It's Monday 10/12! What Are You Reading?

Last week started out good: I got to see a close friend I hadn't seen in ages for a short walk at our lovely local nature center. It was great to see her and catch up a bit and to be outdoors on such a perfect fall day!

Walking with a friend early last week

By Wednesday the next day, though, I was severely ill with what those with my chronic immune disorder call a "crash," which is very descriptive! I know I've been explaining that I've been worse than usual since March, but this is another thing all together. Given my symptoms and the severity, it is most likely that I was exposed to some infectious agent--perhaps even something as common as a cold. Given my immune dysfunction, I rarely "catch" viruses, but being exposed to one makes my already over-active immune system go totally berserk! Bottom line is that I have been stuck on the couch (or on the really bad days, in bed) since then. There's really nothing I can do but rest and wait it out. With all the immune system treatments I have found over the years, this rarely happens to me anymore and it typically doesn't last too long, but I am just in wait and see (and rest) mode.

So, that means I was hardly online at all last week--very few blog visits or blog posts of my own--so I am behind! On the plus side, I have had a LOT of extra reading time! When I'm this bad, I need to really rest and not just try to work while lying down, so I had to set the laptop aside most of the week, which is good for my reading. There is nothing better when you are really sick than a great book to lose yourself in! 

Here's what we've all been reading this week:

I took a break from my RIP XV Challenge books to read a nonfiction book for my book group: White Trash: the 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg. It starts by busting the myths of the U.S.'s original colonies that we all learned in history class: the staid, hard-working Pilgrims who came here seeking religious freedom and established a successful, class-less society. Instead, the author cites a wide variety of historical documents that show that the first settlers brought England's strict class society with them, with landed gentry given access to the property here and ships full of vagrants, criminals, homeless children, and other poor people sent here to provide labor for building and planting. Even before Africans were brought here in slave ships, the colonists had indentured servants (whose children were often owned by the wealthy also) and other kinds of unpaid labor--lots of different ways to have slaves without using the word. I'm about halfway through so far, and the book goes through each period of history, highlighting many of the leaders, and revealing what life was really like for poor whites and what leaders' attitudes were toward the lower class. I was disappointed that I couldn't manage our Zoom discussion because there is so much here to talk about! As fascinating as the book was, I set it aside (I plan to finish it for Nonfiction November) in favor of some immersive, dark fiction.

I am now reading The Witch Elm by Tana French, which is just what the doctor ordered for some sick day October escape! While my husband and I are both big fans of her Dublin Murder Squad series, this is a stand-alone novel, though still set in and around Dublin. It was named a Top Ten or Notable book by both the New York Times and NPR when it was released in 2018 and features French's outstanding writing, character development, and twisty plotting. Toby lives a charmed life. He's a confident, charismatic guy who works in PR, loves his job, has a nice apartment, and is in love with his wonderful girlfriend, Melissa. Toby's life begins to fall apart, though, when two burglars break into his home and beat him severely, leaving him for dead. Then, with lingering symptoms from his brain injury and other injuries months later, Toby gets the news that his beloved uncle, Hugo, is dying of brain cancer. Toby and Melissa move in to help Hugo--and that turns out to be good for Toby, too--when another tragedy hits. An unidentified skull is found in Hugo's back garden, where Toby and his cousins played as kids, as did his father and his brothers before them. The family home is upended as the police swarm in to investigate. As with all of French's novels, this one is twisty and immersive and compelling; I'm loving it!

On audio, I finished listening to a RIP XV Challenge novel, one that's been in my audio backlog for a few years, Sycamore by Bryn Chancellor. There is a mystery at the heart of this novel (a teen girl goes missing in a small town), but the novel is strongly focused on its characters. One reviewer compared it to Olive Kitteridge since chapters are written from the perspectives of different people in town, both in 1991 when seventeen-year-old Jess disappeared, and in the present day, when a new resident of the town discovers a set of human bones in a dry lake bed. The reader gets the perspectives of Jess herself and her mother but also her best friend, her teacher, her employer, and other people in the town who were/are somehow affected by Jess or her disappearance. So, while it is a mystery as to what happened to Jess, it is a slow, quiet mystery, with the people (and their secrets) at the heart of the story. I enjoyed it on audio. (Ooh, I just noticed that two of my books last week were about finding mysterious human remains in an unexpected place! Perfect for the season!)

Now, I am listening to another dark and creepy choice, All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban, a YA thriller. This one has a unique premise. Six students from the local high school all get letters saying they have won scholarships and inviting them to an awards dinner. When they show up at the designated time and place, though, no one else is there, and they get locked into a basement room alone. On the table is a bomb counting down, a syringe filled with liquid, and a note saying they have to choose one person to die (by injection) in the next hour, or they will all die from the bomb. They begin arguing over their options, while some chapters look back over the past year of their lives to fill in information about each of them. They are all very different--a star athlete, the valedictorian, an all-around over-achiever, a talented musician, a stoner, and a loner--but they all have secrets. It's kind of like The Breakfast Club crossed with a high-stakes thriller! It's good so far, and I am engrossed in it.

My husband, Ken, is reading another good RIP XV choice, From a Buick 8 by Stephen King. I had no idea that King wrote another horror novel about a car besides Christine, which was super creepy when I read it in the 80's as a teen! This one was published in 2002 and is about a State Police troop in rural Pennsylvania who discover an unusual old Buick Roadmaster back in 1979. Knowing that the car is dangerous, the troopers hide the car in a shed and attempt to discover its secrets over the years. In 2001, a state trooper is killed, and his teenage son, Ned, begins coming by the barracks to help out with small jobs around the place, to feel closer to his dad. The troopers understand this and welcome him, but once Ned discovers the Buick out in the shed, old secrets begin to stir. It sounds like classic Stephen King creepiness and perfect reading for the season!

Our son, 26, is still reading the epic fantasy series, Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind and loving it! Last week, he finished book 2, Stone of Tears and immediately moved onto book 3, Blood of the Fold, both of which he picked up at his favorite local used bookstore with a birthday gift card.  It sounds like the series is filled with murder, swords, treachery, and a unique magical world--yup, that ticks all his boxes! He has been powering through each long book, so they must be really compelling. He loves this kind of stuff.

 

Blog posts from last week:

TV Tuesday: High Fidelity - a modern take on the Nick Hornby novel - fun, warm, and full of music!

Fiction Review: The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton - original, award-winning suspense novel about a teen safecracker who can't speak

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.   

What are you and your family reading this week? 

Perfect fall day at our local nature center