Joy Reads Books

Tag: newbook

  • Glowing By the Light of “Frail Little Embers”: A Literary Review of new Short Story Collection

    Glowing By the Light of “Frail Little Embers”: A Literary Review of new Short Story Collection

    fire in a metal barrel surrounded by rocks

    It was a delight to read “Frail Little Embers” by Fjia Callaghan, this collection of short stories is a sweet and tender package of magical realism. There is tea, handmade candy, visits to the sea, folklore both light and dark, and subtle tension woven through each story. Her passion for using myth and folklore “to creat stories that give people hope in times of darkness”, as stated on her bio, is evident in this collection. 

    “Running with Wolves” is a gentle retelling of Red Riding Hood when the roads are closer to the woods and Red has a smartphone. The beauty of a short story is the way in which it can tell us a lifetime of sorrows and joys in one small passage of time and we experience this repeatedly through the collection.

    Callaghan plays around with form, such as in “September Sunsets” and passages of evocative and whispery poetry. It works in this story but I’m unsure how necessary it is within the context of the entire collection. At the same time, the structure of the story is in sharp contrast to the many ways Emily misunderstands everyone around her, from her daughter to the man who  brings her firewood.  

    There are certain lines throughout this short story collection that are devastating in their lyrical beauty, “I curled up in a ball of smoke and shadow and ached for all the things I didn’t understand” (Callaghan, 141) from the Edge of Morning made me pause while reading. This was my favourite in the entire “Frail Little Embers” collection, it showcases Callaghan’s form and the way her writing is like a song.

    At twenty-one stories, I think it’s fairly long for a short story collection. Some stories, like “The Fleeting Ones” read like a character sketch with limited plot but a lot of foreshadowing that could have been fleshed out in a meaningful way. There’s potential to fill in the spaces and if anything, there’s more than one collection here if the time had been spent to find them. This could be coming from a selfish place as I look forward to reading more from Fjia Callaghan.

    Recommended to readers who enjoy whimsy and delight, magical realism, folklore, myth, and magic.

    “Frail Little Embers” was published on 8 April 2025  by Neem Tree Press, thanks to them for making the title available on Netgalley for review!

    Did you know I’ve started publishing my own short fiction? You can find it over at Under the Poplar Tree on Substack. Be sure to subscribe, I publish a new short story every other Thursday.

  • Gauzy dust-filled horror: Review of The Atropine Tree

    Gauzy dust-filled horror: Review of The Atropine Tree

    Aldane Manor is an ancient home of low-beamed ceilings, crumbling walls, poison gardens, and deadly secrets.

    Front cover of The Atropine by Sarah Read. Sepia toned background with a hand drawing of a two stems of a plant with red berries and green leaves like a fern, in a blue bottle.

    The Atropine Tree by Bram Stoker award-winning writer Sarah Read is a delightful romp into the absurdity of gothic horror. A medium sister, one who talks to ghosts – not size medium, poison herb gardens, centuries of ghosts and strangely uneven floors, and herb-laden fires stoked too high all lend themselves to creating a heady, gauzy feeling that immerses the reader. Gothic horror is meant to be over the top, absorbing in its terror and in Read’s very capable hands, The Atropine Tree is incredibly engrossing. I lost an entire afternoon to the world of Aldane House.

    It is overwrought in the very best ways, richly detailed as I could easily picture Nelda’s dramatically stained lips and teeth and feel the deep luxury of the carpets in her room. I don’t think I breathed when her room became crowded and overstuffed and heated, much like Alrick.

    Fiction like The Atropine Treeis the very best of escapist reading, and even though no one could possibly take that many herbal pastilles and antidotes, it’s immensely entertaining and Read’s writing is so richly detailed and engrossing, it is like having a movie play in your mind while reading.

    The story is like something out of the other side of the Dickens looking glass, with its usurper heir and street urchins languishing in the workhouse. 

    Highly recommend to anyone looking to escape into an absorbing, dust-filled horror, lovers of truly beautiful prose and anyone who simply likes to read because Read is a very talented wordsmith. The genre of horror shouldn’t dissuade any readers from picking up a copy of The Atropine Tree, it was so enjoyable to read.

