Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Loftcraftian Horror Genre, a little bit of *magic* and a strong female lead

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Mexican Gothic is a horror genre novel by author Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Set in 1950s Mexico, it follows the protagonist Noemi, a socialite who is tasked by her father to find her estranged cousin who hasn’t been since by the family since her wedding to her English husband. Noemi travels to the mountainside Doyle Family home in the fictional El Triunfo (Spanish for The Triumph). Once arriving, Noemi immediately senses that something is off in this house. A dilapidated and isolated mansion covered in grime and […]

I See Why This Is Popular

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Best for: Those who enjoy interesting, somewhat mystical novels that aren’t extremely fantastical. In a nutshell: Noemí Taboada has been asked by her father to visit her cousin Catalina, who is newly married and living in a giant home in the Mexican countryside. She’s sent a worrying letter, so Noemí is off to investigate and see if Catalina needs help. Worth quoting: “A woman who is not liked is a bitch, and a bitch can hardly do anything; all avenues are closed to her.” Why […]

Jane Eyre meets H.P. Lovecraft

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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I am a big fan of gothic fiction reinterpreted in postcolonial settings, so this was right up my alley.  Moreno-Garcia’s novel follows Noemi Taboada, an upper class university student in 1950s Mexico City. When her father receives a strange letter from Noemi’s cousin, Catalina, Noemi goes to visit Catalina in the remote mining town where she lives with her husband Virgil’s family. Granted limited access to her cousin, who is said to be ‘recovering’, Noemi spends a growing amount of time with Virgil’s family, including […]

Books for Spooky Season

The Last Book on the Left by Marcus Parks, et al

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

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As a fan of Last Podcast on the Left, I both looked forward to reading the book by “The Boys” (Marcus Parks, Ben Kissel, and Henry Zebrowski) and also wondered how they would pull it off. The podcast is irreverent and explicit, with Parks (usually) providing the research and central narrative of a particular topic, while Ben and Henry offer asides and impressions. The good (?) news is that The Last Book on the Left essentially replicates that structure. Each chapter provides information on a serial killer (ten […]

Is there any genre that Moreno-Garcia can’t tackle?

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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I unfortunately don’t remember too much of this book, but I enjoyed reading it so 3 stars it is. This is a stylized noir, with MacGuffins we never see, dames who’ll do you dead, gangsters with guns jumping out of cars, and a vague sense that no matter what happens to our little hill of beans the larger tale won’t skip a beat. Perhaps it’s part of the genre, but I enjoyed that our view into the whole dramatic tale was Maite, a 30-something secretary […]

“In the end, we are always our hunger.”

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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That cover is gorgeous! And hey, who doesn’t want to read a book about a vampire and her glowing dog? “Bribes could buy almost anything back north, but this was not the North. This was good old Mexico City, which had fallen to the Spaniards but would not yield to vampires.” In this alternate world, vampires were revealed to the world in the 1970s, leading to political upheaval all over the world. While the rest of Mexico may be controlled by various vampire gangs, Mexico […]



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