New Release Tuesday

In her quickly gentrifying rural lake town Jade sees recent events only her encyclopedic knowledge of horror films could have prepared her for in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones.

“Some girls just don’t know how to die…”

Shirley Jackson meets Friday the 13th in My Heart Is a Chainsaw, written by the author of The Only Good Indians Stephen Graham Jones, called “a literary master” by National Book Award winner Tananarive Due and “one of our most talented living writers” by Tommy Orange.

Alma Katsu calls My Heart Is a Chainsaw “a homage to slasher films that also manages to defy and transcend genre.” On the surface is a story of murder in small-town America. But beneath is its beating heart: a biting critique of American colonialism, Indigenous displacement, and gentrification, and a heartbreaking portrait of a broken young girl who uses horror movies to cope with the horror of her own life.

Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. And Jade narrates the quirky history of Proofrock as if it is one of those movies. But when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot will unfold.

Yet, even as Jade drags us into her dark fever dream, a surprising and intimate portrait emerges…a portrait of the scared and traumatized little girl beneath the Jason Voorhees mask: angry, yes, but also a girl who easily cries, fiercely loves, and desperately wants a home. A girl whose feelings are too big for her body. My Heart Is a Chainsaw is her story, her homage to horror and revenge and triumph.

HAPPY READING!!

Ham Helsing - Review

Author: Rich Moyer

Genre: Middle Grade / Horror

Format: Hardback

Pages: 240

I'm a sucker for these kinds of re-tellings with an animal cast. Maybe it's my 90's heart, but they are always an instant grab at the library. This one caught my because my Mim's favorite animals are pigs, and my first thought was this would give her a chuckle. My second was how adorable was this going to be. Vampires are my favorite of the creature feature stories. So I was super excited for this one.

It did not disappoint at all.

Personally, I thought this was a take on the Van Helsing story. It's definitely told for younger readers, but fun for older readers as well. I found myself giggling at parts throughout the story. Especially at the start when you're being introduced to the Van Helsing family. It's a light-hearted take on the Vampire Hunter role, and has a couple of great messages through the story about bravery and being a hero. I love that Ham doesn't go into the fight alone, there's teamwork through the book as well. 

I also really liked the vampires aren't the only creature in the book we get some other classics as well. I think Lobos was probably my favorite. He was such a good boy!

The story itself moves pretty quickly but was easy to keep up with. I was a little thrown by one of the characters until the very end. What I thought was a useless side quest of sorts turned out to be a really cool open ending. So I'm hoping to see a Book Two is announced because this is a series I'd keep up with. The story was fun, Ham is a delight, and I love the idea of kids being introduced to classic monsters this way.

The artwork through the book is also super fun. Each page is bright and full of details about the world Ham lives in. There is a modern sort of twist to the story as well despite everyone being dressed like it's the "olden days". So definitely as moments for the younger readers to attach to. The bright panels keep the story from getting too scary, but also Rich does a great job of foreshadowing in places as well. Which keeps your eyes moving across the panels for all the small details.

In the end, this is a super adorable book and a great start to my spooky season reading!

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

HAPPY READING!!

Friend Request - Review

Author: Laura Marshall

Genre: Thriller

Format: Hardback

Pages: 375

I was really excited about Friend Request when my book club announced it. The premise sounded really good with the whole social media take on the ghost in the machine trope. Add on the dreaded high school reunion, and I had high hopes for this book. I hate to say I was a little let down when this one hit the middle of the road for me. I really liked bits and pieces of this story. Other parts, not so much.

My favorite part about this story was the build-up. Laura Marshall doesn't waste any time, this book starts off running, and you left in the lurch for a little while with the main character picking up the pieces. After a while, though you start to pick up all the little pieces that are being laid down and you start to see where the author is going with this story and pick up on some of the 'oh no' moments. I will say though I totally was wrong on who our bad guys were.

Throughout the whole book, I had two solid theories on all the information that was being given to me as the reader. I thought for sure at least one of them would be right, but neither was correct. However, I absolutely loved the person behind the friend request. It felt believable that this person would do something like this, even after so many years. I also liked the wrap-up when we do finally find out what happened that night at prom. It was the one point I did get right, just on the character as the doer. 