    Many thanks to Bad Hand Books for sending a copy my way! Check out their website to order your own copy and check out some of their other titles. Check out my review of Bad Hand’s short story collection, Long Division.

    Did you know I also write short fiction over at Substack? Check out Under the Poplar Tree if you like my writing and want to read more of it.

  • Tensions grow “Into the Fall”: A Review of New Psychological Thriller

    My interest was initially piqued by Tamara L. Miller’s “Into the Fall” because she’s Canadian, and there’s something to be said for supporting local talent but this did not disappoint and is in no way Can-Con filler! Miller’s debut novel is a tightly woven tale that she expertly and finely unravels until the very end. Based out of Ottawa, Miller is the President of Ottawa Independent writers and her website can be found at by Tamara Miller.

    “Into the Fall” is a suspenseful psychological thriller about a family broken apart overnight by the disappearance of husband and father, Matthew in the wilds of northern Ontario. The family has traveled north of Ottawa into a part of the country that is undeniably beautiful, but also incredibly dangerous. We are constantly reminded of this by Officer Rob Boychuk, a veteran of the force and though reserved with our title character, he consistently shows Sarah and her children kindness. I laughed out loud at the name of Boychuk’s partner – Chantal Dubé, Miller couldn’t have possibly used a more French-Canadian name and in a world of books written by Americans, it was like a secret joke for the Canadians (truth be told, I think I know a Boychuk. Canada is small).

    In a former life, Miller was a policy writer and it is evident in the complexity of this story and the background she is able to create for each character. The world she builds for each scene and interaction is complete and well-thought; we feel the growing tension and begrudging respect between Boychuk and Sarah with each subsequent meeting. 

    Entertaining and well written, “Into the Fall” is an elevated thriller, perfect for readers looking for a complex story that draws you in and holds you captive until the end. “Into the Fall” hits bookstores 21 January 2025. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy to Netgalley.

  • Things That Go Bump: A Review of Horror Short Story Collection “Long Division”

    Things That Go Bump: A Review of Horror Short Story Collection “Long Division”

    Cover art for the horror short story collection, "Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse and Bad Manners". Image is of two skeletons standing in front of a tomb with the title of the book on it.

    The short story collection, “Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse and Bad Manners” is an incredible collection from independent publisher, Bad Hand Books. A shivering delight from start to finish, each story plays on the different fears and unsettling creep of societal breakdown. This anthology pulls you into the darkness, quickly and fiercely. I was a massive horror reader for the longest time, I don’t think there was a Stephen King or (going back now) R.L. Stine book I didn’t read. I don’t typically gravitate towards horror now, even though I love it and my own short fiction writing is quite dark. I’m really happy “Long Division” landed in my inbox, because it was such a fun, heart pounding, sometimes disturbing read. 

    Featuring tales from familiar voices like Chuck Palahniuk, there were new to me voices like Anna Taborska with “Third-Time Lucy” and Lora Senf with “Blight.  Palahniuk’s “Celeste” is raunchy, absurd and everything I think you can expect from a Palahniuk romp.

    Anna Taborska has created a bleak and dim world where classism has gone completely awry, she builds incredible tension and confusion. She explores the impact of dehumanization and how notions of class and worth are still upheld as the infrastructure of our known world collapses.

    “Blight” is a story of a mother’s sacrifice and the ways men will destroy everything around them and ultimately the world with their own hubris. The little girl with the fortune telling skin is fascinating with lyrical prose that pulls the reader into this mysterious world.

    Cynthia Pelayo’s Mrs. Darling  in “Fire of Roses” is delightfully ominous, I think this was my favourite short story in the collection because of the way it builds and plays with the reader. Horror doesn’t always have to be gory bloodshed, in fact it’s more effective when the horror comes from how people behave.

    I really enjoyed Andy Davidsons “The End of the World, After All” for the fluidity in the writing style, it has a feel of Stephen King’s “The End of the Whole Mess”. Deeply flawed people greeting the end of the world in some of the only, typically damaged and damaging, ways they know how.

