Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

This was a IRL book club pick, something I had heard of but was pretty sure I had no interest in reading. Oh dear, there are problems with high society people in Savannah? Let me rush right into that.

Well, now I want to visit Savannah. (Damn you, well written and delightful book!)

This really is non-fiction that you can't quite believe really happened. Are people really like this? I know there are eccentrics in the good ol' USA but to have that many living in Savannah is really quite astounding.

We're told of the saga of Jim Williams, rich, gay, eccentric, and simultaneously beloved and loathed by society. Oh, they will come to his mansion and to his parties but they will talk about him behind his back because he didn't rise up through the proper family ranks. In a nutshell, a very small nutshell, he kills the 21 year old who works for him in self-defense. Except no one really believes it and he ends up having FOUR trials to determine if he's guilty.

Add in a lawyer/conman, a transgender drag queen named Chablis, a voodoo queen and a bug guy willing to poison the water of Savannah and I'm not sure what exactly you get. You definitely get a great book to lose yourself in and I'm sure you'll get a road trip to Savannah because you want to see if people are really like this.

*starts planning road trip*

Sadly, Lady Chablis is no longer in Savannah.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson is a gem. The Lottery was my first introduction to her and that fully creeped me out so I decided to try We Have Always Lived in the Castle. And we're creeped out again!

I listened to the audiobook from Audible and it was really well done and about 5+ hours long. Mary Kathering (or Merricat) is 18 and lives with her sister Constance and her Uncle Julian in the Blackwood house. There used to be 7 members of the Blackwood family but only 3 remain. The other 4 were poisoned when someone put arsenic in the sugar bowl.

The townspeople hate the Blackwoods and only Merricat goes out for groceries in town and to get the items they need. Constance hasn't left the house since she was acquitted of the murders. In the beginning of the book, I was so angry with the villagers who taunted Merricat to her face as she went about her business. Then, I began to wonder about Merricat. She's 18 but talks like a child. She practices a form of magic to protect their estate and themselves. She seems to be her sister's protector but....is she?

Merricat is the first to detect that a change was coming, and the change would spell trouble for the little family. His name is Charles, and he is their cousin. Charles comes to stay with them for a bit and Constance seems taken with him. We find out rather quickly that he's a pretty terrible person and truly does bring trouble.


This was a strange little book, and Jackson's last, that is very worth reading. Standing out, apart from the norm, brings the bullies down upon people. I think you'll find the sisters have figured out how to handle the world and still be happy. You'll also find out what really happened to the Blackwood family.

(It looks like this is being made into a movie with Sebastian Stan (IMDB link))

Twisted Prey by John Sandford

Seriously, we're already at 28 Lucas Davenport books? Seems like only yesterday.....

After 28 damn books, I've come to a realization. Davenport is sly. I mean, I knew this. You can watch him work people to his advantage (really, to the case and victim's advantage - he's not a total asshole) and you know he's sly. He thinks things through and he works people in a way that most people wouldn't. I didn't really think about how sly he is without us knowing, until the end of this book. Sneaky, sneaky Davenport.

That might be one of the things I really love about Sandford's writing. He lays a lot out for you to absorb and process but holds certain things back. When the reveal happens, you flip back to the passage and realize, "Damn. He did do that.' Or maybe I'm just slow and I don't catch things anymore. Po-TAY-to. Po-TAH-to.

A rich psychopath is in the Senate and aiming for the White House (*cough cough*). We've met Taryn Grant before, and she just escaped Davenport's grip back in MN. Now, another Senator is nearly assassinated, and his companion (not his wife), is killed. He's pissed and pointing at Grant as the one pulling the trigger. Porter Smalls gets Davenport, now a U.S. Marshal, into DC to start investigating.

Things get hairy. Military gets involved. Arms deals, murders, etc. Everything that DC can throw at Davenport is being thrown. He doesn't so much solve the case as follow the trail of bodies piling up, but in the end, he finished what he came to DC to finish. God love this man.

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

I've only ever read one other Zadie Smith book, On Beauty, and I loved it. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details because I read it while my dad was in the end stages of Parkinson's but I know I would recommend On Beauty to anyone starting out with Zadie.

Swing Time took me a bit more by surprise. I got the book from Audible.com and LOVED the narrator. LOVED HER. Pippa Bennett-Warner was so damn stellar at the accents and nationalities in this book that I could hug her. She got me completely lost in the story. (I see she narrates White Teeth - sold! Downloading White Teeth now)

Once again, I think Smith did a fantastic job weaving together a story that shifts through time, bringing together Tracey and the unnamed narrator, and tearing them apart. We never find out the narrator's name, which leaves her as a bystander in all events, including in her own life. She's only ever an attachment to someone else, who is named, but never stands out on her own. And she seems acutely aware of this fact.

I did have a bit of trouble in the beginning because I just wasn't sure where we were going. We ended up traveling to London, NYC and West Africa, all the while watching No-Name lose herself and destroy friendships and relationships. She deliberately does terrible things, without thinking of consequences, takes the wrong path on so many occasions and still doesn't quite seem to understand how she got to where she is. She's terribly young and her immaturity shines through most of her interactions.

I hope, by the ending, she is free to be herself and figure out who she is. Her attachments are whittled down to nothing, which means, she needs to stand on her own.

Good book and I highly recommend the audio version (about 13+ hours).