I ended up getting more books than last month, despite my vague attempts to buy less things for myself as Christmas approaches. In fairness, a number of them were orders that arrived later than expected, so perhaps things evened out. Once again, I am struggling with the idea that there is a book or two I’ve forgotten, but I can’t determine what they might be. There was a flurry of trips to the thrift store this past month, which I’ve decided is to blame for this.

Anyway, enough rambling, on to the books!

New Books

The Truth by Terry Pratchett was ordered alongside Thief of Time, which I received last month. They did not arrive together, however, so here we are. It’s silly, but with this novel being the next one I needed in terms of publication order, it really bugs me that their arrival times weren’t at least reversed.

Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors by Plastiboo was something I was hoping would arrive in October too, but it didn’t show up until early November. I didn’t know a follow-up book would be coming so soon after I got a copy of the first volume, but I enjoy the idea of these art books too much, so I had to get it. The only thing I’m a little aggrieved with, in terms of dimensions, is that it’s wider and shorter than the first volume, so they’re mismatched if placed on a shelf together. Why would Plastiboo do this???

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes is a book I’ve had in the back of my mind for a while now, I’ve just generally been hesitant to pick up this author’s books because I haven’t actually read her yet, so I’m only assuming that I’ll actually like them. So, this was a little impulsive, but it’s a nice big paperback in good condition from a thrift store; it’s hard to resist sometimes.

Ditto with Later by Stephen King, I haven’t read any of these “Hard Case Crime” books by King, so I don’t know if I’ll even like them, but now I own all three that I’m aware have come out so far. I know I like King at least, but that’s not a guarantee I’ll be into these. This was another thrift store find, at least, so I promise I’m not dropping money on full price with such whimsy.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Vol. 11 by Akira Himekawa was a much more straightforward purchase, as I just have to read this final volume and then I’ll be done with the series. I’m happy I was able to read up to the penultimate volume through my local library, but they sadly don’t have this last one in their catalogue and they’re not taking purchase recommendations right now. I didn’t want the final volume sitting around my house, though, so I’m happy the Kindle edition just came out. I can live with owning a random digital volume.

Novel Discoveries

The selection of “Novel Discoveries” this month is a little unusual because I learned about them all from the same TikTok video providing recommendations. As such, I don’t actually remember a lot about them off the top of my head. I’ll refresh myself by the next paragraph, I just thought the circumstances were funny: I have the memory of wanting to shelve all the books from one video, but not much memory of the books themselves.

Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum is a horror novella that takes place in the year 1900 and is about a woman taking care of her dying husband, traveling with him to the orchard estate where he grew up. As he slowly wastes away, she realizes that his affliction may not be a disease at all, but something transformative. This book is really short on top of everything else, so I feel spurred to read this soon all the more.

The Witnesses Are Gone by Joel Lane is another horror novel (oh, these are all horror, eh?) about a man discovering video cassettes in the garden shed of the old house he’s moved into, uncovering a disturbing film by a French filmmaker, leading him down a rabbit hole to uncover more of the director’s work.

A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck is about a devout Mormon of steadfast faith who finds upon death that he has been cast into Hell by a God he’s never heard of, and his only way out is to navigate the realm’s hellish library to find the book of his own life. These all sound so good, I added them for good reason. I’m getting excited all over again.

You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann is written like a journal, recording the seven days that the journal’s author, his wife, and their four-year-old daughter spend in a house they have rented in the mountains in Germany while he works on a screenplay—a house that slowly seems to defy natural laws. This is giving me The Shining vibes, and it being told through journal entries sounds especially appealing.

Come Closer by Sara Gran is a cult classic from 2003 about demonic possession, as it’s main character finds herself losing control of her life as an unknown presence, a voice in her head, pushes her to engage in increasingly reckless and destructive behaviour. This one is admittedly the least interesting sounding to me, but it’s celebrated status still has been intrigued.

Closing Thoughts

I try my best to curb the impulse to buy all the books in a series when I haven’t been keeping up, let along buying numerous books by an author without having read them yet, but still I find myself doing it. What’s a bad habit you wish you could kick when it comes to books, buying them or otherwise?

Until next time, thank you for reading.