Summer reading possibilites, a dark, bingeable read, book husbands, & LINKS
Summer reading is here- what does that mean for you?
Housekeeping
Two great ways to support my work and keep this newsletter running are to share it with your reader friends and/or upgrading to paid for less than the price of a grande Starbucks latte:)
Someone asked a really good question recently- how to find/read my archived posts? There are two easy ways- if you’re using the app (reading on your phone), go to Itsbooktalk & More’s main page & you will see the option to click on POSTS- this will allow you to scroll through all of the posts. If you are reading on a computer or laptop, you can view the entire site at itsbooktalk.substack.com - you should see my home page which looks like a blog and across the top there’s a navigation bar with options to click on subcategories- click on ARCHIVE and you can scroll through all the posts
Weekly Update
Friends, this week my reading life has felt both invigorated and a bit overwhelming. Invigorated in the sense that summer reading guides are starting to be released and I love nothing more than to see what other readers have read, loved and recommend I read this summer (see link below for a favorite newly released summer reading guide). I also love a summer reading list of upcoming summer releases that I can peruse, add to my already towering tbr and/or get library holds in early. Stay tuned this week for a new LISTED post of the summer book lists I’m browsing.
By mid-May I start feeling my summer reading mood kick in. For me, that means thrillers (fast paced, literary, or psychological), stories with coastal or summer settings, and this summer, for the first time, I’m feeling in the mood for literary family dramas- juicy, drama filled, secrets, betrayals involving families- preferably set during the summer months. Whew, that’s super specific I know, but being a huge seasonal mood reader, I can’t fully embrace the start of a reading season until I know exactly what reading mood I’m feeling. What are you in the mood to read this summer- or if you’re in Australia, this winter?:)📚
Other highlights of my week- hummingbirds have returned to my feeder!! I can’t tell you how delighted I was to have them return within a couple hours of putting out my feeder. They are so fun to watch. This summer I want to try to pay closer attention to the different varieties that show up.
Recent Reads
I Will Ruin You by Linwood Barclay - Many of you know, I love Linwood Barclay. In my opinion, he’s one of the best thriller writers writing today. But I don’t equally LOVE all of his books. This new release is about English teacher Richard Boyle who never thought he would find himself talking down a former student intent on harming others, but when Mark LeDrew shows up at Richard's school with a bomb strapped to his chest, Richard immediately jumps into action. Thanks to some quick thinking, he averts a major tragedy and is hailed as a hero, but not all the attention focused on him is positive. It seems that his act of heroism inadvertently makes him the target of a dangerous blackmailer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
My Thoughts- While I definitely liked this book better than his 2023 release, The Lie Maker, it still wasn’t as good as his older backlist books I’ve been loving. With this story, Barclay does a superb job of dropping the reader right into the action, there are no lengthy set ups which I appreciated. There are, however, a lot of characters to keep track of and several sub plots that are, in the beginning, hard to keep straight. I loved that the pace was fast, but for some reason I wasn’t finding myself compelled to pick it up after putting it down. It was a busy week so that could’ve been a factor.
The driving plot thread that I was most interested in- who and why is someone blackmailing Richard- was complex and compelling enough to hold my interest. I liked Richard, but I also wondered- was he maybe not the hero we thought he was in the beginning? Something else I loved, the author included subtle (or not so subtle depending on how you see it) commentary on book banning, kids on phones, and the media. Good stuff. Overall, I enjoyed this and do recommend it as an option for those looking for a thriller to read at the pool or beach. The audio narration was excellent too!!🎧
The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante - This is about Leda, a middle-aged divorcée, who is alone for the first time in years after her two adult daughters leave home to live with their father in Toronto. Enjoying an unexpected sense of liberty, she heads to the Ionian coast for a vacation. But she soon finds herself intrigued by Nina, a young mother on the beach, eventually striking up a conversation with her. After Nina confides a dark secret, one seemingly trivial occurrence leads to events that could destroy Nina's family.
