another world—one whose denizens are in peril and whose monstrous leaders may destroy their own world, and ours. In this parallel universe, where two moons race across the sky, and the grand towers of a sprawling palace pierce the clouds, there are exiled princesses and princes who suffer horrific punishments; there are dungeons; there are games in which men and women must fight each other to the death for the amusement of the “Fair One.� And there is a magic sundial that can turn back time.

A story as old as myth, and as startling and iconic as the rest of King’s work, Fairy Tale is about an ordinary guy forced into the hero’s role by circumstance, and it is both spectacularly suspenseful and satisfying.]]> 607 Stephen King 1668002175 M 3 4.05 2022 Fairy Tale
author: Stephen King
name: M
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/31
date added: 2022/12/31
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]]> <![CDATA[We Are Here to Hurt Each Other]]> 60478084 152 Paula D. Ashe M 0 currently-reading 3.98 2022 We Are Here to Hurt Each Other
author: Paula D. Ashe
name: M
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Spectral Evidence 38894928
An embittered blood-servant plots revenge against the vampires who own him; a little girl's best friend seeks to draw her into an ancient, forbidden realm; two monster-hunting sisters cross paths with an amoral holler-witch again and again, battling both mortal authorities and immortal predators. From the forgotten angels who built the cosmos to the reckless geniuses whose party drug unleashes a plague, madness, monsters and murder await at every turn. And in "The Speed of Pain," sequel to the International Horror Guild award-winning story "The Emperor's Old Bones," we find that even those who can live forever can't outrun their own crimes....

Following in the footsteps of her critically praised Kissing Carrion, The Worm in Every Heart and We Will All Go Down Together, this is the first of two new Gemma Files collections from Trepidatio Publishing, bringing together nine of her best stories from the past ten years. So whether you're returning to Files's dark dreamlands or visiting for the first time, we advise you to get ready to review the--

SPECTRAL EVIDENCE]]> 177 Gemma Files 1947654179 M 0 to-read 4.14 2018 Spectral Evidence
author: Gemma Files
name: M
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/09/20
shelves: to-read
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]]> Darkest Hours 36309774 Darkest Hours, people make decisions that lead them into extreme scenarios � sometimes bizarre, often horrific, always unexpected. Between this book’s covers you will find academics in distress; monsters abused by people; people terrorized by demons; ghostly reminiscences; resurrected trauma; and occult filmmaking. Ranging from satirical to dreadful, these stories share a distinct voice: urgent, sardonic, brutal, but always empathetic.

"In these sharply compelling stories Mike Thorn intertwines the bizarre and the quotidian to form seamless chronicles of personal disaster. The protagonist may not know the precise nature of the catastrophe heading his way, but you get the feeling he's been anticipating something bad—and inexorable—for a long time. This rueful wisdom, a product of youthful disappointment and early trauma, informs each tale as it winds its way toward a natural yet surprising conclusion. The element of surprise is a tribute to Thorn's ingenuity; the assuredness of his prose is due to his extensive knowledge of the horror genre. Perfectly paced from the first sentence, these stories grab you by the collar with the urgency of mortal danger. Highly recommended."
-- S.P. Miskowski, author of Strange is the Night

"Everyone has their own mythology. Most people, however, don’t recognize it as such. Mike Thorn gets it. His fiction seems to blur distinctions between horror and noir, between science fiction and fantasy. Between dream and reality. They’re all here. Demons. Monsters. Big ones, little ones. (Sometimes the things done to them are worse than the things they do.) When you first encounter Thorn’s writing, a number of qualities impress themselves: the macabre intelligence (brutal really), the chilling wit, the naturalness of the dialogue. Plus there’s the skill and style of the prose. It may all play out like a nightmare, but a terrible logic remains inherent. His characters make bad choices, and it’s those decisions that bring on calamity. At once, the reader recognizes this. Mike Thorn is inescapable, and he understands that most terrifying variety of monsters, the hidden ones, the inner ones. They’re on display here. Savor the experience."
-- Robert Dunbar, author of The Pines and Willy

"Darkest Hours is for readers wishing to take a thrilling walk on the dark side. Mike Thorn has delivered a promising debut with this collection showing off his commitment to stories of nuance, heart, and of course� darkness."
-- Daniel Braum, author of The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales

"I've long been a fan of authors who can create a style and allow it to be as important as the story itself. Mike Thorn is a prime example of an author who builds off the baseline mechanics of prose on his own terms, and in the process writes witty and honest, dark literary stories, as is the case with Darkest Hours. Mike Thorn's debut story collection is not to be missed by those who enjoy an academic intellect with a potent flair for fiction."
-- Dustin LaValley, author of A Soundless Dawn

"Fast, fun and full of fear, Darkest Hours turns on a dime from a laugh to a scream. Terrifying and sly, Mike Thorn writes with refreshing originality and hides fangs behind a smile."
-- John C. Foster, author of Mister White]]> 252 Mike Thorn 0995975353 M 0 to-read 4.19 2021 Darkest Hours
author: Mike Thorn
name: M
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/09/19
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]]> The Leaves of a Necronomicon 61851769 —Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.

The Necronomicon. For centuries, scholars of the occult have sought out the darkly fabled tome, hoping to gain insight into the secret workings of the universe—or unbridled power. Instead, the book rewards their pursuit with madness and devastation.

Under the guidance of Shirley Jackson Award-winning editor Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., The Leaves of a Necronomicon traces the impact of a single copy of the mysterious work on its owners and those around them as it passes from hand to hand across the decades.

The history is told in braided novel form, with chapters contributed by a gathering of outstanding horror and dark fantasy authors, including S. P. Miskowski, Michael Cisco, Damien Angelica Walters, Nick Mamatas, Anna Tambour, and Jeffrey Thomas.

Table of Contents
Introduction: “From Hand to Hand� to Hand”� by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
Chapter 1: “The Bookmaker� by Nate Pedersen
Chapter 2: “The Collector of Rare Editions� by Donald Tyson
Chapter 3: “Down to a Sunless Sea� by Allyson Bird
Chapter 4: “Dawn Watch� by Daniel Mills
Chapter 5: “Liquor City� by Nick Mamatas
Interlude: “In Waves� by S. P. Miskowski
Chapter 6: “Eyes on Fire� by Cody Goodfellow
Chapter 7: “Horrors Worse than Hell� by Robert M. Price
Chapter 8: “Laying the Words� by Don Webb
Interlude: “Mysteries Don’t Sleep� by Anna Tambour
Chapter 9: “The Sun Saw� by Mike Allen
Chapter 10: “American Ghost� by John Claude Smith
Chapter 11: “Flickering I Roam� by E. Catherine Tobler
Chapter 12: “Sewn into Pieces, Stitched into Place� by Damien Angelica Walters
Chapter 13: “Too Many Pages� by Simon Strantzas
Chapter 14: �11:00� by Nikki Guerlain
Chapter 15: “Void Kiss� by Michael Cisco
Interlude: “Letter Found Sitting atop a Rare Old Handbook of Dark Portent� by Anna Tambour
Chapter 16: “And I Watered It in Fears� by Sunny Moraine
Chapter 17: “Miles and Kathrine at the Crimson� by Michael Griffin
Chapter 18: “Passages for the Dying and the Dead� by S. P. Miskowski
Chapter 19: “Ménage à Trois� by Ross E. Lockhart
Chapter 20: “The Persuader� by Jeffrey Thomas
Afterword: “Over the Moon� by Anna Tambour]]> 339 Joseph S. Pulver Sr. M 0 to-read 3.38 The Leaves of a Necronomicon
author: Joseph S. Pulver Sr.
name: M
average rating: 3.38
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/09/08
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]]> The Pallbearers Club 59314692 The Cabin at the End of the World and Survivor Song.

