Book Wishlist

Strange Houses

Uketsu · 2025

Strange Pictures

Uketsu · 2025

<p>"Uketsu's strange riddles are chilling and addictive - I couldn't put it down." --R. F. Kuang, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface</p> <p>"Delightfully macabre and fiendishly clever. Seemingly unconnected stories tie themselves into a complicated knot, which Uketsu masterfully unravels."--G. T. Karber, author of the national bestseller Murdle</p> <p>"Wonderfully complex and carefully crafted . . . Uketsu keeps readers guessing until the very end." --New York Times Book Review</p> <p>The spine-tingling "triumphant international debut" (Publishers Weekly starred review) that has taken Japan by storm--an eerie fresh take on mystery-horror in which a series of seemingly innocent pictures draws you into a disturbing web of unsolved mysteries and shattered psyches.</p> <p>An exploration of the macabre, where the seemingly mundane takes on a terrifying significance. . . .</p> <p>A pregnant woman's sketches on a seemingly innocuous blog conceal a chilling warning.</p> <p>A child's picture of his home contains a dark secret message.</p> <p>A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth down a rabbithole that will reveal a horrifying reality.</p> <p>Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the over-arching backstory that connects them all. Strange Pictures is the internationally bestselling debut from mystery horror YouTube sensation Uketsu--an enigmatic masked figure who has become one of Japan's most talked about contemporary authors.</p> <p>Translated from the Japanese by Jim Rion.</p> <p>Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.</p>

The Glutton

A. K. Blakemore · 2023

**Named a MOST ANTICIPATED book of 2023 by The Guardian**<br/><br/>From the prize-winning author of The Manningtree Witches, a subversive historical novel set during the French Revolution, inspired by a young peasant boy turned showman, said to have been tormented and driven to murder by an all-consuming appetite.<br/><br/>1798, France. Nuns move along the dark corridors of a Versailles hospital where the young Sister Perpetué has been tasked with sitting with the patient who must always be watched. The man, gaunt, with his sallow skin and distended belly, is dying: they say he ate a golden fork, and that it's killing him from the inside. But that's not all--he is rumored to have done monstrous things in his attempts to sate an insatiable appetite...an appetite they say tortures him still.<br/><br/>Born in an impoverished village to a widowed young mother, Tarare was once overflowing with quiet affection: for the Baby Jesus and the many Saints, for his mother, for the plants and little creatures in the woods and fields around their house. He spends his days alone, observing the delicate charms of the countryside. But his world is not a gentle one--and soon, life as he knew it is violently upended. Tarare is pitched down a chaotic path through revolutionary France, left to the mercy of strangers, and increasingly, bottomlessly, ravenous.<br/><br/>This exhilarating, disquieting novel paints a richly imagined life for The Great Tarare, The Glutton of Lyon in 18th-century France: a world of desire, hunger and poverty; hope, chaos and survival. As in her cult hit The Manningtree Witches, Blakemore showcases her stunning lyricism and deep compassion for characters pushed to the edge of society in The Glutton, her most unputdownable work yet.

Bellweather Rhapsody

Kate Racculia · 2014

The Island of Last Things

Emma Sloley · 2025

<p><b>A SOARING, PROPULSIVE, AND UNFORGETTABLE</b> <b>novel about two zookeepers at the last zoo in the world</b><br><b><br>“Sometimes a new author will sidle up and whisper in your ear, and sometimes she’ll grab you by the neck. Emma Sloley is in the latter camp.” ―REBECCA MAKKAI<br><br></b>Camille has always preferred animals to people. The wild has nearly disappeared, but as a zookeeper at the last zoo in the world, on Alcatraz Island, she spends her days caring for playful chimpanzees, gentle tree frogs, and a restless jaguar. Outside, resistance groups and brutal cartels fight to shape the world’s future, but Camille is safe within her routines. That is, until a new zookeeper, Sailor, arrives from Paris.<br><br> From their first meeting, Camille is drawn to Sailor, who seems to see something in Camille that no one has before. They bond over their shared passions and dream up ways to improve their lives. When Sailor whispers the story of an idyllic, secret sanctuary where wild animals roam free, Camille begins to imagine a new kind of life with Sailor by her side.<br><br> Sailor knows all too well the dangers beyond Alcatraz, but she increasingly chafes at the zoo’s rigid rules. She hatches a reckless plan to smuggle one of the most prized animals off the island to freedom, and invites Camille to join her. The consequences if they fail would be catastrophic, and Sailor’s contacts at the sanctuary go dark just as the threats from the cartels grow more extreme. Camille must decide if she’s ready to risk everything for the promise of a better world.<br><br> Propulsive and fiercely hopeful, with a heart-stopping final twist, <i>The Island of Last Things </i>is an elegy for a disappearing world and a gorgeous vision for the future.</p>

Automatic Noodle

Annalee Newitz · 2025