February is a month where I largely took off from writing my own fiction in preparation for Futurescapes this weekend. Like, I dabbled a bit, mostly played video games. Still did some reading. I finally can go back to listening to audiobooks, which is great for my brain buzz.
Here is a round up of my February reads. I got to interview two fabulous authors to kick off the month:
- Lara Elena Donnelly presented Base Notes
- R.J. Theodore rereleased Flotsam (Peridot Shift #1)
ARCs
- A Bloody Little Valentine (Tales of the Southern Gothic) by Magen Cubed (adult, horror romance)
- Short and spicy
- Cash and Dorian are in love and the characterization via past and present is perfect
- Leech by Hiron Ennes (adult, horror)
- Gothic haunted house horror disguising a science fiction
- A visceral and tense affair narrated by a 500-year-old parasite piloting a human meat mecha
- What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (adult, horror)
- “Fall of the House of Usher” retelling with a bigger emphasis on mushrooms
- Prose and world-building distract from the horror
Audiobooks
- The Lost Village by Camilla Sten (adult, horror, translated, 2019)
- A film crew goes to a ghost town to make a documentary, spookiness ensues
- I wish the ghost part was more literal in the plot, especially the final revelations
- The Unwomanly Face of War: AN Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich (nonfiction, history, 2017)
- Women recount their experiences on the front and in the villages throughout the former Soviet Union
- Heed the content warnings, absolutely harrowing and unfiltered
- The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson (adult, horror, 2022)
- On the heels of COVID, another virus breaks out, this time, making people fly in a rage
- Three generations of women heal in their own ways from intergenerational and partner violence in ways that include relying on each other and wrestling
eBooks
- The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez (adult, horror, 1991)
- A lesbian vampire makes her way across two centuries with the power of chosen family
- Unflinching in its convictions and deeply respects life in all its brutal glory
Physical Copies
- At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop (adult, literary, translated)
- Not a lot of plot outside of soldiers processing trauma in World War II
- Incredible speculative twist toward the end and sharp prose that I’m still reeling from
- Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow (adult, horror)
- A story haunted by control and Farrah’s loosening grip on it
- Incisive and specific commentary around race and class that hits all layers of the narrative
Manga
- Cat Massage Therapy Vol. 1 by Haru Hisakawa (2021, josei, slice-of-life)
- It’s about a massage parlor run by a cat and his kitten assistants
- Full-color, absolutely adorable illustrations
- Creepy Cat Vol 1 & 2 by Cotton Valent (2019-2022, slice-of-life horror comedy)
- Full-color, adorable illustrations
- A painter inherits a mansion and with it, a cryptid named Creepy Cat
Jo Writes Fantasy 