If there’s one writer who doesn’t pull punches, it’s Ryū Murakami. His shuddering novel Audition (translated into English by Ralph McCartney) is compressed into just above 200 pages, yet it leaves you reeling and confounded in the best way possible. Later adapted for the big screen in 1999 with Takashi Miike as the director, the film leaves an equally lasting impression, but with contrasting techniques.
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If you’ve ever been a die-hard fan of bands, you know that few things are more heartbreaking than hearing about your favorite group splitting up. Taylor Jenkins Reid has always been interested in this phenomenon of members suddenly disbanding for unknown, mysterious reasons, and explores this in her best-selling fiction book, Daisy Jones and The Six. Exposing the messy rock ‘n’ roll scene in the ’70s, the novel also takes its music to life in Amazon Prime’s TV adaptation of it. Here is how they compare to each other:
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A horror obsessed Jade finds out that her hometown Proofrock is in danger—and despite some gruesome killings happening right under her nose, she is a little more thrilled than she needs to be that she’s finally experiencing a slasher in her own life.
Being an outcast in her hometown, a seventeen year old Native American girl named Jade Daniels utilizes horror movies as a coping mechanism to escape her abusive father and the rest of her environment. After discovering two murders in Indian Lake, Jade starts thinking that this might be the start of a premeditated killing spree. In the meantime, the other side of Indian Lake lies Terra Nova; the former Shoshone territory has now been gentrified and altered into a construction site for the wealthy. While most people would be terrified of the continuous murders, Jade sees this as an opportunity to channel her inner Sherlock Holmes and depend on her slasher knowledge to solve the murder mystery.
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In this provocatively titled memoir, former iCarly star Jennette McCurdy details an honest account about her entire life as a child actress and how her mom dictated that journey.
iCarly was one of my favorite television shows as a teen, and I think that anyone who enjoyed watching it growing up can confirm that it was hilarious and entertaining. The role that Jennette McCurdy played—Sam Puckett—was particularly portrayed as witty, fearless and tough, but Jennette herself lived a very different life behind the scenes.
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While Pygmalion’s story in Ovid’s Metamorphoses is popular, it can also be classified as being pretty misogynistic—Madeline Miller spins this narrative, subverting the gendered tropes in her retelling of the epic tale.
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What happens when two magicians are pitted against each other in a twisted game that only aims to appease some fragile egos?
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The grisly, the sublime, and moral quandaries are all fascinating aspects of the Gothic genre—and Silvia Moreno-Garcia doesn’t shy away from them in her novel, Mexican Gothic.
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Being the daughter of one of the most powerful gods might give you the most extravagant lifestyle you can imagine–yet Circe’s life is anything but that.
A tale of triumphs, grief, heartbreak, and ego-filled gods, Circe focuses on the peculiar daughter of Helios (god of the sun) and Perse (a nymph and naiad). Since her childhood, Circe the nymph has had to go through all sorts of trials and tribulations that her siblings don’t even have to–and she eventually snaps, getting ousted from the opulent house of Helios.
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17 people go on a writer’s retreat to craft pretty words with no distractions, no contact with the outside world, all together in an abandoned theater for three months. What could possibly go wrong?
Synopsis:
Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is a compilation of 14 disturbing short stories that are part of a bigger narrative. Following the lives of 19 people with names representative of the stories they tell, such as Saint Guts, Sister Vigilante, and Mother Nature. Palahniuk adds a much darker and satirical tone in a setting and premise that might remind the audience of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.
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In the dream-like House encompassed by a sea, Piranesi is surrounded by beautiful statues, endless halls and even dangerous pathways. While this labyrinthine is the only thing he’s ever known, Piranesi discovers that there’s more to it than he realizes.
Synopsis:
The fantasy novel follows the journal entries of Piranesi, a man who lives in a place called the House comprising infinite vestibules, intricate statues, and even an ocean that sweeps back and forth in it. Being the sole inhabitant of the House – besides an occassional visitor he calls the Other whom he does research with—he explores and takes notes of every nook and cranny of it in his journal. From the tidal patterns to the skeletons and statues, Piranesi has great respect for this World—but things start getting fishy about the only place he’s ever known, and we’re not talking about the ones he catches for food.
Review:
Like the House, the prose itself is beautiful—Clarke somehow makes statues and fishing sound intriguing. Although many fantasy books can have complicated world-building that can confuse or bore readers, Clarke’s descriptions are delightfully entrancing. From Piranesi’s journal entries, his appreciation and awe for the House is more than conspicuous, calling himself the “Beloved Child of the House.” It’s akin to how many people often view religion:
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angethology 