How can it be November already? And how can I have bought so many books this year that I haven’t read yet? I need someone to add another six months to 2026 so I can catch up.
123 of the books I’ve read so far this year are books that I bought this year. The problem is there are another 220 books I bought this year and haven’t started yet.
I’m beginning to think that I need another pause in my book buying so I can read all the books that tempted me to press the buy button in 2026.
Anyway, here’s what I read and bought this week and what’s coming up next.
This week, I’ve two novels with vampires in them (one where the vampires are scary predators and one where they knit and investigate crimes), an epistolary horror novel, an historical horrer novella, and a cosy paranormal mystery. They were all satisfying reads. ‘Fantasticland’ was the most memorable, closely followed by ‘The Widows of Winding Gale‘
A favor owed, a hunt like no other.
A courier for the shadow world no more, Aileen’s former protection is gone. Alone but still defiant, she survives one night at a time. Sure, working a dead-end job isn’t part of every young vampire’s dreams, but it pays the bills.
When the darkly seductive Liam calls in a favor, she’ll find her carefully constructed world tilting on its axis as he draws her into a dangerous game against a wily enemy. The High Fey – creatures as powerful and beautiful as they are deadly – have come to town, their motivations unclear as lines are drawn and shadowy alliances made.
And with them, they bring their Wild Hunt where everyone is either predator or prey. Betrayed and marked as its quarry, Aileen will find surviving until dawn has never been this hard.
The only thing that might save her – are the vampires she doesn’t trust.
I read the first three books in this series, ‘Shadow’s Messenger’ (2016), ‘Midnight’s Emissary’ (2017) and Moonlight’s Ambassador’ (2018) and then took a break. I’m glad I finally got back to this series about Aileen Travers, an ex-soldier who was turned into a vampire against her will and who is so angry about it that she refuses to obey any of the rules (and there are lots of rules, including spending your first century as a vampire in service to your sire and their clan). ‘Dawn’s Envoy’ has an exciting plot about evil fae and the Wild Hunt, lots of snappy dialogue, vivid visualisations of the magic systems at play, just enough humour to lubricate the plot and even a little bit of not quite unresolved sexual tension. I’m back into this series now. I’m planning on pulling ‘Twilight’s Herald’ (2020) to the top of my TBR pile soon.
Since the 1970s, FantasticLand has been the theme park where “Fun is Guaranteed!” But when a hurricane ravages the Florida coast and isolates the park, the employees find it anything but fun. Five weeks later, the authorities who rescue the survivors encounter a scene of horror. Photos soon emerge online of heads on spikes outside of rides and viscera and human bones littering the gift shops, breaking records for hits, views, likes, clicks, and shares. How could a group of survivors, mostly teenagers, commit such terrible acts?
Presented as a fact-finding investigation and a series of first-person interviews, FantasticLand pieces together the grisly series of events. Park policy was that the mostly college-aged employees surrender their electronic devices to preserve the authenticity of the FantasticLand experience. Cut off from the world and left on their own, the teenagers soon form rival tribes who viciously compete for food, medicine, social dominance, and even human flesh. This new social network divides the ravaged dreamland into territories ruled by the Pirates, the ShopGirls, the Freaks, and the Mole People. If meticulously curated online personas can replace private identities, what takes over when those constructs are lost?
‘Fantasticland’ exceeded my expectations. It’s a story told entirely in interviews and transcripts of a few speeches. I expected it to be fast fun. It was so much more than that. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s intense, grim, sorrowful, and beautifully told. The violence, the blood, the emerging evil, felt real. Not just possible but inevitable. More like a truth not to be looked away from than a shocking aberration revealed. Despite the violence and the killings, this was a book about thrills; it was about the darkness we could all slide into. I strongly recommend the audiobook. The text was vivid, but the performances of the two narrators were so good that they lifted it to something astonishingly moving.
For the people on the rugged Irish island of Winding Gale, life has always been hard. Now in the wake of the second World War, the island is dying, the young taken away by death or the appeal of better lives elsewhere, leaving behind only a handful of adults.
But on the night the men of the island disappear while fishing in uncharted waters, the women are forced into a conflict with something both new and unfathomably old.
A strange greenish mist rolls in, cutting off the island from the mainland. Spiral symbols appear in the sand, fashioned from dead fish and stones. Seductive voices lure people from their homes to walk into the sea. Ancient ships materialize in the fog. And specters of the past will rise to take their vengeance in blood.