What if the coolest girl you've ever met decided to be your friend?

Art Barbara was so not cool. He was a seventeen-year-old high school loner in the late 1980s who listened to hair metal, had to wear a monstrous back-brace at night for his scoliosis, and started an extracurricular club for volunteer pallbearers at poorly attended funerals. But his new friend thought the Pallbearers Club was cool. And she brought along her Polaroid camera to take pictures of the corpses.

Okay, that part was a little weird.

So was her obsessive knowledge of a notorious bit of New England folklore that involved digging up the dead. And there were other strange things—terrifying things—that happened when she was around, usually at night. But she was his friend, so it was okay, right?

Decades later, Art tries to make sense of it all by writing The Pallbearers Club: A Memoir. But somehow this friend got her hands on the manuscript and, well, she has some issues with it. And now she's making cuts.

Seamlessly blurring the lines between fiction and memory, the supernatural and the mundane, The Pallbearers Club is an immersive, suspenseful portrait of an unusual and disconcerting relationship.]]> 278 Paul Tremblay 0063069911 M 0 to-read 3.08 2022 The Pallbearers Club
author: Paul Tremblay
name: M
average rating: 3.08
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/07/13
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]]> Piranesi 50202953
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 272 Susanna Clarke 163557563X M 5 4.22 2020 Piranesi
author: Susanna Clarke
name: M
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/06/19
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]]> The Pleasure Merchant 27817754 “Forgive me, but I’m having some difficulty ascertaining exactly where magnetic north lies on your moral compass.�

London, 177�:

Apprentice wig-maker Tom Dawne’s dream is to complete his training, marry his master’s daughter, and set up a shop of his own. Unfortunately for him, when one of his greatest creations is used to play a cruel prank on a powerful gentleman, Tom is dismissed—and forced by fear of poverty and the need to clear his name to serve the very man whom he suspects set him up.

Tom quickly realizes he has bitten off more than he can chew� though as it turns out, it’s not actually more than he desires. As Tom becomes less of a servant and more of a surrogate son, his ambitions change, and so do his pleasures, until it’s no longer easy for Tom to tell if he’s pulling the strings� or trapped in a bizarre web of someone else’s making. Matters become no clearer when Tom meets the mysterious professional libertines who seem to lurk at the center of all his troubles: a man willing to procure anything for anyone, so long as it gives them pleasure, and his obscure assistant, whose past has been irretrievably lost.

Some might even say it was stolen�

From British Fantasy and Wonderland Book Award nominee Molly Tanzer (Vermilion; A Pretty Mouth) comes a novel of despair and desire: The Pleasure Merchant; or, The Modern Pygmalion, equal parts psychological thriller and sensual parlor drama.]]> 430 Molly Tanzer 1621051943 M 0 to-read 4.03 2015 The Pleasure Merchant
author: Molly Tanzer
name: M
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/06/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Assassin's Quest (Farseer Trilogy, #3)]]> 33396914
But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him--currents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was.]]> 757 Robin Hobb M 4 4.21 1997 Assassin's Quest (Farseer Trilogy, #3)
author: Robin Hobb
name: M
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/30
date added: 2022/05/30
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]]> Fool's Errand (Tawny Man, #1) 68488 alternate cover for ISBN 9780006486015

Fifteen years have passed since the end of the Red Ship War with the terrifying Outislanders. Since then, Fitz has wandered the world accompanied only by his wolf and Wit-partner, Nighteyes, finally settling in a tiny cottage as remote from Buckkeep and the Farseers as possible.

But lately the world has come crashing in again. The Witted are being persecuted because of their magical bonds with animals; and young Prince Dutiful has gone missing just before his crucial diplomatic wedding to an Outislander princess. Fitz’s assignment to fetch Dutiful back in time for the ceremony seems very much like a fool’s errand, but the dangers ahead could signal the end of the Farseer reign.

Cover illustration by John Howe

]]> 661 Robin Hobb M 0 to-read 4.35 2001 Fool's Errand (Tawny Man, #1)
author: Robin Hobb
name: M
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/05/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy, #2)]]> 25300956
Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.]]> 675 Robin Hobb M 5 4.30 1996 Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy, #2)
author: Robin Hobb
name: M
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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date added: 2022/05/23
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]]> And At My Back I Always Hear 60041403
“[Nicolay’s] perspective is always outsider-identified, entirely concerned with characters who refuse to settle, both literally and figuratively; his protagonists often hover on a knife’s edge, caught in some sadly inescapable moment of realization. They’ve failed and been failed, left discarded amongst the wreckage of systemic inequity. And now that they have nothing left to cling to, their inner eye pops open, suddenly able to see the darkness lurking inherent in every crevice, the emptiness revolving inside every atom.�
—from the introduction by Gemma Files

Cover Art by David Verba
Cover Design by Michaela Waltz]]> 384 Scott Nicolay 1956252029 M 0 to-read 4.07 And At My Back I Always Hear
author: Scott Nicolay
name: M
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/05/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)]]> 77197
Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.]]> 435 Robin Hobb 055357339X M 5 4.21 1995 Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)
author: Robin Hobb
name: M
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/24
date added: 2022/04/24
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]]> You've Lost a Lot of Blood 60591938
You've lost a lot of blood . . . ]]> 210 Eric LaRocca 1088014208 M 3 3.28 2022 You've Lost a Lot of Blood
author: Eric LaRocca
name: M
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/04/10
date added: 2022/04/10
shelves:
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]]> The Atlas Six (The Atlas, #1) 59108922 The much-acclaimed BookTok sensation, Olivie Blake's The Atlas Six--now newly revised and edited with additional content.

� The tag #theatlassix has millions of views on TikTok

� A dark academic debut fantasy with an established cult following that reads like THE SECRET HISTORY meets THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

� The first in an explosive trilogy

The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation.

Enter the latest round of six: Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona, unwilling halves of an unfathomable whole, who exert uncanny control over every element of physicality. Reina Mori, a naturalist, who can intuit the language of life itself. Parisa Kamali, a telepath who can traverse the depths of the subconscious, navigating worlds inside the human mind. Callum Nova, an empath easily mistaken for a manipulative illusionist, who can influence the intimate workings of a person’s inner self. Finally, there is Tristan Caine, who can see through illusions to a new structure of reality—an ability so rare that neither he nor his peers can fully grasp its implications.

When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will.

Most of them.]]> 410 Olivie Blake 1250854555 M 3 3.67 2020 The Atlas Six (The Atlas, #1)
author: Olivie Blake
name: M
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/30
date added: 2022/03/30
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]]> The Girl in the Glass 40726331 The Great Depression has bound a nation in despair -- and only a privileged few have risen above it: the exorbitantly wealthy ... and the hucksters who feed upon them. Diego, a seventeen-year-old illegal Mexican immigrant, owes his salvation to master grifter Thomas Schell. Together with Schell's gruff and powerful partner, they sail comfortably through hard times, scamming New York's grieving rich with elaborate, ingeniously staged séances -- until an impossible occurrence changes everything.

While "communing with spirits," Schell sees an image of a young girl in a pane of glass, silently entreating the con man for help. Though well aware that his otherworldly "powers" are a sham, Schell inexplicably offers his services to help find the lost child -- drawing Diego along with him into a tangled maze of deadly secrets and terrible experimentation.