For me the climax and the wrap-up were solid. I love a good open-ending, and I thought the pacing was quick as well. The plot moves quickly enough that you want to know what happened that night. Or, what actually happened to Maria in London. There are a lot of balls being juggled and it's enough to keep you reading. It's what makes this story so hard to put down because I got to the point where I just wanted to know how it all fits together.

My least favorite part of this book is our main character, Louise. In the beginning, I understood the anxiety behind her past, and toward the end of the book, I even understood her demeanor a little more when you realize what kind of marriage she had just gotten out of. However, at some point, Louise started to become whiney and obnoxious. Especially, with the events after the reunion. One of my biggest pet peeves with books is when they omit things to the police during a murder investigation because they don't want to be judged or get in trouble. When in reality they are only causing more problems and holding an investigation. 

This book deals with bullying, abuse, and rape. And, while I think the author handled the more intense theme with a delicate hand. I got really sick of Louise talk about this terrible thing she did, and it was completely terrible. She should feel bad for it because she's the reason a terrible thing happened to Marie. But, there comes a point where the reader I'm aware she did a terrible thing, and if she mentions how she changed since then one more time I was going to through the book. I really just wanted Louise to have this moment where she buckled up and took charge instead of just letting everything happen to her. I was let down at that moment because she never really did, what she did was get lucky.

I will say for a debut book it was pretty good. There were definitely elements in this book that grabbed my attention and this will be an author on my watch list!

HAPPY READING!!

Book Mail

There is nothing better than coming home from a short vacation and finding book mail. I was super excited when I saw the notification about a package. Somehow I managed to unpack the coolers and get laundry started before the need to get the package took over. My package was well worth the wait because I cannot thank Quirk Books enough for this book mail. It warmed my 90s baby heart. I grew on the Rugrats, and I'm over the moon that I get to add this to my collection!

Yes, I've already read it! It was my reward after I unpacked from my camping trip. My review is coming soon, but you can pre-order this while you wait! It comes out on Sept. 28! 

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Not even Ben Van Brunt's grandfather, Brom Bones, who was there when it was said the Horseman chased the upstart Crane out of town. Brom says that's just legend, the village gossips talking.

Twenty years after those storied events, a village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play Sleepy Hollow boys, reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods near the village, and the sinister discovery makes Ben question everything the adults in Sleepy Hollow have ever said. Could the Horseman be real after all? Or does something even more sinister stalk the woods?

Why I'm Waiting: One of my favorite authors and one of my favorite Halloween stories? Yes, please!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

The other orphans say Margot is lucky.

Lucky to survive the horrible accident that killed her family.

Lucky to have her own room because she wakes up screaming every night.

And finally, lucky to be chosen by a prestigious family to live at their remote country estate.

But it wasn't luck that made the Suttons rescue Margot from her bleak existence at the group home. Margot was handpicked to be a companion to their silent, mysterious daughter, Agatha. At first, helping with Agatha--and getting to know her handsome younger brother--seems much better than the group home. But soon, the isolated house begins playing tricks on Margot's mind, making her question everything she believes about the Suttons . . . and herself.

Margot's bad dreams may have stopped when she came to live with Agatha - but the real nightmare has just begun.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

Dark Stars is a tribute to horror’s long-standing short fiction legacy, featuring 11 terrifying novelettes from today’s most noteworthy authors, edited by Bram Stoker Award-nominee John F.D. Taff, with an introduction by bestselling author Josh Malerman (Bird Box).

Created in the tradition of the 1980 horror classic anthology Dark Forces edited by Kirby McCauley, this collection features all original novelettes showcasing the top talent in the horror field today, with a committed line-up of stories from both established names and up-and-coming voices. Dark Stars is not themed, allowing each author to write their very best horror story, unhampered by the need to conform to any unifying tropes.

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Deep in the heat and silence of rural Tennessee, down an untraveled road, sits the forgotten town of Three Summers. Mere miles away, on an overgrown river island, stands the house that once presided over the grand plantation of Angel’s Landing, moss-draped, decrepit. Waiting.

Failing crime writer Bradley Ellison and former prostitute Missy Holiday are drawn to this place, fleeing a world turned against them. For Brad, it is work—he must find a compelling story before the true-crime magazine he writes for judges him expendable. For Missy, it is recuperation—four years at "the club" have left her drained.

