September 2022 Reads

Getting back on track in September, I need to pick up the pace if I'm going to hit my 2022 goal of 80 books, I'm currently at 50. Now, you may think that it'll be impossible to hit 80 books with only three months left in 2022, but I've easily read 10 books a month other months when I'm not flitting all around travelling, so have faith, and let me know if there's anything you want me to read before you do - as long as it isn't Colleen Hoover.

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

Five stars, easy. Might end up being my favorite book of 2022.

Byron and Benny's mother Eleanor dies and the two are brought together after an eight year estrangement to listen to a recording left by their mother in anticipation of her death.

What unfolds is a story that has twists and turns, mystery, excitement, love, murder, and in the end the story will change Byron and Benny's lives forever.

I don't want to tell you too much about it because I don't want to spoil any part of the book, but it's extraordinary. I wish I could read it for the first time again. I hope it's made into a movie. Charmaine Wilkerson is an amazing writer, I hope she writes more novels, the world needs more novels from Charmaine Wilkerson.

Rough House is non-fiction account of Tina's childhood growing up in absolute turmoil. Her father is an absolute selfish, dangerous, menace. How any child survives and makes it out of these situations is nothing short of miraculous to me.

I somehow find myself drawn to these stories. I don't particularly know why, maybe it's just because I admire the strength and resilience of these children who become women who break the cycle.

Hard recommend on this book, it's a short one - under 200 pages, and definitely worth your time.

Unspeakable Things is a novel about someone snatching and abusing boys in a small Minnesota community in the 1980s. It's told from the perspective of Cassie McDowell's pre-teen eyes while she attempts to solve the mystery. Cassie's house is weird on its own - her father is a controlling narcissist, and her parents have swingers parties which brings local weirdos around to their house - i.e., suspects, including her own father.

I *did not* particularly enjoy this book. I listened to it on a long drive, and it's possible the audio is what has skewed my opinion. It came off as very YA, and it felt uncomfortable listening to this pre-teen recounting all of this information in the first person. Now, I know this is fiction and I have read a lot of non-fiction about children in horrible circumstances (Educated, The Sound of Gravel), but this one I just didn't like. Also might have been the weirdness of 80s youth slang peppered into the book. I almost expected a 'totally tubular, dude' to be uttered. So, I'd pass on this one, there are much better books out there to spend your time with.

xoxo

iamfunchris