Book Review | Bag of Bones by Stephen King

Posted May 25, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Bag of Bones by Stephen King

Stephen King’s most gripping and unforgettable novel, Bag of Bones, is a story of grief and a lost love’s enduring bonds, of a new love haunted by the secrets of the past, of an innocent child caught in a terrible crossfire.

Set in the Maine territory King has made mythic, Bag of Bones recounts the plight of 40-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan, who is unable to stop grieving even four years after the sudden death of his wife, Jo, and who can no longer bear to face the blank screen of his word processor.

Now his nights are plagued by vivid nightmares of the house by the lake. Despite these dreams, or perhaps because of them, Mike finally returns to Sara Laughs, the Noonans’ isolated summer home.

He finds his beloved Yankee town familiar on its surface, but much changed underneath — held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, who twists the very fabric of the community to his purpose: to take his three-year-old granddaughter away from her widowed young mother. As Mike is drawn into their struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations, ever-escalating nightmares, and the sudden recovery of his writing ability. What are the forces that have been unleashed here — and what do they want of Mike Noonan?

As vivid and enthralling as King’s most enduring works, Bag of Bones resonates with what Amy Tan calls ‘the witty and obsessive voice of King’s powerful imagination.’ It’s no secret that King is our most mesmerizing storyteller. In Bag of Bones — described by Gloria Naylor as ‘a love story about the dark places within us all’ — he proves to be one of our most moving.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge

The Reason

For my Stephen King challenge. This one is a reread.

The Quotes

“I felt lonely and content at the same time. I believe that is a rare kind of happiness.”

“I see things, that’s all. Write enough stories and every shadow on the floor looks like a footprint; every line in the dirt like a secret message.”

“Grief is like a drunken house guest, always coming back for one more goodbye hug.”

“Readers have a loyalty that cannot be matched anywhere else in the creative arts, which explains why so many writers who have run out of gas can keep coasting anyway, propelled on to the bestseller lists by the magic words AUTHOR OF on the covers of their books.”

The Narrator(s)

Stephen King, the author himself. What a treat!

My Thoughts

I read this book a while ago and rated it four stars but it didn’t stand out to me at the time. As I was rereading it, I remember parts of it and why I enjoyed it the first time. My favorite part about Stephen King’s books is the way he approaches the supernatural and talks about it like it’s not something fictional or unbelievable, but just a part of the many mysteries of our world.

One of my favorite characters that we never even really meet is Jo, the MC’s late wife. She dies in the beginning of the book and we only get to know her through Mike Noonan’s memories and ghostly encounters, but she comes across so strong and passionate. I also really like Kyra. The almost-romance in the story is a bit of a turn-off for me but I understand this was written a while ago (still!).

It’s kind of why I included the quote, “Readers have a loyalty that cannot be matched anywhere else in the creative arts, which explains why so many writers who have run out of gas can keep coasting anyway, propelled on to the bestseller lists by the magic words AUTHOR OF on the covers of their books.”

I actually became a fan of the author through his more recent books (so it’s the inverse of the above quote but the sentiment applies) and am now reading his backlist for the sake of The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge. His older books are still good but there are definitely questionable themes in them. I like that he’s self aware enough to call himself out on some of those things now that he’s older though!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Start Where You Are: The Beginner’s 5K Running Guide for Women by Sabrina Pace-Humphreys

Posted May 25, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Start Where You Are: The Beginner’s 5K Running Guide for Women by Sabrina Pace-Humphreys

A beginner’s guide to running for women. It challenges misconceptions and offers a positive and motivating guide to get you started.

Start Where You Are is a guide for women who are looking to run up to 5k distance. Whether you are at the start of your running journey, or resuming running after a break, Sabrina Pace-Humphreys has all the advice you need to get going.

In 2009 a GP recommended Sabrina try running to manage her post-natal depression. It transformed her life and she hasn’t stopped since. She is now a UK Athletics qualified Leader in Running Fitness, a Coach in Running Fitness and a qualified personal trainer with a passion for helping other women, wherever they are in their running journeys.

