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What I've been reading: Books No. 47-48
Nov. 28th, 2021 11:13 amBook No. 47 was "White Is for Witching" by Helen Oyeyemi. My first exposure to Oyeyemi was "Boy, Snow, Bird," and while I liked the writing, I wasn't knocked out. I decided to give her another try and really enjoyed "White is for Witching". I see some reviewers find it confusing or disjointed, but I was able to follow it without problems. The writing is beautiful, especially the bits about desire and falling in love and kissing, kissing, kissing. The idea of a house that is possessive of its own people and wary of strangers and that is a viewpoint character felt fresh to me. This was genuinely spooky in many spots. Loved it.
Book No. 48 was "Kingdom of the Blind" (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #14) by Louise Penny. I always enjoy these Inspector Gamache novels, even though some are better than others. The events on the previous book, "Glass Houses," are still rippling into #14 in the series as Gamache and his second-in-command are under investigation for how they handled the previous case. And there's a new drug on the street that Gamache desperately wants to track down before it is released and starts killing people. At the same time, he, Myrna, and a stranger named Benjamin are all called in by a notary to be the liquidators of a will of a woman none of them has ever met. What is going on?
I gave this one a 4/5 for a couple reasons. One is that there weren't a ton of surprises. I saw several plot points coming a mile away. And I really was irritated by Penny's repeated refrain of "tr---ies", junkies, and "wh--es". It seemed clear that Gamache treated everyone, including drug addicts and trans prostitutes with respect, but the fact that Penny feels the need to use that string of slurs over and over again got on my nerves. On the plus side, I like the way the characters are still evolving in this book, and I loved that Myrna got some serious page time devoted to her. Even after feeling a little "meh" about this one, I'm looking forward to the next in the series!
( The other books I've read so far this year: )
Book No. 48 was "Kingdom of the Blind" (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #14) by Louise Penny. I always enjoy these Inspector Gamache novels, even though some are better than others. The events on the previous book, "Glass Houses," are still rippling into #14 in the series as Gamache and his second-in-command are under investigation for how they handled the previous case. And there's a new drug on the street that Gamache desperately wants to track down before it is released and starts killing people. At the same time, he, Myrna, and a stranger named Benjamin are all called in by a notary to be the liquidators of a will of a woman none of them has ever met. What is going on?
I gave this one a 4/5 for a couple reasons. One is that there weren't a ton of surprises. I saw several plot points coming a mile away. And I really was irritated by Penny's repeated refrain of "tr---ies", junkies, and "wh--es". It seemed clear that Gamache treated everyone, including drug addicts and trans prostitutes with respect, but the fact that Penny feels the need to use that string of slurs over and over again got on my nerves. On the plus side, I like the way the characters are still evolving in this book, and I loved that Myrna got some serious page time devoted to her. Even after feeling a little "meh" about this one, I'm looking forward to the next in the series!
( The other books I've read so far this year: )
