friday reads Archives - Don't Mind the Mess

Summer Reads Series: Dark and Twisty

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Jess • 0 Comments

The summer beach reads usually involve some kind of beach itself. Romance, sun, sand. Or adventure, sun, sand. Or tragedy, sun, sand. You get the idea.

But after the crazy success of last year’s Gone Girl, dark and twisty is all the rage again. If you’re looking for something dark and twisty to serve as a nice counterpoint to your sun and sand, I’m rounding up some great reads for you. And rest assured, these are all books I’ve read (okay, I didn’t finish one of them, but I’m almost all the way through so I think you can take my word for it). (Links to affiliate partners Amazon, B&N and Powell’s with each book.)

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The Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver. Basically this is Gone Girl meets The Pelican Brief. Or if Lionel Shriver wrote a legal thriller. Noa is on death row for murder and has never agreed to any appeals until a big-time attorney who also happens to be her victim’s mother steps in and insists she wants clemency. Noa isn’t a traditionally likeable character, but she’s definitely an interesting one. As we flash back to Noa’s old life and discover how she became a killer and what really happened everything you think you know changes. Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Poppet by Mo Hayder. While this is a great police procedural, it also has a very high creepy factor as it’s set in large part in a mental institution where the patients are mysteriously dying while insisting they’re plagued by a ghost. If you like a dash of horror, this is a great pick. Really well plotted and with some great characters, it’s a book that will have you reading in the dark even though you know you shouldn’t. It’s also a book in a series with Detective Jack Caffery, but I haven’t read any of the other books and it worked just fine for me. If you’re looking for a procedural series this could be a good one to try. Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Asylum by John Harwood. Continuing the mental institution theme, this is a traditional gothic novel set in 1800′s England in a psychiatric “hospital” in the countryside. Georgina wakes up to find herself there one day, she’s forgotten everything that’s happened for the last month and the staff is insisting she checked herself in under a different name. The more she tries to prove who she is, the more trapped she becomes. A novel that uses letters, journals and other writings really well, this is a very dark and twisty book. Don’t be afraid of the historical setting, it’s far from scary and full of all kinds of old-fashioned and still-awesome plot twists. Mistaken identity, doubles, captivity, secret romances, hidden wills, lost letters, etc. I also recommend John Harwood’s previous novel, The Seance for more gothic goodness. Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Coming Later This Summer

The Never List by Koethi Zan. You want high-concept? I’ve got that. Jennifer’s family suffered through some terrible tragedies. To protect herself she and her best friend Sarah made The Never List, things to avoid at all costs in order to stay safe. But one day they break a rule only to find themselves held captive for three years. And Jennifer never made it out. Ten years later, Sarah is pulled back into these harrowing years when the man who kidnapped them is put up for parole and she believes his letters from prison contain a secret she must decode. Interested yet? It’s out July 16th, make sure you put it on hold or pre-order so you don’t miss out. Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah. If you’ve read any other Sophie Hannah novels you know she’s pretty great at dark and twisty. She always has interesting female protagonists and does a great job of throwing in some serious suspense. I devoured her new book within a day or so, it’s all about Amber, who decides to see a hypnotherapist to help her insomnia. When she finds herself speaking the unusual titular words, “Kind of Cruel” while under hypnosis she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation where those words are one of the only clues. Out August 6th. Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Any other dark and twisty on your radar for summer? Share in the comments!

Tags: friday reads • 0 Comments

The Other Typist

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Jess • 3 Comments

A while ago I got a message in my Goodreads inbox. It was from a publisher, asking if they could quote my review in an ad.

I have to say I’m pretty excited about the possibility of being blurbed. I think that means I’ve officially made it in the book reviewing world.But this isn’t all about me. It’s actually about the book they contacted me about: The Other Typist. My Goodreads reviews are sometimes long but sometimes short and sweet. The one I wrote for The Other Typist isn’t too long but there’s one sentence that basically sums it up:

If you took last year’s RULES OF CIVILITY and gave it a Hitchcockian twist, you’d have THE OTHER TYPIST. A quick and smart novel of suspense.

Rules of Civility was a really fun novel of romance and friendship and class set in 1930s Manhattan centered around a young single working woman. The Other Typist is 1920s Manhattan and a psychological thriller but still has a lot of the same issues of friendship and class and betrayal.

I love the basic hook of it: Rose is not just any typist, she’s a typist for the police. She accompanies the police officers into the interrogation rooms and types up confessions. She’s heard all kinds of terrible things. She has her own troubled past, but she’s managed to make her way on her own and she’s happy with her life. Until the department hires a new typist: Odalie. Odalie is everything Rose isn’t, beautiful and charming and in control of all the men around her.

