It is difficult, as children, to understand that some people simply do not have the capacity to love, or that the so-called affection such parents may exhibit later on in life is not real love or genuine interest, but rather a twisted expression of their own codependency.
Bora Chung, "Handkerchief" from Midnight Timetable: A Novel in Ghost Stories (translated by Anton Hur)
All of Us Murderers • (A Wrinkle in Time) • Fearless • (Love-in-a-Mist) • Emily of New Moon • Melusine • Midnight Timetable • Midnight in Montreal • Seasparrow • Neither Snow Nor Rain • The Christmas Appeal • Mothertrucker • Alanna: A Graphic Novel • When I'm Gone Look for Me in the East • A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel • Lucky Day • High Times in the Low Parliament • (The Angel of the Crows)
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All of Us Murderers - probably my favorite new KJ Charles in a long time! One of the things I'm coming to realize about myself is that I love ridiculous gothic drama and plot twists, and on top of a murder mystery! The only thing that made this not a full 5 stars for me was the romance, weirdly. Like, I fully appreciate that Gideon was there as someone Zeb could trust so that things weren't overwhelmingly stressful and paranoid...on the other: please write more dual POV romance, I'm begging you. It's so much better. Pairs well with Olivia Atwater's The Witchwood Knot if you're in a gothic house mystery mood.
A Wrinkle in Time - first time rereading since...middle school? I know I read through my (quartet) omnibus a few times growing up, but looking at it on my shelf, wasn't sure if I had any actual attachment to the story. I listened to this on audiobook and while it was easy enough to get through - a little dated in some areas, but still very relevant in others so I would go ahead if you're interested - I can't say I found myself particularly enamored this time around and probably won't be continuing the series (or keeping my copy).
Fearless - finally got around to this second book in the series! Still a very fun boat book (in space), and I admit it did manage to surprise me a bit with *how* exactly the mutiny happened. I also did kind of suspect that there might be something brewing between our captain and the Co-President, but I'm not sure how I feel about it happening already? Like, we're still not at a feelings stage, so there's that element possibly coming, but. Ugh. Guess I'll just have to see how it goes.
Love-in-a-Mist - So many feelings about this one asdfhjkl. Possibly the closest Victoria's gotten to a traditional plot (isolated house murder mystery) and I love it for that, but it's still also very her! I can't wait to get to see this one from Mr. Dart's POV because there's a lot of big changes going on here that Jemis is still a little too out of it to be really aware of.
Emily of New Moon - It took me a bit to get into this, I won't lie. It's been an absolute age since I read Anne so I really had no idea what to expect. I think what eventually won me over was not so much the "aw, poor kid" feelings, but the many "*covers face with hands* jesus christ kid" moments. The things Emily gets herself into, lol. Not a favorite, but I think I might continue the series.
Melusine - I think I read this mostly out of curiosity? Definitely nothing like The Goblin Emperor, as promised (though man does she love giving her characters traumatic back stories. that hasn't changed). Not the worst fantasy I've ever read, but nowhere near the best. Also not the darkest thing I've ever read? Idk. I woudn't necessarily recommend it, but I'll probably continue the series now that it's available on audiobook. More thoughts on my storygraph review if you're interested!
Midnight Timetable - a collection of urban ghost stories, very lightly connected through a vague frame story about a new employee at a research institution that you gradually come to realize houses haunted objects, including ones related to the stories. I think that this was a very interesting concept that I appreciated more than perhaps liked - personally I would have wanted it to be longer and to have the frame narrative more fleshed out - but do think it's a cool thing that exists. I also appreciate that while the ghost stories can be (somewhat necessarily) dark, they're not inherently…unhappy? Hopeless? Bleak? I can't quite put it into words, but the book had some sort of desire for a resolution that did not leave me walking away feeling depressed, which I thank it for. I'm not sure that I feel like I can recommend this as more than a curiosity, but it's certainly a good one!
Midnight in Montreal - It's been an while since I read an Emily St John Mandel, so I don't know if it's because I haven't been in a mood for literary books this year or if this one is just genuinely bad, but god. Did NOT like this one. I should have dnf'd this early on, but I was so sure it had to get better (spoiler: it did not). I don't understand why everyone is obsessed with this young woman, and I don't like books where everything just goes to shit with the best intentions. I recommend instead checking out Case Histories by Kate Atkinson.
Seasparrow - interesting! Watching the progression of this series has been fascinating, and I feel like in some ways we've come back full circle to the first book, while also showing the author's growth as a writer. I do think it could have been a bit shorter. I have no idea if this is going to be the last book in the Graceling Realm, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised if Cashore decides to write another one (I would definitely read it). Still undecided if I'll be keeping the series on my shelf, but I do recommend them as a decent fantasy series and an interesting look at story crafting - I do genuinely think someone could write an interesting paper on them.
Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service - exactly what it says on the tin. Not bad, but not exceptional. I think this one is on me, and what I've learned is that The Hospital completely spoiled me and that I like more of a social history or tightly focused case study.
