This past week (and this current one, since I’m writing this in the early hours of Saturday A.M.) have been rough. It’s a short list this time.
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood – 4/26/20
2 stars
Let me preface this by saying I don’t think this book was really for me, but that doesn’t make it bad. The premise of the book is that after the economy collapses, Stan and Charmaine sign up for a closed community in which they spend half their time in civilian jobs and half their time in prison with jobs there, too. They share a home with another couple that lives there when Stan and Charmaine are in prison. Charmaine starts having an affair with the husband of the other couple and things go downhill from there. It’s a really interesting premise and the plot is not that bad, but this book felt like a chore to get through because it was really horny all the time. I can’t listen to it out loud or else people will think I’m a perv, but if I listen with headphones I feel like a perv. Any book that includes the phrase “chicken pimp” is gonna make me uncomfortable. For anyone who isn’t weirded out by the sheer amount of lewdness that this book radiates, it was otherwise enjoyable.
Flame by Travis Bagwell – 4/28/20
4 stars
This is the second book in the Tarot series, which a sub-series in the larger Awaken Online series. I haven’t had the chance to talk about it here yet, but I’ve read and loved all eight of the previous books. Awaken Online is about various characters that play the VRMMORPG of the same name. The Tarot series centers around Finn. In the real world, he is an older computer programmer who lost his wife in the car accident that paralyzed his legs. In AO, he is a fire mage that has been chosen by the in-game deity of fire to be her champion. These books are of the “LitRPG” genre, so they read like someone playing a role playing game, complete with stats, skills, and spells. It’s really cool. Flame is mainly a dungeon crawl, so it wasn’t my favorite entry, but it set up the next book to be really exciting. I think Finn’s story would benefit from a sensitivity reader, though. I’m blind, so there were a few parts in this book that made me feel really alienated from a series that I adore. Other than that, I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to give the genre a try! (But be sure to start with the first AO book, Catharsis!)
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris – 5/1/20
3 stars
This one is a psychological thriller, which means I finished it in one sitting, as the genre demands. Grace and Jack always go everywhere together, They have a beautiful house, host excellent dinner parties, and seem like they have the perfect marriage. So, something must be wrong. You’ll quickly learn that Grace is not allowed to leave the house without Jack. You learn the “why” in parts, as the chapters weave together present and past. I’m being deliberately vague, because if I told you all the twists, that would take the fun out of it. Give it a try if you’re a fan of the genre; it’s a really solid read.
Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark – 5/2/20
4 stars
I’m pretty sure I got my mom this book for Christmas. Catching up with her now! I’ve listened to the My Favorite Murder podcast before and I think Karen and Georgia are really funny and endearing people. This book has some stories from both their lives that are (sort of) centered on similar topics. I really enjoyed listening to it, because it is, of course, narrated by the authors themselves. I laughed, I cried, I had a seriously great time seeing that you can get shit done while still trying to figure shit out. It’s what I needed to hear this week (and every week, let’s be real).
Be sure to check my 2019-in-2020 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge and 2020 Books posts for updates on how I’m doing on those fronts! Feel free to subscribe below to get email notifications for new posts!
Blind Bookworm 