Book Review | The Vegetarian - Han Kang
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The Vegetarian is 3 novellas, translated from korean, telling the story of Yeong-Hye as she slips further from humanity and rejects the pressures and expectations of society.
The three stories that make up this book are told from the perspective of Yeong-Hye's husband, brother-in-law, and sister. Each story showcases how much further Yeong-Hye has descended into either insanity or a protest of existence - which of those, I am uncertain. It's intense, shocking, and surreal.
Although this story deals with complex ideas and is largely left up to interpretation, I found the writing itself to be easily digestible and often poetic, making it hard to put down. I do, however, believe this is a story that I'll have to sit with for awhile or maybe give a second or third read through to fully understand and appreciate it's artistry.
Book Review | Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature, edited by Becky Siegel Spratford.
I would like to encourage everyone to read this collection of essays. Not just horror fans, but everyone who has ever asked why we're drawn to the dark and the macabre.
This collection of essays are written by some of the most prominent authors in horror fiction - Tananarive Due, Paul Tremblay, Grady Hendrix, Clay McLeod Chapman, Rachel Harrison, Stephen Graham Jones, and many more. All of these authors were asked the same question, Why Horror? In each essay, many reasons were given - from the love of movie monsters, the experiences of social rejection, the ability to explore complex human emotions and process extreme trauma. Every essay is a look into what shapes us as horror fans and what inspiration is lurking behind the horror stories we all love.
I felt so seen in a lot of these essays, I felt so connected to the horror community as a whole. Stephen Graham Jones said it best in his essay - "I challenge anyone out there to find a more supportive group of people than horror fans. We all love our chosen genre enough that just moving among other people with the same wonderful infection, we'll stay in the lobby all night, talking about this novel, that film - the one scare that still lights us up all these years later. And the horror community seems to understand that a win for one of us is a win for all of us" It reminds me of my own local horror community and the friends I've made over the years through our connection to horror, a community I couldn't be happier to be a part of.
Book Review | Nothing Tastes as Good - Luke Dumas
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Emmett is a gay, nerdy, and obese man just trying to make it in a world that has not been kind to him. His love life, home life, and work life have all suffered due to his weight but Emmett has a chance to change it all with a new experimental weight loss drug, Obexity. Side effects may include memory loss, a new kind of hunger, and unexplained blood on your clothes. Being skinny always has a price.
I listened to the audiobook for Nothing Tastes as Good and the narrator did such a good job keeping me immersed in Emmett's story. It's always challenging to root for a character killing people but Emmett is such a relatable character that I couldn't help it. I laughed alongside the jokes, I grew infuriated and upset when he was mistreated, and yes, I even celebrated when he got revenge on a particularly shitty person.
This book has a lot of heart (and a lot of pokemon references) that made it so enjoyable and for that I am thankful. Have you read Nothing Tastes as Good?
We're preparing to move soon and today I packed up almost all of my books so here is my curated reading stack I've left out for myself to enjoy over the next month or so.
It's almost @spiltbar book club time again and this month's theme was Resistance. I knew I didn't have a lot of time to read this month so I opted for a couple of small but powerful reads. There is supposed to be one more in this list but unfortunately I didn't finish it in time (One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This). The political landscape in the US is terrifying and I'm thankful for the opportunity to learn a bit more about what's happening in our neighbouring country. I'm looking forward to this month's discussion with our group and seeing what everyone else chose to read.
I used Libby as a main source for reading these books so instead of a stack - here's an uncomfortable selfie. 😅
Hey pals!
I just realized I haven't posted at all in April. It's been a very busy month over here so here's a little update.
My current reads are Project Hail Mary and Yesteryear. Although overall I haven't had much time for reading.
My partner and I, plus a few friends went on a mini vacation to Toronto last weekend. I was very happy to finally check out @littleghostsbooks and got a small haul of indie books, two of which are from their in house publishing press! We also got to see @toucheamore perform Stage Four in its entirety for the 10th year anniversary and that was just ✨perfection✨ - I couldn't have asked for a better crew to be there with. Finally, we did a little side trip to Niagara Falls - the highlight definitely being the Ripley's Believe it or not odditorium! My partner and I don't travel much so it was really nice to be able to go out and see a new city that we had never been to.
I came down with a post flight sickness right when we returned but thankfully that feels like it's on the way out and I'm ready to return to regular life just in time for Indie Bookstore Day this upcoming weekend. Catch me at @daisychainbookco all weekend - we will be doing a bunch of giveaways!
