Annihilation is one of my favourite books. I've only read up to the second book, Authority. Authority is not set in Area X and i didn't like it at first but it gives a lot of context to the overall story. I understand that it can be frustrating, but the things you disliked are the things that made me enjoy it! I love hearing a different perspective on it. I liked how much i was kept in the dark about everything, the whole thing felt so eerie and unsettling and i do think the main character is difficult to connect with but i felt like that was intentional. Jeff VanderMeer is one of my favourite writers, oh he's working on a fourth book in the series btw!!

Perhaps you'd enjoy Annihilation the movie more. I did.

Wayward Pines is a tv show also.

The Pines trilogy is among my fav series I've read. Blake Crouch is a heck of an author.

The original series of Twin Peaks is absolutely compulsive viewing and weirdly wonderful. Starts out as a seemingly conventional murder mystery but then mutates into something far, far stranger. Baffling, bizarre and at times outrageously funny there is simply nothing else quite like it and I am pretty certain that if you give it a try you will soon find yourself addicted!

I'm going to have to check out The Pines books, that actually sounds really interesting. The Slob and Annihilation are on my list of books to get too soon. I've heard mixed things about Annihilation, so I'm curious to see where I land with it.

I haven't read Annihilation, but I saw the movie with my best friend. It was a very crazy movie that was disturbing to me. That weird bear cracked me up! I only recently found out it was a movie adaptation of a book and now I want to read it.

I read Penpal after seeing your video. I've been watching ever since, you're great! I highly recommend the show Twin Peaks, it's so nostalgic!

The black phone stories. Having trouble getting into it though

Thanks for the November round up Anda! Great selection of mixed genres. And as one fellow Crouch fan to another; please tell me you will be finishing the Wayward Pines trilogy?!

Hey Anda you’ve inspired me to buy a Readder and start reading it after a long break. I love it. Thanks. ❤

Your opinion on Annihilation is super valid and I understand it. That being said, yeah I would say all of the things you didn’t like were the reasons I did like it. What I didn’t know (or have revealed to me) made it scarier for me. So the not finding stuff out kind of helped with my enjoyment as weird as that sounds. But I get how that would fall super fucking flat so I get it! Try the movie. I think it’s a bit more consistent in what it’s trying to convey.

Ok girl you convinced me to give this Dark Winter series a try…

In Annihilation you only know/learn what the main character does. The 2nd and 3rd books explain a lot more. Area X is fleshed out more in the rest of the trilogy. The 1st book is the only one written in 1st person. 2 and 3 are written in 3rd person. In Annihilation you aren't supposed to know exactly what is going on, because the narrator doesn't. Twin Peaks is a David Lynch project. It is not like Twilight Zone. It is just very surreal and strange like Lynch's films.

Love your videos, Anda! Just picked up a copy of The Slob because of your recommendation. Really looking forward to reading it. Keep up the great content!

Have you read A Haunting In The Arctic by CJ Cooke? One of the better haunted house novels I’ve read in some time. But there is no house in the story. I think you might enjoy it.

It's so funny that we have a ton of similar tastes in books and authors, but I have the exact opposite thoughts of Jeff VanderMeer and Blake Crouch. I love Jeff's vagueness in writing because it lets my brain go so haywire. I LOVE Borne by him, I think that has the best set up of lore and story. And I was sooooo disappointed and bored with Dark Matter, but I honestly think it was way too hyped up. I gotta check out more of his work to fully know how I feel about him and I LOVED the quote from the book you read, so Pines is def going on my TBR!

“Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead to share with the worms that gather in the darkness and surround the world with the power of their lives" After that I was hooked. Annihilation is so alien that giving more information would rob the slow apocalypse of its power. Definitley finish the trilogy

Anda, I highly recommend reading the entire trilogy of Area X before making final judgements. The second and third books have a slightly different writing style, and you need those two books to get the whole story, plus some of those things you were really wanting out of the first book. DEFINITELY read the rest, and read them back to back. 😉 Love those books!

The House Across the Lake is the book that convinced me to stop picking up new Sager books. I've only read that one and Survive the Night, but I've left both with the same annoyed feeling...Great premise, great setup, but the story loses me with the non-stop nonsensical twists that seem to exist just to catch the reader off-guard and end up derailing the narrative. I still want to give one or two more of his older books a try. The books all come in with a perfect setup, but if I'm left with the same vibes I'll have to accept that his books aren't my bag. Also I want to read The Slob, but I don't think I could put up with looking at that cover for too long! So disturbing.🤢

I read Dark Matter this month and LOVED it! I basically read it in one sitting.

I just started the second in the Dark Winter series because of your rec. That first one flew by, finished it in 2 days. It was a little more "fluffy" than I like my horror, (I'm used to Stephen King gore and deep character development with lots of details) but it truly sucks you in.

Have you read Crow Girl by Eric Axl Sund? It is a very atmospheric and dark book. I absolutely loved it and from watching your videos I think you might too 😊

you might try reading "stalker" by Arkadi Strugazki and Boris Strugazki. its a great book. and one of the best sci fi books ever written.

So weird! I JUST finished The House Across the Lake and Pines is up next for me lol. I definitely thought the twist in The House Across the Lake was a reach but I ultimately enjoyed it. It was a good intro to Riley Sager bc now I’m on The Last Time I Lied and I’m loving that!

Hey anda love your vid’s, you actually got me into reading horror novels and I’m so glad can’t get enough. Always loved horror movies but never made time to read until I came across your videos. So thank you 😊 Also have you read much of and liked Adam Neville and ania ahlborn?

Once u finish the trilogy, go watch the tv series, it's awesome

I read The Southern Reach trilogy last year. I've given it time to sink in. I hated Authority. It was more about a toxic work environment than Area X. Not fun. Acceptance was ok. Some mysteries get solved, but not completely. I wouldn't read it. I've never said that before. Also, I'm reading the Black Winter series and love it. Pines is on my TBR.

I was also so disappointed with pumpkin spice murder, it was awful

girl how have you never seen twin peaks!!!!

I loved Annihilation but hated the second book.. and I can’t bring myself to read the third. For anyone who has read it, does it get better ? 😩

I’m definitely interested in Darcy Coates. I’m currently reading the Mindf*ck Series. Not sure if you’ve read them. I like them but they’re kinda YA -ish writing style with some heavy situations. The plot is very interesting though.

I was enjoying the house across the lake until that Ridiculous twist, hated it! Never read a Riley sager since, it was my first and last!

What do you think about Ergodic Litterature in the veins of : S (Ship of Thesus) House of Leaves Raw shark texts Infinite comedy Illuminae trilogy?

😀

I thought Annihilation was just ok, tried to read the 2nd book & DNFd it. I would say if you didnt like the first book, dont bother with the rest.

I doubt you’d like the other two Southern Reach novels. There’s a lot of the same kind of allusion and indirection as Annihilation, and you don’t sound keen to explore within that style. I love it, but you aren’t obliged to, and I say you’d be better off putting the reading effort and time into something else.

I hated Annihilation, it's trying so much to be weird but it's just all vague and confusing. I just finished my first Darcy Coates book- Hunted. I'm ready for more. Nice show. Thanks, Creep.