Book Reviews, Drama, Literary FictionLeave a comment

Remarkably Bright Creatures

January 19, 2023September 1, 2022 The Perspicacious Bookworm

You might like this book if you liked… Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt Remarkably Bright Creatures is a novel about a small community in Washington state: Cameron is a young man who has travelled from California to find his biological father, Ethan is a older Scottish man who owns the local grocery store and harbors unrequited feelings for Tova, a woman in her 70s who works the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium and is still mourning the deaths of her son and husband, and last but not least Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the … Continue reading Remarkably Bright Creatures

Articles, Top 10 ListsLeave a comment

Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2023

January 10, 2023December 9, 2022 The Perspicacious Bookworm

I can’t believe we are in a new year – with all of the great new books coming out. I was pleasantly surprised, too, to see how many new releases are written by Indigenous authors. Thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top 10 Tuesday challenge, here are 10 of the books coming out in the first half of 2023 that I am most looking forward to reading. 1. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert: January 3rd Talia Hibbert is one of the authors who convinced me that I sometimes like romance, so I was excited to see that … Continue reading Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2023

Book Reviews, Diversity, HorrorLeave a comment

The Babysitter Lives

January 5, 2023August 23, 2022 The Perspicacious Bookworm

You might like this book if you liked… The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones A God in the Shed by J.-F. Dubeau The Babysitter Lives by Stephen Graham Jones The Babysitter Lives is a horror novel about a young native woman named Charlotte who, on the night before she takes her ACT test, takes on a babysitting job with a new family. Unbeknownst to Charlotte, this family lives in the same home where a mother killed her two children eleven years ago before committing suicide, and the memory of … Continue reading The Babysitter Lives

Book Reviews, Fantasy, RomanceLeave a comment

Christmas Read: Just Like Magic

December 22, 2022December 19, 2022 The Perspicacious Bookworm

You might like this book if you liked… Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle Just Like Magic is a romance novel about a failed social media influencer named Bettie Hughes who accidentally summons a human incarnation of the Holiday Spirit, known as Hall. They couldn’t be more different: Bettie is angry and bitter towards the world who, from her perspective, has unjustly rejected her. Hall is forever cheerful, taking joy in anything remotely linked to the winter holiday season. However, Hall’s presence in her life is for one single purpose: to raise Bettie’s holiday spirits. When Bettie asks Hall to … Continue reading Christmas Read: Just Like Magic

Articles, Top 10 Lists4 Comments

Top 10 Books on my Winter 2022-2023 TBR

December 13, 2022October 26, 2022 The Perspicacious Bookworm

1. Fairy Tale by Stephen King I’ve really been on a Stephen King kick lately, so as soon as this one came out it went on my TBR. This is a novel about a seventeen-year-old named Charlie who inherits a house from his deceased recluse neighbor. Charlie discovers that the shed in the backyard is a portal to parallel universe that is embroiled in a war between good and evil. 2. Book of Night by Holly Black This is a novel recommended by my sister. I started it, and then got distracted by my Halloween reads, so I’m hoping to … Continue reading Top 10 Books on my Winter 2022-2023 TBR

Book Reviews, Literary Fiction, Science FictionLeave a comment

How High We Go in the Dark

December 8, 2022August 29, 2022 The Perspicacious Bookworm

You might like this book if you liked… Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel The Book of M by Peng Shepherd How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu How High We Go in the Dark is a science-fiction novel about the re-animation and subsequent spread of an ancient plague in the modern day, following humanity’s attempt to survive over hundreds of years. The plague affects children first, slowly morphing organs until they can no longer function, and after a generation, it starts to infect adults, turning skin … Continue reading How High We Go in the Dark

Articles, Top 10 Lists4 Comments

My Thanksgiving Read: The Harrowing

November 24, 2022September 30, 2022 The Perspicacious Bookworm

You might like this book if you liked… The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff The Harrowing is a horror novel about a group of college students from very different social circles who have all stayed in the dorms over Thanksgiving break to avoid their families. When a thunderstorm takes out the power, one of the students leads the group in a séance with a Ouija board. The spirit seems friendly at first, purporting to be a previous student of the college, but soon the conversation grows ominous. The students find themselves locked in a battle of wills between themselves and the … Continue reading My Thanksgiving Read: The Harrowing

Articles, Top 10 Lists2 Comments

Top 5 Favorite “Aaaw” Moments in Books

November 15, 2022October 28, 2022 The Perspicacious Bookworm

As much as I love a good romantic subplot in my novels, I’ll admit that romance doesn’t tend to stick with me as much as some other elements of the books that I read. That’s why this week’s Top 10 Tuesday challenge from That Artsy Reader Girl was so hard for me! I don’t have 10 for you because I honestly couldn’t remember 10. However, here are 5 of my favorite “aaw” scenes from some of my favorite books. 1. Daine and Numair’s reunion in Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce This one has been my top favorite romantic … Continue reading Top 5 Favorite “Aaaw” Moments in Books

Book Reviews, Diversity, Historical Fiction, Horror, ThrillerLeave a comment

The Ballad of Black Tom

November 10, 2022August 18, 2022 The Perspicacious Bookworm

You might like this book if you liked… Slade House by David Mitchell American Gods by Neil Gaiman When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle The Ballad of Black Tom is horror novella inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s story “The Horror at Red Hook”. Tommy Tester is a young black man living in Harlem with his father in the 1920s, attempting to support himself and his father with a variety of odd and often unsavory jobs. When playing guitar one day, Tommy is approached by a wealthy older white man named Robert Suydam … Continue reading The Ballad of Black Tom

The Perspicacious Bookworm

Reading for the critical eye