Feel like reading my picks of the books I've read and reviewed (so far) this year? Well, my cheeky little monkeys, I've got you covered.
(This post may have been at least partially coffee-fuelled. I regret nothing.)
Death Vigil Volume 1 by Stjepan Šejić
I hark on about this one quite a bit (guilty as charged!) But this book really does deserve it. It's like the perfect storm of originality, beautiful artwork, and complex characters.
The Death Vigil are a group of demon-hunting people, snatched in the moments before death by their leader, Bernadette - who is a bad-ass.
I read a
lot of graphic novels, and amongst all of them, this really did stand out to me this year. It also held me captive 'til the last page, and made me forget about the coffee I was drinking at the time - my coffee went
cold. If you know me, you know that that's significant.
NOS4R2 (NOS4A2) by Joe Hill
I'm a big, ginormous, Joe Hill fan. And I absolutely positively loved all of this behemoth of a book.
The concept of worlds within the imagination was simply inspired, and Hill weaves his words like delicate silk (check me out being all poetical and sh**!)
Vic McQueen is one of the people who can use her imagination for real-world purposes. But when she comes across The Wraith, aka Charlie Manx, things are going to get very bad in Manx's world - Christmasland.
I wouldn't read this around Christmastime if I were you... unless you want to be traumatised of course, in which case, go right ahead.
Straight James/Gay James by James Franco
This may be a slight cheat - the book isn't out until early 2016, but I read it in 2015. So once again, I regret nothing.
This is one of my picks because I have to promote good poetry - it's like a compulsion, so sue me.
And this
is good poetry - honest and heartfelt, like good poetry should be. (And yes, it's written by
that James Franco.)
You want a stunning historically-set gangster novel? Read this book.
Joe Coughlin is a gangster - he's been in the business a long time. But he makes everyone money. So no-one would want him dead... right?
Basically, I cannot explain to you how much I love Joe in a way that doesn't make me sound a few stages on from completely delusional. Read
my review. Then read the book. Then you'll know, because
hopefully I'm not the only one who feels like this...
Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
These are the first two books in the 'Under the Never Sky' series by Veronica Rossi (not to be confused with Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent series.)
This is a YA dystopian series that hooks its claws in with compelling plot, and complex characters. If you like dystopia and/or YA where the heroine does more than sit and whine all day, then I
highly recommend this series.
Title: The Zoo Father