At once a hypnotically compelling mystery and a stunningly evocative portrait of Depression-era New York, The Girl in the Glass is a masterly literary adventure from a writer of exemplary vision and skill.

]]> 286 Jeffrey Ford M 0 currently-reading 3.95 2005 The Girl in the Glass
author: Jeffrey Ford
name: M
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/24
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Piranesi 52702097
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 246 Susanna Clarke M 0 4.24 2020 Piranesi
author: Susanna Clarke
name: M
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2021/11/28
date added: 2021/11/28
shelves:
review:

]]> The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie 58272865
Like Frankenstein's monster, The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie is a vibrant, emotional and humane amalgam. A fantastical crime mystery with a soupçon of magic that brings to mind not only Shelley's creation but A Confederacy of Dunces in its exploration of flawed and tragic characters.]]> 247 M. Rickert 1988964326 M 0 to-read 4.05 2021 The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie
author: M. Rickert
name: M
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/11/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> This Thing Between Us 56269269
“This intense cosmic horror with a touch of Mexican American folklore is incredibly creepy and moving.� —Margaret Kingsbury, BuzzFeed

It was Vera’s idea to buy the Itza. The “world’s most advanced smart speaker!� didn’t interest Thiago, but Vera thought it would be a bit of fun for them amidst all the strange occurrences happening in the condo. It made things worse. The cold spots and scratching in the walls were weird enough, but peculiar packages started showing up at the house—who ordered industrial lye? Then there was the eerie music at odd hours, Thiago waking up to Itza projecting light shows in an empty room.

It was funny and strange right up until Vera was killed, and Thiago’s world became unbearable. Pundits and politicians all looking to turn his wife’s death into a symbol for their own agendas. A barrage of texts from her well-meaning friends about letting go and moving on. Waking to the sound of Itza talking softly to someone in the living room . . .

The only thing left to do was get far away from Chicago. Away from everything and everyone. A secluded cabin in Colorado seemed like the perfect place to hole up with his crushing grief. But soon Thiago realizes there is no escape—not from his guilt, not from his simmering rage, and not from the evil hunting him, feeding on his grief, determined to make its way into this world.

A bold, original horror novel about grief, loneliness and the oppressive intimacy of technology, This Thing Between Us marks the arrival of a spectacular new talent.]]> 272 Gus Moreno 0374539235 M 0 to-read 3.70 2021 This Thing Between Us
author: Gus Moreno
name: M
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/11/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> Sundial 57693183 Sundial is a new, twisty psychological horror novel from Catriona Ward, internationally bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street.

You can't escape what's in your blood...

All Rob wanted was a normal life. She almost got it, too: a husband, two kids, a nice house in the suburbs. But Rob fears for her oldest daughter, Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. Rob sees a darkness in Callie, one that reminds her too much of the family she left behind. She decides to take Callie back to her childhood home, to Sundial, deep in the Mojave Desert. And there she will have to make a terrible choice.

Callie is worried about her mother. Rob has begun to look at her strangely, and speaks of past secrets. And Callie fears that only one of them will leave Sundial alive�

The mother and daughter embark on a dark, desert journey to the past in the hopes of redeeming their future.]]> 292 Catriona Ward 1250812682 M 0 to-read 3.77 2022 Sundial
author: Catriona Ward
name: M
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/11/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> Nightwood 53101
The outsized characters who inhabit this world are some of the most memorable in all of fiction—there is Guido Volkbein, the Wandering Jew and son of a self-proclaimed baron; Robin Vote, the American expatriate who marries him and then engages in a series of affairs, first with Nora Flood and then with Jenny Petherbridge, driving all of her lovers to distraction with her passion for wandering alone in the night; and there is Dr. Matthew-Mighty-Grain-of-Salt-Dante-O'Connor, a transvestite and ostensible gynecologist, whose digressive speeches brim with fury, keen insights, and surprising allusions.

Barnes' depiction of these characters and their relationships (Nora says, "A man is another person—a woman is yourself, caught as you turn in panic; on her mouth you kiss your own") has made the novel a landmark of feminist and lesbian literature. Most striking of all is Barnes' unparalleled stylistic innovation, which led T. S. Eliot to proclaim the book "so good a novel that only sensibilities trained on poetry can wholly appreciate it."

Now with a new preface by Jeanette Winterson, Nightwood still crackles with the same electric charge it had on its first publication in 1936.]]> 182 Djuna Barnes 0811216713 M 0 currently-reading 3.66 1936 Nightwood
author: Djuna Barnes
name: M
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1936
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/10/29
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[At The End of the Day I Burst Into Flames]]> 43290023
In the little city of Wood River, Illinois, a man nicknamed Firecracker knows the end is near. The fire is coming, just like it came for his father, his grandfather, and who knows how many men. After all, folks in those parts have a short-term memory when it comes to history, and lots of stories have a tendency to go to the grave. Maybe the fire was always there. Maybe it came along when the oil refinery went up in 1907. Who can say? Sometimes, a yarn like this is as close to a history book as a Midwest community and its people are apt to get.

When it happened to his father, the doctors only called it an accident. But Firecracker's mother had a name for spontaneous combustion. Firecracker knows there is no way to escape this Act of God, so he retreats into his memories. Past and present become one and the same. The veil of reality pulls away and Death arrives in time for one last conversation, where Firecracker comes to terms with the mysteries of his own life, and realizes that some questions are not nearly as important as the moments which spawned them.

From the first line of the tale that sees his eyes explode to--moments and pages later--his whole body being consumed by flame, Firecracker experiences his life and loves through a succession of memories, reveals his friendship with Death, and talks about the men in his family's unfortunate predisposition.

This is a yarn about life and death and spontaneous human combustion.

This is a tale of a man with a fire inside him.

At the End of the Day I Burst into Flames is a horror story about how beautiful love can be.]]> 82 Nicholas Day 1947654802 M 5 4.27 At The End of the Day I Burst Into Flames
author: Nicholas Day
name: M
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2021/10/27
date added: 2021/10/27
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]]> The Secret Skin 56559011 102 Wendy N. Wagner 1952086329 M 0 to-read 3.93 2021 The Secret Skin
author: Wendy N. Wagner
name: M
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Last Days 15793201 531 Adam L.G. Nevill 1250018188 M 0 to-read 3.70 2012 Last Days
author: Adam L.G. Nevill
name: M
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last House on Needless Street]]> 54621094
All these things are true. And yet they are all lies...

You think you know what's inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you've read this story before. That's where you're wrong.

In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. But it's not what you think...]]> 337 Catriona Ward 1788166167 M 0 currently-reading 3.82 2021 The Last House on Needless Street
author: Catriona Ward
name: M
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Deep 22119322
A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys, then the not-so-small things, like how to drive or the letters of the alphabet. Their bodies forget how to function involuntarily. There is no cure.

But far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, a universal healer hailed as “ambrosia� has been discovered. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.]]> 402 Nick Cutter M 3 3.49 2015 The Deep
author: Nick Cutter
name: M
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2021/10/09
date added: 2021/10/09
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]]> The Book of Accidents 55782435
Long ago, Maddie was a little girl making dolls in her bedroom when she saw something she shouldn’t have—and is trying to remember that lost trauma by making haunting sculptures.

Long ago, something sinister, something hungry, walked in the tunnels and the mountains and the coal mines of their hometown in rural Pennsylvania.

Now, Nate and Maddie Graves are married, and they have moved back to their hometown with their son, Oliver.

