My November TBR

We’re a week into the month, and I’ve already finished 2 of the ones on my list, so I now seems a good time to share my TBR, right? 😛

I’m really excited for the next couple of months of reading ’cause I’ve been catching up on some stuff that’s been backlogged for a bit, and it’s exciting! As with many reviewers, I read and review stuff because I love doing it. I don’t get paid for it with money, although I am provided with copies of the books in question. The time I spend reading and noting and writing my reviews and promoting, taking pictures of, sharing, hashtagging, tagging, etc, etc etc is all spent because I genuinely enjoy doing it. I love sharing the books I’m reading, I love promoting authors and publishers I’ve found through reading, I love the pretty & colorful photos I take and post of my collection.

Reviewing isn’t a “job”, it’s a hobby. I have 4 jobs that I do and work hard at, and when I finish those, I come home, and I post to Twitter or Bookstagram about something new I bought or read or am looking forward to because it’s my version of fun! It’s not for everyone, but it is for me, and a lot of others that I’ve found through being a part of the reviewing and book community.

That all said, sometimes it’s stressful. Reviewing and social media can require a lot of upkeep and interaction, and on top of that, a lot of planning! Knowing release dates, who to tag & when, what to include when sharing a review, what to include in your review, and more are just a few things reviewers keep in mind and consider daily. We plan posting schedules, content calendars, challenges, readalongs, blog challenges, and we do it because we love doing it, but that doesn’t make it any less hard after a long day of doing our normal jobs, or taking care of our kids, or just existing sometimes.

Because of that balance between real life and my book love, I’ve fallen a little behind on books to read – but I’m happy to be changing that now! I’ve gone through a stack of books I’d been meaning to read, and have a few reviews either fully or partially drafted – including a couple that will be shared on the Night Worms blog, too! Slowly getting caught up after feeling behind for awhile is really great, and I’m looking forward to having more time to read in the new year!

Anyway, long ramble over, thanks for sticking through it – if you did! Onto the books!

 

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What am I reading this month?

 

1) The Ruins by Scott Smith

Trapped in the Mexican jungle, a group of friends stumble upon a creeping horror unlike anything they could ever imagine. Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation–sun-drenched days, drunken nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day-trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site . . . and the terrifying presence that lurks there.

 

2) The Possession of Natalie Glasgow by Hailey Piper

Margaret Willow has never met an eleven-year-old as dangerous as Natalie Glasgow. Natalie spends her days comatose, but at night she prowls her mother’s home, unnaturally strong and insatiably carnivorous. With doctors baffled, Natalie’s mother reaches out to Margaret, an expert in the supernatural. But even Margaret is mystified and terrified by Natalie’s condition. She’s dying, and before she dies, she might kill someone. Has a demon clawed its way inside an eleven-year-old girl? Or does the source of this nightmare lie with Natalie’s dead father?

 

3) The Survival of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

Who was Molly Southbourne? What did she leave behind?

A burnt-out basement. A name stained in blood. Bodies that remember murder, one of them left alive. A set of rules that no longer apply.

Molly Southbourne is alive. If she wants to survive, she’ll need to run, hide, and be ready to fight. There are people who remember her, who know what she is and what she’s done. Some want her alive, some want her dead, and all hold a piece to the puzzles in her head. Can Molly escape them, or will she confront the bloody history that made her?

 

4) No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill

Cash-strapped, working for agencies and living in shared accommodation, Stephanie Booth feels she can fall no further. So when she takes a new room at the right price, she believes her luck has finally turned.

But 82 Edgware Road is not what it appears to be.

It’s not only the eerie atmosphere of the vast, neglected house, or the disturbing attitude of her new landlord, Knacker McGuire, that makes her uneasy – it’s the whispers behind the fireplace, the scratching beneath floors, the footsteps in the dark, and the young women weeping in neighbouring rooms.

And when Knacker’s cousin Fergal arrives, the danger goes vertical. But this is merely a beginning, a gateway to horrors beyond Stephanie’s worst nightmares. And in a house where no one listens to the screams, will she ever get out alive?

 

5) Ghoster by Jason Arnopp

Kate Collins has been ghosted.

She was supposed to be moving in with her new boyfriend Scott, but all she finds after relocating to Brighton is an empty apartment. Scott has vanished. His possessions have all disappeared.

Except for his mobile phone.

Kate knows she shouldn’t hack into Scott’s phone. She shouldn’t look at his Tinder, his calls, his social media. But she can’t quite help herself.

That’s when the trouble starts. Strange, whispering phone calls from numbers she doesn’t recognise. Scratch marks on the walls that she can’t explain. And the growing feeling that she’s being watched.

Kate refuses to leave the apartment – she’s not going anywhere until she’s discovered what happened to Scott. But the deeper she dives into Scott’s digital history the more Kate realises just how little she really knows about the man she loves.

 

6) I Will Rot Without You by Danger Slater

Meet Ernie. His life is a mess. Gretchen’s gone, and the apartment they once shared is this grey, grim city is now overrun with intelligent mold and sinister bugs.

Then his neighbor Dee shows up, so smart and lovely. If he can just get past the fact that her jealous boyfriend could reach out of her blouse and punch him in the face at any moment, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Unfortunately for all involved, a Great Storm is coming and it will wash away everything we’ve ever known about the human heart.

 

7) Songs from the Deep by Kelly Powell

Moira Alexander has always been fascinated by the deadly sirens who lurk along the shores of her island town. Even though their haunting songs can lure anyone to a swift and watery grave, she gets as close to them as she can, playing her violin on the edge of the enchanted sea. When a young boy is found dead on the beach, the islanders assume that he’s one of the sirens’ victims. Moira isn’t so sure.

Certain that someone has framed the boy’s death as a siren attack, Moira convinces her childhood friend, the lighthouse keeper Jude Osric, to help her find the real killer, rekindling their friendship in the process. With townspeople itching to hunt the sirens down, and their own secrets threatening to unravel their fragile new alliance, Moira and Jude must race against time to stop the killer before it’s too late—for humans and sirens alike.

 

8) The Apocalyptic Mannequin by Stephanie M. Wytovich

Doomsday is here and the earth is suffering with each breath she takes. Whether it’s from the nuclear meltdown, the wrath of the Four Horsemen, a war with technology, or a consequence of our relationship with the planet, humanity is left buried and hiding, our bones exposed, our hearts beating somewhere in our freshly slit throats.

The Apocalyptic Mannequin by Stephanie M. Wytovich is a collection that strips away civilization and throws readers into the lives of its survivors. The poems inside are undelivered letters, tear-soaked whispers, and unanswered prayers. They are every worry you’ve had when your electricity went out, and every pit that grew in your stomach watching the news at night. They are tragedy and trauma, but they are also grief and fear, fear of who–or what–lives inside us once everything is taken away.

These pages hold the teeth of monsters against the faded photographs of family and friends, and here, Wytovich is both plague doctor and midwife, both judge and jury, forever searching through severed limbs and exposed wires as she straddles the line evaluating what’s moral versus what’s necessary to survive.

What’s clear though, is that the world is burning and we don’t remember who we are.

So tell me: who will you become when it’s over?

 

9) Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

IMAGINE…
Leaving your house in the middle of the night.
Knowing your mother is doing her best, but she’s just as scared as you.

IMAGINE…
Starting a new school, making friends.
Seeing how happy it makes your mother.
Hearing a voice, calling out to you.

IMAGINE…
Following the signs, into the woods.
Going missing for six days.
Remembering nothing about what happened.

IMAGINE…
Something that will change everything…
And having to save everyone you love.

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