First Impressions You know that feeling when you find a book that looks promising, with a gorgeous cover and a great premise, and then you start reading and it’s somehow even weirder than you expected? That was my experience with The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien by Brit Griffin, a surprising read that ended up keeping […]
I am a huge Stephen Graham Jones fan. I still have nightmares of the Elk-Headed Woman from The Only Good Indians. Jade Daniels may be one of my favorite heroines of contemporary literature. And the Buffalo Hunter Hunter? Left me SHOOK. So you can imagine my delight on discovering an e-arc for Mapping the Interior […]
High Hopes for For the Record by Emma Lord Late last year I picked up Emma Lord’s The Break-Up Pact as an ARC and fell hard for it. It had humor, heart, and just the right amount of emotional pull. I happily gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars and immediately added her name to […]
I don’t know what I was expecting when I started How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold, but I do know I was surprised. If you’re in the mood for something fast-paced and not too serious this could be a fun pick. Arnold’s debut leans all the way into the camp, and the […]
A Blood-Soaked, Witch-Filled Nightmare Marie Lestrange’s The Devil’s Colony delivers a relentless, haunting, and visceral reimagining of one of America’s most enduring mysteries: the disappearance of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. By blending historical fiction with full-throttle horror, Lestrange crafts a tale that grips readers with its eerie atmosphere, brutal violence, and creeping sense of […]
Cult Vibes, Questionable Ethics, and a Sci-Fi Movie? What is “The Last Session” I was beyond excited to receive an ARC of The Last Session. (Many thanks to Atria Books for an electronic ARC in exchange for my authentic review). Julia Bartz’s debut, The Writing Retreat, was a favorite of mine—dark, suspenseful, and just the […]
A Speculative Horror Debut with a Unique Tone Speculative horror is one of my favorite subgenres, so when I saw Listen to Your Sister marketed for fans of Jordan Peele and Stranger Things, I was immediately intrigued. Neena Viel’s debut novel blends family trauma, unsettling horror, and unexpected humor in a way that sets it […]
At the start of 2025, I set a goal to make a dent in my ever-growing TBR. In the spirit of shopping my shelves, I picked up The Circle by Dave Eggers, a book that had been lingering unread for far too long. With its premise of a tech company creeping into every aspect of […]
This week, my family and I have been fighting a chest cold that just won’t quit, and I was struggling to read anything that needed to hold my focus for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time. Short story collections to the rescue! Fortunately, I had picked up a couple options at the […]
So, you’ve decided you are going to read 50 books in 2025? Fifty sounds like a lot, but trust me—it’s totally doable. And the best part? You don’t have to spend a fortune to get there. With a little planning and some budget-friendly strategies, you’ll be flipping through pages (or listening to audiobooks) in no […]