Here’s what I’ve added to my to-read list this week and think you should too!
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan: Following the life of red lobster manager Manny, it deals with the perils of love in the service industry as Manny realizes he’s not in love with his pregnant girlfriend, but one of his waitresses. As someone who has worked in customer service for the past 9 years, I like books about people working service jobs for minimum wage. You’d never guess it if you’ve never been on that side of things, but it’s a lot more exciting than it looks.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke: Set in 19th century England. Yup, you’ve guessed it, that’s all it took for me to decide this book needed to be on my reading list. But for those of you not quite as sold, let me continue winning you over… Mr. Norrell and his pupil (Jonathan Strange…get it, because they’re name are in the title) are part of the long standing tradition of English magic in this re imagining of history. Then, as usually happens with pupils, Jonathan wants to explore the darker side of magic that “opens a rift”.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn: When I first picked up this book on the buy 2 get 1 free rack and B&N I really just saw the author’s name and thought “Why not, it’s cheaper than Gone Girl and I bought that”. Seriously. that was the extent of my decision making process. Then I read the back and decided I’d made a good choice. Libby Day was seven when her mother and both sisters became victims of “The Satan Sacrifices”. but Libby was able to escape. Then she testified against the killer…who happened to be her 15-year-old-brother. Of course, there’s more to the story than that and when I secret detective society decides to reopen the case Libby is forced to come to terms with that day…and the knowledge her testimony might not have been as solid as she claimed.
