Book Binge

I have been super slacking on updating the blog, but I have certainly not been slacking on reading. I have read a few more books in the past month than these, but these are the ones that I felt warranted some words and reviews. Only one of them was a galley, because I also spend an inordinate sum on titles that interest me so I feel it’s necessary to read those too. And since I am always reading multiple books simultaneously, I try to always be reading an ARC and a book I’ve spent my own cash on.

Now that fall has…fallen, I will most likely be trending towards cozier reads, ghost stories, and some historical fiction with a romantic slant (I am a sucker for love during WWII). There’s nothing I love more than curling up under a blanket with a cup of tea and reading during this season. In other news, I am 75 years old. These selections were perfect for the cusp of seasons, easing me into my new mood. We have a horror book about an unidentified object in the basement, a heartfelt coming-of-age tale during the confusing height of the AIDS epidemic, a memoir about living with anxiety that reads like a novel, and a (possible?) murder mystery set in seemingly idyllic suburbia, a charming tale of an 11-year old sleuth, and a novelization of a True Crime tragedy.

The Chrysalis by Brendan Deneen

This was one of those books that I kept seeing everywhere – everyone was all abuzz about this horr-or release. The tagline, “Stay out of the basement”, was appealing because it played on fears almost everyone has. The basement holds a lot of creepy connotations for most people; whether it’s the darkness or the fact that it’s underground, it instantly conjures up our deepest unsettling insecurities. I was naturally quite excited when I was granted an ARC from MacMillan publishing, so I could check it out pre-pub. Jenny and Tom can’t believe their luck when they manage to score a huge, beautiful Victorian home for a song. However, nobody (including their realtor) bothers to tell them that the huge stain on the linoleum in the kitchen is a result of the brutal murder of a previous resident. Almost immediately, Tom finds a pulsing, oozing chrysalis stuck to the wall in the basement behind an old fridge (yeah, what?) and decides to touch it. It seems to get him existentially high, and consumes his every waking thought. All he wants is to be near it, to touch it. Jenny gets pregnant, and starts trying to branch out in her career, but everything is unraveling due to Tom’s secret obsession with the chrysalis. Soon, he begins testing the limits and desires of this…thing – to disastrous, destructive results. The premise could have worked. But for me, it didn’t with this one. First of all, as many Goodreads reviewers have pointed out, it leans more towards sci-fi than horror. Also, I felt very unsatisfied with the ending. There was no clear resolution, and I felt like Deneen had created this intricate story and then not finished it. Basically, as much as I appreciated the ARC, I am glad I didn’t plunk down $25 on the hardcover copy like I would have if I had not been able to read it first.

  Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

It’s 1987, and 14-year-old June is in love with her uncle. Not in a CW way, not in a Lolita way, just in a confused teenager way. Nobody has ever understood her except her gay uncle Finn, who delights her with his quirky bohemian ways and personalized attention. When Finn contracts AIDS and passes away, June feels like her life has shattered. Without the lazy afternoons at Finn’s, drinking tea from his colorful Russian teapot, listening to Mozart, and talking about life, she feels utterly adrift. That is until Finn’s longtime partner, Toby, comes to June and attempts to fill the hole that Finn’s death has left in both of them. Being so young, and confused, and knowing nothing about AIDS, June enters into a cautious, reluctant friendship with the only other person in the world who knew and loved Finn the way she did. They form an unconventional, tender friendship that looks inappropriate to everyone who sees them. Through getting to know Toby, she sees that many of her favorite characteristics that Finn possessed actually came from Toby, and he was actually the love of Finn’s life. I cried several times while reading this book, and there are so many fun little elements that tie the book together. I recommend this for a cozy read when you’re feeling sentimental or a little alone or misunderstood.

    Little Panic by Amanda Stern

This is one of the best books I have read in 2018. Having lived with severe anxiety and panic disorders my whole life, I have somewhat learned to deal with them. If not deal with them effectively, at least I have learned how to identify them. As a child, these thoughts and feelings and fears were incredibly confusing and frightening. Reading Stern’s account of what it feels like to live with these crushing conditions was somehow an absolute joy. Let me be clear – this is NOT a self-help book. It’s a memoir, but it reads like a thoroughly enjoyable novel. It’s funny, endearing, and incredibly accurate. Even if you don’t suffer from anxiety, it’s a neat window into the lives of those who do. I will re-read this again, I guarantee it. It feels amazing to know that I am not alone, and that life’s “little things” don’t feel so little to a lot of us. A great gift for the anxious person in your life.

 Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

A group of neighborhood moms finally gets the night to themselves and decides to have a relaxed, backyard get-together and drink some wine by the new fire pit. This is all pretty standard, until they wake up in the morning and discover that one of their newly single neighbors, and her children, have disappeared. There aren’t many clues to go by, except a broken window and missing heirlooms and personal items from the house. As her soon-to-be ex-husband is put under the microscope, the close-knit neighborhood tries in vain to figure out what really happened. One of the focal points of the story for me was Izzy, who has moved into the neighborhood by herself after her sister married her best friend that she was (not-so-secretly) in love with. While she tries to get her life back together, she forms a strong kinship with the missing woman’s estranged husband and the scales tip towards romance. She cannot decide whether he is innocent in Kristin’s disappearance, and there are just too many conflicting signs in the case to put anyone’s mind at ease. With a fun, surprising ending, this one is a quick read that will leave you in suspense until the end.

 The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

I am really late to the party with this one, but after just the first book I absolutely adore Flavia de Luce. A fiercely intelligent, sarcastic child with a penchant for poisons and science living in 1950’s England, she will charm you and make you laugh all at once. This is the ultimate cozy mystery, which begins when her philatelist father appears to be being blackmailed for a murder committed back at school. After finding a dead bird on the doorstep with an incredibly rare stamp stuck to its beak, and then a dead man in their garden, Flavia decides to try and solve the mystery on her own. Full of heart and humor, this series is sure to quickly become one of your favorites. Intelligently written, sharply funny, and full of whimsy. If you are lucky enough to have a fireplace, you’ll want to read this one in front of a roaring fire. 

  Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood

This book is an absolute must-read for True Crime fans. This is a reimagined version of the true story of the kidnapping of Sally Horner that inspired Nabokov to write Lolita. When a young girl is caught shoplifting at Woolworth’s, she is taken away by a man claiming to be with the FBI. He takes her on the run, always leading her to believe that he’s doing it for her, trying to protect her. In reality, he has taken her as his sex slave. The content is very disturbing, and hard to read at times, but Greenwood did a beautiful job of telling the story in a way that honors Horner’s memory and evokes tenderness. The most endearing part of this book for me was how many women tried to help Sally, and how close they came to doing so. In a very unusual fashion, this book has a happy ending and THEN a sad ending. I definitely needed about a half a box of tissues to read this book. If you love In Cold Blood, or True Crime as a genre, definitely don’t miss this one. Thank you to St. Martin’s press for the very much appreciated physical ARC copy – it holds pride of place on my shelf.

One Sentence Reviews 

  What I’ve Done by Melinda Leigh (Morgan Dane #4 - ARC) – The Morgan Dane series is one of my favorites, and this one upheld the high bar the other entries have set.

 We Have Always Lived in The Castle by Shirley Jackson – This is supposedly a classic, but the story seemed quite pointless to me.

 The Guilty Dead by P.J. Tracy (Monkeewrench #9 - ARC) – Fun, easy read even if you haven’t read any of the other Monkeewrench mysteries.

 The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton (ARC) – If you’ve ever felt crazy for loving someone too fiercely, this will make you feel much saner.

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine – A little too flashy for me, this is a good one for fans of reality TV and opulence.

 The Night Visitors by Carol Goodman (ARC) – Sort of a ghost story, cozy read.

 The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle – SUPER fun, plane crashes and mistaken identities abound.

 She Was the Quiet One by Michele Campbell (ARC) – Prep school murder mystery with a surprising ending.

 Currently Reading

The Last to See Me by M Dressler - A fun ghost story on the cliffs overlooking the ocean on the California coast.

 Last Woman Standing by Amy Gentry (ARC) - I loved the last Amy Gentry book, Good as Gone, so I was so excited to get this ARC. It's clearly written for the #MeToo generation, about a stand-up comedian and her newfound friend harming the men who have hurt them along the way.