Let the Right Book In

Wow. Wow wow wow. This book blew me away! If you’re a fan of dark, weird, macabre, beautifully written stories, then you need to read Salt Slow, a collection of nine distinct tales about womanhood. But these stories focus on unruly women, the best kind. “The sky is gory with stars, like the insides of a gutted night.” What I love most about these stories is that they are rooted in the mundane, but then Armfield introduces these details that elevate the stories from everyday humdrum scenarios to the weird and unusual. And it’s all executed in such a gorgeously vivid haunting way. I was obsessed from the very first story. Each of the 9 stories are unique and memorable. We have women obsessed with creating the perfect man in the form of a Frankenstein-like monster, a girl who has a wolf as a stepsister, a woman’s girlfriend who claws out of her grave to visit her former lover, an all-female band who’s fans turn violent... the scope and imagination that Armfield demonstrates is amazing! I

Don’t you just love books where a protagonist has to return to their hometown for some reason or other, and they end up staying longer than intended because there’s just SOMETHING they need to get to the bottom of? A very specific trope that I’m a fan of. "It wasn’t as though the farm hadn’t seen death before, and the blowflies didn’t discriminate. To them there was little difference between a carcass and a corpse.” In The Dry, Aaron returns to his hometown to attend the funeral of his childhood friend, Luke, who had been found dead along with his wife and child. The police think it’s a case of murder/suicide, but Aaron, who is a Federal Police investigator, is persuaded by Luke’s parents to get to the bottom of the murders. There’s effectively two mysteries to be solved in this book, the other focuses on Aaron and Luke’s childhood and the death of their friend. Harper efficiently handles the two storylines, tying the narratives together via seamless transitions. A minor gripe is

Ahh, the old October TBR. Every year it’s the same thing – you want MAXIMUM spooky vibes. You don’t want to possibly pick a month of duds and be left disappointed. But don’t worry, I am here to help, with suggestions for numerous subgenres! So there should definitely be a book or two to suit your tastes. Atmospheric These are the books that are perfect to curl up with under a blanket on a rainy day. Coffee included of course. If you’re looking for something atmospheric that celebrates Halloween itself, I’d recommend The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury (sidenote: I am hosting a readalong over on my Instagram!). It’s short and fun, with really cute illustrations. May I also recommend Something Wicked This Way Comes by Bradbury? It’s light on the horror, but heavy on the autumn vibes. Yet another Bradbury option – this man was the epitome of autumn – is The October Country, one of my favourite short story collections. Another beautifully atmospheric book is The Haunting of Hill House by Sh

Oh, boy. Sometimes impulse buys pay off! I cannot remember what prompted me to pick this one up, maybe it was the synopsis about the sweet old lady with the cats, maybe it was that intriguing title... but this was a crazy ride that I thoroughly enjoyed! “To the horror of the police, the watch on the wrist of one of the fresher bodies was still ticking.” In 1988, detectives were called to investigate the disappearance of an elderly man from his last known address, a boarding house for the elderly, homeless and people with mental health problems. The owner was a sweet old lady who cared for stray cats and the rest of society’s castaways. But there were also reports of graves being dug late at night... and guests who had fallen ill and seemingly disappeared... Reading about the life of Dorothea Puente just felt like I was reading fiction. This should be a MOVIE. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier, something else came along. It’s quite a tragic story though, especially what

Last night I had a video call with some friends as we’ve been reading this for our book club. There was an audible gasp when I said that based on two books alone, Sally Rooney is now one of my most favourite authors. She is just THAT impressive to me. Her grasp on human nature is phenomenal, the way she takes what can be seen as relatively “normal” relationships and picks them apart and lays them bare continues to astound me. Her characters are so real and relatable, and her stories are the equivalent of peering in through windows into other people’s lives. Basically I could write an essay on why I love Sally Rooney so much. “Suffering wouldn’t make me special, and pretending not to suffer wouldn’t make me special.” Conversations With Friends follows Frances and the numerous relationships she has in her life. There’s her best friend, and former girlfriend, Bobbi. And then there’s the married couple that they become close friends with, Melissa and Nick. What follows is a complex love re

It’s incredibly clear from the outset that Tananarive Due is a masterful storyteller. Her stories exude heart, emotion, vulnerability and originality. She’ll be an auto-buy author for me from now on! “You know everybody has a turn, and you just try to find something interesting every day to make you glad it hasn’t happened yet.” The stories collected in Ghost Summer are scarily relevant with regards to current events. Not only do the themes of racism and the everyday struggles that Black people face feature in a number of the stories, but there’s also a selection of pandemic-related tales too. As is the case with most short story collections, not every story was a hit for me, but I always expect that so it doesn’t lead to too much disappointment. Some of my favourites in this collection were: - The Knowing, which is about a woman who knows when everyone she meets is going to die and her struggle in how to deal with having that kind of knowledge - Like Daughter, which delves into the hi

White Tears is the definition of a novel of two halves. There was maybe just a little TOO much going on here, leading to confusion and rereading paragraphs to ensure that you’ve followed exactly what is going on. I just don’t like having to work this hard when I’m reading. “On your record deck, you played the sound of the middle passage, the blackest sound. You wanted the suffering you didn’t have, the authority you thought it would bring.”   Seth and Carter are two twenty-something New Yorkers who are obsessed with music. During a trip to a local park, Seth accidentally records an unknown singer and Carter puts it on the internet claiming that it’s a long lost 1920s blues recording. An old collector reaches out to say that this bluesman, as well as their “fake record”, is actually real, leading to the two men spiralling down into America’s musical history. Once again I randomly stumbled upon a book that ended up being incredibly relevant to what’s going on right now. White Tears chall