Wallaby

Very well written book for a mind-bending concept. I really liked the main character and the unreliable narrator vibe. My only complaint is that I am not a fan of the ending.

Hard to give one review for this book. The first half, Killers on the Road is a really good and well written hitchhiker horror. The Babysitter Lives is also genuinely great and scary in the first half, but really falters towards the end. I had a strong urge to just skim the second half of the story since nothing is happening. Nonetheless, liked the concepts explored in both stories and will read more SGJ in the future.

Very surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the pacing, the stories, and the overarching romance plot. The main thing that makes this book great is how memorable the characters are.

I liked the zombie-mushroom borg collective concept, but I felt like the story was way too short and I did not find the main character interesting. I will read more T. Kingfisher books though

Really interesting horror story that is very disturbing

The book went into a lot of detail of the landscape of the world with complex and rare words, but that added to the overall alieness. How different and alien everything was is my favorite part of the book.

The overall vibe of the book reminded me a lot of Speaker For The Dead.

The first part of this book I would consider 5/5. It has a lot of great anecdotes and chilling testimony of the little people who became Nazis. The book severely falters in part 2. It goes from these anecdotes and testimony to Freudian racial memory theories and overgeneralizations of entire populations. Part 3 is slightly better with some interesting tidbits of history, but mainly it reflects on the current state of the world at the time of writing.

This book reminds me a lot of the Witcher. A cynical man with loose morals starts a journey with a young girl who slowly gains amazing powers.

In this book, there is a lot of character development, redemption arcs, and tragic irony. There is a lot of biblical references and mentions of Catholic saints, more than I expected, but I enjoyed it and got me thinking a lot about violence, destiny, and forgiveness.

This book is really interesting. The concept itself is so silly and dumb, but the book is really about the characters and vignettes in this silly world. The second half of this book has a lot of great stories as well. My favorite being the cheese shop in Wisconsin

Historical fiction. Reading Cicero's real speeches out of context can be a very confusing and boring activity. This book breathes life into these events and makes every character lifelike and layered. This book follows the life of Cicero from his prosecution days to being elected the most powerful man in the Republic. I liked the first half of this book more than the latter half, because the latter half is more introducing conspiratorial plots, various - currently only peripheral - characters like Caesar are introduced.
Other fiction set in the late Republic like to paint Cicero as a hypocrite, someone who detested the aristocracy - leading prosecutions where he sentenced executions for them, but at the same time someone who was deeply involved with the ultra wealthy and vetoed bills that would've helped the plebians. This book I think paints a more favorable picture of Cicero, a complex, conflicted family man who was part of a lower caste than his competition. When you're reading the events happen day by day it's easier to see his motivations than just knowing how it all ends.

A masterclass in propaganda as well as an interesting primary source of Roman history.

Exact opposite of what a good non fiction book should be.

Likes: creepy as hell, good ending, emotionally impactful, page turner

Dislikes: main character is very annoying and weak until a certain point, Marvel-like dialogue (one character must crack a joke in serious situations)

Themes: Generational trauma cliche, importance of family, motherhood, guilt, and maybe pro-spirituality

The highlights in this collection for me were “The Hauntings of Cold Christmas, “The Night of the Mothers,” and “Arctic Seances.” All three are fantastic, informational, and easy to understand as an American.

The low point for me was “Tales of the Unsafe Church,” because there is a requirement you read all three stories before reading the article. Yet, the article itself is written in a very pompous chaotic fashion.

Anyway I really liked the closing paragraph:

“Returning to winter-themed stories at different ages as the seasons wheel round turns the act of rereading itself into a winter ritual. Alongside digging out the decorations and remembering traditional recipes, we often rediscover books and films we haven't seen for the past year, building up new associations and memories each time. Both as children and as adults, we can enjoy these tales of ice and snow for their suggestion that a simple change in the weather could turn ordinary streets and gardens and woods into something sparkling and strange, that the wintry expanse of woods and moorland just beyond our front door might be wilder and weirder than it appears”

Illustrations and art are the best I've seen for a horror magazine. Wish there was fiction in it though

Still a masterpiece to me ten years after I first read it.

Gonna say that billionaires just have dragon sickness from now on

Very enjoyable. Gaiman's future writing style is evident and legendary even in this form.

I don't like there is appearances from other comic book figures. Martian Manhunter had a couple pages dedicated to him. It was probably much more fun in the early 90's

This is one of the best fantasy books I've read. Sapkowski has a very unique form of writing that I enjoy. Turning what was originally a short story collection of fairytales into a political drama focusing on characters caught in the middle is great.

My main criticism for this book is the ending was very out of place. I'd prefer to have it at the start of the next book. what I don't like is that Ciri finally meets people her age who seemingly care for her and want to help her. The last couple pages of the book is they actually don't really care for her and are abusing her

A bit slower than the other books so far, but I do like it still. More of a build up/prelude to the rest of the books I believe. Ciri and Yennefer's relationship is also cute the way it's written

I liked the beginning of the book. The characters are all unique and memorable. A story following a silent movie film crew is interesting.

I didn't like the story after the midpoint. I felt like the sense of foreboding and dread was undeserved.

I'm excited to read more books by Rosemary Jones I like her characters and she has other books in the Arkham Horror mythos

This collections of stories has several very good hits and a couple more forgettable stories.

The last story in this collection may be the best piece of fiction I've ever read. The mermaid and doppler stories were interesting and helps with world-building, but I'd just rather read the good stories in this collection.

Can't wait to start the next book.

Decent Lovecraft inspired book.

I didn't like the first half that much. Besides the main character and her sidekick, all the characters were very similar and confused me.

The second half was fantastic and I think the ending is on-par if not better than any of Lovecraft's endings I've read.

I'm becoming less of a fan of short story collections, but in this one all stories are connected in a way and all the stories are fantastic.

Makes sense on how this book would spawn a billion dollar IP

Buehlman goes from horror to fantasy and does a damn good job.

The backbone of the story is the same as Tolkien's LOTR, while creating a unique world, lore, and characters. Every kingdom visited in the book feels completely unique from others, increasingly so the further they travel.

My one criticism would be that the pacing feels off in places. A boat trip takes up twenty chapters, while journeying across two separate mountain ranges takes up a few sentences.

There are some horror-esque moments toward the end of the book that are incredibly grotesque and interesting.

I was expecting more horror especially after reading the haunting of hill house. I still thought this was a very good character piece and shows the horror of group psychology and it's effects on a family. Also, on mental illness the Merricat may have.