Because this is Samhain, a time when the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest, and there is something rising from the deep that will thrust the women of Winding Gale into a war against an unspeakable evil.
‘The Widows of Winding Gale’ was an exceptionally powerful horror novella. What I liked most about it was that, while delivering a story full of menace, murder and monsters, Kealan Patrick Burke kept the focus firmly on the women of this isolated, decaying island community as they watch, worry and wait for the return of their husbands from the sea. The power of the novella came not from louring threat of supernatural violence but from the strengths, hopes, fears and regrets of five women waiting to see if they’ve been newly widowed.
My review is HERE
When Ruby Young discovered that her Boston apartment was haunted, she did what any reasonable person would do: befriend the ghost. Their relationship overcame a shaky start—Cordelia Graves never wanted a roommate in life; she certainly didn’t want one in death. After working together to solve a few murders, the two are close friends, but there’s a lingering question neither of them have been able to answer: what led to Cordelia’s death?
Lately, things have been adding up that suggest foul play. And when Cordelia’s memories of that day start to come back, the roommates can’t ignore it anymore: Cordelia was murdered. Ruby and Cordelia are going to have to piece together what Cordelia’s final days looked like—otherwise a killer could go free.
I had this on pre-order because I’d enjoyed the first two books, so I dived in as soon as the book hit my Audible library. What I liked most about the book was that I found out a lot more about Cordelia, including who killed her and why. Ruby also continued to develop in this book; she was more confident and showed more initiative, but it was Cordelia who was front and centre for most of this story. I prefer the audiobook format of this series because the two narrators, one for Ruby and one for Cordelia, lift the prose. My only criticism is that I thought the pace lagged for a while in the middle of the novel, but it was still an entertaining read.
What if the fortune teller at the local village fair is a witch? And all her fortunes come true – even when she foresees a death….
When Lucy Swift’s cousin Violet decides to take over as the fortune teller at Moreton-under-Wychwood’s annual summer fête, Lucy thinks being her assistant will be a fun way to spend a Saturday. That is, until someone’s murdered, and the locals turn on Violet, who foresaw the death.
To save her, Lucy and her band of undead amateur sleuths have to find out what’s really going on in this charming Cotswolds village. What better way than to offer knitting classes? No one has to know that the teacher is a vampire.
But uncovering the dark secrets under the postcard – prettiness will bring great danger to Lucy and those she loves.
This is my current go-to series for listening to on long car journeys. It’s fun, sometimes funny and has just enough of a mystery to keep me interested without making me have to work too hard to find out who the murderer was. The plot required a little more suspension of disbelief than usual, partly because of the accuracy shown by the killer archer and parly for how easily Lucy insinuated her way into the village community.
This week, I bought seven books: three kick-off fantasy series, two are lexicographic murder mysteries, one is about dangerous old women, and one is a classic Golden Age thriller short story.
‘Three Parts Dead’ (2012) is the first book in the nine-book Craft Sequence fantasy series, which was nominated for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Series. According to the fan site hiddenschools.com, “There are literal gods (who sometimes die), necromancer-sorcerer-lawyers (who sometimes kill them), gargoyle poets, vampire pirates, dragon jumbo jets, socio-economic-political chaos, ethical dilemmas, space spiders bringing the end of the world, and Elayne Kevarian.” Max Gladstone is a new author for me, but I’m hoping to become a fan.
‘City of Stairs’ (2014) is the first book in The Divine Cities fantasy trilogy. It also features dead gods and the mess they leave behind. I picked it up because I’ve developed an appetite for anything by Robert Jackson Bennett.
‘Guilty By Definition’ (2024) and ‘Death Writ Large’ (2026). This is a roll of the dice. Susie Dent has an unusual CV. She’s a respected lexicographer, etymologist, and media personality. She appears in the Dictionary Corner segment of the long-running daytime TV game show ‘Countdown’ and appears in its late-night comedy spinoff ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown‘. I didn’t buy ‘Guilty By Definition‘ when it came out. I liked the idea of a murder mystery with lexicography at its core (I’m a man who owns three etymology dictionaries) but I was put off by the hype. ‘Death Writ Large’ has just come out and has been well received, so I decided to give the series a try.’Death Before Dragons’ (2021). Another roll of the dice. It has dragons and a kickass heroine with a big sword, and the first three books were bundled together for £0.99, so why not?
