#10beforetheend update:
I read, & very much enjoyed Botchan. Considered a classic in Japan, it made me laugh & although it is not a point for point comparison to Catcher in the Rye, it had not a phoney vibes.
Will definitely be listening to The Running Man on audio this week.
Planning to slot the Highsmith in during murder Holidays.
Definitely want to read the Clark story collection (loved Penance) & ideally I will finish the Indian Lake (Cont)

I have not seen the adaptation, nor is this technically a song selection for #tuesdaytunes but rather a post to encourage you to read this incredible portrait of what warfare is really like. I think that it's very unfair to cast it as anti-war, as it is a realistic portrait of WWI trench warfare told in prose so evocative that it could have been published today. Magnificent!
PS-if you need a smile then watch the independent YouTube video (Cont)

Despite the temperature dropping into the 30s & coffee chains releasing their winter menu, I refuse to let fall go 🍁 My reading forecast for the week is A Short Stay in Hell and The Running Man on audio (listening w/ both earbuds on & looking annoyed when someone has tried to talk to me at work has proved v effective!) Physically will start Downing's Too Old For This, continue Mrs Dalloway & dip into the latest Datlow. Might (CONT)

Vercher's novel opens with our narrator experiencing a very convincing, crippling panic attack on the way to his teenage son's funeral. Soon after the funeral he receives a notice that a sizable portion of land has legally passed to him, as it was meant to be given to his son when he reached adulthood. The narrator travels there with the intent of quickly selling it & moving on but things soon become complicated. Vercher's novel has shades (CONT)

I've read a couple of Hard Case Crime books recently (including a lost novel by James Cain!);and the tagged book, from the author of the source material of Hitchcock's masterpiece, is most likely going to end up on my best of the year list. An existential, intriguing, crime story that had me hooked from the first page! I currently have 3 Hard Case books checked out that look very reliable, including one with a Tarantino blurb. Will update!

Set in an alternate UK in the 80's, we follow Charlie & Miranda after the purchase of an AI-Adam. They each set half of Adam's personality which sets up an interesting dynamic for the rest of the book. This is alternative history exactly as I like it, where there are certain real events present but on a different timeline from our own history, or some events occur with a different outcome (ie Alan Turing is alive & very much a celebrity). (CONT)

I want to thank everyone who commented/reached out after I posted about the workplace shooting that my brother went through last Thursday. I don't really want to go through too many specifics online, as that's not my place. Needless to say there were a few times Friday that when I started thinking about it too much I felt extremely nauseated. Again, thanks to everyone who posted comments. I hope that this leads to some meaningful changes.

This was a random library find & I'm glad I picked it up. Aliens is one of my favorite horror franchises & this medieval spin does not disappoint. Set in the world of Ataegina, there are several holds with their own customs, politics, gender dynamics & religions. Groups of runners (usually 3) are sent on missions between the holds to trade info & goods. This is a highly dangerous position as the demons (xenomorphs) are roaming free. There's (Cont)

Published by Aardvark & featured as one of the October selections, the eight stories are all by authors that Aardvark has previously included in their monthly picks. I felt somewhat indifferent about the first 3, but the rest were all solid. Favorites were by Harrison, Leede and the title story by SG Jones.

A text received from my brother this afternoon at his work place....a block away from my work place. Said fatality results in active shooting evacuation, employee fatality and police stand off. America, stay classy 😡🤬

I lived in lofts (literally named The Library Lofts) shortly after the downtown KC library opened with its now famous wall of book spines. My apartment was a mere block away, so needless to say I spent a lot of time there. I have since read a few of the selected books for the display, & they have become favorites, however Rachel Carson's groundbreaking Silent Spring remains on my TBR. #earthy @eggs @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

My #weirdwords of the day is the title of Dickens' novel. Legislation was recently passed in my R state that at the end of the calendar year, PTO exceeding 40 hrs will be automatically deposited into the company FML account. Problem is: several employees (including myself) maxed out their FML account years ago, but as we all know Rs don't want to interfere im business 🤬 Anywho, as difficult as it was to find a FULL week off the week before (CONT)