And now what happened long ago is happening again . . . and it is happening to Oliver. He meets a strange boy who becomes his best friend, a boy with secrets of his own and a taste for dark magic.

This dark magic puts them at the heart of a battle of good versus evil and a fight for the soul of the family—and perhaps for all of the world. But the Graves family has a secret weapon in this battle: their love for one another.]]> 530 Chuck Wendig 0399182136 M 0 to-read 3.70 2021 The Book of Accidents
author: Chuck Wendig
name: M
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/10/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[My Heart Is a Chainsaw (The Indian Lake Trilogy, #1)]]> 55711617
That’s not the only thing that’s getting carved up, though � this, Jade knows, is the start of a slasher. But what kind? Who’s wearing the mask? Jade’s got an encyclopedic recall of every horror movie on the shelf, but� will that help her survive? Can she get a final girl trained enough to stop all this from happening? Does she even want to?

Isn’t a slasher exactly what her hometown deserves?

This new novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones, called “one of our most talented living writers� by Tommy Orange, explores the changing landscape of the West through his distinct voice of sharp humor and prophetic violence.

Go up the mountain to Proofrock. See if you’ve got what it takes � see if your heart, too, might be a chainsaw.]]> 405 Stephen Graham Jones 1982137630 M 0 to-read 3.52 2021 My Heart Is a Chainsaw (The Indian Lake Trilogy, #1)
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: M
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> Save Yourself 17608473
As their fates become entwined, everyone is set down a terrifying and twisted path—leading them all toward a collision where loyalties will be betrayed, fears exposed, and lives shattered.

Now with Extra Libris material, includingrecommended readingand bonus content]]> 322 Kelly Braffet 0385347359 M 4 3.57 2013 Save Yourself
author: Kelly Braffet
name: M
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2021/10/03
date added: 2021/10/03
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Foreign Country (Thomas Kell #1)]]> 18857837 New York Times bestselling author of The Trinity Six, comes a compelling tale of deceit and betrayal, conspiracy and redemption


On the vacation of a lifetime in Egypt, an elderly French couple are brutally murdered. Days later, a meticulously-planned kidnapping takes place on the streets of Paris. Amelia Levene, the first female Chief of MI6, has disappeared without a trace, six weeks before she is due to take over as the most influential spy in Europe. It is the gravest crisis MI6 has faced in more than a decade. Desperate not only to find her, but to keep her disappearance a secret, Britain's top intelligence agents turn to one of their disgraced MI6 officer Thomas Kell. Tossed out of the Service only months before, Kell is given one final chance to redeem himself - find Amelia Levene at any cost. The trail leads Kell to France and Tunisia, where he uncovers a shocking secret and a conspiracy that could have unimaginable repercussions for Britain and its allies. Only Kell stands in the way of personal and political catastrophe.]]> 448 Charles Cumming M 4 currently-reading 4.09 2012 A Foreign Country (Thomas Kell #1)
author: Charles Cumming
name: M
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2021/09/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Colder War (Thomas Kell, #2)]]> 21941667
Then Paul Wallinger, MI6's most senior agent in Turkey, dies in a puzzling plane crash. Fearing the worst, MI6 bypasses the usual protocol and brings disgraced agent Tom Kell in from the cold to investigate. Kell soon discovers what Wallinger had already begun to suspect—that there's a mole somewhere in the Western intelligence, a traitor who has been systematically sabotaging scores of joint intelligence operations in the Middle East.

Internationally acclaimed as "a premier writer of espionage thrillers" (USA Today), Charles Cumming is "among the most skillful spy novelists" (Washington Post) and "a worthy successor to the masters…like John le Carré and Len Deighton" (Chicago Sun-Times). Now, with A COLDER WAR, Cumming returns with MI6 agent Tom Kell (A Foreign Country), in a tour de force that will dazzle readers and critics alike.]]> 397 Charles Cumming M 4 currently-reading 4.15 2014 A Colder War (Thomas Kell, #2)
author: Charles Cumming
name: M
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2021/09/29
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> Poso Wells 40884656 Gustavo Varas, a principled journalist, picks up the trail, which leads him into a violent, lawless underworld. Bella Altamirano, a fearless local, is on her own crusade to pierce the settlement's code of silence, ignoring repeated death threats. It turns out that the disappearance of the candidate and those of the women are intimately connected, and not just to a local crime wave, but to a multinational magnate's plan to plunder the country's cloud forest preserve. Praise for Poso Wells : "The story is a condemnation not only of the corrupt businessmen and the criminal gangs that rule Poso Wells but also of the violence against women that plagues Latin America's real slums."� The New Yorker "One part Thomas Pynchon, one part Gabriel García Marquez, and one part Raymond Chandler, Alemán’s novel contains mystery, horror, humor, absurdity, and political commentary � A concoction of political thriller and absurdist literary mystery that never fails to entertain."� Kirkus Reviews "A wild, successful satire of Ecuadorian politics and supernatural encounters. � Alemán’s singular voice keeps the ride fresh and satisfying."� Publishers Weekly " Poso Wells is ironic, audacious, and fierce. But what is it, exactly? A satire? A scifi novel? A political detective yarn? Or the purest reality of contemporary Latin America. It's unclassifiable—as all great books are."� Samanta Schweblin , author of Fever Dream " Poso Wells is brilliant, audacious, doubtlessly playful and at the same time so dark and bitter. A truly unforgettable book."� Alejandro Zambra , author of Multiple Choice]]> 160 Gabriela Alemán 0872867811 M 4 3.60 2007 Poso Wells
author: Gabriela Alemán
name: M
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/27
date added: 2021/09/29
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]]> Billy Summers 56852407
How about everything...]]> 517 Stephen King 1982173610 M 5 4.11 2021 Billy Summers
author: Stephen King
name: M
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/09/28
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Animals Eat Each Other 38733218 In Elle Nash’s stunning and powerful debut, a girl with no name embarks on a fraught three-way relationship with Matt, a satanist and a tattoo artist, and his girlfriend Hannah, a new mom. The liaison is caged by strict rules and rigid emotional distance. Nonetheless, it’s all too easy to surrender to an attraction so powerful she finds herself erased, abandoning even her own name in favor of a new one: Lilith.

As Lilith grows closer to Matt, she begins to recognize the dark undertow of obsession and jealousy that her presence has created between Matt and Hanna, and finds herself balancing on a knife’s edge between pain and pleasure, the promise of the future and the crushing isolation of the present. With stripped-down prose and unflinching clarity, Nash examines madness in the wreckage of love, and the loss of self that accompanies it. Nash's work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Elle, Marie Claire and others.]]> 127 Elle Nash 1945814071 M 4 3.44 2017 Animals Eat Each Other
author: Elle Nash
name: M
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/28
date added: 2021/09/28
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]]> The Deer Kings 56558971 In 2018, they discover it’s become a god.

Gary thought he’d escaped Kingston, Oregon, the town where his parents died and where, one tragic summer, he and a group of outcast teens turned to the supernatural to protect themselves from a deranged drug dealer. But when his wife lands her dream job as a high school principal, he is forced to return to his hometown.

As Gary reconnects with old friends and his son thrives on the football team, the past feels like a distant memory. But unsettling encounters and mutilated animals in the woods reveal that the Deer Saint is still at work. Now Gary must look into his past to find answers: Who is making sacrifices to the Deer Saint? And what do they want with his family?

