Fiction

The Second Mrs. Hockaday

2017, Books in Bed, Fiction, Women /

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about The Second Mrs. Hockaday since it was told through diary entries/letters AND it was set in a somewhat fictional South Carolina.

(When the author talks about Traveler’s Joy, I think Traveler’s Rest… when the author uses some real city names but not all real city names, there’s a confusion in my head that almost ruined the story for me. What was the point of the not real places? I don’t get that… I never understand why writers do this… whatever…)

Turns out I really liked it. The diary entries helped with a feeling of suspense, (though I was pretty sure I knew what happened from the first 20 pages, I didn’t know the details), and the writing was wonderful.

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The Fireman

1 Comment / 2017, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

When will I learn not to start a Joe Hill chunkster on a weeknight? When? When?! Someone remind me of this, please.

The Fireman was exactly what you’d expect from a Joe Hill novel. Brilliant, just brilliant.

A pandemic… spontaneous combustion… global warming… fanaticism… all wrapped up in the feeling that this could actually be happening right now, under the current administration and our current social climate… and of course, I didn’t want to put it down.

(Martha Quinn…which only makes sense if you read the book but I just can’t say that enough. BRILLIANTLY DONE…)

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Homegoing

2017, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I had no idea Homegoing would be so good. Seriously one of the best books I’ve read in forever.

Two half-sisters born in different villages in Ghana in the mid/late 1700s… the book follows their descendants and good lord it’s painful. Beautifully written, honest, and painful.

Read this and think about how the experiences of the first two women played a role in the lives of those who came later. Every single damn white person should read this.

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Lucky Boy

2017, Books in Bed, Fiction, Women /

Ugh.

Lucky Boy, so depressing. SO depressing. Well written, good characters — so depressing.

Young woman, illegal immigrant gives birth to a baby — loves her baby, is doing a great job with him — gets picked up by police and then thrown into a detention center. She’s abused, she’s raped, she’s moved to another detention center, rinse and repeat. All she wants to do is get out and get her baby back.

Indian American couple in Berkley want a baby, can’t make/carry/deliver a baby and so… they foster. (Gah.)

Everyone loves the baby. Everyone wants what is best for him.

Painful story. Very painful.

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The Wild Girls

2017, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Women /

We needed an audiobook so I wandered around the library shelves until Wild Girls jumped into my bag.

It was a really quick audiobook and really enjoyable to listen to. It also didn’t end badly, and it had the potential to end badly. I was really impressed that the author didn’t take the easy way to a happily ever after ending. I liked that a lot.

I also liked Joan & Sarah (Fox & Newt) and I liked every single one of the characters. All of them.

Fun read. Let’s all be wild girls!

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My Name is Lucy Barton

1 Comment / 2017, Books in Bed, Fiction /

TW hated My Name is Lucy Barton. She said it was like reading one long run on sentence, which makes no sense. There’s a lot of punctuation in the book. I get it though. It was an odd little book and pretty depressing, too. Poverty and abuse and poverty and, well, it was an odd little book.

I didn’t hate it. But, I didn’t love it, either.

Oh. Hahaha. It was long listed for a Mann Booker. That explains everything. Really.

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