I love object histories. An axe, for all its numerous practical applications, has long been inseparable in public consciousness from murder. Thanks, Lizzie Borden.
But hey, she didn't start this. In fact, there's a long, time-honored tradition of whack jobs and ... um ... all their whacking that goes back to the olden days. For convenience or pragmatism or a myriad other reasons, time and again people have ... well, cleaved other people. Or chopped them. 
There are many ways to describe this, although the book's title does it best.

Though relatively slender, this account took six years from idea to print. The end product is very much worth a read. Well researched, engagingly written, and thoroughly informative, it'll ensure you never look at an axe the same way again.
Recommended.
Thanks Netgalley.

I was always going to love this. But seldom does my love for books hinges so heavily on the main characters and so lightly on the plot as it does with this series. I don't even read series. Or spy fiction.
I'm just that into Villanelle. She's an absolutely fantastic fictional creation, a true stroke of genius.
The books themselves ... well, they are okay, plot-wise. Especially if you like spy fiction. Which I really, really don't. All the endless double crosses, half-baked political intrigues, and power games get tiresome very quickly. 
The writing is solid, better than okay, and occasionally out-of-the-blue funny in a way I appreciate. There's a great nod to the BBC show's all-time-worst ending, too.

But then you have Villanelle (and Eve, of course) who are so much more than okay. For all their numerous faults, they are vibrantly, viciously alive. Not to mention maddeningly in love in a way that confounds them both. Apart, they are interesting. Together, they are magic.

So yeah, I'm so there, for this and any other adventures Luke Jennings will conjure up for those two.  
Thanks Netgalley.

Only Forward is difficult to describe, because it's kind of nuts. In the best possible way.
This was MMS' much-acclaimed, award-winning debut, and he threw all he had into it. The result is a kind of awesome kitchen-sink adventure, constantly propelled in the titular direction.

On a surface, it's about a guy named Stark hired to look for a man who disappeared. But that makes it seems like a sort of detective story and tells you nothing of a wild, wild world Stark lives in, with fascinating pocket neighborhoods and their "choose your own reality" modus operandi.

MMS infused his novel with mad energy, stunning worldbuilding, and some killer plot twists too. The writing is funny, imaginative, clever. There's so much to love about this book.
​
I've no idea how it would be published today, in this formulaic publishing industry. Because this book plays by its own rules. As good books do. And all books ought to. Recommended.

This book reads like a tongue-in-cheek joke that goes on too far. That's the tricky thing about getting meta just right. 
The story takes place over a single morning of a nameless author putting off writing his novel while obsessing over a popular author named Jordan Castro. Sounds clever, doesn't it? Or at least, precocious.
It sort of veers toward the latter, as Castro proceeds to heavily rely on minute detail to make what is essentially a sketch of a short story at most into a small novel. If you're into spending pages upon pages reading in exhaustive detail about the protagonist making coffee and pooping, you'll struggle to find a better read.
And sure, it's yet another cleverly jocular trick of trapping the readers in the unpalatable and unexciting to punch up the point. But also ... what is the point?
Castro, also a poet, can write and rather well. That much is obvious. What's less obvious is what he's trying to say.
For the writers in the audience, a lot of his musings and procrastinations will strike all too true. For the general public, it's difficult to say what the book will do. But it is, at least, a quick read.

I'm a fan of books about movies/actors/etc. Plus, I quite enjoyed Montimore's last book. So when I came across this one, I thought I'd give it a shot.
Right away, I realized it was a pool book ... or a beach read - however you take you summer water.
And the more I read, the more the novel proved me right.
Was it the flat writing, the early twenties protagonists, the cartoonish / caricaturish send up of a Disney-eque production powerhouse, the cliched villains, the gay uncles comic reliefs, or the cheesy love triangle?
Well, you could say it was all of the above, but moreover, there's a distinct write-what-sells vibe here. Montimore can and has done better, but she is also a publishing industry veteran and knows exactly what the market demands.  With this novel, she hits every mark on that list in a rather striking fit of pandering. 
It's a take on dark academia with plucky female protagonists and plenty of girl power. Apparently, that's all the rage these days. So if that's all you're looking for, go for it. But this is a bag of snacks, not a meal.
If, like me, you prefer more substance and originality, it'll pass the time by the water.