Sabrina offers motivational support, technique guidance, practical advice and strength and conditioning exercises to help complement your training. You can also find real-life runner testimonies and valuable tips about how to run during menopause, fueling and hydration, menstrual cycles, common injuries, how to run safely at night, finding the running community for you – and so much more.

Above all, this audiobook strips back the experience to the fundamentals – instilling freedom and finding joy in movement – making it the perfect starting point for all women, irrespective of age or running experience.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #41: A guide to…)

The Reason

I came across this book while browsing in my local library and since I’ve started running, I thought I could learn something.

My Thoughts

As an ignorant beginner runner, there were a lot of things I got out of this book. I won’t be following along with the program laid out in the book because I’ve already been running for a while, but a lot of the advice in the book was still very helpful to me and in fact, I feel like I wouldn’t have understood some of the things the author shared if I hadn’t already been running and had come across some of those issues.

In my case, the advice about running techniques, cadence, gait, and nutrition were particularly helpful. I’ve switched up my posture and arm movements in my recent runs, and I’ve also been focusing more on how my body feels rather than what my smartwatch logs. Some of the warm-up exercises in the book has also been added to my previously sparser warm-up routine.

It’s notable that this book is aimed towards an audience of women runners; there are chapters that talk about running on periods, menopause, and how to keep yourself safe as a woman running on your own. All things that women need to take into account as compared to male runners. As the book states; women are not small men, and so many sporty advice and information have been based upon male bodies, capabilities, and needs, and aren’t necessarily applicable towards female bodies. We have a long way to go but I’m glad this book is available for women runners.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose

Posted May 25, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose

Would you defend your husband if he was accused of killing his mistress?

Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. At 33 years old, she is a named partner at her firm and life is going exactly how she planned.

The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He is a struggling writer who has had little success in his career. He begins to tire of his and Sarah’s relationship as she is constantly working.

Out in the secluded woods, at Adam and Sarah’s second home, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers.

Then, one morning everything changes. Adam is arrested for Kelly’s murder. She had been found stabbed to death in Adam and Sarah’s second home.

Sarah soon finds herself playing the defender for her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress.

But is Adam guilty or is he innocent?

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #7: Title starts with the letter “P”)

The Reason

I was looking for books starting with the letter “P” for the prompt above and had been curious about Jeneva Rose for a while. This one was immediately available on Libby so I decided to try it.

The Quotes

“Even when you have nothing left in your life, hope is the one thing that can never be taken away.”

“That’s the thing about relationships, you never really know what’s going on in them, unless you’re a part of them.”

“Two women trying to make it in a man’s world. We work twice as hard as our male counterparts to make it just an inch ahead of them.”

“I’ve learned that everyone has skeletons in their closet and that the people who appear to be good are usually the worst of them all.”

The Narrator(s)

Andrew Eiden. Mozhan Navabi. Both the narrators were fine.

My Thoughts

The first thing I’d note is that this is not a legal thriller. I thought we’d see more courtroom scenes based on the book’s description but there’s almost none, which is fine. I hoped for a better story though, because from the beginning I felt like there was a big plot hole that wouldn’t fly in real life, but I let it go for the sake of suspension of belief. When it turned out to be the actual plot point of the story though… I don’t know, it felt almost comical.

Spoiler
The wife representing her husband in a murder case where his mistress is the victim; as they were investigating possibilities, it seemed obvious to me that the wife should be a suspect as well – it’s kind of a huge motive. Early on in the book, I felt like the murderer could easily be the wife and it would’ve been a huge conflict of interest for her to defend her husband, as she could’ve just let him take the fall for the murder. It was so ridiculously obvious that I was sure the story wouldn’t go that way, but it did!

I originally chose to suspend belief because if this happened in real life, there would be ethical issues with wife representing husband in the first place, and then if he lost, he could’ve appealed by stating bad representation because of the conflict of interest. It just never would’ve worked and I’m mad the author did this to her readers!

The characters were all so unlikeable too, I wanted to like Sarah but I didn’t connect to her at all. Her husband, Adam, was an idiot through and through. The writing itself wasn’t bad though and although I’m not happy with this book, I may consider giving the author’s books another chance some time down the road.

