Mat Som by Lat

Komik yang diterbitkan sekitar 1989 ini tentang Mat Som bin Mat Top seorang perantau dari kampung yang bercita-cita hendak menjadi seorang penulis surat khabar. Duduk menumpang bersama kawannya di Kuala Lumpur ketika itu amat mencabar. Masih belum berjawatan tetap, sepucuk surat diterima daripada ayahnya dari Tanjung Malim yang memintanya 'berkawan' dengan Faridah, teman sepermainannya masa kecil dulu. Dia berbelah bahagi dengan permintaan ayahnya yang mahu dia berumahtangga dengan anak kawannya disebabkan ekonominya masih tak stabil dan ditambah pula dia mahu menimba pengalaman hidup merantau.

Walau pun ini komik tapi perjalanan cerita Mat Som macam novel. Dengan suasana tahun 80an yang tinggal menjadi sejarah buat aku rasa dekat sekali dengan jiwa. Aku paling suka part dia berjumpa dengab Pyanhabib dan sewaktu dia nak balik ke Kuala Lumpur, dia sempat ke tempat kerja ayahnya. Nostalgia betul. 

Endingnya juga sungguh baik. Mat Som ialah seorang lelaki yang bercita-cita, sederhana dan mempunyai identiti sendiri. 4.5 ⭐️

The September House by Carissa Orlando

Margaret and her husband, Hal Hartman, shared fantasies of owning a house—a place where they could live and grow old together. They fell in love with a gorgeous old Victorian house that was nearly one hundred fifty years old, despite a death that had occurred there. Undeterred, they bought the house.

They lived blissfully until the walls of the house started bleeding and making screaming noises every September. These events continued to happen cyclically and vanished in October. Not only that, they discovered that the house was filled with the spirits of the deceased, seemingly trying to convey a message. Margaret tried to learn more about the history of the house through articles in the library but couldn't find a solution.

After four years, Hal couldn't bear to live in the house for another September and mysteriously disappeared. Instead of having a poor relationship with her father, Katherine returned home to search for her missing father.

It is another story about a haunted house, a dysfunctional family, and generational trauma. It evokes different emotions throughout the novel, from spooky and sad to twisted. This ingenious book is riveting and well-documented through Margaret's POV and received a Goodreads Choice Award. 4.5 ⭐️ 

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

Omgomgomgomg. What a sweet revenge! A pat on the back to the author. For this, I give 5 ⭐️. 

A group of so-called friends hasn't seen each other in over a decade, so this is an informal reunion after one of them, Alfred Smettle, celebrated his second year in business at the Hitchcock Hotel. A themed hotel is what they needed, as autumn is the perfect season to commemorate the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. What a coincidence that they share a first name! Alfred invited his five former friends from college for the weekend. They took a film studies class together. Little did they know, he planned some kind of revenge for all of them because of the 'betrayal' that took place before they graduated. Staging a perfect murder as an accident may evoke a mood and create enough suspense.

Maybe the story paced a bit slow in the first half of the book, but I think it's necessary. The author keeps intriguing interactions between the characters in every chapter. Weird things have been happening all weekend. What we know is that no one can be trusted after a body is found, until it's too late to realize that the reunion is a bad idea. The plot, the secrets, and the closure have contributed to this beautiful writing.