    Recommend to horror and short fiction lovers!


    Thanks to Bad Hand Books for providing an early copy for me to review! As of publication (6 November), you can pre-order “Long Division” via their site, it’ll be available to order 12 November.

  • Book Review of Psychological Thriller: After Image

    Intricately and beautifully woven, “After Image” by author Jaime deBlanc is a tale of loss and the unbearable not knowing when a loved one disappears. Jaime deBlanc pulls us into this world through Natasha – a young woman traumatized by the loss of her (step) sister four years prior. The novel opens with the discovery of human remains in the nearby hills and Natasha’s visit to the police station to identify belongings found with the remains. 

    It is here we learn that Natasha has suffered from Conversion Disorder since Allie went missing. In another time, this temporary blindness caused by the brain’s response to trauma was called ‘hysterical blindness’. It plunges Tash into darkness when the anxiety and stress builds to an unbearable level. Despite this, Natasha appears to be a reliable narrator, as she takes us back and forth between her present (2017) and 2013, when Allie went missing and everyone’s lives changed. 

    Over time, deBlanc carefully doles out tidbits of information and hints subtly at the depths of each character’s identity. She carefully dropped Tesla into the timeline – Isabel, the missing girl’s mother, is seen driving a Tesla Roadster in a 2008 flashback. The first Teslas were released in February 2008, and of course the unbelievably wealthy and vapid Isabel would be among the first to have this car. A cutting yet subtle indication of her insipid grasp at being elite. 

    A few elements I predicted and in another writer’s hands might seem overdone (the brief affair Natasha has – really?), but there are only so many ways to fit all the pieces together and the difference is in the telling. Jaime deBlanc has crafted a story that is breathtaking in its careful handling of Natasha’s grief and the relationships undone by a disappearance. I was continually gripped by the story but also deBlanc’s writing, it is truly a delight to read.

    Highly recommend to readers who enjoy a mystery and want to be absorbed in its telling. After Image by Jaime deBlanc hits bookshelves October 8, 2024. 

  • Characters Take Flight in MONARCH: Literary Review of New Short Story Collection

    Dusty road background and book cover of Emily Jon Tobias' short story collection, Monarch.

    In Emily Jon Tobias’ new collection of short stories, “MONARCH”, we are confronted by realistically flawed characters who are given the space to form, make mistakes, and heal. An award-winning writer and  Pushcart Prize nominee, Tobias was raised in the American midwest and now lives in Southern California.  The way she captures and releases hard fought words has a feel of that hardscrabble grit you used to associate with an essential Americanism. It’s all the more poignant that the characters in MONARCH are imperfectly real – addicts and sad girls, overwhelmed mothers and people whose tether to sanity has loosened. 

    Tobias plays with language and voice to raise her characters into existence.The title story stopped my breath and as I read, I had the distinct sense that Tobias was gleefully playing with her words, stretching out each sentence to its limit, a fullness like the protagonist’s intentional weight gain. My first inclination – trim these sentences, they seem too full created the sense I was as quick to jump to conclusions as the people who brazenly stare at Georgia and judge her size. Such is the subtle brilliance of Tobias’ writing – the excess was an intentional weight and slowing down that ties us to Georgia.

    We see this again in “Vida”, the sentences short and choppy with Wiley’s anger. Tobias’ characters are confused and confusing – which is what I feel most days. Which is to say, each is fully formed in their humanity as its splayed on the page for the brief glimpse we have as a reader. We are like passersby, sometimes witnessing these characters’ worst moments and the way Tobias intends to pull them through and heal some of the cracks. 

    The book includes a reading guide that is straightforward to use, and I think this book works well for readers looking to include more diverse character sets in their reading. It depicts largely heteronormative experience, while also giving space and life to queer characters. Upper level English class settings, as well as guided reading groups – there is intention in the way Tobias has cultivated this collection and guided readers to know the characters in their complete selves, regardless of identity or partner. The writing is accessible with beautiful prose, worth a read because of that alone. 

    Find MONARCH via Emily Jon Tobias’ website or visit your local bookseller.