The Christmas Appeal - what on earth could the Fairway Players be getting up to now? Not another dead body, surely. This one was a very fun read right before the holiday, and the length ensures that things dissolve into chaos very quickly! I loved the long slow build of the original The Appeal more, but this was a fun addition (I can't wait to see where things go in the upcoming book 2!). This can be read alone, but it does offer some mild spoilers for who *didn't* do it in the first book.
Mothertrucker: Finding Joy on the Loneliest Road in America - this was supposed to be a for a book club through my college alumni org, but I just didn't get to it in time. I don't know why I kept reading it when I wasn't enjoying it that much. Came for the inspiring journey through the Alaskan ice roads, could have left the (majority of the book) "being a woman" and domestic abuse.
Alanna: A Graphic Novel Adaptation - I liveblogged a bit of this but in summary: The art is really pretty and I appreciate that it does actually show some of their academic classes! The con is that Alanna: The First Adventure is pretty much Tammy's messiest book, plot wise, and also covers about four years (unlike First Test), and to get it working as a graphic novel it would need a lot of editing and rewrites. Which it did not get. There were a few improvised sections that were actually pretty great, but overall it tried to hew too close to the original and it was pretty clunky (not to mention, so. much. text). I don't think this will be very accessible to a new reader, but is fun to page through for anyone who's read the original.
When I'm Gone Look for Me in the East - I can't say I liked this much, but I don't think it's a bad book. There were some interesting threads about faith, culture, fate, and the brothers' relationship, but this was a very slow and introspective book, and I'm not sure it's a very recommendable book unless you are very interested in Buddhism or Mongolia.
A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel - I wasn't actually planning on reading this, but then I reread the novel and still needed to read another graphic novel for 2025 so I decided why not stay on the adaptations train. I know that I complained with Alanna that it hewed too close to the original, but in this case I think it worked because the original novel is both short and very solid even if I didn't like it - the graphic novel is almost double the page count of the novel, and it's mentioned in the end notes that it includes almost every scene and line of dialogue. A very solid adaptation.
Lucky Day - my second of Chuck's horror novels; the whole mess of butterfly effect and strings of fate is so totally up my alley that it's a pity I didn't like this more, but I knew going in that it was probably going to be a stretch - I'm not much for horror and I was only so-so on Camp Damascus. A neat book, but I think I'll need to call it quits on Chuck's horror.
High Times in the Low Parliament (DNF @ 37%) - it was fine? It was fine. I probably could have finished this since it's so short, but I wasn't really invested. A main character who prefers to spend her time drinking, getting high, and hitting on girls is unfortunately not my favorite, though the fact that men don't seem to exist is an interesting bit of worldbuilding?
The Angel of the Crows - reread for the ?th time. Started this as an extra read because I was getting tired of podcasts, but when I dnf'd High Times I didn't feel like starting something new and burned my way through the rest of this instead. A joy as always! I really need to read the original Sherlock stories so I can have even more fun.
I really liked it! It takes a few tried and true concepts (haunted objects, a mysterious Institute whose job it is to research and store said objects) and does some unique and interesting things with them. I didn't find any of the stories particularly scary, but they are interesting and have excellent commentary on society. I'm going to have to look up more of Bora Chung's books. This book was a cover buy, so I was extremely pleased that I liked it so much.
Next up I'm going to read Elfland by Freda Warrington! I'm a bit intimidated because it's 600+ pages long and the last 3 books I read were <200 pages, but I've been meaning to read it for a while and I hope it'll be good inspiration for my nanowrimo story.
He realized later on that what he had felt all his life was not a desire to die. It was a desire to escape the violence and abuse against him, and it was his denial of who he was and what he could become that had trapped him in this abuse. It was only recently where he had realized that death was not the only escape from that trap. It has tortured him to think of how late this realization was in coming. But as long as one is alive, he'll soon know, there is no such thing as being too late.
Title: Midnight Timetable: A Novel in Ghost Stories
Author: Bora Chung
Translator: Anton Hur
Publication Year: 2025 (first published in 2023 as 『한밤의 시간표』)
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Genre: fiction, short stories, horror
It’s a bit difficult to describe this interconnected short stories collection, which in some ways, you could even argue is more of a novella— We follow a new recruit of a research institute who learns about some haunted artifacts from more senior employees, resulting in some eerie tales about each one. I could tell that Chung had fun dappling with various urban ghost stories and adding her own spin on them, but I found that I wanted something more fleshed out, especially with this mysterious institute being ever-present. Somewhat relatedly, I always loved the way Chung tackled societal issues in her stories, which was very much the case in this book as well, but I felt they were only touched on this time around.
Even if less developed, I still enjoyed Midnight Timetable, especially because it leans into the strain of horror that you tend to find in a lot of Asian horror (more on the psychological than anything). I also appreciated that there were some deliberately absurd moments to the point that they were comical (because, really, how else are you supposed to react to a sheep that tells fortunes).
Content Warning: death; murder; blood; animal cruelty; violence; rape; references to homophobia, suicide attempt, and domestic abuse
Society, and the world at large, ought to be more aware that such selfish and egocentric attitudes are probably closer to true human nature than the oft-romanticized and mythologized unconditional and infinite love that we attribute to parent-child relationships.
Bora Chung, "Why Does the Cat" from Midnight Timetable: A Novel in Ghost Stories (translated by Anton Hur)
