The Unlikely Librarian's best reads of 2021Like this list

10 items

• The Very Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan

  Kiernan, Caitlín R.

  Add The Very Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan to your for later shelf

  Caitlín R. Kiernan is a dark mastermind! This collection of short stories from one of modern horror's greats, bends, breaks and alters conceptions of sexuality, gender and morality leaving you breathless in its wake. Kiernan's' writing is filled…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Fisherman

  Langan, John (John Paul)

  Add The Fisherman to your for later shelf

  An evocative and terrifying look at lost love and the grief it leaves in its wake, and how it drives men to desperate lengths to gain back those they have lost. This story alternates between a heartfelt tale of widowers overcoming the loss of their…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Plain Bad Heroines

  a Novel

  Danforth, Emily M.

  Add Plain Bad Heroines to your for later shelf

  This book drew me in with its striking imagery, witty instagram gothic tone and increasingly dark tale of a cursed girls school, where two teenage lovers besotted with a controversial book met a tragic end in the 1800's, which in turn becomes the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Savage Her Reply

  Sullivan, Deirdre

  Add Savage Her Reply to your for later shelf

  This retelling of one of Ireland's most famous legends, The Children of Lir, from the "evil" stepmothers view takes the classic trope and gives it a twist. Reminiscent of Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber & other stories" with its female centric…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Girls Against God

  a Novel

  Hval, Jenny, 1980-

  Add Girls Against God to your for later shelf

  Potent, wild, wilful, chaos invoked! This powerhouse of a novel reminded me strangely of Nick Cave's 'And the Ass Saw the Angel' with its subversion of good God fearing folk and their hypocrisy. Repressed female energy unleashing its fury upon the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bone Harvest

  Brogden, James (Novelist)

  Add Bone Harvest to your for later shelf

  Wickedly dark and funny this folk horror pits the seemingly immortal followers of a boar headed god intent on taking over a small village starting with it's allotment against the only person that can see what they're up to - an elderly lady with…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Dark Archives

  a Librarian's Investigation Into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin

  Rosenbloom, Megan, 1981-

  Add Dark Archives to your for later shelf

  A fascinating read about anthropomorphic bibliopegy, books bound in human skin, by medical Librarian and one of the main figures in the death positivity movement Megan Rosenbloom. Often the subject of horror movies and occult conspiracies the truth…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Wilbur's Walk

  Nash, Rebecca

  Add Wilbur's Walk to your for later shelf

  The debut children's book from Lyttelton poet and author Rebecca Nash is whimsical, surreal, dark in places and with a real sense of charm, like all the best kids books do.

• In That Endlessness, Our End

  Files, Gemma, 1968-

  Add In That Endlessness, Our End to your for later shelf

  A great debut collection of short stories, perfect for the creeping paranoia of the covid age. Dark, weird, brutal, all the things you want from a collection of horror short stories. Good times!

• Hounded

  Hearne, Kevin, 1970-

  Add Hounded to your for later shelf

  I've never really been into urban fantasy before but this intro to the Iron Druid series had me laughing and engaged. It's one of those books that you binge! A wild cast of characters from Atticus Sullivan the 2000+ year old last Druid standing, his…Read moreRead more of this annotation