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This is not a book I would reccomend to others because it is creepy, weird, confusing and vague. However the writing was so atmospheric that I couldn't help but be compelled to keep reading despite the fact that I mostly didn't know what exactly was happening or where the hell it was going. Continued below

Today I went to the library for the first time in a couple of years looking to find some books for the little readers and something random and unplanned for myself. The cover to this one caught my eye, it matches my NIN tee shirt and nail polish. 🤣

It's been awhile since this has happened, but......I don't get it. I am confusion. 🤔

Had no idea what was going on but couldn't put it down. Fully reading until 4 am by the tiny cabin nightlight. Felt like Darnielle put on a trucker hat and some Boggs and started chewing a piece of hay all "Folk from round here, we don't much take kindly to city folk" but was trying hard? The writing was pretty awesome though. Was hoping it'd be a little creepier. Heartwarming in places, how it's a gift to have a functional family.

Creepy images are showing up on VHS tapes from a local rental place, women are disappearing and no one knows why, but even with such intriguing story ideas this book just never came together for me. It was disjointed and once I finished I was confused.

On another note though, the writing was well done and I would love to read something else by this author. I just think this book wasn't really for me. It's listed as Horror, but it shouldn't be.

🦁 I'm all Leo!
🧝‍♀️ I am a few steps away from finishing a huge crochet project!
📤 Tagged & Maid
🥁 Going to see Face to Face in Brooklyn! 🎸
❤💙💛
#FriYayIntro @howjessreads

Weird but i loved it. Amazing writing. Familiar setting (right where i grew up in rural midwest). Familiar feelings of complete boredom and stuckness. Not a horror book, but a book about healing from loss (or not) in your own weird way. It can be confusing and you have to really reach to connect it all. I'll be the outlier and say i loved it.

Last one for #24in48. Hoping I can finish this one tonight AND I figure out what the heck the story is really about.

@24in48

I enjoyed the writing and will have a few images that will stick with me, however the storyline does not. I found it to be distracting and hard to tie together.

So far this break I‘ve finished You and #fashionvictim. Both were wild rides. Next up! Universal Harvester. Starts in a video store. Just a few weeks ago I was explaining to some kids I babysit that Netflix didn‘t always exist and we would go to this place called Blockbuster if we wanted a movie (though my favorite was a mom and pop shop until it closed).

I liked the writing style but the story arc was puzzling to say the least.

I'm bailing on this... I just don't care about any of these characters. They're so empty and they really should be more fleshed out. I guess you'd have to understand small town mid-Western life to really like this? I don't know... absolutely nothing has happened and with 1.28 left, I can't give them anymore of my time. 👎👎👎

The race is on!!! 11 days for both of them so it should be a piece of cake...

Universal Harvester is read by the author so we'll see how I feel about it. I'm unimpressed so far by I did just begin.

Listen, this is one of those books that is not for everybody (and its marketing as a horror/thriller has done it no favors) but it was very much for me.

A beautifully-written examination of lives lived in small Iowa towns. There are some creepy goings-on with VHS tapes and cults that unite these stories spanning decades, but in the end the tapes don‘t matter all that much. The anticlimax fits well with the quiet nature of the book.

I loved it.

Our narrator is wondering what we, the readers, envision when she describes something. I love love love a good breaking of the 4th wall like this.

This book is like Deadpool if Deadpool were a lyrically written meditation on grief and small-town melancholy.

Not too sure about this one. Think I was expecting something (horror, thriller) and it turned out nothing like how the blurb sells it. Basically weird cut shots being found on VHS tapes rented from small town video store in the 90s, and the slow-burn investigation by some folks into what the hell is going on. It doesn't go where you may think. Def one for thought afterwards. Fantastic writing though

This book started out great. The writing was incredibly well done, it had an almost Twilight Zone vibe to it. I loved the creepy undertone, the mystery of it. It was going so well. And then suddenly.... It veered so far off track it became nearly a whole other story. This had so much potential to be an excellent horror/suspense novel. I don't even know what happened to it. I was so disappointed, I almost couldn't finish it. But it wasn't bad.

My review: 🤷‍♀️
I don‘t even know what to say.
It seemed like a framework of a novel. Like a first draft or an outline that needed to be fleshed out.
I really liked Wolf in White Van, but this just left me perplexed and wanting more.

