FollowI’ve been working on various things and so slacking off on “What I’m Reading,” but here is some catch-up.
Standing by the Wall and The Secret Hours by Mick Herron – The further and past adventures of Jackson Lamb and the denizens of Slough House, where spy careers go to die. The Secret Hours fills in the important backstory of one key character…enough said.
Ozark Dogs by Eli Cranor
I picked this up as an impulse buy and it was great. Murder and feuding in a small Ozark community, with meth dealing white supremacists, a tough Vietnam vet trying to raise a granddaughter and terrific supporting. If you like S. A. Cosby, you’ll like Ozark Dogs.
Razorblade Tears and Blackton Wasteland by S. A. Cosby
Speaking of Cosby. Razorblade Tears is a fast-paced story retribution where two unlikely ex-cons—Ike and Buddy Lee, one Black and one white, search for the murderers of their gays sons who were married. The plotting is intricate and we get to watch Ike and Buddy Lee grow to be better men even as they mete out violent justice.
Blacktop Wasteland is another intricately plotted and bloody story of fathers and sons, featuring Beauregard “Bug” Montage, a getaway driver gone straight who gets tempted into one last heist. It all goes wrong and Bug needs to salvage what he can as his choices put his family at risk
Next up, Cosby’s My Darket Prayer. I’m reading them in reverse order.
London Séance Society by Sarah Penner Read this one for my book club. The alternating narrative made the story a bit hard to follow (murder in the fake seance work of the late 19th century) and the authors seem to have left no plot device unused.
Dogwhistles and Figleaves by Jennifer Mather Saul
Reviewed this one for CHOICE but I may do a longer post at some point. The author brings together the spread of explicit racism and the normalization of blatant falsehoods, showing how the two reinforce one another in different ways to different audience. The plural really should be “figleafs” though.
Mother tongue: The Surprising History of Women’s Words by Jenni Nuttall
Also reviewed this for CHOICE. It’s a terrific history of the etymologies of words used to describe women’s word, experiences, and bodies.
The Riddles of the Sphinx : Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle by Anna Shechtman
Schectman combined the history of gender in crosswords with a personal memoir of her anorexia, which I wasn’t expecting!? She somehow makes it work and I especially enjoy the bios of Ruth Hale (of Algonquian Round Table fame) and the linguist Julia Penelope.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
A literary tale of cultural appropriation and scandal that is only part satire. There were times when I was rooting for Juniper song and times when I was disgusted by her.
On Disinformation by Lee McIntyre Good enough and useful, but a bit disappointing in its preachiness and lack of depth.
Dark Angel and Judgement Prey by John Sanford
I’d been putting off the Letty Davenport series thinking they wouldn’t hold up to the Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers books. But I was wrong; they are just as compelling in the characterization, plotting, and pace.
Hero by Thomas Perry
Page-turner story of a young female bodyguard targeted by a hitman and his mob boss. Thomas Perry at his best.
On my summer reading list:
- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
- Clete and Another Kind of Eden by James Lee Burke
- Honey by Victor Lodato
- The Bear Went Over the Mountain by William Kotzwink;le
- The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