“Deer saints, darkness and the strangeness of family ties; Wagner effortlessly mixes football and folk horror in this terrifying new novel.� —Angela Slatter, award-winning author of The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings

�The Deer Kings is a grand, gorgeous, and—at times—gory wonder.� —Gordon B. White, author of As Summer’s Mask Slips and Other Disruptions and Rookfield

“A dark tapestry of occult mystery, small-town secrets, and mounting dread� This story will sink its claws in you from the first word.� —Tim Waggoner, Bram Stoker Award®-winning author

“This compulsively readable novel has solidified Wendy Wagner’s place as one of the most exciting writers in the genre.� —Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of Kin and Sour Candy]]> 318 Wendy N. Wagner 195030597X M 0 to-read 4.22 2021 The Deer Kings
author: Wendy N. Wagner
name: M
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/09/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> Don't Skip Out on Me 35068765
Horace Hopper is a half-Paiute, half-Irish ranch hand who wants to be somebody. He’s spent most of his life on the ranch of his kindly guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Reese, herding sheep alone in the mountains. But while the Reeses treat him like a son, Horace can’t shake the shame he feels from being abandoned by his parents. He decides to leave the only loving home he’s known to prove his worth by training to become a boxer.

Mr. Reese is holding on to a way of life that is no longer sustainable. He’s a seventy-two-year-old rancher with a bad back. He’s not sure how he’ll keep things going without Horace but he knows the boy must find his own way.

Coming down from the mountains of Nevada to the unforgiving desert heat of Tucson, Horace finds a trainer and begins to get fights. His journey to become a champion brings him to boxing rings of Mexico and finally, to the seedy streets of Las Vegas, where Horace learns he can’t change who he is or outrun his destiny.

Willy Vlautin writes from America’s soul, chronicling the lives of those who are downtrodden and forgotten with profound tenderness. Don’t Skip Out on Me is a beautiful, wrenching story about one man’s search for identity and belonging that will make you consider those around you differently.]]> 309 Willy Vlautin 0062684485 M 0 to-read 4.15 2018 Don't Skip Out on Me
author: Willy Vlautin
name: M
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/08/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Night Always Comes 55717147 Award-winning author Willy Vlautin explores the impact of trickle-down greed and opportunism of gentrification on ordinary lives in this scorching novel that captures the plight of a young woman pushed to the edge as she fights to secure a stable future for herself and her family.

Barely thirty, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with bad credit and juggling multiple jobs, some illegally, she’s been diligently working to buy the house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother Kenny. Portland’s housing prices have nearly quadrupled in fifteen years, and the owner is giving them a good deal. Lynette knows it’s their last best chance to own their own home—and obtain the security they’ve never had. While she has enough for the down payment, she needs her mother to cover the rest of the asking price. But a week before they’re set to sign the loan papers, her mother gets cold feet and reneges on her promise, pushing Lynette to her limits to find the money they need.

Set over two days and two nights, The Night Always Comes follows Lynette’s frantic search—an odyssey of hope and anguish that will bring her face to face with greedy rich men and ambitious hustlers, those benefiting and those left behind by a city in the throes of a transformative boom. As her desperation builds and her pleas for help go unanswered, Lynette makes a dangerous choice that sets her on a precarious, frenzied spiral. In trying to save her family’s future, she is plunged into the darkness of her past, and forced to confront the reality of her life.

A heart wrenching portrait of a woman hungry for security and a home in a rapidly changing city, The Night Always Comes raises the difficult questions we are often too afraid to ask ourselves: What is the price of gentrification, and how far are we really prepared to go to achieve the American Dream? Is the American dream even attainable for those living at the edges? Or for too many of us, is it only a hollow promise?


]]> 218 Willy Vlautin 0063035103 M 5 3.84 2021 The Night Always Comes
author: Willy Vlautin
name: M
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/08/22
date added: 2021/08/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke]]> 57876868
What have you done today to deserve your eyes?]]> 120 Eric LaRocca 1951658132 M 5 2.93 2021 Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
author: Eric LaRocca
name: M
average rating: 2.93
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/07/04
date added: 2021/07/04
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]]> The Motel Life 782151 With "echoes of Of Mice and Men" (The Bookseller, UK), The Motel Life explores the frustrations and failed dreams of two Nevada brothers � on the run after a hit-and-run accident � who, forgotten by society, and short on luck and hope, desperately cling to the edge of modern life.

]]> 206 Willy Vlautin 0061171115 M 0 to-read 3.91 2006 The Motel Life
author: Willy Vlautin
name: M
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/06/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Weird Horror, Issue 2, Spring 2021]]> 58260484 Weird Horror magazine is a new venue for fiction, articles, reviews, and commentary. We expect to publish twice-yearly. Long live the new pulp!

Fiction from: Maria Abrams, Mary Berman, Rob Francis, Marc Joan, Alys Key, Catherine MacLeod, Evan James Sheldon, Kristina Ten, and Stephen Volk.

Non-Fiction from: Tom Goldstein, Orrin Grey, Lysette Stevenson, and Simon Strantzas.]]> 77 Michael Kelly 198896430X M 0 to-read 3.80 2021 Weird Horror, Issue 2, Spring 2021
author: Michael Kelly
name: M
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/06/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> Nothing But Blackened Teeth 53195923 Cassandra Khaw's Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a gorgeously creepy haunted house tale, steeped in Japanese folklore and full of devastating twists.

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company.

It’s the perfect wedding venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends.

But a night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare. For lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart.

And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

Effortlessly turning the classic haunted house story on its head, Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a sharp and devastating exploration of grief, the parasitic nature of relationships, and the consequences of our actions.]]> 125 Cassandra Khaw 1250759412 M 0 to-read 2.64 2021 Nothing But Blackened Teeth
author: Cassandra Khaw
name: M
average rating: 2.64
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/06/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[My Year of Rest and Relaxation]]> 44279110
Our narrator should be happy, shouldn’t she? She’s young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn’t just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It’s the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. Both tender and blackly funny, merciless and compassionate, it is a showcase for the gifts of one of our major writers working at the height of her powers.]]> 289 Ottessa Moshfegh 0525522131 M 0 currently-reading 3.62 2018 My Year of Rest and Relaxation
author: Ottessa Moshfegh
name: M
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/21
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[Justice League Dark, Volume 1: In the Dark]]> 13532152 The witch known as The Enchantress has gone mad, unleashing a wave of chaos that not even the combined powers of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg can stop. Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna, Mindwarp and John Constantine may be our only hope - but how can we put our trust in beings whose very presence makes ordinary people break out in a cold sweat?
Critically acclaimed writer Peter Milligan brings together an unorthodox team for the most unnatural threats. With stunning art by up and coming star Mikel Janín!

Collecting: Justice League Dark 1-6]]> 144 Peter Milligan 1401237045 M 0 currently-reading 3.63 2012 Justice League Dark, Volume 1: In the Dark
author: Peter Milligan
name: M
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/15
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> The Moroccan Girl 40136262 “Charles Cumming has breathed new life into the spy novel.� —Ben Macintyre, bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends

Published in the UK as The Man Between

In this gripping contemporary thriller, reminiscent of the classic Casablanca, a successful spy novelist is drawn into a real-life espionage plot when he’s ordered to find a mysterious fugitive on the alluring but deadly streets of Morocco.

Renowned author Kit Carradine is approached by an MI6 officer with a seemingly straightforward to track down a mysterious woman hiding somewhere in the exotic, perilous city of Marrakesh. But when Carradine learns the woman is a dangerous fugitive with ties to international terrorism, the glamour of being a spy is soon tainted by fear and betrayal.

