It's Monday 10/26! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

I’m happy to report that my severe relapse of my chronic illness seems to have ended, and I am slowly regaining some energy and stamina. I began to feel slightly better by mid-week last week, and though I am still far from my normal baseline, I have been able to sit up and get out a bit and begin to rejoin life. I am feeling, though, like I missed October, which is my favorite month. Luckily, the weather’s been nice, so I have spent a lot of time out on our deck. Today is dark, overcast, and rainy here, and it’s supposed to stay this way for the entire week!

We are busy here helping our older son get ready to move out later this week! He has the same immune disorder I have, plus some nasty tick infections, and he has really struggled mightily with his health since graduating from college two years ago. But he recently got hired for a part-time job that he thinks he can manage and will be moving out-of-state. He and his girlfriend will be renting a basement apartment from her parents. He’s been chronically ill since age 10, so this is a huge and important step forward for him (with some safety nets built in, thankfully). We are all excited and nervous, and I will be focused this week on helping him pack, set up some financial stuff, gets all his medications in order, etc. Big-time excitement here!

As always, we enjoy our books in good times and bad. Here’s what we’ve all been reading this week:

I finished reading another book for the fall RIP XV Challenge, The Sense of Death by Matty Dalrymple. The author is from our local area, and I met her (and bought the book) last year when she did a book signing at our local indie bookstore. This book, the start of a series, is a mystery with a ghosty twist, so it feels perfect for the season! Ann Kinnear (star of the series) has been able to sense spirits since she was a little girl. She’s not a psychic and can’t talk to the departed, but she can sense sounds, colors, smells, and sometimes emotions that indicate a spirit is hanging around. Detective Joe Booth is working on a missing persons case in Philadelphia, about a young woman who disappeared and left her husband and daughter behind. By chance, Ann visits the woman’s home to check it out for a prospective buyer and has a strong reaction to whatever spirit is there. Though he doesn’t necessarily believe in such things, Joe contacts Ann, and begins to work with her to help solve this case. The reader knows “whodunit” from the beginning, but the suspenseful mystery revolves around Joe trying to figure it out, with help from the spirit world. I loved this novel! It’s very well-written, an intriguing and unique premise, and set locally, which is always fun to read about. I can’t wait to read more of this series and from this author.

Next, I read another dark novel (the up side of sick days – lots  of reading time!), August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones. I met Stephen last year at Booktopia Vermont and read his second novel, Lives Laid Away, which I loved. This series about ex-Detroit detective August Snow, features action-packed thrillers with plenty of mystery and suspense and a good sense of humor. This first award-winning book introduces August, whose father was African-American (and also in the Detroit Police Department) and mother was Mexican-American. August sued the DPD and the mayor in order to uncover many layers of corruption in the city, which made him a hero to some and persona non gratis with others (and got him kicked off the force). Now, he’s back home after a year away, wealthy but with plenty of enemies. He’s living in his parents’ old house in Mexicantown and trying to rebuild his life. When a high-profile woman who ran a bank dies suddenly, August gets pulled into the case, against his better judgement. August is a likable and complex character, and I love the other characters and the setting of these books. They are a bit on the violent side for my tastes normally, but they are so well-written that I just get immersed in the mystery and go along for the ride. My husband loves this series, too. The third August Snow novel is due out in spring 2021 – we’ll definitely be reading it!

Last night, I just started The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, a spooky book perfect for RIP XV Challenge that I have been saving for this last week of October! I have only read short stories by Jackson (like The Lottery, of course) before, so I have been excited to dive into her most famous novel. I’ve only just started it, but the set-up is that a PhD searches for a haunted house (and finds Hill House), then invites several people who have histories of experiencing the paranormal to stay there with him for the summer. He wants to finally validate his paranormal research, which is normally ridiculed. It’s already beautifully written, intriguing, and engrossing, and I can’t wait to see what happens next! I love reading for the season, and this is the perfect choice for Halloween week!

On audio, I’ve been listening to a new release, Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam. I first heard about this book when Jenna Bush Hager chose it for her Today Show book club pick for October, so when I saw it offered for review from the publisher, I decided to join the fun. This novel has already garnered lots of recognition, including being nominated for the 2020 National Book Award. It has an unusual premise; I’ve never read anything like it so far. A family with two teens has rented a secluded vacation home on Long Island for the week and is enjoying some relaxing time together. One night, an older couple show up at the door. They explain that they’re the owners of the house and that a sudden blackout has shut down New York City. Frightened and wanting to get out of their 14th floor apartment, they drove out to their second home and want to stay. An uneasy bond forms between the family and the couple, who are complete strangers to each other but are sharing the house. Further clues indicate some sort of massive disaster, but neither the characters nor the readers know exactly what is happening. It’s an interesting character study, focused on what’s happening in the house while some mysterious tragedy is occurring out in the wider world. I’m enjoying it so far and have no idea what will happen next!

My husband, Ken, is reading one of the birthday gifts I gave him this month, The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld, the sequel to her hit thriller, The Child Finder. Ken and I both loved that first novel, about an investigator named Naomi who has a special talent for finding missing persons, especially children. This skill derives from a childhood loss that has haunted her for her whole life. In this second novel, Naomi turns her attention to her own personal tragedy and goes in search of a sister she can barely remember on the streets of Portland, OR, where scores of homeless children search for food, shelter, and love. The first book was superbly written, suspenseful, and compelling, so we have both been looking forward to reading the sequel. He said it was good, though not quite as good as that outstanding first novel in the series.

Ken has now turned to another birthday book I gave him (by amazing coincidence, I want to read all of these, too!): The River by Peter Heller. Peter was another Booktopia author from a few years back, and I enjoyed his unique thriller, Celine, featuring a kick-ass older woman heroine based on his mother! Ken didn’t have a chance to read that one, but when The River was released last year to much acclaim, I thought it sounded right up his alley. It’s about two men, old friends from college, who embark on a quiet wilderness trip together, canoeing in northern Canada. Their planned relaxing vacation takes a dark turn, though, when local wildfires come close to them. One night, they hear a man and woman arguing on a nearby fog-shrouded riverbank. In the morning, they see the man paddling away alone. What happened to the woman? Between the approaching fires and this mystery, this wilderness survival story sounds like it is full of suspense. He says it’s great so far!

Our son, 26, is still reading the epic fantasy series, Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind and loving it! He is still reading book 3, Blood of the Fold, which he picked up (along with book 2) at his favorite local used bookstore with a birthday gift card. He tore through the first two books in the series. 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. He says his reading slowed down this week because he rediscovered Skyrim and has been playing a lot of video games!

Last week’s blog posts (you can see I was starting to feel better last week – back to blog visits this week!):

Fiction Review: The Dry by Jane Harper – a twisty thriller set in an Australian drought

My Summary of Books Read in September – a great reading month for me!

Fiction Review: Sycamore by Bryn Chancellor – a slow-burn, quite mystery housed in a character study of a town

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.

What are you and your family reading this week?