Book Review | Goddess of Filth - V. Castro
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The @spiltbar book club theme for March is Good For Her. I love this theme, I have read many books that fall into this category and I was excited to read another. I was actively searching "Best Good for Her Horror" lists to pick out a read and Goddess of Filth was on almost all of them.
Maybe it's that I went in with a certain expectation, but personally I don't feel like this falls under that category. Is it really good for her when the main character is possessed? I have always felt this trope is when a character is pushed to her limit and finally says "I will not take this anymore" and I really didn't get that from this book. There are still feminist themes, primarily focusing on women's sexuality but I wouldn't classify this as a feminine rage story.
The other thing that really bothered me with this book is instead of seeking vengeance and violence towards the villains, the characters de-escalated the situation at most, often leaving it for the police to deal with. This was such a disappointing and unsatisfying narrative. I just wanted so much more from this story.
I know that this book gets a lot of love and I think I would have appreciated it more if I had read it in a different context. If you've read and enjoyed Goddess of Filth, I would love to hear your thoughts.
Book Review | Persona - Aoife Josie Clements
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"A trans woman discovers pornography of herself she has no memory of making, only to find herself led to an unimaginably deeper evil"
I love a weird, unsettling read that has me questioning everything and Persona is exactly that. I picked this one up on a whim, only to later discover it was on the CIBA Bookseller's List for winter - and for good reason! Aoife Josie Clements' debut novel is a surreal hellscape that doesn't hold back on critiquing modern society and late stage capitalism.
This novel ramps up rapidly from the start, making it difficult to put down. However, I did find myself questioning where the story was going during Act 3, only for the author to pull off a great ending. An excellent debut from a Canadian author that I hope to read more from.
We received a previously owned and beautiful hardcover copy of Shaking Hands with Death by Terry Pratchett at work recently. This is an essay Terry Pratchett wrote for the BBC Richard Dimbleby Lecture about Pratchett's Alzheimer's diagnosis and the conversation about medical assistance in death.
It's inspired me to take a moment to talk about this book. Terry Pratchett was a very influential author to me since high school. Alongside that, I have a family history of Alzheimer's disease, so giving this a read just felt natural. Pratchett talks about not only his experiences with his diagnosis but that of his father's pancreatic cancer diagnosis as well. He delivers a passionate and heart felt lecture about what medical assistance in death meant for both him and his father as he fights for the right to choose to end one's life when facing a terminal or incurable diagnosis. This essay is extremely powerful and showcases a lot of vulnerability from Pratchett. It immediately found it's way onto my staff favourite shelf.
If you're not afraid of difficult conversations surrounding death, I highly recommend reading Shaking Hands with Death. And hey, there's a pretty beautiful (and previously owned!) copy at @daisychainbookco 😉
ARC Review | Wolf Worm - T. Kingfisher
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Pub Date: March 24, 2026
Not all of T. Kingfisher's work hits for me, but this one certainly did. Wolf Worm has easily become my favourite novel of hers. Full of creepy crawlies, suspense and some light body horror. The internal dialogue of the MC is so funny - I really loved her character. If you dislike bugs like I do, this book is sure to make you squirm. 🪰🦟🪲
ARC Review | Indigent - Briana N. Cox
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Pub Date: March 20, 2026
Indigent by Briana N. Cox is a horror novel that takes a magnifying glass to the healthcare crisis in America, specifically in underprivileged areas. This book is gross and gory but I loved it for that. Cox holds no punches in this brutal, wormy, cannibalistic story. My only complaint with the book is sometimes it jumps POVs in a way that makes it difficult to follow but the powerful story more than makes up for that.
Our theme for book club this month at @spiltbar is Poetry.
Poetry is something I'm not well versed in and honestly something I found pretty intimidating. However, I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone a little more this year so it was an excellent opportunity to do so. I chose two books of poems that I have had on my shelf for a few years but never picked up.
The first book of Poetry I read was I Am Not Your Final Girl. This collection was interesting because the author took movie final girls and wrote poetry from their perspective. Being a huge horror fan - I really appreciated this as a gateway to poetry (because of course I'm going to find a book of horror poems).
The second book, however, was raw and heavy. My Art is Killing Me is a book of poetry from a queer sex worker turned poet about her life experiences. These poems were eye opening and left me with a better understanding of the life of a sex worker.
Both books of poems showcase the prejudices of being a woman, sexual assault, and that path to overcome it all in very different ways but made for excellent companion pieces. I'm glad I took the time to explore poetry's unique style of storytelling and learned it's not as unapproachable as I once thought.
Have you read any poetry lately? What are your favourite poems?