Lara Bartok is a leading figure in Resurrection, a violent revolutionary movement whose brutal attacks on prominent right-wing public figures have spread hatred and violence across the world. Her disappearance ignites a race between warring intelligence services desperate to find her—at any cost. But as Carradine edges closer to the truth, he finds himself drawn to this brilliant, beautiful, and profoundly complex woman.

Caught between increasingly dangerous forces who want Bartok dead, Carradine soon faces an awful to abandon Lara to her fate, or to risk everything trying to save her.]]> 360 Charles Cumming 1250129974 M 0 to-read 3.97 2019 The Moroccan Girl
author: Charles Cumming
name: M
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/05/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> Good Neighbors 54304088 Celeste Ng’s enthralling dissection of suburbia meets Shirley Jackson’s creeping dread in this propulsive literary noir, when a sudden tragedy exposes the depths of deception and damage in a Long Island suburb�pitting neighbor against neighbor and putting one family in terrible danger.

Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world.

Arlo Wilde, a gruff has-been rock star who’s got nothing to show for his fame but track marks, is always two steps behind the other dads. His wife, beautiful ex-pageant queen Gertie, feels socially ostracized and adrift. Spunky preteen Julie curses like a sailor and her kid brother Larry is called “Robot Boy� by the kids on the block.

Their next-door neighbor and Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder�a lonely community college professor repressing her own dark past�welcomes Gertie and family into the fold. Then, during one spritzer-fueled summer evening, the new best friends share too much, too soon.

As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes that spins out of control. Suddenly, it is one mom’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.

A riveting and ruthless portrayal of American suburbia, Good Neighbors excavates the perils and betrayals of motherhood and friendships and the dangerous clash between social hierarchy, childhood trauma, and fear.]]> 304 Sarah Langan 198214436X M 0 to-read 3.53 2021 Good Neighbors
author: Sarah Langan
name: M
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/04/26
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Tourist (Milo Weaver, #1) 4590265
In The Tourist, Olen Steinhauer---twice nominated for an Edgar Award---tackles an intricate story of betrayal and manipulation, loyalty and risk in an utterly compelling novel that is both thoroughly modern and yet also reminiscent of the espionage genre's luminaries: Len Deighton, Graham Greene, and John LeCarré.]]> 408 Olen Steinhauer 0312369727 M 0 currently-reading 3.77 2009 The Tourist (Milo Weaver, #1)
author: Olen Steinhauer
name: M
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/16
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> Antisocieties 57122683 143 Michael Cisco 0578836882 M 0 to-read 4.01 2021 Antisocieties
author: Michael Cisco
name: M
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> Need to Know 40647345 In pursuit of a Russian sleeper cell on American soil, a CIA analyst uncovers a dangerous secret that will test her loyalty to the agency—and to her family.

What do you do when everything you trust might be a lie?

Vivian Miller is a dedicated CIA counterintelligence analyst assigned to uncover the leaders of Russian sleeper cells in the United States. On track for a much-needed promotion, she’s developed a system for identifying Russian agents, seemingly normal people living in plain sight.

After accessing the computer of a potential Russian operative, Vivian stumbles on a secret dossier of deep-cover agents within America’s borders. A few clicks later, everything that matters to her—her job, her husband, even her four children—are threatened.

Vivian has vowed to defend her country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But now she’s facing impossible choices. Torn between loyalty and betrayal, allegiance and treason, love and suspicion, who can she trust?]]> 336 Karen Cleveland 1524797030 M 0 3.81 2018 Need to Know
author: Karen Cleveland
name: M
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2021/03/28
date added: 2021/03/28
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]]> In That Endlessness, Our End 55835771



COME CLOSER, FRIEND. LET ME TELL YOU A STORY.




Heard the one about the Airbnb that eats your dreams or the iron-crowned king who preys on his own bloodline from the air, still smoldering centuries after being burnt alive? How about the cloudy antique bottle you can wish your excess rage inside, or that crooked alley down which something waits to replace your disappointing child with a far more pleasant facsimile? We all know the truth, especially in times like these-in an anxiety-ridden, sleepless world such as ours, it's only ever our very worst dreams that come true. Here streets empty out and people pull themselves apart like amoebas, breeding murderous doppelgangers from their own flesh; houses haunt, ideas possess and a cold and alien moon stares down, whispering that it's time to spawn. New myths rise and ancient evils descend. From the seemingly mundane terrors of a city just like yours to all the most dark and distant places of a truly terrible universe, nothing is as it seems...not even that dimly-recalled cinematic memory you've been chasing all these years, the one you think might be just something you stumbled upon while flipping through channels after midnight. The one that still disturbs you enough to raise a cold sweat all over your body, whenever you try to will its details clear.




Hot on the heels of her 2018 This Is Horror Award-winning short story collection Spectral Evidence, critically horror author Gemma Files compiles fifteen more of her most startling recent nightmares-a creepily seductive downward spiral of dark poetry and existential dread, entirely suitable to the slow apocalypse going on all around us. So take your mind off your troubles and send it somewhere the rules still operate, if only to punish those who violate them.]]> 344 Gemma Files 0578759764 M 0 to-read 4.02 2021 In That Endlessness, Our End
author: Gemma Files
name: M
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/03/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> Later 54798175
Later is Stephen King at his finest, a terrifying and touching story of innocence lost and the trials that test our sense of right and wrong. With echoes of King's classic novel It, Later is a powerful, haunting, unforgettable exploration of what it takes to stand up to evil in all the faces it wears.]]> 248 Stephen King M 4 3.99 2021 Later
author: Stephen King
name: M
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/03/09
date added: 2021/03/13
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Engaging and enjoyable, and a quick, easy read, if somewhat slight. Worth your time for sure, but you probably won't rank this one among your most memorable or impactful Stephen King books.
]]> Last Days 28586344
Nominated for the Shirley Jackson award and winner of the ALA/RUSA Best Horror novel, Brian Evenson’s Last Days is an intense, profoundly unsettling down-the-rabbit-hole detective noir. Kline is a former detective who’s cool head in the face of a brutal amputation makes him the perfect candidate to infiltrate a dark cult that believes amputation brings one closer to God. Kline is tasked with finding the cult leader’s killer. But to get to the truth, Kline must lose himself—literally—one body part at a time.

Last Days was first published in 2003 as a limited edition novella titled The Brotherhood of Mutilation. Its success led Evenson to expand the story into a full-length novel. In doing so, he has created a work that’s disturbing, deeply satisfying, and completely original.]]> 200 Brian Evenson 1566894247 M 5 3.85 2009 Last Days
author: Brian Evenson
name: M
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/22
date added: 2021/02/22
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]]> The Wingspan of Severed Hands 55879116
A world gone mad. Cities abandoned. Dreams invade waking minds. An invisible threat lures those who oppose its otherworldly violence to become acolytes of a nameless cult. As a teenage girl struggles for autonomy, a female weapons director in a secret research facility develops a living neuro-cognitive device that explodes into self-awareness. Discovering their hidden emotional bonds, all three women unveil a common enemy as their dissonant realities intertwine in a cosmic battle across hallucinatory dreamscapes.

