10/06/2025
I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book. Walpurgis Tide was the second book I read for my Scandinavian Crime Fiction class, and while I do feel like I learned a lot through the book I'm not sure if I really liked how the mystery tied up at the end. I didn't know anything about the Faroe Islands or their culture before reading the book, but I feel like I know a bit now. Honestly my main issue with the book was that near the end the pacing was a bit off, but from the class discussion it didn't seem like that bothered anyone else so I might just be nitpicky. It was still a good book, though! Leagues above Valentine by Tom Savage. Walpurgis Tide explores the Faroe Islands in the aftermath of a controversial practice; the whale hunt. This time, though, two young activists are found dead among the soon to be butchered whales. The questions are, of course, who did it and why? Hannis Martinsson, a Faroese man who has just returned from a long stint in Denmark, is tasked with answering these questions. But how many more bodies will pile up before he reaches the conclusion?
10/01/2025
This is the first poetry collection I've read fully! I would love to claim that I did so of my own volition, but this was also a book I read for a class. Form and Technique in Poetry is having us read two collections and go over them as a group. I will say that I like poetry and I do wish I read more of it in my free time, so I was glad to read this. Gabrielle Bates is also an amazing poet. She isn't afraid of trying new forms or exploring intense topics, and that is what really spoke to me about her work, I think. I'm going to keep an eye out for if she releases another collection soon.
09/18/2025
This is the second book for my English Lit class. While it was very short, the fact that it was the true events of an enslaved woman and the horrors that she and others endured made it a very difficult read. Reading this book for a class with this title I think was a good move on the professor's part, because even though we're going to read fiction from here on out, it is important to remember that the monstrous behavior in fiction is nothing compared to the cruelty we've inflicted on others in reality.
09/16/2025
I read this book for another class I'm in called Scandinavian Crime Fiction! This was the first book we read for the class and is considered a Norwegian classic. The book was a fun read, it definitely felt like it was modeled after others that came out at that time like Agatha Christie. The detective also reminded me a bit of Columbo, though his methods were definitely more... unique. It's about a murder that takes place over a summer holiday at a vacation spot and a detective who comes to investigate, as well as the mystery of the Iron Chariot... a ghostly chariot that can be heard in the distance but never seen, and is an omen of death. Who is the killer? What is the iron chariot, really?
09/11/2025
This was the first book I read for my English Literature class on Monsters and the Monstrous, and what a book to begin with! Frankenstein is such a beautifully written book, exploring the themes of loneliness, morality, and humanity through the story of Victor Frankenstein and the being he worked so hard to create but then abandoned so quickly. I've read this book before, but never in a class setting so it was fun to get to hear what other people thought about it and discuss the book more in depth. I am also excited for the Guillermo del Toro adaptation, because I think it will be much truer to the text than the previous iterations have been.
08/16/2025
The Help was another book I read after seeing the movie years ago! Comparatively, I can tell that the movie didn't really stray much from the book. That is to say, of course, that both experiences were great. I did like that there were multiple narratives which was also used in the movie, but with the book the differences in perspective just from the way the characters thought and described things was always in their own voices. One of the few things you can't accomplish as easily in a movie is getting deep into the heads of multiple characters, so I think that's a strength the book had over the movie.
08/07/2025
I read this book because I really liked the movie that came out a few years ago. They were different but, in their own separate ways, great! Spontaneous is a coming of age story about a class of high school seniors who out of nowhere begin to blow up. I think the book was able to balance the tragic elements and the horror in it really well, especially with the way the remaining kids slowly grew desensitized to all the death surrounding them. I will say that Dylan was different in the book from how I remembered him in the movie, but I still really liked him. However, between the two, I think the movie was a bit more cohesive. Still, a very fun and strange read!
07/29/2025
This book has been recommended to me so many times! I bought it not long after that, but I had it sitting on my shelf just waiting for the perfect time to read it. I know that's a silly way to go about reading books, but that's how I like to do it most of the time. Long story short, I finally read it! And now I understand why it was recommended to me so hard. Gideon the Ninth is one of those books that feels like it was made with me in mind. The mystery, the necromancy, the action, the dialogue, the intrigue, the viscera... absolute perfection. My only regret is that I don't have the next book on me.
07/29/2025
As an inspiration and precursor to the cosmic horror genre, I really wanted to like this compilation more than I did. While a lot of the stories were good and interesting, during The Streets section I felt like the connection to the titular King in Yellow was forgotten about and the stories were just odd romantic dramas. I did really like the focus on the arts and artists as protagonists. Given that in the stories themselves The King in Yellow is a book itself that makes people go mad after reading it and the question arises multiple times about censorship and the nature of art, I thought it was a nice touch. I wish it had been an aspect explored more in depth in the stories themselves, but what can you do? Anyway, my favorites from this one were The Mask and The Yellow Sign.
