On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, by Timothy Snyder -- Remember That Book You Bought 8 Years Ago? Good Time to Read It.

Cover Image courtesy of
Crown Publishing

Look, I’m not going to heap accolades on this little gem for giving me any astounding revelations. I got a copy of this book at the start of a first particular presidential run, and probably scanned the chapter headings and said, yeah, this tracks. Then I set it aside and here I am, presidential run two. I should actually read it this time. This book aligns with my political worldview, so I am not surprised by anything it has to say. In fact, I found myself shaking my head, chastising myself for delaying to read beyond the headlines the first time, as it were. It's not a difficult read. In fact, you could probably get through it in a day if you wanted to, and it's a good reminder of where we are as a nation and its parallels with where we've been.

What I will say is this, now in late 2025, is a perfect time to read it. Or to revisit it. It’s a perfect time to be reminded about where we are and what we can still do to remain consciously active in our democracy. Nothing in this book rings false for me — even after nearly 10 years. It's a quick, easy read that plays out as more of a checklist of things to do more than anything else. But it’s an important checklist. And you'll feel better with every check you make. One thing on that checklist is to distance yourself from the poison on the internet, and maybe pick up a book to read. I get a half check here, thanks to this book.

You can too, because it's good advice. And the more you check off the list, the better you will feel. I guarantee it.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones -- Historical Horror Fiction at its Best

Cover Image Courtesy of
S&S/Saga Press

I have been holding off on reading this latest entry by Jones, about a Native vampire, maybe because I have been anticipating it since its announcement, then bought the book —not the ebook—on preorder then, because I was so psyched by the premise from the start, refrained from committing to it because—what if I would be disappointed? What if my prediction, that this story would blow me out of the water, was wrong?

Then the Horror Aficionados group on GoodReads finally got around to voting for this as the read of the month, and… Well, I wasn’t wrong.

This story is about a Picuni known (by many names but…) as Good Stab, and a Lutheran pastor known as Arthur Beaucarne (also as Three Persons, which is genius, IMO). They meet in 1912 when, over the course of many subsequent meetings, Good Stab lays out a lengthy confession of his sins, exposing his story of becoming a vampire after events that took place during an 1870 Blackfeet massacre that both MCs are dishearteningly familiar with.

Oh, and if your go to read is historical fiction—American historical fiction, then this book needs to be on your list.

The good pastor Beaucarne can do nothing if not listen, in spite of his initial skepticism over the gory and fantastical details. He can do nothing but listen and record the confessions in a private journal, as Good Stab weaves his story, ending each session with the perfect announcement that his pipe is empty (he can’t smoke one), his allotted time is done. This style of story telling immediately brought Rice's Interview with the Vampire to mind, and the device of a vampire telling his story for the purpose of posterity works here too.

But Jones tricks us here because, while the storytelling device immediately feels like a nod to Anne Rice, it doesn’t take long to understand that what Jones is doing is not simply revealing Good Stab's confession. He's also peeling away at the good pastor's deeply imbedded flaws. There’s an increasing cat and mouse game going on between these two men, and it culminates into a gory confrontation like only Jones can do.

Of course, anyone inspired to read this after reading this review might initially be confused. Because the book begins and ends with a grad student named Etsy in the relevant present. She's researching her family history—her thrice great grandfather Beaucarne—when the manuscript of his journal falls into her lap.

I’m not going to lie. The tonal shift between current day Etsy's story, and the journal entries of Good Stab's story written by Beaucarne, didn’t initially mesh for me. Having read enough of Jones's work, Etsy acts and sounds a lot like Jade from the Chainsaw series. Different girl, same hyper-thought process voice, maybe tempered a little because there’s less of a chip on her shoulder. Her character traits are a SGJ staple though for certain. Fans of Jones will either love it or hate it. If this is your first SGJ read, it probably won’t matter. But the bookend chapters of Etsy and her discovery of the journal plays its part by story’s end and brings the story as a whole to a satisfactory—albeit tonally different—conclusion.

I loved this book, plain and simple. I was riveted. And there are a few long ass chapters that unwind as Good Stab smokes his imaginary pipe. The actual history that is imbedded into the framework of this story is heartbreaking, and the more people who become aware of it, the better.

I think I mentioned in a chat group somewhere, midway through reading, that The Buffalo Hunter Hunter just might replace The Only Good Indians or Mongrels as my favorite Stephen Graham Jones book.

It did. 100%.

Click here, or on the cover image above, for a retail link.

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns—a haunting tale of loss and guilt

Cover Image courtesy of Doubleday Books

Bad Cree, by Jessica Johns, is a slow burn of a read about Mackenzie, a young Cree woman, who has left her family to live on her own after the death of her grandmother and her sister Sabrina. She’s grieving still, after two years have passed, and she’s been having bad dreams that are too vivid to be ignored. They are dreams about crows—and her sister, and those crows seem to be making an appearance in her waking life as well.

