Joel R. Dennstedt's 3 favorite reads in 2025

• 2024
• 2025

A fellow once stated, “I never let anyone rent space inside my head.” Any avid reader knows that is poor advice. Indeed, one should readily allow Tom Hoffman to ‘let’ daily headspace with his marvelously entertaining novel, Miss Bristol Rents A Room. Billed as “an epic historical fantasy,” this brilliantly executed morsel of wonderment will light up that special reading nook inside one’s brain. The intriguing orange-headed femme fatale adorning the cover of Mr. Hoffman’s latest foray into imaginative adventure is the infamous Miss Bristol — the primary motivation for leasing some temporary reading space. Why is she dressed from “The Gilded Age?” Why is she standing on a modern street? Why is she firing what appears to be a Martian ray gun? To repeat: this entertainment is an epic historical fantasy.

Tom Hoffman is well known for his beguiling characters, their wild adventures, and hilarious repartees. Miss Bristol is his most beguiling character to date, and she captures the reader’s rapt attention from the very first page. She awakens in an alley, dressed in clothes from earlier days, oblivious to who or where she is. When she is advised to “find a room to rent,” the reader is equally encouraged to rent a portion of their brain and let Tom Hoffman work his magic. One is about to embark on a grand adventure through time and space with a strange, orange-eyed, orange-haired beauty named Miss Bristol. Don’t miss that magnificent alien ray gun in operation! Pay the rent, see the world!

Some writers pull you into their story so easily that you have no time to notice how quickly and deeply you’ve become immersed. Usually, this happens due to exquisite writing or a compelling plot. Sometimes, the reader is treated to both. When the story being told is also magically imbued, the immersion feels much like an invisible spell cast by irresistible words—a literary incantation, if you will. Within such conjurations, single phrases—sometimes disarmingly simple—evoke the most profound emotions. Consider an early observation made by the narrator in Doina Ruști’s exquisitely literate and magical novel, The Book of Perilous Dishes:
“What sadness there is in clothes that no one will wear anymore!”
Within the context of a most remarkable scene, this simple phrase evokes emotions beyond what should be warranted while creating an atmosphere impossible to dispel. At this point, the reader is already spellbound, immersed, and utterly engaged.
The plot of this reality-twisting, imaginative adventure may be simply stated, but no mere words could convey the impressive texture and complexity of its execution.

The difference encountered in discussing plot elements here, compared to other books, is that one must "live" the plot of The Book of Perilous Dishes - speaking literarily, of course - to appreciate its profound impact properly. Suppose one merely engages with the story from the perspective of an outside observer, which is how we often read even highly evocative novels. In that case, one will avoid the incredible experience of submitting to this book's consumptive powers. That would make for a most perilous, neglectful consequence.

One approaches a book like The Dreadful Dawn by Colleen A. Parkinson with varying degrees of trepidation, including the enticing subject matter—the promise of an end-of-the-world zombie apocalypse—and the cautious apprehension of all those movies and streaming series that have engraved their unyielding expectations and clichéd certainties into our skulls, not to mention the books on which they are based. However, those initial concerns are easily and quickly put to rest upon surrendering to this author’s skillful writing and narrative skills. The dystopian elements of Parkinson’s engaging immersion into civilizational collapse are familiar in a weirdly comfortable way—we recognize the territory—but her characters are unique, irresistible, fascinating, and unforgettable, and the reader becomes entirely invested in their personal destinies. Beware the power of this fictional seduction, however, for Ms. Parkinson is unflinching in her dispensation of providence and fate.

A key component of Colleen A. Parkinson’s compelling novel, The Dreadful Dawn (Book One of the Claiming Destination series), is a connective thread too essential to be treated as mere subtext. Her protagonists share a deeply held Christian faith, which grounds their actions and attitudes while not defining or constraining their experiences according to religious doctrine—this is not a “Left Behind” treatment of “The Last Days.” However, such a faith-based depiction of motivations and orientations offers a unique perspective largely unexplored in most approaches to the genre. The result is an exciting, innovative, and psychologically complex story about zombies eating humans—not funny, rest assured.