It Devours! A Night Vale Novel by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
This absolutely scratched the itch I wanted it to scratch. Set in the town of Night Vale (the Night Vale from the Welcome to Night Vale podcast) Nilanjana Sikdar is an outsider from Indiana. She has a job as a scientist, which she loves, but she’s not really sure she gets the town of Nightvale.
One day her boss Carlos invites her into his office and asks her to help him secretly continue some research the city council has told him to stop. From there, she gets involved in a mystery with giant pits, disappearances, a maybe nice guy from a definitely sketchy cult-like church, a mysterious other world, a house that doesn’t exist, and an unknown creature that may or may not be the church-cult’s smiling god. This was a fun little story full of some outrageous characters and a couple of plot twists. It was funny in places and touching in places. I really enjoyed it. If you like the podcast and want something set in that world, I recommend it. If you don’t know the Welcome to Nightvale podcast, but like things that are weird, sometimes silly, sometimes creepy, but always fun, I recommend both this book and the podcast (which you can get anywhere you typically get podcasts.)
So, this is a series about four families who were cursed by a witch centuries ago and now a family member is chosen every year to face the witch. The family member is chosen by receiving a music box. The members of each of the four families that are chosen then have to hike through the ancestral woods of the witch (and the families) to search for keys and to lock the music boxes. If they don’t find their keys, a demon will escape and they’ll be tormented forever.
So, the premise was good. The main characters we’re likable. The villains were villainous. This was a fun little read to prepare for spooky season. But each of the novellas ended quite abruptly. I suppose we could call them cliffhangers, but it didn’t feel cliffhangery. It felt unfinished. This was a little disappointing because there were storylines I would have liked to know a bit more about.
I would read more by this author (or more in the Scare Street series… if only because I love that they’re knock-offs of Fear Street) but I’m in a hurry to do so.
So, 6/10. Entertaining and quick but nothing that will really stick with me.
I started this in 2017 and for reasons that are utterly ridiculous and not at all related to how much I was enjoying it, didn’t finish it. For some reason, I was thinking of elements of the story and happened to mention it to Beth. I asked if I could borrow her copy again. She said I could, If I could find it. I found it with my bookmark still in it. Perhaps I can finish it this time!
So, I have been recently going through my subscriptions and canceling things that I haven’t been using. The pandemic has killed my interest in many things, I think this is what we call burnout? And I’m taking this as an opportunity to try new things and see what I like (and maybe save a little money). I’m obviously not abandoning reading or abandoning audiobooks, but I’ve got some credits built up and a TBR that exceeds my life expectancy, so it might be time to pause my audible subscription for a while.
And just in time for an audible sale (that is ending tonight), I log in to take a look at my wishlist. So, I thought it might be fun to see what I got with my surplus of credits.
First up, we have The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. This is a sci-fi book about a truck stop sort of spaceport on the galactic road. The description makes it seem like it might be slice of space life/centering a mother-child relationship. I’m excited to see if I’m right.
The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
Next up we have Jake’s Magical Market by J.R. Matthews. This looks like it is going to be about a clever child during an alien invasion. I’m hoping it is fun because it appears to be the first in a series.
Jake’s Magical Market by J.R. Matthews
I will be honest and say I picked the next one because I was pulled in by the cover art. This is a YA novel by an award-winning author to promises to be full of mystery and magic.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
My next selection is Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. This is, I believe, YA and Sci-fi. It also had a neat cover. I’ve heard that Rebecca Roanhorse is a good writer and I don’t think I’ve read anything by her yet, so I’m excited to try this one.
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
My next pick is the Girl who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh. This seems like it is going to be full of magic and heroism and I am so excited for it. The main character is a young woman who makes a sacrifice to save her brother and then goes on a quest to save her people.
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh.
My last pick (which was actually my first pick) is These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. This one is set in 1920s Shanghai and appears to be about gangsters and flappers. There may be some disease and mayhem and mystery. I couldn’t tell you why but I love novels set in historical Shanghai, so I am very pleased this was an option for me to pick.
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
And thus ends this haul post. Hopefully, I will get to some of these sooner rather than later and I can follow up on them.
Have you bought any books recently? What have you picked up that you’re excited to dive into next?
I feels like it’s been a month since I picked up a book. And that’s not entirely true. (It is definitely not true, as I’ve read portions of books for work as it is time to start reserving books for classes for the Fall.) But, things have been really slow going. I’m still only about a third of the way through The Right Swipe. I’m super into it. I love the characters and the story as it is shaping up, I just haven’t been able to focus on things. In the past, I’ve been able to listen to audiobooks while I cook and clean, but this year that hasn’t been the case. When I try, I end up having to re-listen to the chapter. And since I can only seem to focus on thing at a time, I’ve avoided listening to books in the car or when I’m out for a walk. I don’t want to cause an accident because I’m really into my book. So, slow progress has to be my only progress for the time being.
2 Women, So Many Books 