‘Death Before Dragons’ (2021). Another roll of the dice. It has dragons and a kickass heroine with a big sword, and the first three books were bundled together for £0.99, so why not?
‘Rules for Aging and Larceny‘ (2026) is another book in the ‘old people aren’t just interesting, they’re dangerous‘ sub-genre. I’m hoping that this one will make me smile , although my inner pedant if already grumbling about using the North American spelling of ageing in the title of a British edition of a novel.
‘The Most Dangerous Game’ (1924) is a classic short story I heard about for the first time while playing Halloween Bingo this year. It hooked my curiosity. Besides, reading a 102-year-old story is an easy form of time travel.
A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart.
Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis’s steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot.
Tara’s job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who’s having an understandable crisis of faith.
When Tara and Abelard discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb’s courts?and their quest for the truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and Alt Coulumb’s slim hope of survival.
In the city of stairs, nothing is as it seems.
You’ve got to be careful when you’re chasing a murderer through Bulikov, for the world is not as it should be in that city. When the gods were destroyed and all worship of them banned by the Polis, reality folded; now stairs lead to nowhere, alleyways have become portals to the past, and criminals disappear into thin air.
The murder of Dr Efrem Pangyui, the Polis diplomat researching the Continent’s past, has begun something and now whispers of an uprising flutter out from invisible corners.
Only one woman may be willing to pursue the truth – but it is likely to cost her everything.
When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon English Dictionary office, it becomes rapidly clear that this is not the usual word-related enquiry. Instead, the letter hints at sinister events linked to a particular year.
For editor Martha Thornhill, the date can mean only one thing: the summer her brilliant older sister Charlie went missing. Ten years on, Martha and her family are no closer to unravelling the mystery of Charlie’s disappearance – until now.
As more letters arrive, Martha and her team follow the linguistic clues to a troubling truth. It seems Charlie was keeping a powerful secret, and that someone is desperate to keep it well and truly buried.
When mysterious symbols appear as graffiti around Oxford, lexicographer Martha Thornhill recognises them from an alphabet created by a deceased writer whose papers she once worked on. But this is no publicity stunt, and tensions intensify when further graffiti is found near the body of a university lecturer.
Martha is not the only one to have doubts when the suspicious death is assumed by police to be a suicide. Called upon to lend their linguistic expertise to the case, she and her colleagues begin to unearth a tragedy that extends beyond the ancient walls of the university. As new messages portend more death, it’s clear that a spirit of vengeance is stalking the city’s streets, and may be reaching out towards them too.
I’m Val Thorvald, and I kill bad guys for a living.
My half-elven blood, magical sword, and telepathic tiger give me an edge, at least against most villains. But when dragons show up in Seattle, the city is in serious trouble—and so am I.
Dragons are bigger, stronger, and more powerful than anything I’ve battled, and they don’t appreciate it when you sass them. Just ask Lord Zavryd’nokquetal. That’s a name, not a cat hacking up a hairball, and if you mispronounce it, he’ll either insult you, incinerate you, or throw your Jeep up in a tree. Trust me, I know.
Unfortunately, he’s taken an interest in me. Not in the “half-elves are sexy and appealing and I need a new girlfriend” kind of way. Nope, he wants to use me. He’s on a mission, and he’s decided I’ll make the perfect bait to lure his enemies to him. That’s about as good for your longevity as it sounds, and I’d love to decline the gig, but dragons can magically coerce people into doing their bidding.
If I can’t figure out how to get him to leave me alone, I’ll either end up his servant for the rest of my life… or dead. And who’s going to protect Seattle then?
Frances Deluca has always been a force of nature. Active and agile into her 70s, she can handle anything—except perhaps the stretch of empty days looming ahead. Widowed, with a grown son living far away and her own mortality suddenly in view, Frances longs to feel busy again. What she really wants is the familiar rush of a well-crafted plan coming together. It’s been a while, decades in fact—since Frances and her friends pulled off a heist . . .
Frances, Joan, Edie, and Irene were a girl gang before such things even existed, joining forces in their 20s for a one-time job that revealed a remarkable affinity for crime. They developed a code of honor, taking only from those who deserved it—until misunderstandings and pride drove them apart.
