2019's In-Lieu List

Hello, readers.   I could give a lot of reasons I haven't updated in a long time - some of them are reasons we all share for not being particularly motivated right now - but I'm going to get right to it.


I read some very good stuff last year that I need to pass on, so in (temporary) lieu of full reviews, I wanted to share a list of my top reads from 2019.  Each one has a handy link to its Goodreads page instead of Amazon, since I don't presume everybody wants or has the means to make purchases right now.  I love Goodreads and I often use my to-read list to look for books I can borrow from various libraries.  Here's the list - I've noted a few things, such as format and audience if it's not adult fiction.  Please comment if you have something (spoiler-free) to add about any of the books or would like to recommend to me and the other viewers.  Here's hoping for a more productive season - stay safe and keep reading.

1. Doctor Who: Nothing O'Clock (Doctor Who 50th Anniversary E-Shorts #11)    Neil Gaiman
2. Harrow County Volume 1: Countless Haints    Cullen Bunn *graphic novel*
3. Recursion    Blake Crouch
4. The Last Time I Lied    Riley Sager
5. Hangman    Jack Heath
6. Just One Bite   Jack Heath *sequel to Hangman*
7. Jacaranda (The Clockwork Century, #6)    Cherie Priest  *short, ok to read alone if you haven't read the series*
8. This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us    Edgar Cantero
9. The Cape    Jason Ciaramella  *graphic novel*
10. The Guild Volume 1    Felicia Day  *graphic novel*
11. Elevation    Stephen King  *short*
12. Yesterday    Felicia Yap
13. Nyctophobia    Christopher Fowler
14. Ghosts of Gotham    Craig Schaefer
15. Cold Spectrum (Harmony Black, #4)    Craig Schaefer
16. Glass Predator (Harmony Black, #3)    Craig Schaefer
17. Red Knight Falling (Harmony Black, #2)    Craig Schaefer
18. Harmony Black (Harmony Black, #1)    Craig Schaefer
19. Cari Mora    Thomas  Harris
20. The Accident Season    Moira Fowley-Doyle  *YA lit*
21. Small Spaces (Small Spaces, #1)    Katherine Arden  *kids lit*
22. Invasive    Chuck Wendig
23. Zeroes    Chuck Wendig
24. Someone Like Me    M.R. Carey
25. Jane Steele    Lyndsay Faye
26. Truly Devious (Truly Devious, #1)    Maureen Johnson
27. Alice Isn't Dead    Joseph Fink
28. The Suicide Motor Club    Christopher Buehlman

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, stories chosen by April Genevieve Tucholke

I almost never recommend short story collections.  It's usually because I can't justify telling someone to watch a dozen little mind-movies when half of them seem pointless or hackneyed.  I'm writing this review because I just got punched by one of the best YA collections I've found in years.  YEARS.  Good horror and good short stories make my day.  This book just slammed them together in the best way and I could not find a bad story in the bunch.  Not one.  This is not a book, it's a frigging unicorn.  A really creepy unicorn.  Maybe this one:

I'm guessing this one isn't powered by giggles and joy.

 Anyway, the YA genre has certainly come a long way and gets a lot more gruesome than it did back in my day (sorry, Mr. Pike), but it seems paranormal romance (aka "my boyfriend is hot and toothy") has gotten spread around like hybrid herpes and the horror genre itself hasn't really been properly bringing its kid sibling along.  I decided to give this one a chance because of, well, the cover alone:

 Even if YA's not your prime choice, SGMB has *chops*, with everything from shapeshifting vigilantes to mountain legends to zombie comedy and while some of it wasn't especially brand-new subjects, all of it gave me some creeps, some new authors to look for and, in places, a longing for the good old horror that swept in before torture and remakes took over. Some of the stories may be what you consider typical fare for a collection.  A Lewis Carroll-inspired story is almost par for the horror course, I think, but Carrie Ryan's "In The Forest Dark and Deep" made my skin crawl and I now desperately need to avoid teacups.   The very last story, a revenge piece called "On The I-5" by Kendare Blake, felt so clear and cold to me that I wanted to see it on a screen, to see if the diner lights and desert grave were that vivid *outside* my head. (I just received a reply from Ms. Blake saying this story is being adapted to film, so buckle up and keep an eye out.)


A feature that made my day as well was the bit of info at the end of each story, written upside down:  the film, book or song that inspired the author.  There's a bit of everything in here, from slasher movies to classic novels to a Nirvana song that I had to actually Google.  Some of the stories' inspirations are easy to spot, others not so much.

TL:DR Tucholke knows how to pick 'em and this book has a flight of tastes that kept me reading.