Even though I haven't officially started Slave to Sensation and don't know if I will tbh.... @howjessreads #31bookpics #currentlyreading

This was a huge disappointment. It was promoted as a horror novel but it‘s actually about... grief. And the writing was all over the place. Nope.

I‘ve read this once before and didn‘t really enjoy it. But, I‘m doing a reread of it and finding I like it a lot now. Not sure what made the difference other than time.

While working at the Video Hut in his tiny Iowa town, Jeremy connects reports of damaged VHS cassettes. Video Hut owner Sarah Jane and customer Stephanie push him to investigate the strange "second movie" that's popping up on the tapes: a disturbing film that appears to have been shot somewhere close by.

Kept reading for the writing ... tolerated the plot. Which is unfortunate, because I recall feeling similarly about Wolf in White Van.

"At sixty-five miles an hour, the cornfields flicker against the window like stock footage; shadows in between the rows pulse steadily in shades of yellow and green and early brown."

It has been a ‘beer on a work night‘ kind of day ...

"Another nagging little question lodged like a bit of grapeshot in his chest. It was nothing major, but the place where he stored them all was running out of room."

Holy crap this book. I am only on page 40 & just read a line that made my stomach drop. The writing is awesome.

“Not everyone wants to get out and see the world. Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes you just want to figure out how to fit yourself into the world you already know.”

Huh. I‘m not sure how to describe this book. Jeremy works in a video store & a customer returns a video complaining several minutes of another movie had been spliced in- & the story goes from there. The author says the book is “largely about mothers” but I might argue it is a book about staying & leaving & the price people pay for both of those actions. Did I like it? I loved the writing. A page turner it is not, however. Read it for the writing.

I‘ve said it before and I‘ll likely say it again—I love the imagery and Darnielle‘s descriptions.

“It was a powerful gambit. Talking about family health is a pastime almost as exalted as the noble art of who lives where now and how they got there.”

I‘m really enjoying some of the writing—descriptions are great.

Oh man, I remember those types of days...

This book doesn‘t have great reviews on Goodreads and I honestly don‘t remember how I came across it. I found it on the sale shelves at a local bookstore, snatched it up and now it‘s my next read.

I feel intensely sad.

Well this was definitely...a book. I enjoyed WOLF IN WHITE VAN, his previous book, and I was soooo intrigued by this one's synopsis. I was really into the first part, but this felt like a book that almost got somewhere but never quite did.
I'm torn because I didn't outright dislike it. I probably just need a little more time to think about it.
Probably 3/5 🌟 for me.

Started this earlier today. I'm about halfway through and very intrigued.
#currentread

One of the officers from my ship went to John Darnielle‘s book signing on my behalf and would never pass up an opportunity to embarrass me behind my back 😆

⭐️⭐️⭐️My husband was out of town this past weekend and I‘m finally done with my classes for now so I was able to finish two audiobooks! It‘s the most I‘ve read since November. This one was okay. I didn‘t quite get the point of the whole story or the ending. Maybe if I had read it instead of listening to the audiobook it would have made more sense.

1. Iowa
2. Long epic sagas
3. 20 pages into about 4 different books. But I am reading James and the Giant Peach to my daughter. And I am reading Captain Underpants #9
4. Mexican
5. 2 dogs. Lab that is almost 12, Rottweiler/ Mastiff mix who is 4-5, and 1 hairless cat.
6. What is your go to book when giving a recommendation to someone?

I still don‘t know exactly how to feel about this book. I loved Wolf in White Van, and in some ways, it was similar to that. But I didn‘t get a real sense of resolution despite getting “endings” for most of the characters. I think mostly I just expected something different from it. The writing was good and I do like the way JD plays with time and doesn‘t tell a story in a linear way.

So much talent! I haven't got to the book yet but I'm spinning this vinyl right now. We were the only thing in the galaxy God didn't have his eyes on... #IOnlyListenToTheMountainGoats #ThePiratesLifeForMe

In the HoL reading group, someone mentioned “leaves” reminded them of table leaves. My family has those types of tables, but I hadn‘t thought about them in years. I have this ridiculous notion that these little coincidences are sort of like signposts on a path, affirming you‘re going the right way. I notice them far too often, especially lately, and I‘m beginning to think maybe it‘s the opposite. This can‘t be the right way!

Why is there no cover photo for this book on Litsy??? Loved Wolf in White Van, so I‘m hoping this is just as good.