My Rating

⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Horns by Joe Hill

Posted May 22, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Horns by Joe Hill

Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples.

At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.

But Merrin’s death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . .

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #31: Author related to author in prompt 30)

The Reason

I needed a book for the prompt above and I’d been thinking about trying Joe Hill again.

The Quotes

“The best way to get even with anyone is to put them in the rearview mirror on your way to something better.”

“It bewildered Ig, the idea that a person could not be interested in music. It was like not being interested in happiness.”

“There’s only room for one hero in this story-and everyone knows the devil doesn’t get to be the good guy.”

“Him and God are supposed to be at war with each other. But if God hates sin and Satan punishes the sinners, aren’t they working the same side of the street? Aren’t the judge and the executioner on the same team?”

The Narrator(s)

Fred Berman. I have no issues with the narration.

My Thoughts

I loved the concept and the story itself, but for some reason I just don’t like the author’s writing style. I found the book difficult to get into and the writing felt clunky, obvious, and disjointed to me. It’s difficult to get immersed into the book and forget I’m reading; I’m constantly aware of the story and standing outside of it.

The first book I read by the author was Heart-Shaped Box and I rated it two stars. I read it almost 20 years ago so I don’t remember why I didn’t like it but I thought I would give him another chance, because after all, I wasn’t a huge fan of Stephen King either back then like I am now. I do intend to reread Heart-Shaped Box again though because apparently it’s his best one. I’d like to give it one more try before deciding if he’s not for me.

I must say again that I do enjoy his stories themselves; I also loved the adaptation of NOS4A2 although I didn’t read the book, but maybe I just don’t enjoy his writing style. Hopefully I’ll prove myself wrong when I try him again.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney

Posted May 22, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney

Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into – Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls – nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that this stranger is his wife.

One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.

Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner named Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #43: A Goodreads recommendation for you)

The Reason

It was already on my TBR and I was looking for a book that fit the above prompt, and this book turned up in my Goodreads recommendations!

The Quotes

“Your biggest enemy is always the person you see in the mirror.”

“People are grief vampires. They just want to suck on your sorrow, feed on your fear, and feast on your failures. It makes them feel better about themselves.”

“Some people love a good party; personally, I prefer a good book.”

“Accepting that things change and learning to navigate wrong turns is the secret to a happy life.”

The Narrator(s)

Bel Powley. Henry Rowley. Richard Armitage. It was a great cast and I enjoyed all of the narration.

My Thoughts

I’m not sure where to start with this book. I had very high hopes for it because it has been reviewed so highly and it started so well. It really devolved at the end, however, to the point where I wondered if I had been reading a completely different story and missed important details or imagined the whole first half of the book.

I get the concept of the unreliable narrator and that mystery fiction tend to hide the true story from us, but the way this story is presented and told is just sloppy, inconsistent, and undeveloped. The characters blatantly gaslight the reader in the weirdest ways and it makes me wonder what exactly are we reading on the page? Are we reading the character’s internal thoughts on the page? Are we reading their diaries? Are they writing down false information to mislead us? Who exactly is their audience? Because it doesn’t make sense for them to say the things they say throughout the whole book when we finally get to the reveals.

It’s just plot hole after plot hole after plot hole, and I have no idea what the story is trying to achieve. I don’t get it and I’m very disappointed.

My Rating

⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Posted May 12, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

In an unnamed South American country, a world-renowned soprano sings at a birthday party in honor of a visiting Japanese industrial titan. His hosts hope that Mr. Hosokawa can be persuaded to build a factory in their Third World backwater. Alas, in the opening sequence, just as the accompanist kisses the soprano, a ragtag band of 18 terrorists enters the vice-presidential mansion through the air conditioning ducts. Their quarry is the president, who has unfortunately stayed home to watch a favorite soap opera. And thus, from the beginning, things go awry.

Among the hostages are not only Hosokawa and Roxane Coss, the American soprano, but an assortment of Russian, Italian, and French diplomatic types. Reuben Iglesias, the diminutive and gracious vice president, quickly gets sideways of the kidnappers, who have no interest in him whatsoever. Meanwhile, a Swiss Red Cross negotiator named Joachim Messner is roped into service while vacationing. He comes and goes, wrangling over terms and demands, and the days stretch into weeks, the weeks into months.

