What I'm Reading: 2 Booklist Star Reviews

Last month I had the chance to review two titles, one by a well known author and another, a debut, by someone I had never heard of and both surprised me, happily. They both got stars. Let's start with the big name first.

As usual I am posting my draft review with extra information to help you book talk these titles to readers.

A House at the Bottom of a Lake

by Josh Malerman

Dec. 2020. 208p. Del Rey, paper, $16 (9780593237779); e-book (9780593237786).  First published November 1, 2020 (Booklist)

Horror master Malerman scales back in both page count and chills with an enchanting, dark fantasy. Amelia and James, 17, are on their very first date, a canoe trip to a hidden lake, but while taking in its beauty they notice a graffiti covered tunnel, force their canoe through its tight squeeze, and up on another secret, although much less aesthetically appealing, lake. While less beautiful, this lake holds a secret, an entire house, submerged just under its surface. The teens spend their summer, making the trek over and over, diving to explore every inch of this creepy structure and each other. Written with a third person omniscient narration that mimics classic fairy tales, this is a thought  provoking, fast paced, novella that readers can dive into and fully inhabit for a few hours. The love story itself is believable and sweet but it is the addition of the sunken house, the exhilaration of discovery, their obsessive curiosity, deep anxiety, and some very real dangers that add a level of depth to the story, one that mirrors the complexity of love itself. Suggest to fans of The Wayward Children series by McGuire, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Gaiman, or The Merry Spinster by Lavery.

YA  Statement: Older teens will appreciate how perfectly Malerman captures the full range of feelings that engulf teens as they fall in love for the first time and the pairing with an original and enchanting mystery that will keep them turning the pages.

Further Appeal: I enjoy the way Malerman writes. I appreciate his creativity and how each book is different  from the last. That being said, I went into reading this ready for him to have to win me over. Was this going  to be hokey, too nostalgic?  It only took a few pages and I knew I was reading a great story.  

This is a book that is about how it makes you feel. Malerman captures the feeling of young love perfectly and also does it through a compelling and original story. 

It is not terrifying, so readers who have been afraid to try Malerman should feel safe to experience his wonderful prose in this novella. It is unsettling and creepy, but also lyrical and beautiful. The descriptions have stayed with me, both the beautiful descriptions and the ugly ones. In fact, the juxtapositions throughout were really great.

You can almost believe this house exits, that these kids, exist even after you turn the final page. This will be a title that will endure for years because of its universality. It is also a great pick for book clubs.

Three Words That Describe This Book: dark fairy tale, creepy, sweet

Readalikes: Any coming of age, dark fantasy that is geared toward an adult about looking back at their  teen years would work here. I gave a few of the more scary suggestions above.

This second book was a HUGE shock. I had never heard of the author but here is my soundbite I why you need to read this book: Perfect 2020 Read. She had a worse year than you!

Taxidermist's Lover 

by Polly Hall

Dec. 2020. 272p. CamCat, $24.99 (9780744300376); e-book, $9.99 (9780744300390).
First published November 1, 2020 (Booklist).

In this modern Gothic, Scarlett recounts a calendar year with her lover, Henry, the year he turned his trade into high art, mixing animals into creepy, hybrid creations. Told in two alternating timelines, one set on Christmas Day, at the end of a year where it is clear things have not gone well, and the other, in diary-esque fashion with one chapter per month which also include Scarlett’s reflections upon her troubled childhood, orphaned along with her twin brother at age ten, this an absorbing story that sucks readers into its disquieting explorations of love, art, and what happens to the spirit when the body is preserved. As the months pass and ignorant bliss merges with darkness and threats both real and (maybe?) imagined, the menace increases slowly but relentlessly, permeating every corner, and the twists, plentiful but also well earned, pile up, resolving in a near perfect horror ending. A lyrical debut, told with the confidence of a verteran, Hall’s Scarlett will get under your skin as you fall deeper into her increasingly claustrophobic world. For fans of immersive, highly personal and dangerous stories like The Unsuitable by Pohlig and Fever Dream by Schweblin.

Further Appeal: This book is a slow burn. As I was reading, I got slowly sucked in. I was on the fence about it but yet, it kept growing on me.  The sense of menace permeates every corner of this book, like the stuffed creations staring from the corners of the house, and that kept me reading. Well that and the narration. It was so different in the diary parts from the "present" on Christmas Day, and I had to keep reading to know WHY! The voice was also direct and strong, reaching out and grabbing you from the page [or screen in my instance].

Basically, I got trapped by this book. Literally. I couldn’t stop reading. And that was so cool because it made the huge twist seem that more real and inevitable. The book leads you there. But it is shocking! And disquieting. 

The format brings high anxiety because we know that something has drastically changed from January to December. Our narrator reveals every detail slowly. There are many twists here but all are earned. I was exhausted and impressed after finishing the book.

I feel like this book was meant to find me. It is definitely odd, but also so absorbing.

After finishing the novel I looked up more about Hall. This is her debut, she describes herself as "Egyptian British," and this is literally the book she wrote while getting her MFA. 

Three Words That Describe This Book: claustrophobic, harrowing, absorbing

Readalikes: Besides the books I mentioned above, I would also recommend The Grip of It by Jac Jemc, The Seventh Mansion by Maryse Miejer and Tinfoil Butterfly by Rachel Eve Moulton. These books are all nightmarish but so compelling that you cannot look away. And none are long.

All of these titles, like Hall's novel can be read as psychological suspense or horror. I choose the supernatural horror reading, but it is up to the reader for sue.