Mental Health Slump

What I read when I'm over it.

My mental health has been in such a hole lately, it’s been hard to climb out. I haven’t had the stamina to write or update my newsletter is so long. But I have been reading.

And when I’m feeling kinda blah, I often reach for comforting books, mostly in the realm of Agatha Christie, but I’ve also been consuming a lot of modern detective fiction—most of the of cosy murder variety, nothing too taxing. But here’s just a taste of what I’ve been reading.

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Find me on Instagram at @lilithruby, and writing about career-ish stuff on The Foreword.

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Earlier

Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi

If you’re a fan of detective fiction, this is a kinda academic look at the genre that unpicks the troupes and breaks them down into equations, so to speak. Pavesi is insanely clever to be able to execute this kind of novel; it’s a masterful experiment and highlights how simple the construction of detective fiction can be, but how much skill is required to drive the plot, build tension, and spin a plot twist.

Now

Revenge by Yōko Ogawa

Kinda gruesome, sometimes sad, and often eerie, Revenge consists of eleven interconnected stories that are somewhat unsettling but on the whole enjoyable. Ogawa’s The Memory Police is one of my favourite novels, and is described at having “dream-like” quality, which totally applies to Revenge, only there’s a lot more retribution to wrong doings here.

Later

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Quite a few years ago now I read Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, and while the story fell a little flat in the end, I found her take on slow-burn horror genius. So when I found Silver Nitrate in a second-hand store I thought I’d give it (and it’s amazing cover) a whirl.

Enjoy!

Find me on Instagram at @lilithruby, and writing about career-ish stuff on

The Foreword

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