Analysis
Savage Landscapes and Ecogothic Defiance: A Review of Daisy Johnson’s Fen
Unlike books that use geography as a mere backdrop, Daisy Johnson’s debut story collection, Fen (2016), lets the landscape crawl inside its characters skin. Strikingly immune to pastoral complacency, the book blends visceral body horror, unyielding weirdness, and rural subcultures to deliver both gothic dread and radical female autonomy. Having loved the haunted, architectural containment of her later book, Hotel , I read Fen simply chasing that same spark of uncanny brilliance; she absolutely delivered.
By Alyson Smith 2 months ago in BookClub
Rachel Reviews: The Window by M.L. Calder
This was such a nice book to read. I don't mean that to sound fatuous or trite as nice is an adjective much overused and maligned but it was so gentle in its prose that I felt like I drifted through my reading of it and it really was nice. There was a calm to it, produced by Calder's written style which lulled me and carried me through the drama and emotion of the story of the Morans. That's not to say that it's not an emotive because it is but there is something about the rhythm of the read that I liked: phrases acting like waves or repeated motives in music.
By Rachel Deeming2 months ago in BookClub
Penelope Was the Real Hero of “The Odyssey” All Along. Top Story - August 2026.
Mention Homer’s Odyssey , and the first name that comes to mind is undoubtedly Odysseus. Hard to blame a fellow Greek for that, seeing how he lends his name to the title. After all, this is a hero of warring and wandering - a soldier who survived the Trojan War, fought off storms at sea, and even outsmarted gods and mythical creatures on his way home. It took him ten long years to get back to his homeland of Ithaca, but he finally made it.
By Jenna Deedy2 months ago in BookClub
The Windup Girl
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi won both the Hugo and Nebula awards when it was published in 2009: a rare achievement for any author of science fiction, rarer still for a debut novel. So when I found it, dog-eared and languishing behind an old coffee grinder at the thrift store, I was surprised that I had never heard of it. Even though the aughts are thoroughly in the rearview mirror, it’s strange for an achievement like Bacigalupi’s to have had so little staying power. After all, most people with even a casual interest in fantasy and science fiction will have heard of Miéville’s The City & The City, which won the same awards in the same year. I became determined to see for myself what made up the gulf between these two novels, so I ponied up the requisite three bucks and dove in.
By Daniel Bradbury2 months ago in BookClub
Rachel Reviews: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
I can see why this book was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2016. It is a quiet story but it has depth in terms of the subjects it examines through Lucy's story. It is also a curious book, which is my way of saying that I've not quite got a handle on it and it's left me thoughtful after reading it. I say this because I'm not sure whether I like it or not, whether I fully accessed it or not.
By Rachel Deeming2 months ago in BookClub
The Richest Man in Babylon REVIEW: As a Broke Guy, This 1926 Book Hit Me Hard
I finished The Richest Man in Babylon at 11:22pm and I confess I was on my couch. My work boots still on. My coffee was cold. Bills on table. I started at 10pm after shift. I said 20 pages. I read 144 pages. I could not stop. My wife said "come to bed". I said 5 more minutes. I lied. I felt broke and motivated same time. This book is from 1926, 100 years ago, but Goodreads has 251k ratings today, 4.23 stars. Some guys say "What in the name of crap was that?!" Some say it changed life. I get both. I had $43 in my checking that night. I checked app. $43. The Richest Man in Babylon made me set auto transfer next morning.
By V.S Ferreira 2 months ago in BookClub
The Thief of Always - A Book Review
I must start this review in utter awe and amazement. Where on earth does Clive Barker get his imagination, and can I buy a bottled version of it? The Thief of Always is absolutely chock-full of fierce creativity, whimsical dread, and masterful storytelling. While it is technically intended for a middle-grade audience—as a few imagery-heavy scenes might be a bit too spooky for elementary schoolers—it is a fable that can be thoroughly enjoyed by readers of any age. It is a slim, punchy book that you can easily devour in a single rainy afternoon, though its sharp imagery, captivating story and poetic- like prose will likely linger in your mind for much longer.
By C.L. Muileboom 3 months ago in BookClub
The Best Things About American Psycho Are Also the Worst
From my teens onwards I always had a keen interest in the darker side of humanity. I guess that has stuck with me all my life. I never really wanted to inhabit it, even though, because of my own vices, there have been times when I have.
By Paul Stewart3 months ago in BookClub
