Recently finished

I was recently joking with a talented writer friend that my genius is for starting things rather than finishing them. Regretfully, this character flaw is one I carry into my reading, sometimes butterfly-flitting between a few hundred titles without making much progress in any one of them. But sometimes I do finish a thing or two - so here is the motley crew of titles I've recently gotten to cross off of my list!

This book was amazing. As soon as I finished it, I pre-ordered the book she has coming out this year. It's atmospheric. It's surprising. It's creepy. And every single time I thought I knew what was happening, the ground shifted on me and I was surprised anew. It also made me wonder if I could survive on my own somewhere isolated like the Farallon Islands it describes.

I've heard Carter's name and the buzz about this book for a very long time. I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it. Like the title above, the atmosphere it creates (a world made of words!) draws you completely in. As a collection, it isn't perfectly even, of course. Some pieces are significantly longer and more detailed than others and some characters seem authentic while others feel more like fairy story archetypes. Completely worth the read, though (especially the story based on Bluebeard)!

I have no idea where I heard of this book or where I found it (though I'm sure the description of the golden horses and their presence on the cover helped seal the deal), but I'm so glad I did! It's a grim read - taking place in a prison - but it has surprisingly luminous moments, amazing twists, and benefits from the fact that the author has experience with what she describes.

I read this title for class, shortly after re-reading Follow the River. In both cases, I was struck by the seeming lack of emotion that women had when it came to their children. Maybe their own survival was all they could manage? Had I been in their shoes, I doubt I would have possessed the intelligence and fortitude to even attempt an escape.

I have mixed feelings about this fun title. On one hand, it shows a bright, African American girl who takes control of her problems (and there's a big red T-Rex!!!). On the other hand, the art was kind of sloppy and the writing was a little childish (though maybe I'm not the intended audience?). The cameo by the Hulk was a nice touch, though!

I avoided this book for a good long while because it had too much hype and that made me leery. But the library had a copy and summer puts me in the mood to read mystery novels, so I gave it a go and was pleasantly surprised. The story kept tricking me in the best way and I grew to like both women at the center of the story. My only criticism is that the final twists (the last 10-15 pages, maybe) were too much for me, requiring too much of a suspension of disbelief. I think it could have been a very fine story without them.

I tried to read this book once before, so I came back and gave it another chance... which it probably didn't deserve. In the pros column: the characters acted and spoke believably and were distinct and the mystery kept me reading. In the cons column: I didn't really like anyone, I figured out the mystery quite quickly, and the lack of punishment that comes to a deserving character made the conclusion frustrating. I won't be in a hurry to read the second book in the series.

This book was genuinely creepy. Unfortunately, it's creepiness ended up stemming from real life misfortune rather than the folktale at its center. Like Missing, Presumed, it did a great job of crafting characters (the three boys reminded me of Stranger Things) and dialogue, although the author had an annoying habit of writing a name, a colon, and then the dialogue rather than introducing the speaker. I guess my main complaint is that I kept counting on a moment of uplift and redemption and there wasn't one, which shows that I have little gift at picking up on foreshadowing, I suppose...