You know I haven't been updating my blog this summer. The question is, what have I been doing instead? I did have a wedding, and a class to plan, as well as some major cleaning in the basement.
I've also been doing a lot more reading lately, which is good, because I think my
Kindle was getting lonely. I thought I'd post about some of what's been on and off my nightstand this summer. I used to post about what I was reading a lot more on here, so I thought I'd try to get back to that.
by Michael Gruber
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| Book one in the Jimmy Paz trilogy. |
Tropic of Night is a
magical realism detective novel. Set in Miami, Nigeria, Siberia and the Northeast USA, this is one convoluted murder mystery. It was really interesting, though. I loved the Miami setting and it was cool learning more about West African religion. I recommend it highly, but with the warning that it falls on the graphic side of violent and does have some truly creepy moments. Not a light read. The first book in a series, but the plot is completely wrapped up in this one book.
by Colin Cotterill
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| Book one in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series. |
The Coroner's Lunch also has one foot in the murder mystery genre and the other in magical realism. The setting is Laos, circa 1975, just after the communist revolution. The main character is a 72 year old coroner whose investigations into his patients' causes of death unravel vast conspiracies. It was a really interesting take on the whole "death investigator" genre, and I enjoyed learning and reading about the early days of Lao Communism. The first book in a series, but the plot is completely wrapped up in this one book.
The Xenogenesis Saga
by Octavia Butler
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| This is a three-book series. |
Lilith's Brood is a science fiction trilogy by Octavia Butler and set in the near future. Humanity has been stopped from complete annihilation during our final world war by a group of aliens. In this setting, Butler examines what it means to be human, as well as meditates on colonialism and race relations. Definitely a series I wanted to talk about when I was finished.
by Gillian Flynn
Two other books I polished off this summer were
Sharp Objects and
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Her third book,
Gone Girl, is also in my "To Read" pile. I read both
Sharp Objects and
Dark Places all in one night (one night each - I don't read that fast). I had to know how they ended before I could move on with my life! I didn't particularly like the main characters - I wanted them to do well, but I wanted them to do it far away from me - but the stories were masterfully woven and I didn't lose interest for one single second.
Next on my "To Read" pile is
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I've heard good things about the book over the years, and with a movie coming out I figured I'd better get on it!
What did you read this summer? Tell me what your favorite books were!
Kathryn :D
