Haruki Murakami, Yōko Ogawa, Banana Yoshimoto, Ken Liu, Nafiza Azad, Joe Abercrombie, and John Gwynne are a few on my current auto-buy hitlist. With the fabulous recent releases of awesome science-fiction, fantasy, and horror novels over these last couple of years, I’m so excited to add more writers to the group.
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager is a Gothic horror mystery thriller about a woman named Maggie who returns to a house that she has no memory of residing in. All she knows about the house—Baneberry Hall—is the controversial nonfiction book her dad had written about it, flinging her family into an incredibly stressful limelight that’s followed her since childhood. When her dad dies
Gothic horror is a much-underappreciated category of fiction, so to witness a culturally rich Latinx addition to the genre was absolutely thrilling. Mexican Gothic not only lived up to every expectation that I had, but it also surpassed them by a marvellous margin.
Since I receive a lot of questions from people about Japanese literature and how best to begin reading from it, I thought it would be neat to share recommendations that are perfect for an array of readers, whether the preference is for mysteries to contemporaries and even magical realism and fantasy. All of these books are translated fiction that is authored by women, who are some of my favourite writers from the modern age.
Back in December, I briefly chatted about fantasy books I wanted to read in 2021. Well, this time I’ve returned with some sci-fi serials that I’m aiming to get through before the year is out. Since I’m not reading any YA books this year, I figured this would be a great opportunity to get to the dusty owned adult books I have sitting on my shelves, especially the ones from my two favourite genres.
Beyond Varallan by S.L. Viehl is the second book in the author’s science-fiction adventure series, Stardoc. After she discovers the truth surrounding her birth, and being denied Sentient Status on the planet K-2, Dr Cherijo Grey finds herself on the run from the Human League, along with her late husband’s entire clan
Today to celebrate the joy that cosy mysteries bring to my itty bitty little heart, I wanted to share some recommendations of serials from the genre that are authored by Asian writers! I only recently discovered (mid-2020) that diverse cosies were a thing and it completely changed my life. So, if you’re a fan of this genre and are looking to expand your repertoire of ‘em, then check out these own-voices Asian serials
Edited by Dhonielle Clayton, this diverse young adult science-fiction and fantasy anthology is one of the best narrative compilations that I have read all year long. Today, rather than give you a traditional book review, I thought it would be fun to highlight five awesome reasons why y’all should give this title a try, especially if you’re a fan of the sci-fi and fantasy genres.
The Test by Sylvain Neuvel is a speculative fiction novella that is a mindfuck of societal critiques wrapped into a neat and unsuspecting little package. It follows Idir, who is an Iranian, Muslim man who is taking the British citizenship test that consists of twenty-five simple questions. However, whilst taking the exam, something godawfully dangerous…
Before I begin, I feel I should inform y’all that I am writing this post while listening to “Running in the 90s” off the Initial D OST and it is the best goddamn decision I’ve made all morning. *bobs head as the Eurobeat intensifies* This song fits the book I’m about to rave about so…
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is a Canadian supernatural mystery crime fiction novel that I received as a part of my March Book of the Month bundle. It came to me right as I fell into a mystery/thriller reading crave. I was sceptical about its quality and whether it would turn out to…
Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller is the second novel in the young adult high fantasy duology called, Daughter of the Pirate King. I read and reviewed book one towards the end of March, and you can check out that full review here. When I read Daughter of the Pirate King, I had…
Recently I finished watching the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. The film was average in terms of quality and narrative, but enjoyable enough to put me into a pirate mood. That is when I looked over at my shelf, saw my recently purchased copy of Daughter of the Pirate King…
I have really been enjoying poetry lately. Chalk it up to the fact that I am currently writing my own poetry book, or that I have had many experiences last year and the best way for me to process it is via poetry—reading and writing alike. Whatever the reason, I am very grateful for my…
Blade of the Immortal is a seinen, chanbara (media about/involving samurai), jidaigeki (period drama) manga series with supernatural elements. It’s a series that has been credited with redefining the jidaigeki genre with its near-flawless execution. Dark Horse Manga picked up the series and has been releasing them in breathtaking (yet very heavy) omnibus editions where…