I know it wasn’t just me, but goodness January felt like it lasted much too long. So long, in fact, that I could’ve sworn I had already posted about one of the new books included in this post today. I actually had to cross-reference with when I wrote down somewhere else that I’d finally gotten it to confirm. I think reading Moby-Dick honestly had the most to do with the protracted time for me, along with the dreary cold of the season.

I think I talk about time too much, when really this is about these new books.

New Books

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is the first book in a series I’ve been meaning to check out for a while now. I know for certain I first learned about this series from other blogs as these books were making their rounds when they came out. I was never super determined to read them, but coming across this hardcover copy in great condition at a second-hand store was the perfect excuse to pick it up.

The second book is Dickens’ London, a hardcover collecting a selection of essays by the iconic author himself. I wasn’t necessarily all that interested in reading it, but it’s a Folio Society book and it was about $6, so it felt like an easy choice. I actually only just learned that the essays are by Dickens himself (shows how much I was paying attention), so I’m starting to feel a lot more inclined about checking it out.

6 x H by Robert A. Heinlein I purchased because what even is this book. I can’t remember the synopsis, but so much about it just screams bizarre to me, and I like bizarre. Plus, this is the author of Starship Troopers, so it’s not as if I grabbed a completely random old sci-fi book. I’m really curious what this will be about.

Strange Events of Ontario by Andrew Hind & Maria da Silva I bought out of an odd sense of nostalgia. I’ve got a book from the same series about Canadian war stories that my dad gave me when I was still a kid (which I didn’t read until I was a man grown, out of an odd sense of obligation), so recognizing this as a part of the same imprint made me want to grab it. Also, I live in Ontario and I like “strange events”, so I’d love to know about paranormal happenings, perhaps nearby, that definitely for sure happened.

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman is a novel I’d had my eye for a while now thanks to a lot of people recommending it to fans of games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Blasphemous (i.e., me). My favourite local bookstore happened to have a copy, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how they had it and I could just pick it up if I really wanted. So, I picked it up. I’m weak.

Godhusk: Rebirth is the newest art book by Plastiboo, which I had ordered back in November but its delivery was delayed due to the postal service strike here. It’s made in the same vein as the author’s Vermis books, except this appears to be more of a Giger-esque science fiction/horror video game world being conjured. I’ll probably be reading this one rather soon.

Batman: Beyond the White Knight by Sean Murphy continues my trend of buying the books in this Batman series that I will definitely read soon. It was made known to me that this volume was on sale for $5, and that’s all the convincing I needed.

Novel Discoveries

I feel like I’ve got an atypical number of books in this section this month. I’m not sure all of what I was engaging with, but it apparently exposed me to a bunch of new stuff I want to check out.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruku Murakami is a novel about a man searching for his lost love in an imaginary city, somehow accessed through a strange library and the books therein. I keep wanting to read more Japanese novels and this journey of urban magical realism sounds really intriguing.

The Cut by C.J. Dotson is a horror novel I probably heard about on social media. It’s about a single mother working at a hotel where she also lives, where guests are starting to disappear and the owner isn’t being honest with her. It doesn’t sound uninteresting, but the visceral cover is what’s mostly holding my attention with this book.

Ultra 85 by Logic is a science fiction novel about people living on a space station after the Earth has become uninhabitable, with a group of them seeking “Paradise”, where the most exceptional people are allowed to live. The cover is what caught my eye, to be honest, though its synopsis does evoke classic sci-fi tales to me. It’s apparently also written by a Platinum-selling hip-hop artist, but I’ve never heard of him (which means nothing).

Ambergris by Jeff VanderMeer is a book I looked at in a bookshop while waiting for the bus. The copy I was looking at specifically referred to the Southern Reach books and how this serves as something of a spiritual predecessor, and since I just read those myself and really like this author now, I decided I must read it someday, likely before any of his other books (except Absolution).

Hard to be a God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky is another book that caught my eye at the bookshop, mostly because these are the brothers who wrote Roadside Picnic. The story is about an alien man sent to Earth to observe and influence a Medieval kingdom but never to interfere. The publication around this book alone, particularly this new English translation, is enough to pique my interest, so I’ll likely pick it up as soon as the mood strikes me.

I have no recollection of where I learned about Serious Face by Jon Mooallem, and I honestly have trouble putting my finger on what about it is appealing to me, except that its synopsis makes me think it will be similar to reading Chuck Klosterman. It has caught my interest, that’s all that really matters, so I will likely take this out of the library sometime soon and learn what it has in store for me without any further prep.

Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous is a novel I learned of from a list of books the creator said they would only read once. From what I can gather, this book is about awful people and it’s not very long. I don’t see myself racing off to pick this one up, but I am curious all the same. If I can’t find it in a library, maybe I can find a cheap ebook.

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Until next time, thank you for reading!