My Latest Reads, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   I have  to say, girls, my reading is pretty far ranged.  Themes and ideas may collide, but, all in all, I  try to maintain a varied selection.  Let's  take a look at some of my recent perusals.

                                                                                 

                                  "Later," by Stephen King--The only time I read him anymore is when the Hard Crime series publishes one of his works.  I loved "Joyland," and after this, I would like to get my hands  on "The Colorado Kid."  As for "Later--" Not "The Sixth  Sense," again!  Jamie Conklin, a New York teen  living  with his single mother, Tia,  a down -and-out literary agent, can see dead people!  Ho hum! What keeps this from being a travesty is Jamie's voice, insights  into  the literary life, and  Elizabeth  "Liz" Dutton, the most badassed female cop--and a corrupt one, to boot;  not  to mention a lesbian--with she and Jamie's adventures becoming the story's highlight.  King's best writing, that I can swallow, can be seen through this series.  The big reveal, while surprising, was unappreciated and unnecessary.  Girls, you will see what I mean.  Even those like me, who have given up on King, will  find this  diverting!

                                                                         

                                            "Open Water," by Caleb Azumah Nelson--As I have said before, girls, this seems to be "The Year Of The Debut."  Nelson's novel is "literary" with a capitol "L;" the prose is  almost  poetic, which works in favor of an otherwise ordinary story, set in London and Dublin, about a Black artist (male) and Black dancer (female) trying to find their way to each other, rising above the ordinary.  The novel  is  blessedly short; but, then, I don't take to even borderline verse.  No wonder I have yet to tackle "Pale Fire" by Nabokov.   The novel's author delivers promising talent and technique, but needs to learn the art of narrative flow.  Maybe on his next try!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                                

                                       "The First Day Of Spring," by Nancy Tucker--Not since Alex Marwood's "The Wicked Girls" has a child murderer story disturbed me.  America certainly has no premium in this department; Marwood's tale was based on Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who killed James Bulger, aged two, on February 17, 1993, while Tucker's inspiration was  clearly Mary Bell, the British child murderess who  killed two pre-school aged boys in Scotswood, Newcastle upon Tyne, back in 1968.  Tucker writes in alternate chapters and identities; "Chrissie" being the child chapters, and "Julia" the adult ones.  Like Mary, "Chrissie" was emotionally abused and neglected by a prostitute mother, subscribing to the idea that environment produces criminals.  Those who know me and my love for "The Bad Seed," which argues the opposite, might be interested, as was I, to discover this expression is often referred to, throughout the novel.  Chrissie often  calls herself a "bad seed," and the phrase is always italicized, which I think is code for Tucker reaching out to those, like I, who know  the William March work.   While the "Julia" chapters produce some  reader sympathy,  especially now that she has  a  daughter of her own, Molly, the "Chrissie" chapters left me full of doubt.  Mary Bell never killed again, and I don't think she will.  But, by the end of Tucker's novel,  I was less sure about Chrissie/Julia.

This is a  MUST, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                                

                                           "The Other Black Girl," by Zakiya Dalila Harris--Oh, dear.  I know women in fiction, and especially Black women, are this period's literary flavor, and I get that, and both are certainly deserving, but this book was self-defeating in the end.  For  ninety-percent of its length it is a perfect New York publishing workplace character study, especially of women finding their way amid  male corporate ambition.  Perfect.  If only........Because,  when I reached the Big Reveal, I had to do a complete reassessment of  what had  gone before.  I don't want to give too much away, but let me  just say it suddenly switches from  reality to what might have made a good Rod  Serling  "Twilight Zone" episode.  What was Harris thinking?  In the end, she sets the BLM movement further back, rather than forward.   SO promising, but a big disappointment.

                                             And there you have it, dolls!  Hard to believe  I read all this in a single week!

                                             But then, as Cole Porter once said,  "Times have changed........!!!!!!!!!"