Have read 50 pages (about 1/4) of this gem....& highly suspect it's going to be a new favorite of all-time. Just... speechless

I just posted about*not* seeing Florence & the Machines, however I was extremely fortunate to attend a reading of Saunders the week he won the Booker for Lincoln etc. Saunders is the modern age Vonnegut, chronicling our #twilight with the attendant absurdity and humor it deserves. The tagged book, aside from featuring one of the more humorous and topical, titles in years is a good starting place & showcase of his absurdities/wonders.

My #tuesdaytunes is the entire new Florence & the Machines album: Everybody Scream. In 2011 I was living in MN, that August I attended an incredible 2 day music festival featuring: Devotchka, The New Pornographers, Okkervil River, Flaming Lips and more. The following year promised to top it & I immediately bought tickets, sadly it was cancelled due to lack of sales. I do recall Jane's Addiction, Weezer and Florence and the Machines (CONT)

It feels so bizarre going online and championing B&N, knowing their history in the pricing wars with many indie bookstores but sadly for many communities they are one of the only brick and mortar book retail spaces. The film adaptation of Die, My Love is being released this weekend and the book is not available anywhere except my local B&N. I'm NGL, if my local B&n closed the closest bookstore would be around 20 minutes away. While that (CONT)

Bar owner Jimmy is retiring & planning on selling Lillies, a spot for hipsters and the well off in the now trendy, but once crime ridden Red Hook. Bartender Erin is hoping to buy the bar but Jimmy refuses to sell & tells Erin an unusual story. This is labeled as a short story but with the audio clocking in at 2 hours it's more of a novelette. This is a careful what you wish for story. Pick!

What am I #grateful for? Every year at Thanksgiving we take turns saying one thing we are thankful for & for many years now my answer has been: books. It is of course, the characters, entertainment & wisdom that they have provided. Friends, really 💙 Also, all the wonderful connections I have made in the nearly decade (!!) I have been on Litsy, the best social media site for talking about books.
@alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs

Valente has been on my book radar since joining Litsy, I have yet to read one of her works, torn between Comfort Me With #apples and Radiance. Anyone have a favorite Valente?
@alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs

Starring Jeremy Irons, among others, this upcoming movie tells of the 36-39 British colonial rule of Palestine. This set the stage for other violent occupations. Netanyahu is a war criminal and a thug who should be arrested. Hamas is definitely not an organization to admire. However, there's clear war crimes being committed in Palestine at the moment and you can hardly blame the population for their lack of good leadership. If that was the (Cont)

Tryon's The Other is one of my favorite creepy NYRB titles and I've heard rave reviews about #harvest home I highly recommend the other, but will definitely be checking out Tryon's other work
@alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs

Halfway through & the Rachel Harrison story is definitely my favorite so far:
“Maybe,“ he'd said, failing to effectively conceal his disappointment. Travis had a scientific mind & a strong moral code. If we'd live in ancient Greece, he would have been a great thinker, a philosopher. But we lived in the twenty-first century, so he he worked in software development...

I read this underhyped gem early last month & if you plan on participating in #novellanovember I def recommend this one, which clocks in at 176 pages & can be read in one sitting. A pandemic has swept the world: if people make eye contact with one another they become homicidal. Yes, def echoes of Bird Box but I honestly feel like Moraine (& I do love Malerman) pulls off this concept much better, as the reader is (CONT)

The opening chapter of Sigurdardottir's The Legacy had my heart in my throat. While her husband is away at a medical conference, Elisa is woken up in the middle of the night by her daughter Margret who tells her that she saw a man sitting in the living room. This kicks off one of the best scandi crime books I have read in a very long time with twisted crimes, great characters, a propulsive plot & thoughtful commentary on social issues. Loved it!

November Aardvark selections are live. This is what I picked. What did you choose?

