Books Are My Addiction

As we planned our Texas Book Festival agenda, my friend Catherine asked if I needed one or two trips to the book tent. And laughed knowingly when I said only one, because I had a list and was sticking to it. You see, my name is Leah and I have an addiction.

That weekend, I bought eight new items to add to my “must read” pile. This week, I checked out three more from the library. Help! As my books continue to stack up, here’s what I’ve finished lately.

Books 54–60 in 2019

No. 54: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Chuck Wendig is one of my favorite authors. I’ve heard Wendig speak twice and still haven’t gotten a truly satisfactory answer to my questions. Why does he so often channel stories through women? And how does this guy so richly inhabit these characters? (He says,”I just write people,” but that’s too simplistic. Many writers can’t effortlessly switch genders and that answer completely dodges “why.”) This hefty novel lies somewhere between horror, science fiction, and dystopian futurism. One day, Nessie gets out of bed and starts walking. She’s become a living zombie, driven on a course only she knows. Others similarly afflicted rise up and join Nessie’s march to somewhere. Where she goes, who among the healthy follows, and what they discover makes a riveting mystery. Don’t start Wanderers unless you’re able to fully immerse yourself–you won’t be able to stop.

No. 55: The Humans by Matt Haig

It took me a minute to remember this because I read it on Kindle. Our book club had a great discussion over the story, which is told in first person by an alien who’s sent to Earth on a murderous mission. It’s truly funny, very thoughtful, and cry-out-loud touching. The Humans turned out to complement Wanderers nicely; both are explorations of what human is and how life has meaning.

No. 56: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I’ve truly enjoyed Gaiman’s other books (American Gods, Good Omens, Neverwhere, and Stardust), so I didn’t hesitate. Whoa! This “fairy tale” managed to take the most terrifying aspects of American Gods and unpack them within my personal trigger themes of childhood loneliness and feeling unlovable. It’s as though Gaiman’s sweet fantasy Stardust had been bitten by a rabid bat. Be cautious (and very afraid) when entering the nightmarish world of The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

No. 57: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

I so owe Margaret Atwood an apology. You see, for years, I’d told anyone who’d listen she had no business writing a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. Why? It’s perfect. And then she proved me wrong by writing a perfect sequel. Atwood takes us into Gilead’s future via accounts, or testaments, written in distinctive voices: Aunt Lydia’s secret journal and “witness testimony” from two young women, one of whom has grown up free and another who’s lived her life in Gilead. It’s not necessary to have read The Handmaid’s Tale before The Testaments, but your experience will be more complete. And overwhelming. So balance that tidal wave of bleak dystopian despair with appropriate self care.

No. 58: The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon

What exactly was this novel about anyway? Perhaps all that horror-dystopian-fantasy-science fiction fried my brain, but it took supreme willpower to finish The Incendiaries (and it’s only 210 pages long). While the prose could be lovely, the story was forgettable, its characters distant and fundamentally uninteresting. Phoebe and Will struggled with serious issues but I just didn’t care.

No. 59: Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

I can’t believe any book by Barbara Kingsolver could be boring but Unsheltered sure was. I fervently wish this book had focused on Mrs. Mary Treat, the surprisingly scientific female bug lover and contemporary of Charles Darwin, instead of her dull male neighbor with family troubles. The house metaphor labored; Kingsolver’s modern family felt preachy and contrived. May I recommend The Poisonwood Bible instead?

No. 60: When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories by Molly Ringwald

Confession: I bought this because it’s Molly Ringwald and I wondered — what sort of writer would she be? Surprisingly, I’d already read one of the chapters: “My Olivia,” about a child who wishes to transform from Oliver to Olivia. The book’s format fit nicely with bedtime reading and, though When It Happens to You wasn’t anything particularly special, I enjoyed how the various stories came together. Nicely done, Molly.

Links!

Texas Book Festival; 2020 will be its 25th event!

“True Confessions, or What I Bought and Who I Stalked at Texas Book Festival” (2016)

“Reading The Handmaid’s Tale in 2017 is Scarier Than Ever”