Finished, Reading, Will Read Next

 

Finished: The Cabin at the End of the World

Brief Summary: A band of four weirdos show up at the New Hampshire vacation cabin of a married couple, Eric and Andrew, and their daughter Wen. The weirdos tell Eric and Andrew that unless one of them willingly kills the other, the world will end. Are they wackos or visionaries? Who’s getting out of the cabin alive?

My Report: Meh. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you absolutely love horror novels and are looking for something that’s well-written and creepy. I just didn’t love the way it played out.

***

Reading: The Clock Dance

Brief Summary: Willa Drake revisits pivotal moments in her life, beginning with the day her mother disappeared in 1967.

Initial Thoughts: Anne Tyler can do no wrong. Charming and insightful as usual. Tyler is a deceptively thoughtful writer. By that I mean that you almost forget how profound she is because she makes it seem so easy.

***

Will Read Next: The Book of Essie

Why I Put It on My List: It’s about reality TV and a cult-like religion and a female protagonist who begins to question everything. Yes, please.

Finished. Started. Anticipating.

Finished
If you love time travel, history of the Middle Ages, and the black plague, you must read this book immediately.

It could’ve used a stronger editor because it was a little bloated at times. I can forgive that, though, because the characters were solid and the research really brought this time period to life.

I’m not sure I’ll tackle the sequels right away, but I really did enjoy reading this one.

 

 

Started
Oh, how I love a good unreliable narrator. I’m only about 15% into this one, but the sociopathic narrator is exactly the kind of  manipulative mind I like to examine from afar.

Reviewers are calling it dark. It absolutely is. If you don’t like the kind of psychological thrillers that mess with your head, this one isn’t for you.

So far, it reminds me a bit of You: A Novel by Caroline Kepnes.

 

Anticipating
I have this on hold from the library. I know nothing about it except the blurb below.

 “They were on a lark, three teenage girls speeding across the greens at night on a “borrowed” golf cart, drunk. The cart crashes and one of the girls lands violently in the rough, killed instantly. The driver, Jo, flees the hometown that has turned against her and enrolls at a prestigious boarding school. Her past weighs on her. She is responsible for the death of her best friend. She has tipped her parents’ rocky marriage into demise. She is ready to begin again, far away from the accident.”

I’m pretty sure I heard about it from Liberty Hardy on the All the Books podcast. She rarely steers me wrong!

 

 

 

Vacation Time!

I’m on vacation next week, and my reading list has been determined by the holds that just came in from the library. So here’s what I hope to read next week:

The Good Daughter: A Novel by [Slaughter, Karin]   Macbeth by [Nesbo, Jo]

The High Season: A Novel by [Blundell, Judy]

I cheated and started The Good Daughter last night; it scared the liver out of me. After the first 10% I decided that maybe I didn’t have the constitution to keep reading it. I put it down and turned out the lights. Ten minutes later I got up and starting reading more. So I guess I’m in this one for the long-haul, even though the book is deeply disturbing and I fully intend to have nightmares for a week.

Cheers!

Glass of wine with book

Currently Reading

I’ve been reading less this week than last, in part because I’m in the midst of a few large writing tasks. But I did finish two books: The Queen and I and The Last Mrs. Parrish. I liked certain things about both of them, but I have a couple of rants to make, especially about The Last Mrs. Parrish. A review is coming.

I started two more:

  

And received July’s Book-of-the-Month from my club of one member (me):