Wednesday, September 9, 2015

What I Read Wednesday

I recently came across a list of book recommendations from Stephen King, so I basically requested everything on the list.

Bad Country: A Novel
Rodeo Garnet lives in the Arizona desert, alone with just his dog. A private investigator by trade, after retiring from his rodeo career, Rodeo manages to stay out of the limelight until he returns from vacation to find a dead man practically on his doorstep. Pushed by the dead man's grandma to investigate, Rodeo finds himself thrust into reservation politics and a crime that has many, many layers. This reminded me somewhat of a world that Cormac McCarthy would set forth, but I loved it. The dialogue is sometimes sparse, but at some point, I found myself drawn completely in to Rodeo's world without even realizing it. It's not a world I would like to live in, but it was enjoyable to read about.

A Head Full of Ghosts: A Novel
As an adult, Merry Barrett is fairly balanced. As a child, she grew up in a world of madness. Living in an angry household after her father lost his job, Merry was forced to reckon with her older sister Marjorie's supposed demonic possession. Marjorie is treated and medicated for mental illnesses, but nothing seemed to help so her father turned to religion. A local priest suggested an exorcism and through a twist of events, Merry and her family were suddenly starring in a reality TV show about her sister's possession. Because Merry was recounting childhood events, this book teeters on the verge of having an unreliable narrator, which makes it all the more appealing. In the end, many things are left unanswered and what was answered tugged at my mind for days after I finished this one. Was Marjorie possessed? Schizophrenic? Was she trying to destroy her family or save them?

In a Dark, Dark Wood
This book opens with the narrator, Nora, waking up in a hospital not remembering why, but noting that she has a recoil bruise from a gun on her shoulder. The rest of the book is told from the present day Nora in the hospital to her flashbacks of what happened before she ended up in the hospital. The reader learns that despite not hearing from her best friend Clare in ten years, Nora is invited to Clare's hen [bachelorette] party. She struggles with whether or not to attend, ultimately deciding to go along with their mutual friend Nina. When Nora arrives, she discovers the party to be at a glass-walled house in the middle of the woods. As the weekend moves along, neither Nora nor Nina wants to remain but it's clear that neither was able to leave before tragedy struck. As far as suspense novels go, there weren't any huge surprising twists within this book, but it moved at a fast and interesting pace.


What are you reading?

3 comments:

One crazed mommy said...

In addition to reading the same book, I finished a quick, cute, read by Debra Marsh called The Book of Frank. If you haven't read it, it's a hoot - she's a kindergarten teacher, and she wrote the book based on real life class experiences and students, ie. "Frank" (name changed of course). If you haven't checked out her blog, Vodka Mom, you need to. You get stories about "Frank" and many of her other colorful characters/students as well. :)

Barb Ruess said...

I finished We Are Not Ourselves. It was a good read. Heartbreaking at times - alzheimers is at its core - but I found it very interesting to watch each character evolve.

Then I read A Master Plan for Rescue... I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! Almost like a fable with young Jack fighting to right some terrible wrongs that have happened in his life and deciding instead of going to school, to start hunting Nazis in Manhattan. The ties in the story to what was happening during WWII were perfect. I couldn't put it down for the last third of the story. And then the rescue part of the story... oh, this is such a good read.

Unknown said...

I am slogging my way through Sycamore Row. It's not a bad book, but I think I've read too many similar books from Grisham over the years. They all "feel" the same.