So Mackenzie heads home, knowing she needs to face her family after missing her sister’s funeral, but also to face that day at the lake when Sabrina got lost in the woods and emerged…different.

This is a story about grief and loss and family connection, and while it evokes strong feelings, it does take a long time to get to the heart of it all—that day at the lake. Mackenzie has regrets about how the day played out. She feels guilty for not having gone into the woods with her sisters and her cousin who were once inseparable as children. She feels guilty and responsible, although maybe unnecessarily so.

As the story plays out, and as the dreams become more real, Mackenzie, her sister, her cousin, the elder women of the extended family, all discover they have a shared gift—and secrets that have prevented them from coming together to heal as one. It’s an interesting treatise on grief, loss, while touching on themes of the sacrifices Indigenous communities have made for the sake of the white man's quest for riches and power. The story eventually delves into Native folklore involving the monstrous embodiment of these things which culminates in some tense and haunting final chapters. 

But it takes time to get there. It takes patience. You have to have a certain appreciation for ambiance while reading this book. The final confrontations might make up for the slow pace through the first two thirds of the book. 

Click on the book cover above, or here for a link to buy at Bookshop.org.

Where Dark Things Rise by Andrew K. Clark — A solid addition to the Dark Things series

Cover Image courtesy of
Quill and Crow Publishing

The second installment of the Dark Things series by Clark is as good as the first one, if not better. The first, Where Dark Things Grow, tells the story of Leo and Lilyfax as they grow into young adulthood in depression era Appalachia. Leo is the one who draws from a special darkness in the first book, as he tries to overcome the allure of its power in order to right things for the underprivileged, in his case, the poor.

In book two, we focus on Leo's grandson Gabe, and Gabe's potential love interest Mina. This installment is set in the 1980s, with Gabe being mentored by the ways of his grandparents, Leo and Lilyma, and with Mina being the one who struggles with a darkness as she learns to wield it.

If you are a fan of the first book, you will appreciate the relationship of the elder characters in their later years. You will appreciate how they've grown and the heartbreaks they face with the coming of age. And if you’re of a certain generation (X) you might appreciate the time setting of the book, because these new characters are teens in the 80s. Clark hits the ambiance of the iconic 80s without breaking a sweat—right there with the right vibes of Stranger Things.

But this second book weaves in a great deal of religious horror too—something I happen to be drawn to, whether reading it or writing it. It addresses the extremes of the religious right, and how it can hurt the very communities it pretends to be helping, because in this book—while the underprivileged are still targets for the villains of the story—so are teenage girls and members of the lgbtq community. These new characters are just trying to find themselves in a world where some people want to define what is righteous and what is wrong with rigidly drawn lines, and the anger and frustration that comes from this struggle is where dark things rise.

This book is a solid entry in a new era of dark, religious themed horror. Thanks to the author, the publisher and the HWA for giving ARC access to this book. Click on the cover image for adirect  purchase link. Or, here: Where Dark Things Rise Purchase Link

Legacy of the Hough Family: Ancestral Connections from St. Johnsville NY to Janesville WI, by Cora Lee Perry Palma

 I've been leaning heavy on the self promo this year, and while this is sort of that, it also isn't. Writing does seem to thread through the genes of my family, though, which is why my current WIP at the time of this blog entry is a cozy paranormal mystery that I'm adapting from an old script written long ago by my mom. It's a challenge to fill in the gaps of a story--written by Mom--that, while needing to fix a few plot holes still maintains the intent and ambience of the original work. We don't want to offend Mom by changing up her story, after all, but that writing group critic inside me can see spots that need improvement. It's coming along well--I think--but wish me well in reaching the goal: a published work that incudes my mom's name on it.

Cover Image courtesy of the author
link to Amazon Page

Speaking of writing running through the family genes, the book in the title, Legacy of the Hough Family, comes from a cousin of mine, Cora Lee Perry Palma. Her specialty is genealogy, mostly connected to her family--which extends into mine, and is rooted in the history of families throughout the Mohawk Valley of Central New York State. She has focused on the Hough family lineage, particularly in the village of St. Johnsville NY for this one, so it is a specialty read. Still, if your genealogy search has brought you here because of the right topic tags, I highly recommend that you check this book out. It's personal to the Hough family lineage, but if you're a Hough (or by extension, a Central NY Perry), it's worth a perusal. Cora Lee also has a more detailed book, From the Pear Tree: Historical Heritage of the Perry - Hanlon Family, that this new book compliments.

Am I in this book? No, thank goodness because my life is booorrring! But I do have a connecting lineage in this book that is pretty darned cool. Therefore, it's kinda (but not) self promotion. I've got some cool ancestors, though, and I don't care what anyone else says because that makes me cool. LOL... Do people say lol anymore? Doesn't matter. Still cool.