I feel like Wylding Hall is one of the ultimate Rorschach books. I listened to the full cast audio (highly recommend) and all day I have been going back & forth on my opinion. Ambiguous in the way that the best Tremblay/ Jackson books were. If Daisy Jones & the 6 had to record their new album in a strange possibility haunted English countryside house and Daisy went missing afterwards, this is Hand's book. A head scratcher, ambiguous pick! Loved!!

It's been a couple of years since I've participated in NF Nov, I'm going to attempt to do so this year. Here's my pile of possibilities. I will consider it a success if I read 3
*We Wish To Inform You That You Will Be Killed With Your Families
*Sacco: Palestine
*Dench: Shakespeare -The Man Who Pays the Rent
*Flanders -The Invention of Murder
*“When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day
*Feeding Ghosts
“Ducks-Beaton
*Keefe-Snakehead

One of the biggest, and greatest, changes in my reading life this year has been incorporating fiction audio books. I'd previously only been able to concentrate on NF audio, but made a real effort this year to incorporate fiction audio & some of my best reading experiences have been via this media: from my first read of the yr Haynes' Stoneblind to Annie bot to the epic Book of Longing & now thanks to audio I'm going to be able to squeeze (Cont)

Library therapy wins over retail therapy imo (gentler on the wallet). Swallows is the new one by Kirino, author of Out

Question, Littens: I loved Tommy Orange's There There. If you felt the same & have also read Wandering Stars, do you recommend WS? So many books, etc etc. Thanks for your input!

I made a Halloween playlist. Creepy 2025, check it out if you feel inclined:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6fDiwwg2xG94zEuibqjE61
#tuesdaytunes @tiedyedude

Draculas is an interesting horror novel co-written by 4 (that's right 4) authors: Jeff Strand, Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn & F. Paul Wilson. Millionaire & eccentric collector Moorecock shows up at the ER with convulsions, after placing the elongated teeth of a skull bought from Romania against his neck. Chaos quickly ensues in the hospital as a vampire (or as they are referred here) dracula outbreak ensues. Told from multiple POVs, what this (CONT)

Are we relying on books too much for new movie adaptations? It's not an easy question. Three of my favorite top 5 movies of the year are adaptations: The Monkey, Frankenstein, The Long Walk. However there are some upcoming ones, that I'm like...“was that really necessary“? (also, thinking Hamnet) For the sake of transparency, I have not read either Die My Love OR Hamnet but feel pretty sure I will love both & wouldn't really feel the need (cont)

As someone who stopped smoking 13 years ago...I still feel this

If I had a BP monitor attached while reading the opening two chapters it would have read' Out of range. No surprise as this is from the same mind as the delightfully twisted horror I Remember You, but this one is firmly in the territory of Scandi Crime Noir. Halfway through but so twisted & clever with characters to care about.

I was today years old when it dawned on me that two of my favorite novels -Frankenstein and Northanger Abbey (wildly different although both dealing with gothic themes) were published in the same year -1818.

I scored 45 out of 100. Not too shabby. Favorites included on the list:
*Talent For Murder (one of my fave Swanson books)
*The Historian (ugh, so brilliant)
*In A Lonely Place (Hughes=one of the greats)
*IT
*The Other
*Poe
*Dracula
*Conqueror Worm
*Ghost Eaters
#TLT @dabbe

I noticed some mixed reactions as I left the sold out nighttime showing of Del Toro's latest. Personally? I loved it. I think that if you have read the, & enjoyed, the book you will be pleased. I think that otherwise it might seem too slow. Although there are a few liberties here & there it is a very faithful version & it is undoubtedly one of Del Toro's most visually stunning works.

