Here are the three books that I just picked up from the library.
I am the first one to say that there’s nothing like settling down with a good book. But as of late, I have had a very hard time settling down with just one book that I really want to read. I pick one up, start it, and put it down. Endlessly, it seems. We all go through phases like this, right?
In part, at my end, the restlessness comes from the non-stop changes in my home, and recently, weeks of construction noise in an adjacent room. But I think the larger issue is that as we grow and evolve we want to read different things, and we don’t quite know what “fits” us now.
In this frame of mind, I was able to clear out one half of my collection of books waiting to be read (donated to my library’s little For Sale shelf.) But what to read? When in such a restless mood, I find that something with suspense, intrigue, mystery is a decent bet. And so, the three books above, all good choices. Which did I start? The book at left. The jacket flap … Never pray to the gods that answer after dark. OK, I’m in.
What do you look for when you’re restless and can’t settle on what to read?
Yes, I know everyone is rushing around like crazy getting ready for the holidays, but I still have two reading suggestions. One to start now, just to take your mind off the busy-ness, and another to get into when the final crunch is over.
The first is a crime thriller, Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger. The writing is taut, the pace brisk, and the subject matter all-too-current – online dating in today’s (2021) world of hook-ups and ghosting. Unger knows how to pull you in, build the suspense, and change direction without a misstep, always leaving you wanting more. Our main character, Wren, has dated a man she found on an online dating site. She believed they was falling in love, but he mysteriously disappears, leaving no trace of himself anywhere. A private detective contacts Wren also looking for the boyfriend, who may be involved in the disappearance of three other young women with a lot in common with her. I find myself jumping in every chance I get. I haven’t read Lisa Unger before, but I will again. More from goodreads.
The second is a book for when you want to get into a novel a little deeper, by the ever-amazing Barbara Kingsolver, called Unsheltered. This is the story of two families living in the same falling-apart house in Vineland, NJ, one in the 1860’s, and the other today. When I first started reading, I felt slightly puzzled – Kingsolver never writes about “nothing,” so I wasn’t sure where this story was going to go. Told in alternating chapters, we come to know Willa, in current day, at a loss as to how life is falling apart for her and her family despite always trying to do the right thing, and Thatcher Greenwood, a science teacher who wants to bring the wonders of the living world to his students, but is stymied in every attempt. When he comes to know the next door neighbor, Mary Treat, his devotion to science is finally recognized by a woman, a biologist, who is in communication with Charles Darwin. This part of the story evolves to a degree around the growing awareness of the theory of evolution, religion’s backlash against it, and how it affects Greenwood’s life. In Willa’s story, we ultimately find the connection of the two stories, but also how a family struggles and grows in spite of daunting circumstances. Unsheltered is just excellent, and Kingsolver an outstanding writer who crafts the most believable characters. More on goodreads.
Two very different reads, both terrific, and each for a different pace in your life.
Still A Dreamer 