• House of Leaves — Mark Z. Danielewski (Read in 2026) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
• There are no words in the English language, (or Latin), I could use to describe the profound impact this book has had on me. How utterly important, and painfully close to home (or house) it has hit me.

Every moment, every footnote, every character come together to weave a tapestry of human error and generations of trauma. Of love, loss, obsession, addiction, and terror. Of home and family. Of wanting to be seen, and longing to see what is unseen. And so, so, so much more.

It is a love story, it is a horror story, it is a tragedy. It is so many things. With many overarching branches like a family tree. No segment deserves to be discarded, no tangent should be shied away from. Each narrative, each voice tells a side of a much larger story. What seems to be irrelevant only serves to further the themes within. It is a labyrinth, it is a beast. I found myself loving nearly each and every character within this story, faults and all.

But Johnny Truant and Will Navidson in particular, I find myself uncomfortably relating to. Johnny especially—his thoughts, feelings, and histories mirroring my own so closely in a way that it felt like peering into a dark reflection of my self. Ugliest aspects and all. Stripped bare and afraid. Never has there been a character so alike myself, (save for perhaps a select few), that left me shaken and sitting there with my head in my hands for hours. Navy too—his desperation and dedication, his efforts and his defeat frightened me in how familiar it all felt. And that's not even the half of it.

I will never, ever stop loving this book. (I slept with it in my bed nearly every night during those first few months of reading it). And I will never forget the countless tears I've shed and the many audible shouts I've let out in response to its pages. This may just be my favourite piece of anything of all time.