Snowflake Challenge #6

[evandar]

Challenge #6

Top 10 Challenge.

I decided to write about the top 10 books and short stories that I read this year. I read less this year than I did in 2024. Partially due to availability: English books are possible to buy here, and I'm a big fan of a not very local second-hand bookshop that primarily buys from and sells to the expat community. The bookshop in my local mall also has a surprisingly large selection of foreign-language books, although they're a lot more expensive and the organisation of that section relies on a system that I haven't been able to decipher yet, so there's no way to find anything quickly. You can only go if you're prepared to browse for hours.

Anyway, here's the list! It's not in any particular order; it's just ten things I liked.



1. The Killing Code by Ellie Marney

A queer murder-mystery set against the backdrop of WW2, where girls associated with the government are turning up murdered in Washington DC. A group of code-breakers work together to solve the case and protect not only themselves, but the people they work along-side. This isn't a particularly thought-provoking novel, but the characters are interesting and they keep you invested.

2. Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

This is technically a re-read, but who cares? Not me. It's excellent and something I'd highly recommend to anyone who enjoys horror and/or magical realism. A ship filming a mockumentary about mermaids was lost at sea with no survivors and leaving behind only some eerie footage of the ship's final moments. Seven years later, a new crew embarks on a journey to find out what really happened.

3. Young Gothic by M. A. Bennett

This is the first book in a series, and I haven't got around to reading the second one yet. It's fun, queer, and contains a lot of references to classic gothic literature. Four young, aspiring writers are invited to a writers retreat at the Villa Diodati. Only their plans for their trip are derailed by rivalries, romances, and the weird shit that keeps happening to them.

4. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

This is equal parts a love story and a ghost story, and the writing is simply gorgeous. Based on Chinese mythology and customs and set in colonial-era Malaya, a girl is offered up as a ghost bride as payment for her father's debts. But there's something very off about the way that her groom died, so she sets out to solve the mystery. There is a Netflix adaptation as well, but the book is definitely worth a read.

5. A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith

This is the second book in a series, which I didn't realise until after I'd started reading. I haven't read the first one, A Case of Mice and Murder, yet, but it's now on my list. Anyway, this series revolves around Gabriel Ward KC - an autistic-coded lawyer who lives in the Inner Temple, and his terrible habit of getting caught up in investigations. He has a fairly Holmes/Watson-esque working relationship with a local constable, and the mystery itself manages to be both fairly quaint and gruesome at the same time. I was very invested.

6. When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya de Becerra

This is a YA horror novel that revolves around the star of a homemade horror movie looking for her missing sister, the movie's director. Her search draws her back to where the movie was filmed, and pulls her into the cult that formed around it.

7. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

This is an exercise in unreliable narrators. When a murderer starts to kill people in a way that mimics classic detective novels, bookseller Malcolm Kershaw finds himself at the centre of the investigation. The FBI think that the killer has been inspired by a list Mal wrote years ago: a list of books starring eight, 'perfect' murders.

8. Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter

This is the first novel in Slaughter's Grant County series, and it's very much on the border between crime fiction and horror. A small Georgia town is thrown into chaos when a local professor is brutally assaulted, mutilated and murdered in the bathroom of the local diner. Unfortunately, she's just the first.

9. The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas

Twenty years ago, four girls were driving home down a dark road in Wiltshire. Only one of them was ever found. There's a very spooky vibe to this book and it - as well as The Couple at No. 9 by the same author - are very much slotted into that genre of 'bad things happen in small villages where everyone knows everyone, but somehow there are lots of secrets.' It's creepy and engaging and the ending is pretty satisfying as well.

10. 'Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad' by M. R. James

This classic ghost story about a university professor who uncovers a whistle that summons a spirit ended up being a new fandom for me this year. The queer-coded relationship between Professor Parkins and Colonel Wilson is just. Chef's kiss.