I just stumbled across the tagged story collection while at the library. What great blurbs! Have you read this @barbarabb Seems up your alley, I think that it might appeal to you too @sarahbarnes

My #weirdwords is courtesy of Seth Meyers' Closer Look, when he made me aware of Grantifas. Don't f#$&$ with people with crocheting skills 🤘.... also who in their right mind would disrespect their grandparents?! ☠️☠️

The news of D'Angelo's untimely passing last week sent me on a bit of a soul music binge (both old & new). Following are 6 favorites, by both old & new artists for #tuesdaytunes
*Charles Bradley: The World (Is Going Up In Flames)
https://open.spotify.com/track/6MQlNH8e6jG0LZg2mocK1R?si=c4bcb25a5bc84556
*Al Green: Tired of Being Alone
https://open.spotify.com/track/10vkYRKw6Jjr7try1ir50G?si=142749ca59dc4a8d
(CONT)

I was just relaxing with a cup of wine at a theater down the street, reading the tagged story “Return of the Jedi: From a Certain POV“ when out of nowhere people started pouring in to meet some random guy. There was someone there taking pictures, a line forming to meet this guy, I'm giving him the side eye...he's not Chris Stuckmann who is releasing Shelby Oaks this weekend , but I eventually left & had to scooby doo it & it appears to be (CONT)

This, the second story, in the tagged collection is wild. It has a relentless narrative force which nearly borders on stream of consciousness, but instead tells of a organ delivery driver who is delayed during a delivery due to a mudslide. I have read only a couple TC Boyle stories so far and he definitely seems more interested in portraying people warts and all, rather than saints and demons.

I do talk about politics on my feed from time to time, however I don't often speak about how it impacts my job. That changed today when because of the government shutdown (& to be clear R's currently control the entire federal government); it was made clear that beginning 11-1 (SNAP AKA Food stamps for people w/ IDD ,in my field) end. We went from a yr ago when people complained about the price of eggs to *literally“ no longer being able (CONT);

Littens! 'Tis the seaon for spooky movies 🍿🎬
I'm genuinely curious what horror films released this ungodly year have riveted you the most? The following are my rankings so far:
1) Sinners
2) Weapons
3) The Monkey
4) The Long Walk
5) The Companion
*Some days I switch #3 & # 4. I genuinely believe that we received two of the greatest king adaptations the same year & I'm fairly certain that The Running Man will be another. Other (Cont)

*I have the tagged anthology checked out & I love Datlow's work, so will be reading 2-3 stories
*Total mood read: It will be either Samantha Downing's “Too Old For This“ (from what U gather, it's about an elderly serial killer) OR “Joy ,Land“ (I have recently read and enjoyed a couple hard case crime books!)
#weekendreads

I chose the tagged book for my October Aardvark selection, as I *really* wanted to choose a back catalog selection-Sangoyomi's “Masquerade“ (praised as one of the best recent historical fiction). I read around 75 pages of Churche;s novel before I bailed. Prior to each chapter, Church uses an epitaph from Plath's “Bell Jar.“ (CONT)

It was only recently while browsing a library list online that I discovered that Tobe Hooper-director of Texas Chainsaw Massacre AND Poltergeist among others-wrote a book. MM is about his first effort Destiny Express which premieres during SXSW (in an interview in the afterword Hooper notes that an early film Eggshells had premiered at SXSW). Following the screening there is an outbreak featuring zombies & a lot of uh...strange spicy (CONT)

Joining the fun! Here is my #10beforetheend list:
*Stephen King-Running Man
*Nat Cassidy-When the Wolf Comes Home
*Conn Iggulden-Athenian Duology
*Orson Scott Card-Ender's Game
*Ursula K. Le Guin-Powers
*Jack Ketchum-Offspring
*Sōseki-Botchan
*Eliza Clark-She's Always Hungry
*Patricia Highsmith-Ripley's Game
*SG Jones-Don't Fear the Reaper
@chaoticmissadventures

I'm going to quote the description from Penguin site bc it perfectly summarizes this one:
“Ogres are bigger than you. Ogres are stronger than you. Ogres rule the world.
It's always idyllic in the village until the landlord comes to call. Because the landlord is an Ogre. And Ogres rule the world, with their size and strength and appetites. It's always been that way. It's the natural order of the world. And they only eat people sometimes. (CONT)