Winter is coming

With the holidays fast approaching and the swift pace that I am chopping down my TBR pile, I haven’t been updating my blog. However, I have read some really excellent books lately that I definitely feel need some reviews. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, the public library was one of my favorite places. As I have always been a very fast reader, the weekly Sunday trips to the bookstore didn’t quite fill my needs. I was generally allowed to pick one or two books, and most of the time we arrived home from the bookstore I would go straight to my room and start reading, only to finish the book later that evening. Recently, as an adult, I have rediscovered the joy of the library. And, true to form, I found myself feeling like a kid in a candy store. Arriving to pick up 2 holds I had placed online, my eye was quickly drawn to the new releases shelf, where I grabbed 3 more. Upon returning a book the next day, I saw more. When I perused the online catalog, my list grew to epic proportions. At this juncture, my bookshelf has a towering stack of checked-out books that I am determined to read and return in time. Some have been ho-hum, making me grateful that I did not put forth my own money to read them. Others were so hauntingly good that I will be purchasing my own copies for my shelves.

“Dracul” by Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker

I am sure I must have read Dracula in school, but it didn’t make much of an impression on me. I am not a fan of vampires, and in fact find them a little hokey. But this book kept popping up on all sorts of “best of 2018” lists, and when I saw that the library had it, I grabbed the 500 page hefty tome and gave it a shot. I was absolutely spellbound by the storytelling, which alternated between Bram Stoker in a vague room trying to ward off enemies and a timeline that started in his sickly childhood and brings you right up to the current situation in the room. Beautifully written, truly scary, and an absolute must-read (even if you’re not into vampires. 

“Bring me Back” by B.A. Paris 

This book had a lot of hype building up to the release, and then the reviews weren’t very good. However, the allure of reading something for free that I have been curious about was too strong, and I checked it out. The flashy cover didn’t hurt its chances for being chosen either. I, for one, really enjoyed this book. I can’t give an entirely accurate review of my feelings without giving away the plot twist, but trust me when I say it’s fairly hard to trick me and this one pulled the wool over my eyes for its entirety. The way it was written, and the subject matters it dealt with, left me feeling unsettled and haunted for days. If you’re tired of the predictable twists so often present in this type of story, you’ll enjoy this one. 

“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens 

I fell deeply in love with the main character, Kya, almost immediately upon opening this book. By chapter 3, my eyes were starting to well up at the beautiful, haunting way her loneliness in the marshes of North Carolina is described. Throughout this beautiful, sprawling novel, there is a murder mystery in play, but you don’t notice it as much as the intricately woven tale of a young girl left to raise herself all alone in a secluded shack. As she grows, the story follows her trials and triumphs. I cannot say I have recently read any other books with this level of genuine humanity and beauty. Apparently, it took the author 10 years to write this book. It shows in every chapter. Haunting, lyrical, and lovely, this book made me cry so hard that I had to sit with my feelings for a while after reading the last word. I didn’t want it to end, and it affected me deeply when it did. I will be purchasing a copy of this one for my shelf, as it was one of the best books I can recall reading and I will absolutely be reading it again.

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