3 and 4 for the book asks!
3. What were your top five books of the year?
ok uhh In no particular order here are some
-The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth. Historical fiction written in dialect meant to evoke old English but it's not actually in old English. Kind of hard to get through but it was very much worth it. It's set in 1066 from the point of view of an English man as the Norman invasion begins and destroys everything he knows.
-Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito. Historical horror about a governess with a secret who starts work for a wealthy family right before the Christmas season, with revenge on her mind. Very evocative of the time period and I'm looking forward to the movie.
-The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Historical horror and probably my favorite 2025 release, maybe one of SGJ's best so far too. A Blackfeet man, through strange circumstances, becomes a vampire. Decades later, he begins his testimony to a pastor in 1912.
-Murderland by Caroline Fraser. Nonfiction about the wave of serial killers in the mid-20th century Pacific Northwest, from the perspective of someone who grew up in that time and place. A lot of research and data went into this. The book goes into the "lead poisoning" theory regarding why there were so many serial killers in this time and place; the true crime aspect studied becomes not just the killers, but the corporations and CEOs destroying the environment.
-We Love You Bunny by Mona Awad. Sequel to her book Bunny, which I honestly thought was kind of ok, but I love her writing so I decided to read it. I thought this was better than the first book and without giving too much away there was one character arc I found really touching and memorable.
4.Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?
I read Shy Girl and We All Rot Eventually, both horror novels by Mia Ballard, and I'm interested to see more of her writing.