Time is the winning predator, and every moment spirals deeper into the heart of the beast.]]> 118 Joanna Koch 195165806X M 0 to-read 3.85 2020 The Wingspan of Severed Hands
author: Joanna Koch
name: M
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/02/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> Shards 56347466 From the award-winning author of the collection Every House Is Haunted comes Ian Rogers's horror story, "Shards", a Tor.com OriginalA group of five friends rent a cabin in the woods—the next day only four are alive. What happened and why is something the survivors are desperate to unravel.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 35 Ian Rogers 1250795834 M 0 to-read 3.77 2021 Shards
author: Ian Rogers
name: M
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/02/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> American Pastoral 11650 Pulitzer Prize Winner (1998)

In American Pastoral, Philip Roth gives us a novel of unqualified greatness that is an elegy for all the twentieth century's promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss. Roth's protagonist is Seymour 'Swede' Levov—a legendary high school athlete, a devoted family man, a hard worker, the prosperous inheritor of his father's Newark glove factory—comes of age in thriving, triumphant post-war America. And then one day in 1968, Swede's beautiful American luck deserts him.

For Swede's adored daughter, Merry, has grown from a loving, quick-witted girl into a sullen, fanatical teenager—a teenager capable of an outlandishly savage act of political terrorism. And overnight Swede is wrenched out of the longed-for American pastoral and into the indigenous American berserk. Compulsively readable, propelled by sorrow, rage, and a deep compassion for its characters, this is Roth's masterpiece.]]> 432 Philip Roth M 0 to-read 3.93 1997 American Pastoral
author: Philip Roth
name: M
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/02/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> Vineland 59721
An old nemesis, federal prosecutor Brock Vond, storms into Vineland at the head of a heavily armed strike force. Soon Zoyd and his daughter, Prairie, go into hiding while Vond begins a relationship with Zoyd's ex-wife and uses Prairie as a pawn against the mother she never knew she had.

Part daytime drama, part political thriller, Vineland is a strange evocation of a twentieth-century America headed for a less than harmonic future.]]> 480 Thomas Pynchon 3499136287 M 0 to-read 3.75 1990 Vineland
author: Thomas Pynchon
name: M
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/02/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> Requiem for a Dream 46945
Entranced by the gleaming visions of their futures, these four convince themselves that unexpected setbacks are only temporary. Even as their lives slowly deteriorate around them, they cling to their delusions and become utterly consumed in a spiral of drugs and addiction, refusing to see that they have instead created their own worst nightmares.

"Selby's place is in the front rank of American novelists . . . To understand Selby's work is to understand the anguish of America." —The New York Times Book Review]]> 279 Hubert Selby Jr. 1560252480 M 0 to-read 4.11 1978 Requiem for a Dream
author: Hubert Selby Jr.
name: M
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1978
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/02/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Vastarien: Vol. 3, Issue 2 56377136 Vastarien: A Literary Journal is a source of critical study and creative response to the corpus of Thomas Ligotti as well as associated authors and ideas. The journal includes nonfiction, literary horror fiction, poetry, artwork and non-classifiable hybrid pieces.




Double issue! Original cover art and 13 original, full color illustrations by living legend Harry 0. Morris. 25 works of fiction by Michael Griffin, Cody Goodfellow, LC von Hessen, Sarah L. Johnson, John Claude Smith, Casilda Ferrante, Lora Gray, Matthew M. Bartlett, and others! 2 Nonfiction articles by Alex Skopic and John Palisano. 9 poems by Sonya Taaffe, Rae White, Dimitry Blizniuk and others. All new recurring column by a special guest!]]> 350 Jon Padgett 0578818892 M 0 to-read, my-books 4.47 2020 Vastarien: Vol. 3, Issue 2
author: Jon Padgett
name: M
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/02/06
shelves: to-read, my-books
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dark Blood Comes From the Feet]]> 53364781 Dark Blood Comes From the Feet is a strange and eclectic collection of seventeen stories from horror author and speculative poet, Emma J. Gibbon. Within its pages, you will meet secret societies who contract deadly diseases on purpose, dancers helping each other avoid "below," monstrous children who must be loved before they return to the sea, a taxidermy-obsessed mother, small blue devils in the Maine woods, a black cat that retrieves the dying, the last witch in Florida, and "a huge fucking dog of potentially supernatural origin."

Visit haunted houses, a Hollywood nightclub, limbo, Whitechapel, and other stops on a death tour, and a childhood hangout that spells destruction for kids and dogs alike. Listen to a punk rock sermon in a post-apocalyptic matriarchal society, witness crustaceans that have trouble staying dead, a cannibalistic romance, a gothic love story to tuberculosis and a downtrodden wife's transformation.

The limbo lounge
Porch
Ghost maker
Sermon from New London
St. Scholastica's Home for Children of the Sea
Crab
Black Shuck Tavern
The last witch in Florida
Cellar door
Whitechapel
The tale of Bobby Red Eyes
Devour
Infection
Janine
Surviving my parents
This is not the Glutton Club
Rise]]> 168 Emma J. Gibbon 1950305287 M 0 currently-reading 3.86 2020 Dark Blood Comes From the Feet
author: Emma J. Gibbon
name: M
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/02/06
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Bad Brains 25669273 368 Kathe Koja 1938263227 M 5 3.72 1992 Bad Brains
author: Kathe Koja
name: M
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/27
date added: 2021/02/06
shelves:
review:
Very impressive writing, in the same kaleidoscopic stream-of-consciousness style as Cipher, though I may have liked that one a little better. Still, it's rare to see a novelist sustain this kind of darkly poetic language over such length.
]]> Stonefish 53144852
When journalist Den Secord is tasked with locating enigmatic tech guru Gregor Makarios, he soon finds his understanding of reality under threat. At the edge of the world, surrounded by primeval forests, in the paradisical environs of Gregor's hi-tech hermitage, Den learns of the true nature of our Universe.

This is the way the world ends.

Heart of Darkness meets The Magus meets bleeding-edge psychedelic gnosticism in Stonefish, the debut novel from Scott R. Jones (When Stars Are Right, Shout Kill Revel Repeat).]]> 330 Scott R. Jones 1939905567 M 5 3.74 2020 Stonefish
author: Scott R. Jones
name: M
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/03
date added: 2021/02/06
shelves:
review:
Any imperfections in this novel are more than offset by the abundant narrative energy and the raging flood of ideas. This won't be for everyone, but you read the synopsis and thought, "Hmm, sounds interesting," you'll probably love it. On the other hand, this isn't your mainstream, plot-driven narrative. I love to see a writer go for broke and empty their brain out onto every page, and Jones has done that here.
]]> The Queen's Gambit 30075987 243 Walter Tevis 1474600840 M 0 to-read 4.23 1983 The Queen's Gambit
author: Walter Tevis
name: M
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Lords of Salem 13406959
From the singular mind of horror maestro Rob Zombie comes a chilling plunge into a nightmare world where evil runs in the blood...

The Lords of Salem

Heidi Hawthorne is a thirty-seven-year-old FM radio DJ and a recovering drug addict. Struggling with her newfound sobriety and creeping depression, Heidi suddenly receives an anonymous gift at the station-a mysteriously shaped wooden box branded with a strange symbol. Inside the box is a promotional record for a band that identifies themselves only as The Lords. There is no other information.

She decides to play it on the radio show as a joke, and the moment she does, horrible things begin to happen. The strange music awakens something evil in the town. Soon enough, terrifying murders begin to happen all around Heidi. Who are The Lords? What do they want?

As old bloodlines are awakened and the bodies start to pile up, only one thing seems all hell is about to break loose.]]> 336 Rob Zombie 1455519170 M 3 3.35 2012 The Lords of Salem
author: Rob Zombie
name: M
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2021/01/21
date added: 2021/01/21
shelves:
review:

]]> Out Behind the Barn 42153083
"She got someone!"

