Category: Books

Book Review | Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

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Carpe Jugulum

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett is the 23rd novel in the author’s Discworld series and the 6th book in the “Witches” subseries. It’s a time for celebration in the kingdom of Lancre, as King Verence II and Queen Magrat are celebrating the birth and naming of their first child. Everybody and their mother is invited, from far and wide, though it seems a certain Granny’s invitation has gotten lost in the mail. More’s the pity, as the guest list includes a family of vampires from nearby Uberwald, invited in the name of good diplomacy. Only a fool would invite a vampire into his home, no matter how modern their sensibilities; an invitation from a king into a kingdom puts nearly everybody at the mercy of their influence, meaning the witches of Lancre may have finally met their match.Read More »

Ten Horror Books on My TBR

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s post is a “Genre Freebie”, and with a Spirit Halloween having officially possessed an empty storefront and opened near me, I figured it was the perfect time to make a list of some horror books. Not only is this a list of 10 books that have been on my TBR for a while, I actually own 9 out of 10 of them. Will I read some of them for the Halloween season this year? That remains to be seen. Still, it’s nice to take stock of what I want to get to.Read More »

New Books & Novel Discoveries (July 2023)

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Although I am, as usual, paranoid that there is something I’m forgetting, I believe that July has been an especially laid back month as far as book buying is concerned. By next week, I’ll be away on a trip, so I suppose the expenses related to that have helped rein me in from spending too freely on things like books. Still, I did manage to pick up a couple of things.

On to the books!Read More »

Books With One-Word Titles

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. I found this week’s theme to be an interesting little challenge, as I decided to specifically include books that I already own a copy of; I also went to certain lengths to ensure a good number of the titles were not just named after a lead character and that the title isn’t technically a subtitle beneath a featured franchise title, e.g., almost any Star Wars book. Some usual suspects managed to sneak in here, but I always like it when these lists get me to talk about something from my personal library that I haven’t brought up as much before.Read More »

New Books & Novel Discoveries (June 2023)

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As you can see, I’m getting this post for June up a little late. I had the opportunity to go home and visit my family for a few days for Canada Day weekend, so I haven’t really had the opportunity to get it done until now. As usual, I’m somewhat wracking my brain wondering if I’ve forgotten something, but I’m fairly certain I only picked up a couple of books this month. (Upon finishing this sentence, I remembered a third book, so sometimes you should trust those feelings.)

It’s late as is, so let’s move on to the books!Read More »

Books on My Summer 2023 To-Read List

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. I really like putting together lists like this when they come around, but it’s funny that I always have to think of the caveat that it’s very unlikely that I will actually read all ten of the books I end up listing. My reading pace is just too slow. Still, I like to get an idea of what I want to be reading in the coming months, and this forces me to think about a little more than a small handful of titles.Read More »

Book Review | American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

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American Psycho

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis is a 1991 psychological thriller novel about a young man named Patrick Bateman. He is 26 years old, was born into great wealth, and currently works on Wall Street. He is smart, sophisticated, handsome, and in great shape, focusing much of his attention into cultivating his looks into a model of perfection. He is also a psychopath, having depraved fantasies that he increasingly cannot resist acting upon, sating his bloodlust on innocent people he considers beneath him.Read More »

New Books & Novel Discoveries (May 2023)

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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!Read More »

The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is simple yet fun, as all I had to do was grab 10 books randomly from my shelf. I have a lot of books scattered around, however, so some of them were taken from the back of my actual bookshelf and others were taken from the stacks of books on the table next to my desk. I can’t help but fret a little that my selection doesn’t feel as random as it should, but in the spirit of things I kept it as they were selected.Read More »