I am adoring Wicked Bugs, the latest from author Amy Stewart. She’s back with more deliciously morbid musings, this time about the insects, spiders, and squirmy things that have us so outnumbered that for each one of us, there are two hundred million of them. Eeep!

While Amy’s a huge fan of bugs, she didn’t focus on their virtues in this book. Instead we’re treated to the gory sexual lives, dietary quirks, and reproductive evils they take part in every day just to survive. Amy’s dry humor is the perfect balance to these horrible happenings, and the tales of zombie cockroaches and filth flies had me alternately laughing and cringing with glee. I did find, however, that my desire to read portions of the book out loud did not go over well at mealtimes.

I’m lucky enough to live locally to Amy, and she graciously invited me over to talk with her about the book, and to see some mildly off-putting but thrilling specimens:

If you love science, zombies, and tales of wickedness, you’ll definitely dig this book. I’d especially recommend it for gift-giving because the dry wit and short chapters make it easy for people to read bits out loud in a group setting. Plus, it’s one of those lovely hardcovers with a ribbon for a bookmark, and has crazy-detailed etchings by Briony Morrow-Cribbs (who did the etchings for Wicked Plants).

You can check to see if Amy’s speaking in your area soon, and definitely pick up a copy of Wicked Bugs if you haven’t already. I’ve already bought a few as gifts!

More from Amy Stewart:

Buy signed copies of Wicked Bugs from the author

Wicked Plants talk at Northtown Books in Arcata

Tour of Amy’s Wicked Plants garden of evils