I'm late! Which is hilarious, given how rarely I post on this little blog anymore. But we were on vacation in the desert for ten days at the end of April/beginning of May and I read a bunch of books in between outdoors things and drinking (also sometimes outdoors), and then we came home and I got overwhelmed by laundry and real life and here we are, way late in sharing what I read in April. Pluswhich, it's been so long I don't know how much I remember any of them.
- A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher. I keep trying to read her older stuff but this is the newest one. When your mom's an evil sorceress, it makes things difficult for everyone. All the reviews say this is a "dark retelling of the Brothers Grimms' Goose Girl, but I don't really remember that one either.
- Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay. Told by a somewhat unreliable narrator, this riff on a cursed movie tells the story of the making of an ultralow budget 1990s cult horror movie among a group of friends. Unsettling for sure.
- Holly by Stephen King. Holly Gibney returns to solve more murders in this mystery-horror mashup. She's a great character and I like how King has kept her story going after her partner (and the main protagonist of the first few books in the series) has left the scene. Good stuff. Kind of icky.
- Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie. This is a collection of short stories set in the First Law (etc.) universe, telling back stories and side stories that didn't quite have a place in those books. Lots of fun (and rather a lot of knives).
- Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. An 1872 lesbianish vampire novella, this is a precursor to - and perhaps inspiration for - Bram Stoker's Dracula. I loved it, although I thought the ending sort of fizzled out. I was DELIGHTED to subsequently discover a 2015 Carmilla webseries on YouTube - recommend you read it first and then watch it.
- Home Before Morning - by Lynda Van Devanter. This memoir, recalling the author's stint as an Army nurse in Vietnam, is basically a blueprint for the subsequent novel The Women that I read in March. It leaves no question that war is hell, and so is the homecoming sometimes.
- All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Crosby. Changing gears, this one - which I quite liked - is about a black sheriff in a small southern town, fighting racism and the tattered remains of the Confederacy, while also trying to hunt down a serial killer.
- The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward. Stolen children, serial killers, recluses and charismatic cats are woven together in this one. I was entralled all the way through and there are multiple twists as you go along. So fun.
- What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. A retelling (huh, another one) of The Fall of the House of Usher, this time with more mushrooms.
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