With the omniscience of magic realism, Ann Patchett flits in and out of the hearts and psyches of hostage and terrorist alike, and in doing so reveals a profound, shared humanity. Her voice is suitably lyrical, melodic, full of warmth and compassion.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #17: Author’s bio mentions their dog)

The Reason

It’s a reread, and the BOTM for my in-person bookclub.

The Quotes

“It was never the right time or it was always the right time, depending on how you looked at it.”

“Some people are born to make great art and others are born to appreciate it. Don’t you think? It is a kind of talent in itself, to be an audience, whether you are the spectator in the gallery or you are listening to the voice of the world’s greatest soprano. Not everyone can be the artist. There have to be those who witness the art, who love and appreciate what they have been privileged to see.”

“For a man to know what he has when he had it, that is what makes him a fortunate man.”

“If what a person wants is his life, he tends to be quiet about wanting anything else. Once the life begins to seem secure, one feels the freedom to complain.”

The Narrator(s)

Anna Fields. It was good, I find that the best narrators are the ones who make me forget I’m listening to an audiobook and just get me immersed in the story.

My Thoughts

I read this book for the first time many years ago and it has stuck with me. I didn’t remember a single detail about the story itself but I have always remembered how it made me feel. This time around I thought I was prepared for the feels, but honestly, I might have expected it but I was still not prepared for it.

A lot of the details of the story surprised me this time around, and there were parts where I wondered at how realistic a scenario like this could be. I did have to turn on my suspension of belief, but after that, focusing on the story and the characters, it was just beautiful writing. The way the author writes about the passion for music, the way passion for something brings people together, the ways people find connection with each other. I fell in love with all of it.

Reading it again objectively, I can see the flaws in the story and there are definitely parts that I don’t like and felt were unnecessary. However, it’s so easy to get lost in the story and the writing, and you can’t help but want to know more about the characters. It’s still a wonderful journey the second time around.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Posted May 12, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1805—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.

My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #38: Domestic fiction)

The Reason

The hype. I’m sorry, but the hype got me! I’m seeing this book everywhere, and everything people are saying about it had gotten me so intrigued!

The Quotes

“The way some women so willingly compromised every ounce of themselves in the name of building a life for themselves that they didn’t enjoy.”

“All men wanted to become legends. It was so embarrassing.”

“The goal of an influencer is not to be lovable, and it is not to be unbearable. The goal is to be both at once. In other words: addicting.”

“And please give my husband a spine. I’m tired of him needing to borrow mine.”

My Thoughts

This book has gotten me so confused I don’t know if I loved it or hated it. I don’t know what to feel about the MC, Natalie, because she’s completely unrelatable for me and sort of encompasses everything in a person I dislike – she’s entitled, inconsiderate, smug, judgmental, delusional… But at the same time, I can’t help but feel a bit of compassion for her. How scared must you be inside, to be this kind of person outside.

To be fair, she’s had people fail her as well. Her mom, her husband, her in-laws, but she could’ve made a dozen different choices at different points in her life and she just kept choosing to pretend everything was all good on the outside. And at the end of it all, none of it excuses the person she chose to be.

This book was an absolutely fascinating character study. I don’t like Natalie, I don’t relate to her, I don’t understand her, I don’t want to know her, I can’t excuse any of the things she said, or did, or believe, but I do feel sorry for her and I wonder about what goes on inside her head and why. This book doesn’t give me any of those answers and I still don’t know if I liked it, but I do think it’s very well-written and well worth the read.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman

Posted May 11, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman

A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it in this epic, fast-paced novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl.

All colonist Oliver Lewis ever wanted to do is run the family ranch with his sister, maybe play a gig or two with his band, and keep his family’s aging fleet of intelligent agriculture bots ticking as long as possible. As a fan of Earth television and culture, he figures it will be a good thing when the transfer gate finally opens all the way and restores instant travel and full communication between Earth and his planet, New Sonora. But there’s a complication.

