These are five of my favourite quotes from the last five books that I have read!!
Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy
“Trauma’s trauma, but I think some people are still just born assholes.”
Sugar by Mia Ballard
“no longer feel the need to dim my own light to match his dull glow.”
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
“You can’t beg the world to do what you want. You can’t ask it nicely. You must force the world. You must bend it to your will.”
Ankle Snatcher by Grady Hendrix
They live in our closets and under our beds, and after dark they come out when we break the rules. We’re serving time for the boogeymen’s crimes.”
In Bloom by Paul Tremblay
“There are always truths submerged within stories, and her job is, if not to dredge them up, then to invite readers onto her own chartered boat, guiding them so that they may uncover those truths from the murky waters for themselves.”
Hello friends it’s Top Ten Tuesday time once again and this week the prompt is books with Springy covers. Here are 5 books on my current TBR and 5 I’ve read in the last year that I think fits the vibe!
I binged this collection of novellas over the weekend and thought why not combine them all in one review! Overall this was pretty good, I didn’t overtly hate any of the stories but a couple of them I know for sure I’m going to forget everything that happened in a couple days.
The first book I read was Ankle Snatcher by Grady Hendrix. This one was very memorable for sure. The way the book starts out really draws you in and even though this was one of the shorter novellas it was actually pretty haunting and horrific. I would love for this concept to expanded into a full length novel. ⭐️3-5 stars
The next one I read was Big Bad by Chandler Baker and I really enjoyed this. It was one of the longer novellas but I thought it enabled us to connect with all of the characters a lot more. I loved the multiple perspectives that we got, we got a pretty even amount of time between each of the characters and even though I thought the main was going to be the mother the daughters took up a lot of the book. A decision made by one of them being the catalyst for how the book ended I thought was very well done! ⭐️4-5 stars
In Bloom by Paul Tremblay was next and it was a bit of a snooze honestly. There was a lot of scientific talk to start the book off and that kind of stopped me from getting to invested in the plot. There was too much jargon and not enough time establishing the characters and setting. I did enjoy the flashback scene but then I couldn’t quite envision in my mind what was going on for the majority of the plot which for being such a short read isn’t ideal. The ending was disappointing as well. ⭐️2-5 stars
My first Josh Malerman read was next with It Waits in the Woods and I was pleasantly surprised. I had a feeling his writing was either going to be a hit or a miss for me and I actually really enjoyed this book. I thought the premise was solid and the execution was on point. I was invested right from the start and felt like I made a connection with the characters from the onset. It felt like a pretty well rounded story for being a novella, it didn’t feel like anything was missing or needed to be added. It isn’t the most mind blowing story I’ve even read but I was engaged throughout. The audio of the monster’s voice in the audiobook was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever heard! ⭐️3-5 stars
The Pram by Joe Hill was one of the novellas that I’m going to forget as soon as I finish this review. The overall premise was promising but was another snooze of a story for me. The main character wasn’t likeable at all and came across quite insufferable at times. I think if this was a multiple or even just a dual perspective story with his wife we would of been able to make more of a connection with them and I might of actually cared about what was happening. The setting and atmosphere gave me the horror vibes but I couldn’t make myself care about either of them and the consequences of his actions. ⭐️2-5 stars
And to finish it off was Best of Luck by Jason Mott and this was pretty good! We start off with a bit of a bang and as the story progressed we hear about the life of these characters and the contrast between them. It felt pretty rudimentary to me though, I definitely think this is one of the stories that could of been a lot more successful if it was a full length novel. I did enjoy the twist at the end but it didn’t leave me feeling fulfilled at all. ⭐️3-5 stars
It’s been a couple of years so I have decided to bring back my quarterly reading recommendations! Every three months I will go through my reading list and pick out the top 5-10 favourite books I have read during that time. Then at the end of the year I will compile my list and pick out my top 10 overall of 2025.
So my reading recommendations for January, February and March are:
If you are unaware what the Buzzword Readathon/Challenge is see my prior postHERE. Last month the buzzword was a book with ‘thing‘ in the title and I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to read anything that fits so I will have to carry that over to the rest of the year.
With April the buzzword is a book with ‘animal related words’ in the title and I have a few options to choose from:
Amy Leigh Reads 