But the price of peace is high, and soon Brad and Missy discover that something hides behind the quiet. Something moves in the night. Something that manifests itself in bizarre symbols and disturbing funeral rites. Something that twists back through time and clings in the dust of the ancient house. A presence they must uncover before their own past catches up with them.

Why I'm Waiting: I'm also in the mood for a good haunted/cursed house!

HAPPY READING!!

It's Your Funeral! - Review

Author: Kathy Benjamin

Genre: Nonfiction

Format: Hardback

Pages: 176

Huge thanks to Quirk Books for an early advance copy for my honest review!

First of all, let's talk about this cover because nothing sums up this book better than this book. It's bright and fun, but at the same time has a pretty serious topic to discuss. I love books on death and funeral rites from all over the world and times. So I was really excited to crack into this one and see what I would find since a lot of this is about planning a future funeral. I have to say I wasn't sure what I was going to find between these pages, but I wasn't disappointed.

Next, let's get something out of the way. This book was fun! Yes, I know this book wants you to think about your own death, and what will happen after. A topic most people would rather avoid, but this book does it in a way that doesn't take itself too seriously. Kathy Benjamin gives you a wide variety of ways to pass one. Some are more attainable than others. But I mean you should always keep your options open, even in death.

I think my favorite part about this book is the work pages that pop up throughout the book. They are a good way to get your thoughts down on paper, explore your options, make lists, and start thinking about everything. Those pages and the information in between are both a great tool to think about what you want, what will help your family and friends with the aftermath, and make things as smooth as possible.

Even I started filling some of the pages out at the beginning of the book. Though, as the book went on I did find it harder and harder to feel out the pages. How did I want to split up my personal belongings? Where I would be living at the time? Those pages raised other questions, and while I'm nowhere no worried about making my mind up now. It did put a few things in my mind that I hadn't thought about.

But, like a said before this book doesn't think too much of itself. Kathy Benjamin comes out with the topic of your death, of everyone's death, with a little bit of humor. There's a bit of tongue and cheek, a bit of sass, and a lot of the outrageous things people have done after they've (or loved ones) have passed. And, not all of these people are famous. Some are just regular people who wanted to make an impression even after death.

So whether your like me and like books that are macabre and unusual, or you just want to see what your options are after death. I suggest Kath Benjamin's It's Your Funeral! It's officially on shelves today!

HAPPY READING!!

Bout of Books 32 TBR

Today is the day! Bout of Books is officially kicking off. Lucky me, I have the whole day off to get ahead on my reading. At least that's the plan for today. We'll see if I managed to stick to the plan I have laid out for myself. Hopefully, my biggest issue is deciding which book to pick up first. If you so wish, you can follow my week of reading on Twitter (@BookShh) or through my Instagram Stories (@Bookish_Whispers), or you can follow this link here to see how each goes!

BOUT 33 TBR:

Anyone else participating in Bou this week? What's on your TBR?

GOOD LUCK & HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company.

It’s the perfect wedding venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends.

But a night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare. For lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart.

And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

HAPPY READING!!

Major Holmes & Captain Watson #3 and #4 - Review

Author: Jeff Rider

Genre: Graphic Novel

Format: Paperback

Pages: 33 (a piece)

I love this series! It's one of my favorite ECCC finds, and these didn't disappoint. For some reason, probably the last shut down due to COVID, I missed out on the third installment of this series. But, somehow in my mind, I thought I'd read it because the last year and change have been weird and time is a lie. Anyway, I'm glad I got both copies because I had not read it, and everything I thought happened in the third issue, was actually the second issue.

So really I got a bonus!

I will say for those Sherlock fans that are die-hard Canon lovers this is probably not the comic for you. Personally, I'm game for anything that includes the Great Detective. For me, this is a fun sort of  'what if' if the Holmes line had was being continued. I adore Sheffield and the line he walks between being his own man, a lot of like his Uncle Sherlock. I also really enjoy all of the side characters that Jeff Rider has created. I'm always a sucker for a team that Jeff Rider has created, where everyone serves a purpose. Though I have a soft spot of Brick and deserves nothing but good things. So if we could stop shooting him that would be great!

