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Find Sanctuary in a Good Book: The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance and Before the Coffee Gets Cold

7 Jul

The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance
by Chiara Bullen
The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance is the new debut novel by Chiara Bullen. This is a sweet cozy fantasy novel that will appeal to fans of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries and Legends and Lattes. The novel begins at a D&Desque inn at the bottom of an ominous mountain which is said to be inhabited by monsters including a ferocious dragon. Ainsworth is a scholar who has been reluctantly sent to the inn to line up interviews with the adventures who will be tackling the mountain for a research paper. To his surprise though party after party chooses to not go up the mountain after they stay a night at the inn and the inn keeper, Honey, claims that no one has a actually chosen to make their way up the mountain. Ainsworth starts out as a seemingly vain and rude, but as he gets to know Honey and the other inn workers and guests, he begins to find himself opening up and healing from an abusive relationship. If you enjoy character driven stories with a focus on found families and strong friendships, this story will be one to check out. The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance was a story I did not want to put down.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold
by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Before the Coffee Gets Cold is the first in a series of novels by Toshikazu Kawaguchi set at a cafe in Japan where guests can go back to the past. But there are rules to the time travel, most importantly, they can only be in the past as long as it takes for the coffee that they have been served to get cold. The story was adapted from a play and this is reflected in the strong dialogue. Although they can not change the past, those that experience the magic of the cafe are often changed themselves and their future often takes a new path. We read the story for the Hoboken Public Library’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Group’s May discussion, but it will also appeal to those that enjoy magical realism, literary fiction, and are interested in Japan and life there. Our book group overall had a positive response to the story. I found Before the Coffee Gets Cold both touching and thought provoking.

If you are interested in joining one of the library’s upcoming book discussions, see our online calendar for a listing of upcoming dates. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Group will be meeting on July 27 to discuss Eliot Schrefer’s The Darkness Outside Us.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Horror/Thriller June Book Club Pick: Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning

30 Jun

Knock Knock; Nancy is a local campsite story no one takes seriously until knock knock knocks are heard. She was a witch beheaded who now knocks on cabin doors after dark, and takes your head if you answer. One by one, campers are gone, until Willow, playing the classic Final Girl archetype, must investigate and, in true slasher style, learn to swing an axe to save herself and whoever is left.

Book cover for Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning. Against a black background, three roasting sticks are held up - two with toasted marshmallows and the third being a blood-dripping axe. "Heads Will Roll" is printed in large hand-lettered white and red text at the bottom, with the author's name "Josh Winning" below it in orange. A silhouette of a red pine forest runs along the bottom. A blurb at the top reads: "Bloody, uplifting, and fun! Should come with a bucket of popcorn." — Gus Moreno, author of This Thing Between Us.

Maybe it was a bad joke? Maybe it was taken out of context? Maybe you just had a bad day and an even worse impulse? Heads Will Roll begins with Willow’s story when the internet and Hollywood were done with her, canceled her.

​Willow is a sitcom star who responds to a tweet at the wrong time and with the wrong language, and as a result loses her job, her fiancé, her money, and her apartment. So, if you are in an 80s-themed slasher horror, what do you do? You retreat to a secluded camp retreat in remote upstate New York.

​No phones. No social media. No electronics whatsoever.

Josh Winning knows his horror, and there are constant references to past movies, books, situations, and more throughout. Heads Will Roll wears its Friday the 13th hat proudly and takes on cancel culture. Winning explores critical LGBTQIA+ themes that shine a light on hypocritical leanings in our society.

​The campers aren’t teenagers making bad decisions. No, they’re adults making bad decisions, which can get a bit annoying and repetitive at times, but then again, the suspension of disbelief must be activated when reading this book.

​Every one of the characters has been publicly shamed, canceled, or otherwise chewed by the internet, so maybe, just maybe, they aren’t sure what the right decisions are anymore.

​It’s a good concept, and overall, Winning executes it with a classic summer-camp, 80s vibe, but be wary that some of the dots might not be as well connected as you would hope.

​I was suspicious of almost everyone at Camp Castaway, including Willow at one point.

​The social commentary feels real, sometimes intense, but real. Cancel culture as a horror metaphor is powerful.

​That said, the dialogue gets cringe-worthy in spots, almost cliché, and I wasn’t a fan of the omniscient text messages between many chapters. The ending happens quickly, and, as I said before, it leaves things a bit too loose, with unnecessary ambiguity and confusion. Not as tight as I was expecting.

​If you enjoy slashers and a masked killer stalking a camp excites you, Heads Will Roll is worth your time.

​Interested in the Horror/Thriller Book Club? Email reference@hobokenlibrary.org, or register for our next meeting by searching under Events on our website.

​You can reserve it in the BCCLS system here.

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​Written by: Sean Willey

Information and Digital Services Assistant

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