I’ve been reading True Biz by Sara Novic. It feels a little weird to listen to it as an audiobook, because it’s set in a residential school for the deaf. It’s mostly a coming-of-age story. Two of the three main characters are students at the school and the third is the headmistress. I’m not terribly familiar with deaf culture and I’m really enjoying this introduction.
Started last night on What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall. It’s a novel about three girls; one was attacked by a serial killer when they were young, and their testimony sent him to prison for life. But apparently it wasn’t the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Pretty good so far.
I like both the book and the movie very much. To put you in the mood:
Yes!
Finished Fairy Tale which to be honest was a slog. Now mad honey.
I finished Rum Punch (aka Jackie Brown even though the stewardess is named Jackie Burke in the novel) on Friar’s Bay Beach. Man, Elmore Leonard was really something.
Started Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley. This is Mosley’s eleventh Easy Rawlins book spoiler: also his last. I’ve read the first ten but couldn’t find #11 until just recently. Loving it so far.
Finished Introducing Elsa Maxwell: How an Irrepressible Nobody Conquered High Society, Hollywood, the Press, and the World, by Sam Staggs. Meh.
Now I’m reading Round Up the Usual Peacocks, by Donna Andrews.
I finished Swordheart by T. Kingfisher. I seriously laughed so hard in a couple places that I hurt myself. 
Last night I finished What Lies in the Woods. I didn’t like any of the characters, and I figured out some of the twists before they were revealed. But there were more to come! By the end, I wasn’t even sure what really happened. But it was a decent read nonetheless and held my interest.
Next I started The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes. It wasn’t as well written as What Lies in the Woods, and after a couple of chapters, I realized I’d lost interest. However, it was too late to start another book, so I flipped through the remainder, reading a couple of paragraphs every other page until I reached the end. I have a pretty good idea what it was all about. I noticed that this book, more than any other on my library account, has a long hold list. There must be some buzz about it, but I don’t know why.
Started this morning on The Talking Parcel, a children’s book by British author Gerald Durrell. In topic and tone, it reminds me very much of Five Children and It, by Edith Nesbit. I call that a good thing.
Finished Round Up the Usual Peacocks, by Donna Andrews, which was okay.
Now I’m reading Norwich: One Tiny Vermont Town’s Secret to Happiness and Excellence, by Karen Crouse.
Finished Norwich: One Tiny Vermont Town’s Secret to Happiness and Excellence, by Karen Crouse, which was okay.
Now I’m reading Mad Blood Stirring, by Simon Mayo.
London Rising: The Men Who Made Modern London Leo Hollis
A history of the English capital from roughly 1640 to 1700, focusing on five men - John Locke, John Evelyn, Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, and Nicholas Barbon - who contributed to the development of the city.
Interesting and well-written. Recommended.
Finished Mad Blood Stirring, by Simon Mayo, which was okay.
Now I’m reading The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future: What Yesterday’s Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow, by Steven Novella, with Bob Novella and Jay Novella.
Started today on The Spite House by Johnny Compton. A family who is in hiding from some mysterious trouble takes a job caretaking a haunted house for a large sum of money.
On paper, I’m reading Charlie Jane Anders’ All the Birds in the Sky. On kindle, I’m reading Hilary St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility. They’re both pretty weird and I’m really enjoying both of them. These are my first books by these authors–I’m sure I’ll be looking for more.
(Emily St. John Mandel)
Sea of Tranquility was weird and fun. Let me know your opinion when you finish.
Her previous book, The Glass Hotel, had a similar feel and even shared a few characters. And her book Station Eleven is in my top 10 of all time list. If you like SoT, I think you’d like both of those.
Finished The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future: What Yesterday’s Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow, by Steven Novella, with Bob Novella and Jay Novella, which is a good introduction to the subject, and which I would’ve liked more if I hadn’t already read elsewhere about pretty much all of the topics in it.
Now I’m reading Sewer, Gas, & Electric, a science fiction novel by Matt Ruff, written in 1990, and set in the “distant future” of 2023…
I saw this at the library today and almost got it, but then I turned around and saw Roots on the shelf behind me. I checked that one out instead. It’s been on Mt. TBR longer.
I understand!
I’ve been reading Flannery O’Connor, The Complete Stories. Its confirmed something I have always suspected. She was not only the greatest writer to ever come from America, she is one of the greatest writers that ever lived. Someone once said that rather than compare her to other modern writers, she should be compared to someone like Sophocles. I agree, there is nothing else that even comes close.
Yes, some of her terminology is not PC, but it’s the language that was used in The South in her time period. Some of the funniest and most profound writing I have ever read. Her characters, no matter how crazy they may be, are just so human. She wrote dialogue that sticks in your mind forever, especially in Everything That Rises Must Converge, The Life You Save Must Be Your Own and Good Country People. There is really no one else to compare her to.