At first Rose and Odalie circle each other warily but as they become friends things start to get dark and dangerous.

Full of speakeasies and art deco, the setting is a lot of fun. And Rose is one of many great narrators who has a strong personality that makes you want to be on her side but also makes you suspicious. (Another one, coming next month, is in The Execution of Noa P. Singleton. Also a psychological thriller, though this one is modern.)

The Other Typist makes a great read that’s hard to put down. Definitely one almost any reader can enjoy.

Tags: friday reads • 3 Comments

Book Reviews: NOS4A2 & Someday, Someday, Maybe

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Jess • 0 Comments

Two new book reviews today for those of you with a little nostalgia for things gone by.

nos4a2 Book Reviews: NOS4A2 & Someday, Someday, Maybe

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Do you miss 80′s horror? Those giant doorstop books with tough heroes and creepy baddies? Those books that were part adventure and part creep-fest? Well, it’s back in a big way with NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. (If you find that title confusing, just look at the cover and think Nosferatu.)

I read this book and I saw old-school Stephen King… if he hadn’t been quite so drunk all the time. This book has a powerful story and a powerful protagonist, Vic McQueen. She has a strange and special gift to find lost things, but it takes a toll on her sanity. She’s troubled, she’s kickass, she’s determined. Basically, she’s awesome. If you’ve read Joe Hill’s previous novels (Horns and Heart-Shaped Box) you already know he has a real gift for creating unique and interesting protagonists. He definitely keeps up the streak here.

As for the bad guy, Charlie Manx is plenty creepy. And for many of us, the whole idea of a bad guy tied up with all things Christmas is going to make us very happy this book didn’t come out in December so we have some time to recover before another holiday season is upon us.

Like his other novels, I don’t think you have to be a horror reader to enjoy Hill. He has a very readable, playful style that would make this a great beach read.

For the Kobo
For the Kindle
For the Nook

someday Book Reviews: NOS4A2 & Someday, Someday, Maybe

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Switching gears, if you still haven’t recovered from the demise of Gilmore Girls then I have a book for you. Lauren Graham (aka Lorelei Gilmore) has written her first novel, Someday, Someday, Maybe.

My first question was, “Can Lauren Graham write?” My second question was, “How does Lauren Graham write?”

The answers are “Yes” and “Exactly the way you’d expect her to.”

Someday, Someday, Maybe is about Franny who lives in New York City and wants to make it as an actress… but she knows she can’t wait tables forever. She has a deadline before she ditches her dream to marry her backup guy, and that deadline is coming fast.

You can tell Graham has lived this life. It feels very insider… though it’s not anything close to a glamorous life. Still, it’s lots of fun to go behind the scenes when Franny scores a commercial and to see all the crazy effort that goes into a 30-second spot for laundry detergent.

Franny has Lauren/Lorelei’s quick wit and she’ll definitely keep you giggling.

Bonus: Lauren Graham reads the audiobook.

For the Kobo
For the Kindle
For the Nook

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Friday Reads: The Missing File

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Jess • 0 Comments

I don’t say I love mysteries anymore. Instead I say I love “crime novels.” I consider it a big step forward for the genre that you can now have “mysteries” without a mystery, “thrillers” without thrills. These novels can be quiet and beautiful and penetrating even and focus on bigger, broader themes.

One of my favorite things is branching out into international crime fiction. There’s the obvious choices: the UK brings Tana French, Kate Atkinson, P. D. James. And there’s the trendy Scandinavians: Karin Fossum, Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbo. You can go to Japan and enjoy the dark depths of Natsuo Kirino. I loved the meditative Argentine crime novel The Secret in Their Eyes.

But The Missing File by D. A. Mishani was a first: an Israeli crime novel.

The protagonist, detective Avraham Avraham, is himself a crime novel afficionado. He reminds the reader regularly throughout the book that the Israeli crime novel doesn’t really exist. It’s a funny little joke to the reader but one that keeps you more aware of its setting than you might be otherwise. Avraham thinks there is no Israeli crime novel because Israeli crime simply isn’t interesting enough.

Then, of course, it starts to get interesting. A teenage boy disappears. The easy answers aren’t coming. And Avraham has to unravel this strange mystery. It won’t be thrills and chills, it won’t be nonstop twists and turns, but the novel comes together in a slow burn and has its own unique flavor.

If you’ve enjoyed expanding your international crime novel library, this is definitely one worth adding to the shelf, especially because there’s word it’s the first in a series.

