Eight Millon Books to Read

Starting something new, which might make things more manageable for me to keep this up-to-date. Probably a weird time of year to be thinking of such things, but felt inspired to post last week and hoping to keep doing so. With that in mind I present my week in reading with my collected reviews of books finished for the week. This week it is filled with very differing types and tones of story, but overall quality. The Girl with the Stone Heart by Scott Grand My rating: 4 of 5 stars "Come on. You're a ghost in your own life. Just a witness. What happened?" I've become a fan of Scott Grand's work over the course of the year in anticipation for this one with Sport being a particular highlight. The Girl with the Stone Heart is very close to that quality and showcases Grand's ability to build unique character voices and has a melancholy tone that I so adore in my noir. Grace is running the town bowling alley in between doing jobs for "The Council",

I've been reminded to post this one as I was back in the office today and saw the museum cabinet containing old weapons including a samurai type sword and police truncheons, which always makes me think of Joe Rey. It just feels like something that is crying out for Joe Rey to pilfer and use against the various weirdos and whackjobs that come into his periphery. Leins is a curious case for me as a reader. He was one of the first indie authors I read when he opened the Wrestle Maniacs anthology containing a multitude of stories based around the world of pro wrestling, which Leins then built upon with The Good Book (see below). This led me to seek out his Paignton Noir books, but the first couple left me cold. Something called me back to them though and I really found my groove with them as the story continued and Rey got in further scrapes. It's very likely the Joe Rey books are an acquired taste, but beneath the squalor of these down and dirty noirs is a protagonist with a r

The Furious Way by Aaron Philip Clark My rating: 5 of 5 stars "Respect is something that you haven't had much of in your life"                 "Not this shit again. Look, I had a fucked-up life. Okay? Get over it. I have."                 "You haven't! You got used to getting treated like shit. But with these dogs, either they respect you or they don't. But you've got to earn that kind of respect. I need to see that you've earned theirs'. You need to see it. Now get down."   I bought this one when it came out and just never got round to reading it at the time. Lo, I decided to check out the rating and reviews on Goodreads and was stunned to find only 1 rating, which immediately sent it to the top of the reading pile. This is the first Clark book I have read with his others sitting on devices awaiting my eyes, but I have heard him speak on Writer Types and the bastard title and was really drawn to him and his work.   In The Furiou

Dear Laura was a book that I kept seeing everywhere - on Twitter, in recommendations, on Goodreads and I thought I should dive in. It was something that paid off immensely as I discovered a stone cold classic novella that I'll recommend until the end of my days. I recently read the follow-up White Pines , which is something altogether different, for me and from Dear Laura . Amor also has a story in the collection, Lockdown , which I reviewed a couple of days ago. Lockdown, edited by Nick Kolakowski & Steve Weddle White Pines by Gemma Amor My rating: 4 of 5 stars Gemma Amor takes us to the Highlands for a Celtic folk horror fantasy mystery tale that is weird, scary and full of the unexpected. Megs' husband returns one night to let her know their marriage is over and Megs flees to the Highland home she has been bequeathed by her late Grandma. Megs quickly discovers there is something afoot with the house and those who live nearby and it all seems to have something t

Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic by Nick Kolakowski My rating: 4 of 5 stars She thought about how all the books and movies had gotten it all wrong. The world didn't end in riots and wars in an endless dystopian wasteland. It didn't end with a whimper like that poet who liked cats said either. It ended in increments. It slowed and slowed like the heart of a wounded animal until it just stopped and began to rot. S.A. Cosby - The Loyalty of Hungry Dogs This collection has been put together quickly to support independent bookshops across North America and the quality remains astounding given how quickly it has been brought together. For good reason, Covid-19, isn't the top headlining news now, but this anthology is as relatable as anything you can read this year. The collection starts with stories in the early days and weeks of lockdown before branching out with authors delivering a variety of scenarios for the future of the world and what the l

Heathenish by Kelby Losack My rating: 4 of 5 stars You quickly get the idea that this is a personal book to the author as his obscured visage takes up the front cover. This one falls between, his kindred spirit, J. David Osborne's Black Gum and Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting. Our unnamed narrator has "done too much, much too young" and finds himself divorced with three kids at the age of 20. Having moved back home, he starts to sample the life he seems to have missed out on with no substance safe from being swallowed, snorted or at times, injected as he pushes himself further to oblivion. This is an autobiographical novel, but it frees itself from judgements and any type of woe-is-me writing instead focussing on the narrator and the life he builds for himself beyond his wife and children. There are shady deals, weird conversations, freestyle rapping, and a collection of outsiders and fellow drugged out wastrels, but it is a book that runs the gamut of emotions. It&#