New Books & Novel Discoveries (March 2024)

Now March was truly surprising in how low-key of a month it was. No preorders, no big impulse purchases, and no substantial trips to any thrift stores. As usual, I wonder if I’ve forgotten something, but I’m fairly confident the thing I did get is all I have to show for the past month. It’s probably for the best; some personal expenses have come up, so I should be a little less spend-happy anyway.

Let’s check out what I did pick up.Read More »

Book Review – Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation

Annihilation is a 2014 science fiction horror novel by Jeff VanderMeer and the first novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. Area X, a once lightly populated region, has been under quarantine for decades for unknown reasons, long since reclaimed by nature. There have been 11 expeditions into the region, most of them meeting bizarre and violent ends. The last expedition had all of its members return home under mysterious circumstances, mere husks of their former selves, before all succumbing to aggressive cancer. Now, the 12th expedition is underway, made up of four women including our narrator, the biologist, whose husband was part of the 11th expedition. They struggle to comprehend the phenomena they uncover in this hostile yet strangely captivating environment, the trust between them slowly eroding.Read More »

Books on My Spring 2024 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. I always love putting together a seasonal TBR list, even though I rarely complete it and a lot of books end up being repeats in the line-up. I just like to get a decent idea of what I might want to read in the near future. With that in mind, half of this list includes books that are neither novels nor nonfiction prose. With no plans to complete/read through any comic book series this year, there are some books I want to make sure I finally crack open and read.Read More »

Book Review – The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

The Fifth Elephant

The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett is the 24th novel in the author’s Discworld series and the fifth novel in the “City Watch” sub-series. Sam Vimes, commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, lives a life fraught with danger, pursuing hardened criminals throughout his notorious and modern city and dodging assassins sent by those with distaste for such a committed man of the law. He is about to face his toughest challenge, however, when made to step into his role as a Duke and play ambassador to the mysterious and filthy-rich country of Uberwald, a place that follows its own rules in deference to the various figures who hold power there. Politicking may not be his forte, but with a sacred dwarf artifact going missing and murders piling up, a no-nonsense policeman may be just what the place needs, if only he can keep the wolves from snapping at his heels.Read More »

New Books & Novel Discoveries (January 2024)

I’ve been a little remiss in getting this post written; even now, I’ve had to force myself to write it rather late. I’m not sure what happened, other than I had to travel a little last week and then somehow all possible spare time got away from me.

With January done, the new year feels properly initiated. I kept things fairly low-key with book shopping, but I couldn’t help myself with picking up some here and there.

Enough jabbering, on to the books!Read More »

Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. It’s been a little while since I’ve put one of these lists together, and with January being so much about looking back as well as forward, this topic felt like a perfect one to take part in. I do have to wonder which of these will end up being unread by 2025, though I don’t even want to think about that year being a reality right now.Read More »

Top 5 Books I Read in 2023

It’s that time of year again where I start reflecting on the past year’s reading endeavours and determine which among them were my favourites. As always, this isn’t about books that came out in 2023, just the ones that I enjoyed the most among all the books that I finished, listed in no particular order.

Surprisingly, I found this list a little more difficult to put together than normal, as somehow I didn’t really have the pool of books to pull from that I thought I did. Though I made a great effort to get a lot more comics read, I didn’t actually read much more novels than last year, and unfortunately I think there were a few more middling books than is usual for me. In any case, let’s get to this year’s list.Read More »

New Books & Novel Discoveries (December 2023)

I’d say I was pretty restrained over the holidays and didn’t go crazy buying things for myself; there were even a number of thrift store trips where I managed to reign myself in and not buy any books impulsively. So, all the books I received this month were gifts in one way or another. I’m still wracking my brain wondering if I did buy something, of course, but I’m 95% sure I didn’t.

Enough carrying on, on to the books!Read More »