I’m still getting over the cold I mentioned last week, but I’m definitely feeling better, so small victories. It was a really good reading week, so maybe I should be sick more often! That being said, I’m swamped as always so we’ll keep this quick and to-the-point. We have one ARC, one backlist title, one new release, and one audiobook to talk about, so let’s get into it!
Solace House by Will Maclean (out 10/13)
This was an ARC, so you can read my full review here! This is a horror novel about a university student named Alex Lane who ends up joining a crew of students tasked with clearing out an abandoned hospital and the
nearby manor, Solace House, for development by the university. Solace House is a spectacular mess, reflecting the mental state of the manor’s former inhabitant, Edwin Flayne, but under all that mess lays dark secrets, otherworldly forces, and a profound madness that just might be contagious.
My review of this book was kind of a mess, but considering this book is such a fever dream and my brain was actively cooking with fever while I was reading it, I think I gave it a damn good shot. In short, I was blown away. It’s hard for a book marketed as The Secret History meets House of Leaves to exceed your expectations, but Solace House just does it right for me. I don’t normally like surrealism because I think it usually detracts from the stakes, but there is order and consequence underlying the chaos in this book. It’s also just absolutely beautiful and super descriptive, which lends an enchanting quality to even the most grotesque moments. Unsettling, cinematic, and magical, I really think this is one of the standout of the year for me.
Widow’s Point by Richard Chizmar and W.H. Chizmar
This is a found-footage horror novel about a lighthouse on the coast of Maine whose mysterious legends and lurid history loom over the small town where it stands. After several horrific occurrences
involving the Widow’s Point lighthouse over the course of the twentieth century, few have been stupid brave enough to enter it, until now.
I’m sure a lot of people are thrown by the concept of a found-footage horror novel, but I’m pretty sure I’ve read a few before and I always think it’s a pretty fun and creative format. Widow’s Point definitely makes use of the multimedia format for some great, tension-building moments and I had a lot of fun with it on the whole. It’s pretty tame overall, but there are a few moments that are quite disturbing and got me all spooked, which is always a good sign for a horror novel. The characters didn’t have the depth that would make this a knockout like Solace House, although I think that’s pretty expected with the format and honestly the horror genre in general. Still, October is upon us and I think this is a fun read to get you warmed up for spooky season.
Hollywood, Ending by John Green
This is a literary romance novel about two young actors cast in a biopic of Andy Warhol’s life. Juniper, a former child star, is determined to prove she isn’t a one-hit wonder while still processing the death of her abusive
mother who forced her into the limelight. Kai is new on the scene, excited for his first big role but unprepared for the spotlight that fame will shine on his life and his history. Together, they face the highs and lows of fame, weathering the cost of celebrity while telling the story of a man whose art criticized the very machine Kai and Juniper are being wrung through.
I don’t really know how I feel about this book. As I mentioned in my last roundup, this is actually my first of John Green’s novels (although I’ve read and enjoyed his nonfiction), and I definitely understand why people like them. The writing is very direct but there are a lot of complex emotions and themes being explored, with a lot of focus on character interiority. I appreciated it and at points I definitely identified with and felt for Juniper and Kai, but I don’t think I find the combination of heavy focus on character interiority and the unembellished writing very compelling. Juniper and Kai’s whole experience in Hollywood seems really grim, and I think more of those shiny moments where it all seems worth it would have made me better understand why they’re willing to sacrifice so much for it. So, I don’t really know what I think about this book but I think John Green fans will probably enjoy it and it didn’t discourage me from picking up one of his books in the future.
Please Remain Seated by Marcus Kliewer
This is an audio-exclusive collection of three horror short stories from the author of We Used to Live Here and The Caretaker (both of which I
have raved about at length). In Please Remain Seated, a woman gets a last minute flight and finds she’s somehow the only passenger. In Backroads, a man spins off the road to avoid hitting an animal and finds himself being hunted by an unfathomable creature. In Anomaly, a marine geologist goes on his first deep sea submarine dive, only for the journey to quickly go horribly wrong.
I’ll read anything Marcus Kliewer writes and while I didn’t like these stories as much as his novels, I still thought they were really enjoyable. Since it’s an audio exclusive, you get lots of fun sound effects and talented narrators really bringing the stories to life and making them feel super cinematic. Please Remain Seated was definitely my favorite and had a kind of strange humor to it in addition to the horror that made it really charming. Backroads was definitely more grim and maybe went on a little long, and I would have liked Anomaly to be longer because the concept was really awesome and I wanted more of it, but they were still both good and pretty creative. I always appreciate the time that Kliewer dedicates to character-building, because as I mentioned in the review for Widow’s Point the horror genre doesn’t always bother much with their characters. Even in this shorter form, all of the characters have personality and backstory and that enables you to like…actually give a shit about them, which does always make a story better in my opinion. I’m looking forward to Kliewer’s next full-length novel but these stories were a nice treat to tide me over until then!
Pretty good week, overall! A few good horror books which is perfect since we’re settling into spooky season (I say, as if I don’t read horror books year round). As always, I have lots of books on deck for this upcoming week. In terms of ARCs, I’ve procrastinated reading Becky Chambers’ new book for as long as I can because I’m too scared to read things I know I’ll love, but it’s literally coming out a week from Tuesday so I can’t push it off any longer. Expect a rave review for As You Wake, Break the Shell (out 10/13) later this week. I have both Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard and The Country Under Heaven by Frederic S. Durbin from my twenty-six in 2026 list checked out from the library, both of which sound fun and I think I’ll start the latter today. I’m currently making my way through an audiobook of Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson which is nonfiction and kind of a foundational text in psycholinguistics, and I’m enjoying it so far. Other than that, I’m kind of going to play it by ear. I have a bunch of suspended holds on newer releases from this past year and I’ll unsuspend some of those if I want to mix it up, but it might be nice to knock off a handful of the twenty-six in 2026 books this week and give myself some wiggle room for the rest of the year. Either way, I think it’s going to be another good reading week!
Have you read any of these books? Did I convince you to read one of them (or not to read one of them)? By all means, let me know what you’ve enjoyed recently or what you’re looking forward to!
Happy reading!
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