​The late great Katherine Dunn is mostly known for her brilliant novel, Geek Love. I hadn't read any of her other writing until now. 
Her short stories, as it turns out, showcase her talent amply. She needs less brushstrokes than most to create most starkly engaging imagery and portraits. With writing that's almost deceptively simplistic--but never simple!--Dunn fleshes out character by character with striking vividness.
The way she can turn a phrase is masterful. 
The only drawback here (for me) is the similarity of themes and characters. It's mostly all women, usually downtrodden, lonely, and weighed down by children they can scarcely afford to raise. The men are almost uniformly terrible and/or absent. There's a lot of struggling to make ends meet, and it stands to mention how powerfully visceral Dunn writes poverty.
All in all, a very good collection from a gifted writer. Recommended.  Thanks Netgalley.

​I'm delighted to be the first person to properly review this book. Because this is a book that definitely deserves proper reviews. 
Did I select this one largely because of the monkey/ape appeal? You bet. Give me Planet of the Apes any day. But this is a very different planet and a very different story.
Obscure (and shabbily formatted for Netgalley) like many university presses, this book is a striking, thought-provoking, and utterly unique. Meaning it's both better than and won't gain the same traction as a mainstream book.
And yet, it's haunting. The tale of Doogie, the brilliant chimpanzee at odds with the world around him, will gut you in the end.  Whether you read it as an account of a personal journey through a much-changed world or a parable about people messing with nature, the story stays with you. 
The author has created a singular protagonist and gave him an accordingly singular voice. (Kudos to the translator - this one couldn't have been easy.)
The narrative can get a bit muddled, but it never loses you. And that ending ... quietly devastating.
A really powerful read.  Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Most people are familiar with Lindqvist through Let The Right One In, which has become a rather iconic modern vampire story, adapted for screen time and again. But there's so much more to him; the man has had a stellar, prolific writing career. More so in his native country, but still.
Moreover, and more importantly, he's actually very, very good. 
As far as I now, this is his only collection, and what a wonderful collection it is. Story after story envelops you in dark strangeness. The deceptively simple language draws you right in. The plots twist and turn in wild directions, and the protagonists strum through all your emotional strings. 
In other words, excellent.
Granted, I didn't love the two very long stories toward the end, but even then, the writing kept my attention. Besides, the rest of the stories more than made up for it. 
Lindqvist has a gift for the dark uncanny. It might be too subtle for genre fans who look for gore and guts in their reading, but anyone who appreciates literary nightmares of subtlety and refined quality will likely enjoy this collection as much as I did. Recommended.

It isn't so much that this book is utterly mediocre from start to finish, cover included but that it is a perfect testament to the declining state of readership out there.
If you just go by ratings and reviews, this publication appears to be a resounding success and a strong argument for self-pub industry. But if you read it, you may be left wondering just how undemanding the audience out there must be to lap this up.

To be fair, this is a technically sound book. Professionally done as far as cover and editing goes -- so already a huge step up from most self-pub works out there. It has a plot, and the author knows how to put sentences together to get it from point A to point B, etc. 
but literally that's it. There's nothing else here. No originality, no striking language, no mind-blowing worldbuilding or fascinating characters. Just carboard cutouts moving through a tragically predictable story with a lame love triangle toward an entirely predictable ending.

Yes, it's on trend. Women are heroic and men are evil and get what's theirs and all that. But to care about any of it or any of them is challenging at best.

So what is the point of books like these? The author has a slew of them. So, seemingly, does everybody else. Should reading be this mindless? This bland? This unoriginal? 
Do some people genuinely find this to be worth their time and money? Why?

There are so many better books out there. Books, for instance, that have been selected and published by the industry professional and therefore have undergone a certain level of quality control.  Books that have been professionally reviewed by respected sources. Books that have something to say. The library is full of them - they will give them to you for free.  Just go read better books. Your brain will thank you.