What I’m reading now and have read recently:
I’ve been on a “death in high, cold places” kick recently, so my current reads are Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air and Eiger Dreams, Graham Bowley’s No Way Down, and David Brashear’s High Exposure. I don’t particularly like to delve into the reasons I prefer the stories that end in tragedy rather than triumph, but that’s always been my way.
Mudbound
Mudbound
by Hilary Jordan
Thus far I’m really enjoying this book. The prose is nicely crafted and the characters have a depth to them that makes me want to read on. Sadly, I’m pretty sure that the black sharecropper’s oldest son…something bad is going to happy to him. It always does in books like these.
The Sugar Queen
by Sarah Addison Allen
The Sugar Queen
This is one of those books that made me pay too much attention to the writing. Not that the writing isn’t good, but that I have a strong suspicion that at some point in the process of editing this book, the author was asked to make some very specific genre tweaks. To be more precise, it’s presented in a literary way, and has some wonderful moments in it. Subtle characterizations and a delightful touch of magical realism. But it also feels like a chick lit book–full of quirky, beautiful people and quirky, plain people who are secretly beautiful and strangely self-aware and unaware at the same time. Despite the literary aura of unhappiness floating around many of the characters, they all live happily ever after. Unrequited love gets requited. Betrayal is overcome. Everyone gets tied up neatly in a wonderful, perfect romantic relationship, except for the characters who are obviously destined for other things. So while I enjoyed reading it, I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I would have if one of those two elements hadn’t seemed so forced. I just can’t decide which one.
Mother Clap
Mother Clap’s Molly House
by Rictor Norton
Probably the definitive work on the gay subculture of 18th and 19th century London. Providing me with a great deal of amusement, but more importantly, some key research on a historical novel I’m planning.
Effigy
Effigy
by Alissa York
This was a wonderful read. Historically, the tone is spot-on 19th century Utah, but under that is a layer of the fantastical that gives even the mundane a richness beyond your usual historical fiction. Polygamy, obsessive taxidermy, small changeling child-bride taxidermist, forbidden lust, dark and shameful secrets, pioneer lingerie, and a contortionist named Bendy.
Kept
Kept by D. J. Taylor
A very nicely paced historical drama cum mystery. In trying to solve an unusual train robbery, a murder is exposed. A nice balance between some of the set pieces of a murder mystery and the melodrama of madness in 19th century London.