My Thoughts - This book came on my radar when I was researching book comps for this recent post . It was mentioned as a comp for Little Fires Everywhere , but I don’t think it fits as a comp for that book. I’d put this in a comp category with Mother In the Dark by Kayla Maiuri, or perhaps The Unbreakables by Lisa Barr (although those were 5 ⭐️ for me and this was not) This one of those stories that pulled me in with a strong voice (Leda’s) and a summery beach setting. Leda narrates and I have to give a huge shout out to Hilary Huber who narrated the audio because she brought Leda to life in a way that I think would’ve been missing (at least for me) in print. I connected with Leda almost instantly, finding her introspective, insightful, witty, and just the right touch of weird at times. I mean who among us hasn’t sat on the beach reading, but then also getting distracted by people watching and listening to random conversations going on around us? The biggest plus for me, outside of the setting, was being inside Leda’s head, for better or worse. I also really enjoyed Ferrante’s writing style and think I might be ready to tackle My Brilliant Friend someday.
For those looking for protagonists who are in mi- life, arm chair travel, a beach/coastal setting, and/or literary writing that makes some occasional shifts into weird this could be for you.
Wolf At the Table by Adam Rapp - This multigenerational, set over decades, family saga could possibly be one of the most underrated new releases out there right now. In late summer 1951 in Elmira, New York, Myra Larkin, thirteen, the oldest child of a large Catholic family, meets a young man she believes to be Mickey Mantle. He chats her up at a local diner and gives her a ride home. The matter consumes her until later that night, when a triple homicide occurs just down the street, opening a specter of violence that will haunt the Larkins for half a century.
That is truly all you need to know as far as the premise because that night sets up the rest of the story perfectly. As mentioned, we meet Myra, one of six Larkin children, and one of the most prominent, memorable characters we will follow throughout the story. This opening scene highlights Rapp’s ability to create a high level of foreboding and tension that will continue for the rest of the book. This book is long friends, but I flew through it and I felt an underlying sense of dread the entire time.
The story centers on Myra and her siblings, Alec, Fiona, and Lexie, as well as her parents. And this family has ISSUES, ones the author shares with us slowly over time. It is by sharing the relationship dynamics, the struggles, the hopes, the bitterness, the downfalls and more of the siblings that the author invites us to examine nature vs nurture and good vs evil. Hear me when I say, this book ventures into dark territory- there is at least one serial killer, so murder and violence will become intertwined with the lives of one or more siblings. I think, for me, this can best be described as a slow burn, literary suspense story with a dash of underlying mystery. It’s a story I binged in about 2 days despite its length, yet it’s not quite a 5 star read. I’ve spent so much time thinking and talking with others about this story, and I think my main criticism of this story comes down to wanting more from the characterization. There are some characters we initially get to know who we never hear from again, and others who pop up mid story who get so many pages. If you like discussable books with many themes and you don’t mind dark, give this a try. If you read it and want to chat, email or message me. I keep thinking about this story, so who knows, by the time I do my top 10 of the year (so far) post maybe it will be there:) Also, audio narration is excellent🎧
Links
A great read- The strange online lives of “book husbands” (LitHub)
The NY Times says this spray and this spray are the best bug sprays for ticks so I’m purchasing them immediately - we walk in the woods daily and I hate ticks and I’ve recently found one in my hair and several in the house😫
The best crime fiction and thrillers of 2024 so far (Terlulia)
Cleaning up your phone’s camera roll (Wirecutter, Ny Times)
released her Paperback Summer Reading Guide and it’s fantastic! I added so many books I’d never heard of to my tbr.Inside Reese Witherspoon’s Literary Empire (Ny Times Gift Link)
Well this is interesting- who’s heard of video doorbell derangement syndrome? (The Guardian)
16 books & movies to read and watch for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month (Libby Life)
Readers connecting & sharing book recommendations is just the best
An ice cream scoop I didn’t know about but now need
Literary adaptations to look out for at this year’s Cannes Film Festival
Have a great rest of your Sunday! If you have a reading friend you think would enjoy today’s newsletter, please feel free to forward this onto them:)
I'm intrigued by Wolf At the Table, it seems like a polemic book!
Wolf at the Table sounds so good!!