House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
My impression was unfortunately a little underwhelming...
Ceci n'est pas un livre.
It
is more of a mishmash of pastiche academic research papers, collections of poems and
polaroid pictures, pages and pages of layout experiments,
lists of long lost exhibits, lists of architects and photographs and an infinity of footnotes telling
parallel stories. House of Leaves is the epitome of postmodern lecture and with more than 700 pages it is
definitely the epitome of pain in the neck, if you're reading the physical copy.
Although I appreciate all the thought and work that has been put into this book and it has some seriously eerie moments, I can't say I enjoyed reading it.
Crota by Owl Goingback
A mysterious monster reminiscent of, but not quite Big Foot, a sunken city, lots of gory murders and only one man, the Shaman Little Hawk, who knows what to do about it...
Starting as a very bloody crime story, it only ever becomes genuinely interesting after Little Hawk enters the scene and his different approach to danger, fear, life in general is what makes this book awesome. And the end was so emotional, I love that! I'll definitely be reading more books by the author.
Such A Quiet Place by Megan Miranda
"I’m always amazed at
what women will do because they’re afraid of being rude."What a talk show host said in a mock interview in the first episode of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt kept on popping up in my mind while reading especially the first half of Megan Miranda’s Such a Quiet Place.
Just suppose you’re at home, cooking some dinner and chilling, when all of the sudden your ex roommate comes in, who was in jail for the last year and more for having murdered your neighbors. Someone you haven’t visited in all that time and haven’t talked to and she just comes in grabbing your laptop, sitting in your living room and eating your food and in general acting like nothing ever happened.
That’s what happens to main character Harper with her former roommate Ruby, but she never has the courage
to say the obvious “Oh no, sorry, you can’t stay here”. And when all the
neighborhood starts pressuring Harper into throwing Ruby out, she never
says “Screw you, go do it yourselves”. Harper just never shows any
backbone and that’s just one characteristic of a plethora of unlikeable
characters that make up the story of this book, which also has lots of
plot holes (like nobody ever going to work??). But it had a nice flow and keeps you reading.
The Carrow Haunt by Darcy Coates
Sleepwalking mediums, creepy ghost kids, a chilling history; The Carrow House has everything your haunted house heart desires and it was super nice to read, it just flows. This kind of story, an old fashioned ghost story, makes me feel good - an old house, a group of random people and ghosts - a little predictable, a little bit twisty, really well written!
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
And again - Apparently Alice Feeney is the unabashed queen of the killer twist and I'm hearing it only now... Having now read Rock Paper Scissors, all I can say is; the title is well deserved!
Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland and hope that it's the chance to save their marriage. They are not alone though, and especially for Adam, a screenwriter who has lived with face blindness his whole life, this trip will turn into a serious mind trip.
I thought this was GREAT!
I
hate books written in the form of letters addressed to the second
person singular - you were so blablabla and you did blablabla-, because it just
tires me to read. And it only adds to my frustration when it is a woman
writing letters to her husband or boyfriend, because it almost always
turns out to be a "she is so clingy while he doesn't care" cliche.
What I hate just as much are thrillers that solely revolve around relationship drama as if
there's no interesting motive left in this whole wide world.
Miraculously,
Rock Paper Scissors takes these elements that I abhor and combines them
in a way that makes sense and that is clever. Even though by the
end of the book I had had one twist too many, I didn't see much of it
coming and I really enjoyed listening to it.
Cackle by Rachel Harrison
Can I just please say that I LOVE Rachel Harrison? I was smitten by her debut The Return last year and I enjoyed her latest, Cackle, just as much.
Annie is going through a rough patch - she has no job and is dumped by her longterm boyfriend whom she was dreaming of marrying. To find a fresh start she accepts a teaching position in a small, picturesque village upstate. The town is pretty, the people are great and then there is Sophie; gorgeous, unapologetic, eccentric and everything Annie has ever needed in a friend. There are things that don't really add up though, and when Annie discovers her true nature, even more things will be turned upside down in her life...
Just like in her previous novel, Harrison explores the darker corners of friendship and self emancipation - this time a little more light-hearted, a little less scary, but always a delight to read.
Team Sophie all the way!
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