Both children grinned and settled in their beds, eyes fixed to the ceiling.

This was family growth.
]]> 127 John Boden 1988819105 M 4 3.96 2018 Out Behind the Barn
author: John Boden
name: M
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/10
date added: 2021/01/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Point Omega 6595144
Don DeLillo has been "weirdly prophetic about twenty-first-century America" (The New York Times Book Review). In his earlier novels, he has written about conspiracy theory, the Cold War and global terrorism. Now, in Point Omega, he looks into the mind and heart of a "defense intellectual", one of the men involved in the management of the country's war machine.

Richard Elster was a scholar—an outsider—when he was called to a meeting with government war planners, asked to apply "ideas and principles to such matters as troop deployment and counterinsurgency".

We see Elster at the end of his service. He has retreated to the desert, "somewhere south of nowhere", in search of space and geologic time. There he is joined by a filmmaker, Jim Finley, intent on documenting his experience. Finley wants to persuade Elster to make a one-take film, Elster its single character�"Just a man and a wall."

Weeks later, Elster's daughter Jessica visits—an "otherworldly" woman from New York, who dramatically alters the dynamic of the story. The three of them talk, train their binoculars on the landscape, and build an odd, tender intimacy, something like a family. Then a devastating event throws everything into question.

In this compact and powerful novel, it is finally a lingering human mystery that haunts the landscape of desert and mind.]]> 117 Don DeLillo 1439169950 M 4 3.46 2010 Point Omega
author: Don DeLillo
name: M
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/09
date added: 2021/01/09
shelves:
review:
Enigmatic and disorienting, probably too slow-moving and detached for most readers, but DeLillo's terse yet at times poetic novella does offer rewards for those who might enjoy an unsettling, weirdly alienated meditation. I really liked much of this book, though some sections felt too (intentionally) flat and slow-motion.
]]> Bird Box (Bird Box, #1) 18498558 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062259653

Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.

Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remains, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it's time to go, but the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat—blindfolded—with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children's trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?

Interweaving past and present, Bird Box is a snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.]]> 262 Josh Malerman M 4 4.02 2014 Bird Box (Bird Box, #1)
author: Josh Malerman
name: M
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/05
date added: 2021/01/05
shelves:
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]]> The Ballad of Black Tom 26883558
Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic and earns the attention of things best left sleeping.

A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn. Will Black Tom live to see it break?]]> 149 Victor LaValle 0765387867 M 5 3.81 2016 The Ballad of Black Tom
author: Victor LaValle
name: M
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/05
date added: 2021/01/05
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review:

]]> The Outsider 38095045
Horrified by the brutal killing, Detective Ralph Anderson, whose own son was once coached by Maitland, orders the suspect to be arrested in a public spectacle. But Maitland has an alibi. And further research confirms he was indeed out of town that day.

As Anderson and the District Attorney trace the clues, the investigation expands from Ohio to Texas. And as horrifying answers begin to emerge, so King's propulsive story of almost unbearable suspense kicks into high gear.

Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy but there is one rock-hard fact, as unassailable as a man cannot be in two places at the same time. Can he?]]> 577 Stephen King M 4 4.13 2018 The Outsider
author: Stephen King
name: M
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/05
date added: 2021/01/05
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]]> Mexican Gothic 53152636
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 320 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 0525620788 M 5 3.66 2020 Mexican Gothic
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: M
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/05
date added: 2021/01/05
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]]> Europe Central 8450481 A daring literary masterpiece and winner of the National Book Award.

In this magnificent work of fiction, acclaimed author William T. Vollmann turns his trenchant eye on the authoritarian cultures of Germany and the USSR in the twentieth century to render a mesmerizing perspective on human experience during wartime. Through interwoven narratives that paint a composite portrait of these two battling leviathans and the monstrous age they defined, Europe Central captures a chorus of voices both real and fictional� a young German who joins the SS to fight its crimes, two generals who collaborate with the enemy for different reasons, the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich and the Stalinist assaults upon his work and life.]]> 1035 William T. Vollmann 1101118199 M 0 to-read 3.89 2005 Europe Central
author: William T. Vollmann
name: M
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies]]> 53320666
An aspiring actress goes to an audition with a mysterious director. An editor receives the last manuscript of his murdered friend. A young lawyer learns the terrible connection between her grandfather and an ancient race of creatures. A bodyguard drives her employer across a frozen road toward an immense hole in the earth. In these stories and others, John Langan maps the branches of his literary family tree, tracing his connections to the writers whose dark fictions have inspired his own.]]> 378 John Langan 1939905605 M 5 4.00 2020 Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies
author: John Langan
name: M
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/04
date added: 2021/01/05
shelves:
review:
So much great stuff here! Another essential collection from one of the top few horror writers we've got. I also really enjoyed the story notes at the end, and wish more collections included them. Highly recommended.
]]> Shelter for the Damned 54926634
But it isn't long before the place begins revealing its strange, powerful sentience. And it wants something in exchange for the shelter it provides.

Shelter for the Damned is not only a scary, fast-paced horror novel, but also an unflinching study of suburban violence, masculine conditioning, and adolescent rage.]]> 190 Mike Thorn 1950305600 M 0 to-read 3.79 2021 Shelter for the Damned
author: Mike Thorn
name: M
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/01/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> Night of the Mannequins 49246963 Night of the Mannequins, a contemporary horror story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose: is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both?]]> 136 Stephen Graham Jones 1250752078 M 0 to-read 3.31 2020 Night of the Mannequins
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: M
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/12/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Names 408 The Names is considered the book which began to drive "sharply upward the size of his readership" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Among the cast of DeLillo's bizarre yet fully realized characters in The Names are Kathryn, the narrator's estranged wife; their son, the six-year-old novelist; Owen, the scientist; and the neurotic narrator obsessed with his own neuroses. A thriller, a mystery, and still a moving examination of family, loss, and the amorphous and magical potential of language itself, The Names stands with any of DeLillo's more recent and highly acclaimed works.

"The Names not only accurately reflects a portion of our contemporary world but, more importantly, an original world of its own is created."--Chicago Sun-Times

"DeLillo sifts experience through simultaneous grids of science and poetry, analysis and clear sight, to make a high-wire prose that is voluptuously stark."--Village Voice Literary Supplement

"DeLillo verbally examines every state of consciousness from eroticism to tourism, from the idea of America as conceived by the rest of the world, to the idea of the rest of the world as conceived by America, from mysticism to fanaticism."--New York Times]]> 339 Don DeLillo 0679722955 M 0 to-read 3.64 1982 The Names
author: Don DeLillo
name: M
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/12/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> Providence 35226186
Mourning the disappearance of Jon and facing the reality he may never return, Chloe tries to navigate the rites of entering young adulthood and "fit in" with the popular crowd, but thoughts of Jon are never far away.

When Jon finally escapes, he discovers he now has an uncontrollable power that endangers anyone he has intense feelings for. He runs away to protect Chloe and find the answers to his new identity—but he's soon being tracked by a detective who is fascinated by a series of vigilante killings that appear connected.

Whisking us on a journey through New England and crashing these characters' lives together in the most unexpected ways, Kepnes explores the complex relationship between love and identity, unrequited passion and obsession, self-preservation and self-destruction, and how the lines are often blurred between the two.]]> 367 Caroline Kepnes 0399591435 M 4 3.30 2018 Providence
author: Caroline Kepnes
name: M
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2020/12/24
shelves:
review:

]]>