A Sister in my House by Linda Olsson

An interesting read that I don't think I would have picked up on my own. I'm going to get my pet peeve about this one out of the way immediately and I shall not dwell on it anymore: no contractions. When I see entire soliloquies without contractions, my brain dies a little. It feels entirely too formal. Of course there were some, but the monologues were overwhelmingly formal. Also, "Good morning, how did you sleep?" is not a question that invites monologues, but in this book, that's what you get.

Away from the peeves!

Emma and Maria are two sisters who have lost contact with each other. Maria lives outside Barcelona and, on impulse even she can't understand, invites Emma to stay with her for a visit while they are cleaning up at their mother's funeral. Emma seemingly ignores the request until two years later when she emails Maria that she is coming for that visit. Maria is instantly upset and angry at Emma (and, rightfully, at herself) but prepares for the visit anyways. Clearly, these two sisters have, not just issues, but subscriptions worth of problems.

The book unfolds with many monologues and pouring forth of sisterly tears as they finally, actually, talk to one another. We have one sister, Emma, who stayed near home and became the caregiver to a Mother that the other sister could not stand. Maria, after the death of her twin Amanda, went off and never came back.  Neither of those situations are ideal and they naturally created a rift between the two. The rift started when Emma was born and "invaded" the twins space and just grew larger and larger.

Ignoring my peeves, the way this story unfolded was interesting. Little bits and bops of things kept popping up and disappearing and made me (the reader) anxious. "We need to talk about Amanda" was said enough times that I yelled at the book "TALK ABOUT AMANDA". The book ignored me and continued on until it was damn well ready to talk about Amanda. And what a talk it was.

Interesting little book. Definitely worth a read. I'm sure I'm a rare reader when it comes to the contractions and formal language deal, so I'm sure you will do just fine.

The Unemployed Fortune-Teller: Essays and Memoirs by Charles Simic

Travel for work helped me knock out several books. Dogsitting an old dog helped me justify time on my couch finishing Simic's essay collection. I even read choice bits to the dog. I think she enjoyed it.

I didn't pick this book up by chance. My friend who actively reads poetry lent me 3 Simic books, I think to try and entice me into his world.  I honestly am not a poetry person, with the exception of Charles Bukowski, but my friend keeps trying.

I started with the essays and memoirs to ease myself into Simic. What I found was truly excellent writing about a ton of things I know nothing about. He mentions so many artists, poets, and authors and I'm making notes because my knowledge base is zilch.

But going outside of me not knowing the references, this little book is truly packed with good writing. With bullshit (fully acknowledge by the author) and truth.  Food and Happiness and Don't Squeeze the Tomatoes! are my two favorites (I might be hungry...). Someone who can wax poetic about the perfect tomato and make me so mad that I currently do not have any tomatoes is a great writer.

The Minotaur Loves His Labyrinth is so full of tidbits to store away and chew on later. Really, I didn't skip through any of the essays and that's saying something.

I'll be attempting the poetry next. If the writing is the same, I will probably be a convert.

The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish

I love it when I find new girl crushes.

My first intro to Tiffany Haddish was from The Daily Show:

hhhh

Her storytelling is hilarious! The Roscoe story was still playing out when I went to Audible and downloaded her book. I made the assumption that since she was reading it, it would be more than outstanding.

I was right. Geesh, this lady is funny. Even about things in her life that shouldn't be funny. Her storytelling of her mom's accident, being shuffled through the foster system, her horribly abusive ex-husband and all those terrible boyfriends made you laugh but I felt bad about laughing, but then I laughed more. And BAM..girl crush.  This woman took the shit from her life and made it into entertainment. She made a career out of it and launched herself out of her bad situations and into, I hope, super stardom. She deserves it.

The Roscoe story was even better here and her story about taking Will Smith and Jada on a swamp tour purchased on Groupon.....dear Lord. I sincerely hope someone punches her ex-husband for her....repeatedly.

Listen to the audiobook and listen all the way to the end for her Unicorn song.  *girl crush*

The King's Witch by Tracy Borman

I picked this up on Netgalley but just FINALLY got time to read it while traveling for work. I was completely engrossed in it and it was my main diversion on 4 flights this past week. Lucky for you, I procrastinated so long this book is already out for you to buy!

I do love historical fiction and this didn't disappoint. We're focused on King James VI and his reign. He was obsessed with witch hunts and that is one of the primary focuses of this book. Frances Gorges (whom I'm not sure is real) is the center of this book and is the witch in question. I didn't give anything away there, you'll notice immediately why she is targeted as a witch.

Frances is from a notable family, in service to the previous Queen. But once King James comes swirling in, the Gorges are relegated to the outskirts of the Court. King James hates witches and Catholics and uses his authority to hunt down both. I would hate living in this time. Not only is a death sentence a gruesome affair but it's a spectator sport as well. So weird.

Frances is forced to Court to be the Lady of the Bedchamber to the little princess Elizabeth. Frances' uncle wants the family in good standing and pulled strings to get Frances there and in a good position. Unfortunately for him, Frances uses her healing skills to help aid Queen Anne and falls under the suspicion of Lord Privy Seal Cecil, who is in charge of the witch hunts.

Things started tumbling down for Frances and for everyone under King James' rule. This is a seriously screwed up reign and even the Queen is looking for a way out.

Totally engrossing book. I do have to say that everyone "inclines" their head all the time. All. The. Time. I get that may be how royalty acknowledges people, with an incline of the head, but goodness.

Regardless of the inclines, I'll be reading more of this author.

The Dying Hour by Rick Mofina

So far, Bookbub hasn't really steered me wrong with free books. And, this is big, I'm actually starting series at the beginning!

This is the first Jason Wade book. I'll admit to being surprised it's a series based on Wade. He was pretty decent but he didn't feel like the hero of a series. I'll read the next few and see how he grows up. Either way, this is a decent standalone thriller. Extremely creepy and weird, with such an odd climax.

Wade is an intern at a Seattle paper. All of the interns are competing for a coveted job, and Jason really doesn't stand much of a chance. He doesn't have the background or pull that the other interns have. He has a history of a broken home and no where to go except for a brewery factory with his dad. Wade is initially on the crime beat and gets a tip about an abandoned car with a possible missing woman, Karen Harding. It's a good story and gets a good reaction from the editor.

We follow Harding along her car trip to get to her sister's but she ends up with a broken down car. A reverend in an RV (all signs point to NO!!!) comes to her rescue, but ends up abducting her.

We get really gruesome, really fast from here on out. The author brings in medieval torture techniques that really prove how horrible people were back in the day. We have crazy religious guys and Wade, out there still trying to get that permanent job.

The odd part, I thought, was how Wade stepped in and the ultimate climax of the mystery. I guess every day Joes can do what he did but it seemed pretty convenient. Still a really good mystery.