While July felt as long as an entire season somehow, August has blow by like it was nothing. It’s weird how things work out like that. I’ve not even really thought about a lot new books this past month, buying or otherwise. This may be the most uneventful one of these that I’ve ever put up.

Nevertheless, let’s move on to the books!

New Books

Man, Fuck This House by Brian Asman was my only purchase this month, and I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it in the Novel Discoveries section before or not. This book has the sort of title that really stands out to me though, and I’m always on the lookout for more interesting ghost/haunted house stories. I’ve heard some decent buzz about this book too, so I decided to snag myself a copy while I still had access to free shipping. I think I’ll try to read it sooner rather than later, but that still might not be until 2023.

Novel Discoveries

The King in Yellow by R. W. Chambers is a book I keep seeing referenced due to my interest in weird fiction, though I’m not actually all that familiar with the author. He’s another that influenced Lovecraft, however, so it predates even his work. The book is a collection of four stories linked by the idea of a play called “The King in Yellow” that reveals truths so sublime and horrible that it drives viewers of the play mad. This copy specifically is a deluxe edition hardcover that isn’t any more expensive than a standard TPB, so I think I’m going to pick it up soon.

Thus Spoke of Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche caught my attention from a most unlikely place, as I actually first learned about it thanks to a game I’ve been playing called The Longing. In this game, you are a Shade that is tasked with waiting underground in a subterranean kingdom for 400 days while you king sleeps, your duty being to wake him up after that time is up. To help pass the time, you can have the character find and read books, and one such book, divided into sections, was Thus Spoke Zarathustra. I actually could read it through this game if I wanted, it includes the entire text, but this is not an ideal reading medium for me. Nevertheless, I’m interested in checking this out, as it apparently deals with questions of morality in a world where God as an overseer of morality is considered dead. I’m sure that is at the very least a gross oversimplification, but I’ve not read it yet, so gimme a break.

Closing Thoughts

I have to wonder, what’s the weirdest place you’ve learned about or even read a book you’d never heard of before? I actually had the Shade character in The Longing read through Moby Dick as well, so somehow this little avatar has read that book before I have. Part of me wonders if perhaps I should’ve read it alongside him. How do you even record having read such a book on Goodreads? My copy was contained within a weird little video game? Can we add that as an edition?

Until next time, thank you for reading.