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Below are a few (somewhat) brief $.02 opinions about books I've read or listened to recently but don't have the opportunity to review in full. Many of these titles I enjoyed as much or more than those that got the full court press. I hope you'll consider one or two for your own TBR stack if they strike your fancy whether they struck mine or not.
When I see the brilliant Liza Lutz is coming out with a new title, I don't need to know anything about plot before getting myself a copy. I know I'll get three things--smart, funny, and whiskey. The Accomplice is a time-shifting story about two unlikely friends, Luna and Owen, who meet in college when Owen somehow charms his way through Luna's insular caution. Years later, the pair remains best friends, but a death from their college years comes back to haunt them when Owen's wife is found murdered. Why do murders seem to follow these two around? And how well do they really know each other? Lutz's books are always steeped in the character work she does so well, and this look into an intimate, long-shared history, wrapped in multiple mysteries, is another masterful work.
If there's one thing I'm sure of in this life, it's that John Darnielle is something of a mad genius and he's so much smarter than me I can only hope to hang on 'til he's done weaving his magic. Devil House is a crazypants load of fun on multiple levels, some of which escaped me but did nothing to lessen my enjoyment. Author Gage Chandler writes true crime, and while he's had success, he can't turn down the offer to write about a grisly murder scene while living in the Milpitas, Ca., house where the crime took place. While Chandler dives into the story and researches the facts, the POV and timeframe change, revisiting other crimes Chandler wrote about and, well, other spoilery things. While there is a short section in the middle about a medieval king I never quite figured out, the fact of it is fascinating. This book screams for a discussion group, particularly where it comes to the wider themes of true crime writing and the ethics and morality of writing about the lives of real people suffering from tragedy. Layers upon layers make this a puzzle, but a creative and satisfying read no matter how much of the onion you can unwrap.
I'm not sure how this book made it onto my list, and a book about an elderly woman who is done with life and wants to die might not be the most recommended read when your elderly mom is dying, but man did I love this book. Eudora is 85 and tired of life and wants to leave this moronic world on her own terms. She calls a clinic in Switzerland to begin the euthanasia process. Then the whirling, oddly-clothed dervish that is 10-year-old Rose Trewidney moves in next door and won't take Eudora's hints that she wants to be left alone. Soon she, Rose and recently-widowed neighbor Stanley are off on adventures Eudora gets sucked into despite her wishes and best of intentions. As Eudora begins to see the world through Rose's eyes, she revisits the tragedies of her childhood and begins to see her way through the pain. I rarely read books over again (too many new ones!), but this is a book I can see myself reading over and over. If my mom were alive, I would give it to her with the knowledge she would also read it over and over. I hope you will give it a chance and come away with the same love for these characters.
Speaking of love, I don't really listen to Nirvana or Foo Fighters with any regularity, but I adore Dave Grohl with the heat of 1,000,000 suns. I might have even squeed (I am not a squeer) when I saw this book was coming out and crossed my appendages it would be on audio and Dave would read it. Wish granted. And it is glorious. He is, simply, one of the coolest humans on the planet. We don't deserve dogs or Dave Grohl. I saw a funny meme that said, "Everyone should stop comparing Dave Grohl to Jesus. He's great and all that, but he's no Dave Grohl."
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