Let’s see if I can stick with it now! Kids are both grown and out of the house, but I have a full time library career plus a music career. Anyway, looking back at my posts from previous years is fun, so we’ll see if I can keep it up.
I’ve read three books so far in 2024, following the Goodreads reads 52 Books prompt challenge. Here is what I have so far, with a few thoughts on each.
Book 1: Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore, prompt 10, told in non-chronological order
I really enjoyed this one! Oona’s birthday falls on New Year’s Day, and on midnight of January 1, 1983, as she is turning 19, Oona faints and wakes up in a 51-year-old body. Every year, this happens, but with Oona never knowing what year/age she is going to wake up in. She is living her life out of order. Because of her “leaps” happening on New Year’s as well as the fact that I have a birthday right before New Year’s, it was such a great way to start the year.
I love books that are funny and poignant all at once, that make me feel every emotion, and this book delivered. It was also a very different spin on the much-used concept of jumping into another time in one’s life, which I really enjoyed.
I wish the author would have explored why this was happening to Oona. I didn’t need a definitive answer, but it seemed rather unrealistic that the character wouldn’t make some attempt at figuring that out or solving it.
Also, Oona’s first two leaps or so were very well-done, but after that they started to feel rushed. I understand why – the author wasn’t going for an epic, thousand-page novel. But it was a little problematic for me.
Because of the nature of the book, I am left with a lot of questions unanswered about what will happen to Oona. But I guess life is like for all of us, and the author still manages to wrap things up in a very satisfying way.
All in all, a great start to 2024. It left me very contemplative about my own life (in conjunction with beginning a new calendar year and age year myself), so very timely. 3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4 on Goodreads (I’ve found I’ve been getting a little stingier with my stars – 3 1/2 means it’s a solid, enjoyable read).
Book 2: The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins, prompt 30, picked without reading the blurb
I had originally chosen this for the locked-room mystery prompt because it was on the Goodreads list under that prompt, but as I read I realized it didn’t really fit that, so I changed prompts. This was a modern-day retelling of one of my favorite books, Jane Eyre, but without the hopefulness, wisdom, and decency of the source material. This was pretty typical of the popular mystery genre. Not a terrible book, but Jane Eyre is hard to live up to. 2.75 stars, rounded up to 3 on Goodreads.
Book 3: The Dry by Jane Harper, prompt 3, more than 40 chapters
I was going to read this for the Australian author prompt last year but never got around to it (I read 52 books last year, but some didn’t fit prompts or fit prompts that had already been filled, so I didn’t finish the prompt challenge).
During the worst drought in history, three family members are brutally murdered, leaving only an infant alive. Aaron Faulk, who had been a close childhood friend of the murdered father, returns to town for the funeral and is met with suspicion, threats, and accusations resulting from the mysterious death of a third friend in his teens. Faulk ends up investigating both of the murders while he is there and uncovers many town secrets.
I like Jane Harper’s writing style, but the story itself seemed a little disjointed to me in connecting the past and present. I don’t want to give too much away, so I won’t say more than that. It was compelling, though, and I couldn’t put it down. A solid 3 stars for me.
Currently reading 11-22-63 by Stephen King (it’s a long one, so I am both reading and listening and plan to do this over a couple of weeks), The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods, The Complete Works of O. Henry, vol. 1, and The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb as a Goodreads buddy read.
Comfort Corner 