Happy Valentine’s Day! Unfortunately, my husband gave up on buying books for me many years ago, so no exciting gift news to share. Let’s get to the good stuff.
Episode Thirteen
Riding high on the wave of awesomeness that is Grady Hendrix’s How to Sell a Haunted House, I decided to give another male-authored modern horror a try, so I picked up Craig DiLouie’s Episode Thirteen. I tried not to compare the two books, but it was difficult. Episode Thirteen follows a team of TV ghostbusters into a haunted house, where the team film the ill-fated episode 13 of their show. It was enjoyable, if a little long, and I would have liked a little more meaningful character development. But as far as found-footage novels go, it was fun. I listened to the audiobook, which had a full cast, and was incredibly well directed.
Our Share of Night
Why yes, I am still reading this! It’s so long! But I’m enjoying it. Particularly at the moment because there is a character called Adela, who may or may not be the same Adela from Mariana Enriquez’s amazing short story, Adela’s House.
My Men
Weird, translated fiction is one of my favorite genres, so I was immediately drawn to My Men, by Victoria Kielland (trans. Damion Searles), which is a fictionalized account of 19th century serial killer, Belle Gunness. This book made me so sad. My full review is here, but I recommend My Men to people who enjoy reading Virago Modern Classics.
Sister, Maiden, Monster
I started listening to another bonkers audiobook from Tor Nightfire! Lucy A. Synder’s latest novel, Sister, Maiden, Monster, is about a deadly pandemic, told from the perspective of three different, interlinked women. Sex, brains, and lots of blood. Lots of fun so far.
New Books!
So incredibly grateful to McNally Editions, so kindly granted me access to Twice Lost, by Phyllis Paul. Cannot wait to get stuck in.
And HUGE thanks to Titan Books, who made my Valentine’s Day by granting me access to The Other Side of Never: Dark Tales from the World of Peter & Wendy. I love dark Peter Pan tales; Lost Boy by Christina Henry is one of my favorite books of all time. I cannot wait to get stuck into this collection.
And I am very intrigued by Unquiet by E. Saxey, also from Titan:
“An intrepid young woman journeys across Victorian London and beyond in search of the truth behind the presumed death, and reappearance one icy evening, of her brother-in-law, in this gripping and mysterious gothic horror.”
Cross Stitching
One of my other hobbies is cross-stitching, which I picked up a couple of years ago after a hiatus of over 20 years. So this reading tracker bookmark pattern, from the amazing Sophie O’Neill, aka The Stir-Crazy Crafter is perfect for me. I am color-coding the books I read by genre. I modified the pattern a little, adding my Georgie Funko Pop, and my favorite mug.
California Reading 