As part of The Colorado Sun’s literature section — SunLit — featuring staff picks from bookstores across the state. >> Click here for more SunLit
This week’s bookstore: Old Firehouse Books, 232 Walnut St., Fort Collins
oldfirehousebooks.com | @OFirehouseBooks at Twitter, Instagram
from the publisher: When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives news that his childhood friend, Madeline Usher, is dying, they race to the Ushers’ ancestral home in the remote countryside of Ruritania. What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, throbbing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and talks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed by a mysterious nerve disease. With the help of a fearsome British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before he consumes them all.
From Elliot, bookseller: Kingfisher modernizes this retelling of “The Fall of the House of Usher” and manages to surpass the original in both atmosphere and sheer terror. With a non-binary main character who arrives on the scene fully developed and likable, and a setting that gave me goosebumps, the grotesque has never been more riveting. This perfectly timed slice of horror was gothic at its finest. I will never look at a rabbit without suspicion again.
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From the publisher: In led, a young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined city half destroyed by drought and conflict. The city is dangerous, littered with discarded experiments from the Company, a now-abandoned biotech company, and plagued by the unpredictable depredations of a giant bear. Rachel eke out a living in the shelter of a dilapidated sanctuary she shares with her partner, Wick, who traffics in her own homegrown psychoactive biotech. One day, Rachel finds Borne during a collecting mission and brings him home. Brought in as salvage, he is little more than a green lump—plant or animal?—yet he exudes a strange charisma. As Borne grows older, he begins to threaten the balance of power in the city and the safety of his sanctuary with Wick.
From Heather, Bookseller: This post-apocalyptic novel follows the scavenger Rachel in a world destroyed by the mysterious Company that has left behind its disturbing biotech creations that rule the landscape. On the mission to find her, Rachel finds the abnormal Borne and decides, despite the likely danger, to keep the creature…whatever it is. Perfect for anyone looking for hope in the post-apocalyptic, “Borne” makes us question what makes one human, inhuman, or animal.
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From the publisher: This is one of the most practical guides to storytelling that I have ever read. The world is on fire. So tell your story. Things are scary right now. We are all being swept up in a tidal wave of history, and it’s easy to feel powerless. But we are not helpless: we have minds, imaginations and the ability to envision other worlds and brave struggles. And writing can be an act of resistance that reminds us that other futures and other ways of living are possible. Filled with memoirs, personal anecdotes, and insights on how to thrive during the current emergency, this book is the perfect primer for creativity in unprecedented times.
From Nicole, Marketing Manager: This book made me want to write again, after years of feeling creatively drained and drained by the mere thought of opening a blank document. Anders gives great advice on how to plot, how to characters, how to write, with humor, wit and a tell it like it is attitude. His advice is honest, but kind, and he deeply understands how stupid it feels to write about spaceships while the world is on fire, but he also tells you why you should do it anyway. And he is incredibly encouraging.
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