07/16/2025
I've been collecting volumes of Blood on the Tracks for a few years now. After reading the first volume, I realized I wouldn't be able to handle it if I couldn't read the whole story at once. That's just the kind of power that Shuzo Oshimi's work always holds. Shuzo Oshimi is a master storyteller and artist. Genuinely my favorite mangaka. Blood on the Tracks is the story of a boy and his relationship with his mother. To say that they are codependant is an understatement... but you won't get any more about the series out of me. Just know that this is a top tier work for me and that the ending, while not what I expected, was perfect. I highly recommend!
07/05/2025
I've been following Adam Ellis's comics for awhile now, so when I got his collection of horror comics for Christmas last year I was really excited! Ellis has this soft art style that's such a pleasure to look at and his eye for detail is incredible. While the stories were all horror they were also a range in tone and theme that kept the whole collection fresh. The body horror and psychological elements were really well executed! My favorites were Green Ribbon and Murder Party.
06/26/2025
I'd like to start this out by saying I've seen the movie multiple times, so I already knew the twist before it happened. The book was amazing, though! I love a psychological thriller. I also loved the exploration of Nick's misogynistic tendencies throughout the novel and how he was actively fighting his internalized misogyny at times, too. I don't remember that playing much of a role in the movie but my memory is also not perfect. Amy on paper is also somehow more intense than Amy on screen, I think because in her sections you have access to all of her narrative thoughts and not just the voice over parts, you know? Anyway, this was the second Gillian Flynn book I've read and I really want to get my hands on Dark Places soon!
06/17/2025
The most surreal of the books I've read for this class and possibly ever, The Swan Book was beautiful and strange and not something I'm sure I fully understood but I tried my best. This might be one that's better to read when you don't have a time limit so you can better absorb it. Definitely one I might have to reread when I get the chance just to see if I understand some of what's happening better.
06/09/2025
House of Many Gods was my favorite read for my summer course! It's a story that focuses on love, family, survival, loneliness, and hope. It was a family saga chronicling the story of Ana in Hawai'i, her mother who left for America, and a boy, Nokolai, in Russia. The book was rich and complex and the author was able to weave the story together in such a beautiful way. I also liked that it ended on a more hopeful note, though there were a lot of tragic moments throughout the book as well.
06/02/2025
This book was so heavy and thought provoking that it hasn't really left my head completely since I finished it. It focuses on two reporters who are traversing the oil choked waters of the Niger Delta in search of a kidnapped white woman they've been tasked with interviewing. It also discussed the impact the oil industry has had on the area. Extremely impactful.
05/26/2025
This was such an interesting read! It felt a bit like The DaVinci Code in the best way possible. I also liked all the different settings we got in this book- the Sundarbans, Venice, California -and some of the different ecological issues faced in those areas. At first I was invested in learning about the Gun Merchant, but then as we met more characters I became invested in their stories and lives as well. From what I learned from other readings for this class (not included in my book count because they were mostly articles or essays) is that Ghosh is a big figure in the eco-literature scene. I might pick up another of his books just to see what his other work is like since I enjoyed this one so much.
05/20/2025
This one was the one I meant to read! It was short which worked out for me given how much I struggled to find and read it on time for when my class post about it was due. The story itself had a lot of charm to it! An enjoyable read about some of the traditional agricultural practices of the Dominican Republic and how corporate agriculture effects the environment.
05/19/2025
I actually read this book on accident! The campus bookstore messed this collection of personal essays up with a short story by Julia Alvarez with a similar title. I didn't realize the mix-up until I'd read the whole book, though. It was a nice collection full of heart that focused on the importance of culture, family, and growth. It also wasn't super long so it didn't set me back too much, lol.
05/14/2025
This was my first read for my Global Fiction class, the topic of the class was on eco-literature (literature focused on ecological issues). This was a really short read and was a great introduction to the subject as well as other things we covered during the class, like colonization and the tourism industry. The book was enlightening and the topics heavy, but the writing was stylistic and straightforward.
05/11/2025
I'd seen the movie that was based on this book and honestly the movie was your average 2000s slasher, but it was still fun from what I remembered. I was suprised when I realized it was a book and was really curious to see what it was like!
...
I'd have to say, I don't recommend it. I was a little frustrated in myself for picking this book as the one I would to kick off my summer (and the only one I had time for before my summer course on Global Fiction started). I think what I disliked the most about the book though was that there were moments where the plot was interesting and cool and I wanted to see where it went, only to be disappointed at where it ended up. It did inspire me to start another project for myself, though!
04/26/2025
This one was my top read of the semester! Though all of the books had themes that are still relevant today, this one had a plot that could play out even today with no changes. The plot follows the story of a young woman who falls in love with a man only to realize too late that he's not quite the man she thought he was. There were moments where I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next! I don't want to give too much away, but I can't recommend this book enough.