The pacing of this story is another positive for me. I like how quickly the story moves and how tightly compact it is. Yes, there is a lot of information to go through, but that is generally the way of things with Holmes stories. I much prefer when finding out people's backstory and quirks as the story goes along instead of chapters dedicated to the back story. 

I also liked how Rider tied this story into history and that it wasn't tied up with a nice little bow. The team failed and succeeded at the same time, which leaves the door open for more books. Something I am totally down for.

Don't get me wrong this series isn't perfect, but on a whole, I've really enjoyed this series. And, I have my fingers crossed there will be more. Since Jeff Rider self publishes there is no Goodreads page, so if you follow this link you can learn more about this series and others!

HAPPY READING!!

Friday the 13th Horror TBR

First of all, can we talk about this gif. I only get to bust it out like once a year, but every time it makes me giggle! Second of all, I hope everyone has a safe day! People get weird on Friday the 13th. So I hope everyone has a safe and mostly normal day! Now on to the fun stuff! Since I'm still mending over this croup that's settled in my chest it's going to be super low-key tonight. Scary movies, good snacks, and sleeping with the lights on! An old school Friday the 13th for me!

But today I'd thought I'd share some of the horror books currently sitting on my TBR. Some of which are also on my Bout of Books TBR (more of that on Monday!). But, these are spooky reads I want to read before the end of the year. This is by no means my enter spooky TBR, that is probably the stack that will kill me in my sleep one day. It's getting a little uncontrollable.

Horror TBR:

What are some of ya'lls favorite scary movies? Nightmare on Elm Street is my favorite series followed closely by Friday the 13th!

HAPPY READING!!

Book Mail

I love surprise book mail! Well, I love all book mail, but it's always more fun when I wasn't expecting to find a package in my HUB. Does this mean I should keep better track of the books I enter to win? Probably, but then there would be no surprise, and it gives me something to look forward to after this. This book mail came from Quirk Books. A double bonus was that I've been really excited about this book! I love horror books, movies, and all the paranormal shows. In fact, my roommate and I have our favorites that we love to mock, and I definitely bought Discovery Plus so we could binge one of them! So I was beyond excited to find this book in my mailbox, and all my other physical reads this month are one hundred percent on hold!

What about everyone else? What's your favorite horror author or movie series? Favorite paranormal show?

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Andrew and Eddie did everything together, best friends bonded more deeply than brothers, until Eddie left Andrew behind to start his graduate program at Vanderbilt. Six months later, only days before Andrew was to join him in Nashville, Eddie dies of an apparent suicide. He leaves Andrew a horrible inheritance: a roommate he doesn’t know, friends he never asked for, and a gruesome phantom with bleeding wrists that mutters of revenge.

As Andrew searches for the truth of Eddie’s death, he uncovers the lies and secrets left behind by the person he trusted most, discovering a family history soaked in blood and death. Whirling between the backstabbing academic world where Eddie spent his days and the circle of hot boys, fast cars, and hard drugs that ruled Eddie’s nights, the walls Andrew has built against the world begin to crumble, letting in the phantom that hungers for him.

Why I'm Waiting: Because I like a book that will make me pace as I read it, and this sounds like one that kind of book.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

England, 1643. Puritanical fervor has gripped the nation. And in Manningtree, a town depleted of men since the wars began, the hot terror of damnation burns in the hearts of women left to their own devices.

Rebecca West, fatherless and husbandless, chafes against the drudgery of her days, livened only occasionally by her infatuation with the handsome young clerk John Edes. But then a newcomer, Matthew Hopkins, arrives. A mysterious, pious figure dressed from head to toe in black, he takes over the Thorn Inn and begins to ask questions about what the women on the margins of this diminished community are up to. Dangerous rumors of covens, pacts, and bodily wants have begun to hang over women like Rebecca--and the future is as frightening as it is thrilling.

Brimming with contemporary energy and resonance, The Manningtree Witches plunges its readers into the fever and menace of the English witch trials, where suspicion, mistrust, and betrayal run amok as a nation's arrogant male institutions start to realize that the very people they've suppressed for so long may be about to rise up and claim their freedom. 

HAPPY READING!!