Holy. Freaking. Crap. What an amazing book. Anxious People is easily one of my favorite reads of the year. It’s funny, heartfelt, thoughtful, and deeply human — everything I could possibly want from a novel.
When I first read Nineteen Eighty-Four two years ago, I gave it just two stars. This time, it hit much harder — and I ended up at a solid four. I think I was more focused this time around, more engaged with Orwell’s world and its place in modern literature. Maybe I just wasn’t ready for it before, but rereading it after Brave New World gave me a new appreciation for its lasting impact.
Longitude by Dava Sobel is a short, satisfying, and surprisingly engaging read about one of history’s most fascinating scientific challenges: how to measure longitude at sea. Sobel tells the story of the eighteenth-century clockmakers, astronomers, and explorers who tried to solve this problem — a problem that cost lives, ships, and fortunes before it was finally cracked.
Even though I first read Brave New World in college — more than twenty years ago — I didn’t remember much going into it this time. I’m sure I liked it back then, but reading it now felt more impactful, perhaps because of the world we live in today. What struck me most was that, while Huxley’s vision remains fascinating, I don’t actually see our world heading in quite the same direction.
Few books feel like an experience the way House of Leaves does. From the moment I opened it, I knew I wasn’t reading a typical novel. Mark Z. Danielewski’s cult classic is part found footage horror story, part academic study, and part psychological spiral. It’s a novel told through multiple layers of narration — Zampanò, an aging blind scholar dissecting a mysterious film called The Navidson Record; Johnny Truant, a tattoo-shop worker who discovers Zampanò’s manuscript after his death; and a set of unnamed editors who compile it all. Each voice blurs fact and fiction, sanity and obsession, until the book itself becomes a kind of labyrinth.
Ring of Fire is one of my new favorite Star Trek novels. Set within an arguably uneven season of Strange New Worlds, this is the story the show’s fans deserve. David Mack delivers a gripping, character-driven, and emotionally charged adventure that perfectly captures the heart of this crew and the spirt of Star Trek.
Going into ’Salem’s Lot, I didn’t know what to expect — so imagine my surprise when I realized it was a vampire story. This could have easily gone the route of camp or cliché, but it doesn’t. Instead, King treats his vampires seriously, crafting a chilling and believable story that feels both classic and fresh.
It’s not often that a nonfiction book grabs me the way Family of Spies did. I first saw it on a Goodreads “anticipated nonfiction” list and immediately added it to my Want to Read shelf. So when I had the chance to get an advance digital review copy from NetGalley, I jumped on it — and I’m so glad I did. This book completely absorbed me from beginning to end. Christine Kuehn clearly did extensive research, but what makes this story exceptional is how deeply personal it feels. Her discovery of her family’s connections to both Nazi Germany and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is shocking enough, but the way she processes that information — and invites us along as she does — is what makes it unforgettable.
At this point, I’ll read anything written by Carl Sagan. He’s an amazing storyteller with a rare gift for explaining complex ideas without ever talking down to his audience. In other words, he doesn’t make his readers feel like complete idiots. Originally published in 1995, The Demon-Haunted World may show its age in a few examples, but its message is as relevant — if not more so — today as it was nearly thirty years ago.
This was a fun little collection of strange tales — some dark, some whimsical, some with a bite of revenge. While not all of them are particularly macabre, a few do venture into the eerie. One story even had a bit of a timey-wimey twist I wasn’t expecting, which made it stand out. Overall, Wailing Ghosts was a quick and enjoyable read, filled with the kind of curious folklore energy that makes these Little Black Classics so satisfying. 4 stars.