Now, one by one, Frances manages to convince her old friends to put aside their grudges and reunite. And where better for a reunion tour than Las Vegas? Their target: Rocco Vitali, a mobster’s grandson who’s developed a high-tech shakedown. Rocco is a Crypto-loving scam artist, and Edie’s beloved granddaughter just lost everything to him, including her self-respect. But the women intend to take it all back—with interest.
Risks will be taken. Fractured relationships will be mended. And four badass seniors will discover how formidable a whole lot of experience can be .
The story follows Sanger Rainsford, a seasoned big-game hunter, who is shipwrecked on a remote island. There, he encounters General Zaroff, a charismatic yet sinister figure with a chilling passion: hunting humans as the ultimate sport. Forced to become the prey, Rainsford must rely on his wits, resourcefulness, and courage to survive a deadly game where failure means death.
My reading this week is all about books with November in the title. I have a YAish Dark Academia novel, a horror novel translated into English from Dutch and a series starter for a police procedural set in Oxford. Yeah, I know, the middle book doesn’t have November in the title, BUT it was originally published in Dutch under the title ‘November‘. I have no idea why they felt they had to mess with that for the English version.
November is as good as dead. She just doesn’t know it yet.
At the international Academy Absconditi, there’s no electricity, no internet, and an archaic eye-for-an-eye punishment system. Classes range from knife throwing and poisons to the art of deception. And the students? All silver-spoon descendants of the world’s most elite strategists–training to become assassins, spies, and master impersonators.
One is a virtuoso of accents–and never to be trusted. Another is a vicious fighter determined to exploit November’s weaknesses. And then there’s the boy with the mesmerizing eyes and a secret agenda.
November doesn’t know how an ordinary girl like her fits into the school’s complicated legacy. But when a student is murdered, she’ll need to separate her enemies from her allies before the crime gets pinned on her . . . or she becomes the killer’s next victim.
I liked the idea of a nice seventeen-year-old American high school student, albeit one whose father is ex-CIA, suddenly finding herself dropped into a school for spies and assassins that makes her revisit her own identity. The tone is a little more YA than my usual reading but it’s fast-paced and intriguing.
In Lock Haven, a quiet little town in Washington State, there is a very special street.
Bird Street. The residents of Bird Street are all successful, wealthy, healthy and happy. And their children are all well-mannered and smart and high achievers.
At least they are for eleven months of the year.
In November, however, the ‘Darker Days’ begin. For November’s the month when things take a turn for the worse: accidents, bad luck, familial conflict and illness take hold. And it is in November that a stranger comes to Bird Street to collect the debt owed by the residents.
Because, you see, there is a price that must be paid for all the happiness and good fortune they enjoy for the other eleven months of year. And that price is one human life. Every November. Without fail.
And so it has been for over a hundred years. To ease their guilt, the residents of Bird Street seek out individuals – usually the elderly or the terminally ill – who wish to die with dignity and are content to be helped on their way.
But this year, things don’t go to plan. This year events take a terrifying turn.
This promises to be quite a creepy horror story, with morally compromised characters being confronted with more consequences than they’d bargained for. This is my first Thomas Olde Heuvelt novel, but he comes highly recommended.
Ryan Wilkins grew up on a trailer park, a member of what many people would call the criminal classes. As a young Detective Inspector, he’s lost none of his disgust with privileged elites – or his objectionable manners. But he notices things; they stick to his eyes. His professional partner, DI Ray Wilkins, of affluent Nigerian-London heritage, is an impeccably groomed, smooth-talking graduate of Balliol College, Oxford. You wouldn’t think they would get on. They don’t.
But when a young woman is found strangled at Barnabas Hall, they’re forced to.
Rich Oxford is not Ryan’s natural habitat. St Barnabas’s irascible Provost does not appreciate his forceful line of questioning. But what was the dead woman doing in the Provost’s study? Is it just a coincidence that on the night of her murder the college was entertaining Sheik al-Medina, a Gulf state ruler linked to human-rights abuses in his own country and acts of atrocity in others?
As tensions rise, things aren’t going well. Ray is in despair. Ryan is in disciplinary measures. But their investigation gradually disentangles the links between a Syrian refugee lawyer now working in the college kitchens, a priceless copy of the Koran in the college collection and the identity of the dead woman.
‘A Killing in November‘ (2022) was the first book in an Oxford-based police procedural series featuring two fast-tracked detectives called R. Wilkins. I like the setting and the class difference between the detectives. I’m hoping for strong character development and sharp-edged social commentary wrapped around an engaging mystery.