04/12/2025
Before taking this course, I didn't even realize there was a third Bronte sister. It turns out that may have been intentional on Charlotte's part, as the one survived the longest out of her siblings. Charlotte thought that Anne's books were too "coarse" for the public and tried to essentially bury them. This first one, Agnes Grey, actually reminded me a lot of Jane Eyre but with a stark realism and unflinching look at what the life of a governess is like. I liked the book, but not as much as some of the other ones I'd read during the semester.
03/28/2025
I had so many feelings about this book, and I think I'm still trying to sort them out properly. I think first and foremost it's important to acknowledge that this book is a revenge story with a romance element and not primarily a romance. All of the characters were interesting in the fact that none of them were really likeable in the same way that Charlotte's characters (with the exception of Lucy Snowe) tried to be. I think it also helped that the story was told from an outsider's perspective so even though we think we know what the characters are thinking we don't actually have a concrete read on their psyche. I also loved Heathcliff's ending. Brilliant novel, definitely one of my top reads of the year.
03/13/2025
I absolutely adore Toni Morrison. I found a copy of The Bluest Eye at a little booksale at my local library where all the books were fifty cents. That's also where I ended up getting a copy of Agnes Grey, which I needed for later in the semester for my Bronte class, so that really worked out! This was the third Morrison book I've read, but the first one I read outside of a class. The book is short, but despite its conciseness it's rich and complicated in a way that only makes everything that happens to Pecola cut even sharper. After finishing it I felt empty. What a book to end spring break!
03/11/2025
This was a book I read for my Bronte class, it's a sort of modern take on Wuthering Heights set in a high school and playing with the idea of Catherine choosing Heathcliff over Edgar. I don't read a lot of YA books, but I liked this one for the most part. I think it was also good that I read this one before reading Wuthering Heights, because I think my opinion of this book would be incredibly different in that case. The characters definitely read like teenagers, which is a really great thing for this book and can be difficult to accomplish! This was a quick and dramatic read for me. I'd be curious on seeing what Brownlee would do with writing a sequel...
03/10/2025
I got this book for Christmas, and I had the opportunity to read it over spring break! It was short, but intense. The story follows the life of a girl whose friend is taken by a stranger and never seen again. Then, on her birthday, that same stranger comes to her with a proposition. If she does what he asks her to, he might tell her where to find her friend. It's a really quick read and also incredibly dark. I loved reading the descent of Laura's psyche as she fell into this toxic manipulation from a predator. Great read.
03/08/2025
Villette was my favorite of Charlotte Bronte's books! Lucy Snowe was such an intriguing and complex character. She appears cold and aloof but it's a mechanism to mask the intense loneliness she's felt her entire life. This book almost feels like a more tragic version of Jane Eyre to me. If you've read Jane Eyre and wanted another Charlotte Bronte book to check out by her I would definitely recommend this one. I will say though, the ending is the least happy out of I think any of the Bronte books I've read for this semester.
02/20/2025
Shirley, while not being the worst book I've read, was probably my least favorite of the year so far. I liked a lot of the characters and I thought the themes in the story were really interesting and cool, especially the parts about gender and the march of progress leading to the mechanization of labor and how that effected the different social classes. This book was tackling a lot of subjects and had a lot of different characters, and I think that was its downfall. If the book had been divided into a series where we could have focused on the specific issues or character's stories more thoroughly then I think it would have been even better. Some of the dialogue was really fun and there were some dramatic twists that I absolutely loved.
01/31/2025
This spring semester, I took a class on the Bronte sisters. I'd never read any of their work before despite them being classics, and I thought it was high time I sink my teeth into them. It took me awhile to get into Jane Eyre, but that may have been because I wasn't used to that style of literature as I am more of a modern reader. There were, of course, parts of the book I already was aware of, but there was also a lot that I was in the dark about. Over all, it was a good book and a good introductory to the class! Jane is such an interesting character, while she does have a fiery passion that burns in her, she is also willing to forgive others even when they probably don't deserve it.
01/15/2025
I actually stumbled upon this book while watching a youtube series called The Story Foundry. While I have always considered myself a horror fan and have always been interested in Barker's work, I hadn't read anything by him and I wasn't sure where to start. Imajica seemed like a great starting point! The book was a little over 800 pages- quite the size but not one I was shy to approach after reading the unabridged version of The Stand last summer. The book utilized all its pages well, between all the interweaving plots there was never a dull moment. The settings were all varying and beautiful, and even the parts that took place on Earth before we entered the Imajica still had this ethereal quality to them. Honestly, I could have read a whole 800 pages just about Judith and Gentle's disastrous relationship and still been happy with it. The characters and the way they existed in the world really made the story alive to me and I'm so glad I finally got to read this book! I'm looking forward to reading more of Barker's work in the future. Absolutely beautiful.