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Louis Xavier

@lxlibris

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Book reviews and recommendations
Mostly horror, sci-fi, and crime
CR: None of this is True by Lisa Jewell
2026: 46/30📖

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So me and @incrediblybookish had an amazing time @hayfestival

We decided to predict how many books we would each buy.

I predicted 3, I was very wrong taken in Hay On Wye Town Of Books by @lxlibris

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4

5 months ago

None of this is True by Lisa Jewell
⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the second Lisa Jewell I've read and my god did I enjoy it!

It took me two train rides and a few chapters in bed to devour this book.

Twisting unsettling this book looks at two people who happen to share a birthday. Alix has the perfect Instagram life, a podcast host with the beautiful house, family, and husband, while Josie is a denim obsessed outsider terrified that life has passed her by.

Both celebrate their 45th birthday in the same pub and it changes their lives forever.

This is such a cleverly written book. The narrative witches between Alix and Josie's perspectives using interspersed pieces from a true crime documentary about the event to drip feed tension.

This is one of those books that had me feeling uncomfortable from start to finish.

It's full to the brim of lies, manipulation, and a constant question of what is the truth? taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

5

3

2 hours ago

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
⭐⭐⭐⭐

A horror classic that lives up to its reputation.

This is a deeply dark and unsettling possession horror. A young girl finds herself isolated and possessed by a demon, leading to her mother begging a disillusioned priest to help.

Despite no believing in the supernatural myself, the biggest compliment I can give this book is that it feels so believable.

The possession is horrific, the emotional impact on those in the house is devastating, and Father Karras' struggles give his character so much depth that lesser horror novels never achieve with their characters.

So pleased to finally get this read and alongside It and Whistle I've now ticked off my Halloween tbr with a couple of weeks to go. Guess I better go and find another horror to read, any suggestions?

What should be my next horror read? by @lxlibris

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5

a day ago

I'm not here to guilt anyone, I know convenience matters, and budgets are real.

I've used Amazon a lot in the past, namely audible, and if I'm honest it's because I was being too lazy to consider alternatives.

But there are so many ways to buy, borrow, listen and track your reading that don't use an evil global monopoly that doesn't treat its workers with respect, and most of them are better for readers, authors and bookshops.

So I'm giving you some alternatives.

Save this for your next book-buying moment, and let me know what is your favourite bookshop?

Mine is Hay-on-Wye Booksellers! taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

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3

5 days ago

Still Lost by Sam A. Miller
⭐⭐⭐⭐

@incrediblybookish very kindly picked this up for me the other week and I had no idea what to expect.

It's a series of short stories from America in the year 2080 that have been returned to our time via a floppy disk in a burger king dumpster, and it just gets weirder from there.

This is genuinely such a fun read, the stories move from absurd, to comedic, to upsetting, to righteous fury, and back again with ease.

Imagine black mirror crossed with Bob Mortimer, and a dash of John wick.

That sounds mental but it's probably the best description I can come up with.

If you like your sci-fi with some absurdity this is the book for you. It is also home to my all time favourite author photo which I had to include. taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

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2

6 days ago

Two for Tuesday!

This week I've gone for 2 sci-fi books that somehow make wandering through deep space cosy and comforting.

Floating Hotel by @grace_curtis_posts has a found family servicing a steadily crumbling luxury space station. It's beautifully written and despite being set against the darkness of a tyrannical shows that most people are generally good.

While The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is wonderfully absurd and incredibly funny. Despite the destruction of Earth and the human race very very early in the story, you quickly move past that into running from Vogon poetry and worrying about the mental health of an android.

What's your favourite comfort sci-fi read? taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

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10 days ago

There is no Antimemetics Division by Qntm
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

God damn this was good!

One of my favourite books of the year and comfortably picks up a five star rating from me.

In this book we follow Marie Quinn, director of antimemetics at the top secret organisation that tracks, captures and fights supernatural entities. The antimemetics division focuses on unknowns that can edit your memory.

The book is mostly about an ongoing war that no one can remember fighting!

It's brilliantly written, deeply disturbing, and at times absolutely chilling.

I listened to the audiobook of this and the use of sound effects for redacted data, music, and electrical interference to show memory erasure was just genius.

Please go and read this! taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

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2

11 days ago

Whistle by Linwood Barclay
⭐⭐⭐

This is a really enjoyable thriller with some clever supernatural aspects.

After a personal tragedy and the death of her husband, Annie and her son Charlie move into a house for the summer. But when Charlie discovers a set of toy trains in the shed dark and unexplainable things start to happen.

This feels very much like an homage to Stephen King, at one point there's even a character reading Needful Things.

The story shifts in timelines between the present and the early 2000s and that really helps to build the dread in the narrative.

To be honest I never thought a toy train set could be unsettling, but Barclay somehow manages it.

Really well written, fantastic premise, all round just a really enjoyable book. taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

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1

14 days ago

It's officially spooky season and we all want to watch a scary movie.

So here I am flicking through 3 books I've read this year that are genuinely scary!

The Hill in the Dark Grove by @signaturehiggs
We Used to Live Here by @marcus_kliewer
The Only Good Indians by @stephengrahamjones taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

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0

15 days ago

Two for Tuesday!

Were moving into spooky season, and I picked up this stunning 50th anniversary edition of James Herbert's The Fog @waterstones Northampton

It matches perfectly with the edition of The Rats I grabbed earlier this year.

I absolutely loved The Rats (even if it did make me feel sick at times!) and now cannot wait to start The Fog.

Have you read any James Herbert? taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

14

0

17 days ago

It by Stephen King
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy birthday to Stephen King, I missed the anniversary of It's publishing but I made it in time for his birthday!

What a book, it's monstrously big and deeply creepy.

Pennywise is horrible and the length allows so much more detail in how he's torturing the losers as kids and adults.

The time shifts and use of memory to reveal the horror works so well to keep the story moving, with both the adults and children's stories concluding together.

Just an insanely creative book based on a really clever concept taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

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25 days ago

The Ritual by Adam Nevill
⭐⭐⭐

A group of uni friends reunite for a few days of hiking in Sweden, but when they attempt to take a shortcut through an ancient forest they find themselves being hunted by an ancient evil.

This feels like 2 different books rolled into one, first a survival horror with a demonic creature in the woods, then a ritualistic hostage situation.

It's unsettling, dark, and touches deeply on that feeling of not seeing someone for a long time and realising you've become different people.

Super enjoyable and can't wait to read more of Adam Nevill taken in Northamptonshire by @lxlibris

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0

a month ago