Book Surprises
I got a lovely surprise this week. I finally bought a copy of Rachel Swirsky’s collection, How the World Became Quiet. When it arrived, it was an immaculate ex-library book (which sadly looked unread), and when I opened the cover, I saw this:
I love it when something secret appears in a used book. A favorite in my own collection is this rather unnerving message at the top of the cover of Yoko Ogawa’s Revenge.
Dead Ink
I joined Dead Ink’s Patreon this week. Dead Ink produced the fantastic Eden Book Society novellas a couple of years ago (and I have it on good authority the series is not over quite yet!). They also published the phenomenal Water Shall Refuse Them by Lucie McKnight Hardy in 2019. I opted for their ebook Patron, so I can look forward to their exciting new offerings delivered straight to my Kindle throughout the year.
If you can afford to support this exciting indie publisher, I highly recommend it.
Undertow
I wanted to give a shout-out to another of my favorite indie publishers, Undertow Publications. As you may have noticed, I’m a huge fan of single-author, female-written, spooky collections, and Undertow have LOADS, including one of the best collections I’ve read in the last 12 months, Priya Sharma’s All the Fabulous Beasts. They are offering their ebooks for $3 each, which is amazing, and are also giving away Michael Kelly’s collection All the Things We Never See for FREE! Grab it while you can. And check out their other amazing books.
Powell’s Books
I was heartened to see that Powell’s Books in Portland has rehired over 100 employees to cope with the onslaught of online orders. I could write a whole other blog post about my love for Powell’s Books; it’s such a magical place.
I’ve recommended their book boxes before, but April’s Indiespensable looks fantastic, as it contains Anne Enright’s Actress, a book I’ve been looking forward to. And they always throw in some other gorgeous goodies too. If you can afford to support this wonderful institution, I urge you to do so.
Reading
I finished Emma Jane Unsworth’s Adults (or Grown Ups; I’ve seen it with both titles). It was entertaining enough. Nice to have a bit of light relief. I’ve moved onto It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan, which I mentioned in a previous entry as an upcoming book I am excited about. It’s okay so far, but I’m not exactly compelled to pick it up. There have been a few spooky moments, but they’re not particularly scary. Not in the way that The Silent Companions terrified me!
I gave up on Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows. It was entertaining, but it didn’t move fast enough for my liking. I’m now listening to the audiobook of Things in Jar by Jess Kidd. I loved Kidd’s debut Himself, and this is just as riveting.
Okay, back to the real world. I hope you’re finding some comfort in this strange period. I’ve had a few moments of sadness, but I’m mainly enjoying this bonus time I get with my daughter. I do occasionally think about all those lovely library books going untouched though 😦
California Reading 