This month I had one goal only: to surpass my total for July. And I'm happy to say, I just barely squeaked it out, despite the fact that towards the end of the month my reading flow kind of ground to a halt with all that's happening. I also had some really fun reads this month, which is probably why it was easier to take in so much.



The Hunger - Alma Katsu
This is a fictionalized account of the Donner Party expedition (Mmmm...cannibalism). As if that weren't creepy enough on its own, Katsu provides readers with a supernatural narrative that is downright scary. I have a fascination with spooky-leaning historical fiction about people out in the wild (my love for Dan Simmons' The Terror runs deep), so The Hunger was right in my wheelhouse. Katsu is a descriptive writer and I felt like I was there, even though I really didn't want to be.



Destroyer - Victor LaValle
I'm a fan of LaValle's work - especially his novella The Ballad of Black Tom - so I'd been looking forward to reading this graphic novel. I wasn't disappointed. LaValle interweaves the tale of Frankenstein with the story of a boy who, after being shot by police, is reconstructed by his mother. The tale is exciting, but also brings up important questions about what we consider monstrous and why, and how grief - especially the grief of a mother losing her child, and for all the wrong reasons - is especially difficult to navigate. It makes for a thrilling, but also moving, graphic novel that feels very modern despite its roots in the Frankenstein mythology.



We Sold Our Souls - Grady Hendrix
Every single Hendrix book I've read (all of them, except for Paperbacks From Hell) have been a load of fun. They're exciting, and funny, and at times genuinely creepy. We Sold Our Souls follows the same path, telling the story of a group of washed-up rock stars who realize that one member of their band has found, unlike the rest of them, unexpected fame. But before you pass off this book as just sheer camp, Hendrix also does a fair amount of pondering about the nature of fame and how and where our creativity emerges from.

Other books this month: The Marvelous Equations of the Dread - Douglas; River of Teeth - Gailey; The Three Body Problem - Liu.