Even though the settlers were promised they’d be left in peace, Earth’s government now has other plans. The colossal Apex Corporation is hired to commence an “eviction action.” But maximizing profits will always be Apex’s number one priority. Why spend money printing and deploying their own AI soldiers when they can turn it into a game? Why not charge bored Earthers for the opportunity to design their own war machines and remotely pilot them from the comfort of their own homes?

The game is called Operation Bounce House.

Oliver and his friends soon find themselves fighting for their lives against machines piloted by gamers who’ve paid a premium for the privilege. With the help of an old book from his grandfather and a bucket of rusty parts, Oliver is determined to defend the only home he’s ever known.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #6: Title starts with the letter “O”)

The Reason

I love Dungeon Crawler Carl, so of course!

The Quotes

“Don’t pass your responsibilities on to others unless absolutely necessary. Do not take on the responsibilities of others unless doing so is an act of kindness.”

“Miserable people are fond of laying blame on someone else for their problems.”

“It is the one thing I admire about humans the most: the ability to compartmentalize.”

The Narrator(s)

Travis Baldree. Jeff Hays. I don’t know what it is because so many people have said they enjoy Travis Baldree as a narrator but I have a hard time with his narration. I’ve listened to one of his Legends & Lattes books that he narrates and I enjoyed the story but I can’t pinpoint what it is about his voice that grates on me. Jeff Hays’ parts were great for me though!

My Thoughts

I got so lucky with this audiobook because I thought I was going to have to wait ages for it but it was available as a skip-the-line loan and I immediately jumped on it! It’s no Dungeon Crawler Carl, but it was still really good and I enjoyed it very much. I also think I might’ve enjoyed it more if it was narrated by someone else, I honestly don’t know why I have a problem with Baldree’s narration.

The story itself has all the elements of everything I love in the DCC series; found family – which everyone knows I love, a motley crew of very different people coming together to fight for something they were thrust into, help from somewhat artificial intelligent beings who have abilities the MCs don’t, unreasonable enemies who want ridiculous things… It’s a recipe for a great book with a great plot and great characters!

It has also made me nostalgic for the DCC world and Jeff Hays’ narration, and I’m still debating about the best time to dive back into rereading the series before starting on Book 8! Just a few days left! I might just read Book 8 immediately and then start over after!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Stiff by Mary Roach

Posted May 11, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Stiff by Mary Roach

Mary Roach takes the age-old question, “What happens to us after we die?” quite literally. And in Stiff, she explores the “lives” of human cadavers from the time of the ancient Egyptians all the way up to current campaigns for human composting. Along the way, she recounts with morbidly infectious glee how dead bodies are used for research ranging from car safety and plastic surgery (you’ll cancel your next collagen injection after reading this!), to the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.

Impossible (and irreverent) as it may sound, Roach has written a book about corpses that’s both lively and fresh. She traveled around the globe to conduct her forensic investigations, and her findings are wryly intelligent. While the myriad uses for cadavers recounted are often graphic, Roach imbues her subject with a sense of dignity, choosing to emphasize the oddly noble purposes corpses serve, from organ donation to lifesaving medical research.

Readers will come away convinced of the enormous debt that we, the living, owe to the study of the remains of the dead. And while it may not offer the answer to the ancient mystery we were hoping for, Stiff offers a strange sort of comfort in the knowledge that, in a sense, death isn’t necessarily the end.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

The Reason

This book has the honor of being one of the oldest books on my TBR. I bought a copy not long after it came out about 20 years ago, and I had even started reading it a few times but it never stuck. I no longer have my original copy but I have finally read it!

The Quotes

“We are biology. We are reminded of this at the beginning and the end, at birth and at death. In between we do what we can to forget.”

“You are a person and then you cease to be a person, and a cadaver takes your place.”

“Many people will find this book disrespectful. There is nothing amusing about being dead, they will say. Ah, but there is.”

“I guess I feel the same way about being a corpse. Why lie around on your back when you can do something interesting and new, something useful?”

The Narrator(s)

Shelly Frasier. It was great, no complaints!

My Thoughts

I don’t know why it took me so long to read this book. It’s not for the lack of interest, I think, but rather taking it for granted when I had it on my shelves, and then forgetting about it when I no longer had it. I finally read it now, after so many years, because I happened to be on a nonfiction binge and it was one of the books available immediately on Libby.