Thanks to Harper Books for providing me with an e-galley of this book.

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Friday Reads: What the Family Needed

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Jess • 1 Comment

Sometimes you just need a superpower. That one ability could change your whole life, make everything better.

That’s the idea behind the new novel What the Family Needed by Steven Amsterdam. The family in the title are a muddled bunch. Natalie and Ruth are sisters. Ruth has just left her husband and brought her two teenagers, Giordana and Ben, to live with Natalie’s family. Ruth’s family is always in flux and troubled. Natalie’s is stable and calm… except for young Alek who’s a little eccentric.

This book is really an interesting mashup. It has a traditional family drama on the one hand, watching these sisters, parents, cousins, etc. over the course of decades as their relationships change and fall apart and get repaired.

It’s also a book of connected short stories. Each chapter follows one family member. It starts with teenage Giordana whose life is upended by her parents’ separation and who is struggling to get a handle on her place in the family and in the world. The novel moves forward decades in time as you go from one character to another. Each one comes at a time of crisis. Loss. Grief. Dating. Love. Parenthood. It’s all there.

And then to top it off there’s a twist of magical realism. In the midst of the nitty gritty of real life, there’s a sudden gift. A sudden power. You find that you’re suddenly invisible. Or you can fly. Or you have super strength. And somehow that one thing is exactly what you needed to help you work through your problems.

It’s a great novel to just surrender to. Don’t ask questions. Don’t wonder where these powers come from. Don’t wonder what just happened in the 10 years between two chapters. Just let yourself go. Just take the ride.

Amsterdam’s characters are fantastic and that’s why the book works.

My only quibble is that I found the last chapter took away some of the magic I’d felt earlier on, but I still had such a nice experience spending time with this book that I can definitely recommend it. I also love the author’s website where you can choose a super power. Way cool.

Thanks to Riverhead Books for providing me with an e-galley of this book.

Tags: friday reads, reviews • 1 Comment

Friday Reads: Elders

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Jess • 2 Comments

There’s a glut of certain characters and societies in fiction. Like novels about 60′s dissidents and serial killers and rich New Yorkers and mid-life-crisis men. And then there are other people and places and cultures that go completely untouched.

Growing up Mormon it seemed like our lifestyle was completely absent in fiction. LDS writers either wrote fiction that had nothing to do with our culture or wrote so specifically to our culture that the world at large couldn’t enjoy it.

Elders by Ryan McIlvain is the first book I’ve ever read that is obviously written by a Mormon but not for a Mormon audience. And luckily it’s fantastic.

I’m really interested to see how this novel will be received. Missionaries, those clean cut young men in their white shirts, have always been a curiosity. In the Church they tend to be idolized. And I’m unsure how LDS readers will feel about reading about the companions they’ll meet in this book.

There’s the American, McLeod, a type some may recognize. He’s not exactly a reluctant missionary but he’s serving mostly because it’s expected of him. There’s the Brazilian, Passos, a relatively new convert who has left his struggling family behind for his religion. They’re at odds in almost every way: their beliefs, their culture, their class, their background.

They begin teaching a woman, Josefina, whose husband isn’t enthusiastic about the church. It’s a familiar situation but Josefina’s potential baptism becomes a lightning rod for the companions and potentially the thing that will drive them apart.

I didn’t serve a mission. But I know hundreds of people who did. So much here rang true to me. The way they talk when they have religious discussions in particular is done well. (You have to be right on with this stuff. There is a very distinctive style to this kind of talk. When I watched Big Love, they’d get it right about 60% of the time and the rest it would irk me to no end.)

And as someone who went on a very long and difficult struggle with my faith, the struggles of these two young men who have to be emissaries of a religion they are still learning was something that captivated me.

This was one of my 5-star reading experiences. I found the book really well written, which is certainly enough to give 4 stars. 5 are reserved for books that hit me in a way that the others don’t. And this one did. I’m really excited that this book exists.

I don’t know if this book will find its place. People who aren’t religious tend to avoid reading about religion. And people who are religious don’t tend to go outside their own comfort zone. But I hope that non-Mormon readers will find a culture here that’s new and different that they didn’t know about and see some real human struggles. I hope that Mormon readers can overcome the fact that these are flawed and imperfect characters who make real mistakes that are usually kept quiet and not talked about. Both kinds of readers have so much to enjoy here that I hope they can get over those potential fears.

Thanks to Hogarth for providing me with an advanced e-galley of Elders.

Tags: friday reads, reviews • 2 Comments

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