I have decided to do something new on this blog. Doing a monthly TBR list of all the books you plan on reading during the upcoming month is a pretty popular thing to do. Oddly enough, for some reason, I never felt the pull to do it, until now that is. I usually end up having a pretty set TBR since I like to pick my books in advance (and I like to participate in readathons).
As it turns out, I am participating in one readathon this month. I find that readathons are the best motivation for me because I end up reading more than I would if I didn't have that set TBR. As such, i have a good amount of books waiting to be read for this month.
Now, there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to spend the entire month reading horror or thrillers because, well, tis' the season. So, pretty much every single book on my TBR falls under those genres. I do like reading horror and mystery thrillers, but a lot tend to not work for me so, hopefully, I do end up getting some wins this month.
I also have one book outside the genre because I put it on hold and it came in far quicker than I expected... On top of that, the only other titles outside the genres I will be reading are some manga. I probably will be adding more along as I go, if I have the time, as there are tons of horror manga on my TBR I need to get to.
Onto the books!
I was browsing though my horror list on Goodreads, and I thought that this would be a good book to pick up this month. Not only is it a 2022 release, it involves a haunted house which immediately caught my interest. With the start of Ghost Files, the YouTube show by Ryan Bergara and Shane Medej, I am in the mood to read about haunted places. The rating isn't the highest, but I am hoping that this is at least somewhat interesting.
Camilla Stan is the author behind The Lost Village, which I read last year and rather enjoyed. Thus, I am also hoping to enjoy this one as well. I am a bit unsure how I am going to feel about the premise though, because it involves prosopagnosia, or face blindness. This can either make for a really intriguing plot point, or make for an unreliable narrator which is not a favourite trope of mine.
I recently read The Troop by Nick Cutter which...I didn't really enjoy. It was an effective and disturbing premise, but it just didn't have much of an effect on me personally. This book though involves the deep sea, and I do not like that concept at all because it freaks me out. That is exactly why though I hope this book would be good though, if it actually ends up genuinely creeping me out.
I have read most of Junji Ito's catalogue at this point, but I had no idea that he came out with a new work. Oddly enough I wouldn't really consider myself a fan of his work, with me liking only one or two of his mangas, but I am willing to read more from him. Honestly, I have no idea what this is about, but I won't look up the premise so that I can go into this with a blank slate.
This is actually going to be the second time that I read this book. I read this back in university and enjoyed it, but I am due for a reread. And, what better time to read it then during spooky month? It is also on my list of the top books to read this year, so I really need to get to this soon. It is a chunky one though, being over 700 pages full of non-horizontal text. That is the one downside of not reading physical books; I can't exactly turn my laptop sideways to read.
Another book on my top books to read this year, and another chunky one. I don't actually know much about this, but I do remember that I put this on my TBR because the premise and format of the story was intriguing. I also bought this book for my sister but she has yet to read it and therefore I can't ask how the book was.
I have only read one of Megan Miranda books, but I think she is the kind of author where if you like one you are probably going to like most of them. So, I am really hoping that this book ends up working for me. I don't actually know what this is about...but am excited nonetheless.
Onto one of the few non horror/thriller books on my TBR, we have Babel. This is probably one of the most anticipated books of the year, and when I saw that my library had it I put a hold on it right away. Right away though meant a few months long wait list, but apparently I didn't have to wait that long because I already have it on loan waiting to be read. So far I think the reviews have been positive, and I am curious to see how R.F. Kuang's personal experiences translated into this novel.
This manga, and the ones listed after this, are all part of a secret reading challenge I am doing. I don't actually know what this is about, but I do know that this is by the creator of Bleach, and I loved that series when I was younger. If the titles says anything about the series though, I think it would fit well into this month of reads.
Trying to stay on theme her we have Highschool of the Dead. If you can tell by the title, this is about zombies, and zombies make sense for a spooky read. I don't know how good this is actually going to turn out to be, but I guess I will find out.
I had never heard of this before until I went searching around for specific mangas. After reading the premise, I still have no idea what it is about, but hopefully it makes more sense when I actually read it.
This is another manga series I had never heard of before, but the summary mentioned a labyrinth and I was here for that. I think it will be a pretty simple and formulaic story of trying to make their way through the labyrinth while defeating foes, but we'll see whether than makes it interesting or not.
The final concrete title on my TBR is Marry Grave, another manga series. We've got demons and a plan to resurrect a dead lover...sounds perfect for this month if you ask me.