As had been promised all these years, it was fascinating and I loved it! I was afraid that it might feel a little dated as I had read other more recently published books about death and dead bodies since this book was first published, but it didn’t feel that way to me. I still learned a lot of interesting information, and got quite morbidly curious about the part where she talks about cannibalism.

I don’t think I personally care what happens to my body after I die, I actually love the idea of being useful after I’m dead, but I do worry about possible cases of jumping the gun on harvesting organs from a person before they are dead. It doesn’t apply to me because I’m not a candidate for organ donation but it’s still disturbing that it has happened and can happen.

All in all, this was a great read, and would you believe it, my first Mary Roach book! She’s been a TBR author of mine for so long, I didn’t realize I haven’t actually read a single book until this one. I’m definitely looking out to read more from her.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

Posted May 1, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 4 Comments

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

The virus kills nine out of ten of its victims so quickly and gruesomely that even biohazard experts are terrified. It is airborne, it is extremely contagious, and it is about to burn through the suburbs of a major American city. Is there any way to stop it?

In the winter of 1989, at an Army research facility outside Washington, D.C., this doomsday scenario seemed like a real possibility. A SWAT team of soldiers and scientists wearing biohazard space suits had been organized to stop the outbreak of an exotic “hot” virus. The grim operation went on in secret for eighteen days, under dangerous conditions for which there was no precedent.

The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story in depth for the first time, giving an absolutely hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their “crashes” into the human race. From a remote jungle cave festering with deadly organisms, to an airplane over Africa that is carrying a sick passenger who dissolves into a human virus bomb, to the confines of a Biosafety Level 4 military lab where scientists risk their lives studying lethal substances that could kill them quickly and horribly, The Hot Zone describes situations that a few years ago would have been taken for science fiction. As the tropical wildernesses of the world are destroyed, previously unknown viruses that have lived undetected in the rain forest for eons are entering human populations. The appearance of AIDS is part of the pattern, and the implications for the future of the human species are terrifying.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD: TBD)

The Reason

It’s been on my TBR forever but I kept putting it off. People keep praising it though so I couldn’t put it off anymore!

The Quotes

“In biology, nothing is clear, everything is too complicated, everything is a mess, and just when you think you understand something, you peel off a layer and find deeper complications beneath. Nature is anything but simple.”

“To mess around with Ebola is an easy way to die. Better to work with something safer, such as anthrax.”

“You can’t fight off Ebola the way you fight off a cold. Ebola does in ten days what it takes AIDS ten years to accomplish.”

“The rain forest has its own defenses. The earth’s immune system, so to speak, has recognized the presence of the human species and is starting to kick in. The earth is attempting to rid itself of an infection by the human parasite. Perhaps AIDS is the first step in a natural process of clearance.”

The Narrator(s)

Richard M. Davidson. Really good, no notes.

My Thoughts

For some reason, I thought this was going to be a dry nonfiction read (maybe because of the cover!) but it turned out to be so well-written and reads like an actual horror/thriller novel. I had no idea Ebola and Marburg were so deadly. I knew they made you sick, of course, but I thought of them the way I would’ve thought about malaria, or dengue; dangerous and sometimes fatal but not incurable! And what a horrible way to go!

The issues with how the monkeys were handled, how information was shared, and how everything was cleaned up, have got me feeling torn because on the one hand, there were so many unethical practices, on the other, I have no idea what I would do if I was in that position. I’d probably be in denial too if I thought I had been exposed to an incurable virus that would eventually lead to a horrible, gory death for me.

One of the sentiments I found most interesting from the book is how viruses like Ebola and Marburg are the “predators” of humans, to cull humans when we become so overpopulated and start encroaching into animal habitats, and you know what, that’s actually really fair. We like to think we’re at the top of the food chain but we’re really not, and these tiny microscopic viruses will prove it to us any time we start thinking otherwise. I do not like the thought, but it’s what will keep me humble and wary of too much outdoor activity! I loved this book but I have decided I’m going to be a stay-at-home bookworm forever.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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