I feel like I actually managed to show some restraint this past month, as I only indulged myself once with buying a bunch of books at once. I’ve continued the trend of picking up books at thrift stores as well, so I’m not spending nearly as much money. I really need to be keeping that in line as much as I can. In any case, let’s just get it out of the way now that all of these books were bought second hand.

Enough waffling, on to the books!

New Books

The Rats, Lair, and Domain by James Herbert are three books that form a trilogy of horror novels, apparently infamous for their depictions of graphic death and mutilation. These copies I found are old mass market paperbacks, and I couldn’t resist their mid-to-late 20th-century horror charm. I don’t know the specifics of the trilogy, just that they’re about giant mutant rats attacking and killing people. I do love horror stories centred around monsters, so it was easy to pick these up once I realized an entire trilogy was in front of me.

I ended up considering The Complete Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe for a while because of my continual interest in trying to get into poetry. “The Raven” has always been a favourite of mine too, ever since a certain Treehouse of Horror episode, so I have a soft spot for Poe even though I have little experience with his work. Initially I was going to put it back, but it turned out that the store had a buy 4 get the 5th free deal with books, so there was no point in putting it back.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker is a book I’ve had my eye on for a while, as part of the literary trend that at least appears to be following in the footsteps of Madeline Miller’s work. The book is telling the story of The Iliad from the perspective of its female characters, particularly Briseis, who is a pivotal character in the original epic but is given little opportunity to speak for herself or show her perspective. This was a good find, I’m happy I’ve got this on hand, even if I have no immediate plans for it.

Novel Discoveries

Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce was added to my to-read shelf because of one story in particular within: “An Inhabitant of Carcosa.” I’ve recently learned that this story is actually the very first literary reference to the King in Yellow, as well as the land that he inhabits. Fascinated by the concept and Chambers’s book that I read last year, I’m excited to go back a little further, especially since it’s only one story within that I have to concern myself with, and the rest can be just getting to know a new author of weird fiction/horror.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Stetson is actually a short story, but I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about it on BookTok, so I’m curious about checking it out. All I really know is that it’s a horror story that is concerned with feminist issues, as I should apparently read it without knowing much more specifics. I kind of what to see if I can find a binding of just the book, bud I would purchase a collection that includes it as well, I think.

Closing Thoughts

I’m a little sad I haven’t managed to get a review out this month, but I’m still ruminating on American Psycho while trying to navigate around my schedule and other interests. In any case, I will hopefully have it finished and posted soon. I feel like I have a lot of thoughts about that book, but maybe it’s just a better degree of clarity I just haven’t managed to fully put into writing yet.

Until next time, thank you for reading.