Any time I have a bit of time off from work, I head back to the comfort of my parents’ home in eastern Arkansas. The house is the only home that I have ever known. (Yes, I know that my family lived in another house in town when I was born….but I don’t recall anything from the first 3 months of life!) While the three bedrooms have undergone changes over the years and my piano has moved locations several times, very little has been altered. Going home is always a treat as it means I get to relax, enjoy home cooked meals, and feel more connected to my Arkansas roots than any other time.
Fall Break is now in the rearview mirror, but the time of rest at home was much needed. I ran a few errands that were on my to-do list, got a little practicing done (though not enough!), and slept. In the process, I also managed to do quite a bit of reading.
What I Finished This Week
Moby Dick by Herman Melville. There’s no nice way to say this — I hated this book. I loathed it. I absolutely detested Moby Dick! Does that make my feelings regarding the novel about the white whale clear enough? Truly, I thought that the final five chapters showed moments of absolute genius. However, that doesn’t make the other 500 pages worthy of another read. Melville should have made this a short story….even a novella….and would have had a much more effective piece of writing. I read it. I survived it. I’ll never read it again and I will now be able to defend my statement that I think Moby Dick is highly overrated. 1.75 stars.
The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden. Such a fun read that was fast and filled with suspense. Told in two timelines, the story focuses on Sydney and Tom. Sydney has had bad luck dating the men of New York City, but seems to have finally met the man of her dreams in a doctor who came to her rescue after an attack. Tom was a high school student fascinated with blood who was suspected of a string of murders among the student body. When Sydney and Tom’s paths finally cross, is Sydney in real danger of being another victim of the psychopathic killer? Thankfully, despite the subject matter, McFadden manages to keep the reader engaged without relying on copious amounts of blood and gore on the pages. (I’m a wimp when it comes to reading graphically violent material.) This one is sure to keep you guessing until the end! 5 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
The 24th Hour by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (p. 257 of 359). It’s been a while since I returned to the world of the Women’s Murder Club series. Honestly, I had forgotten that there were books in the series that I hadn’t gotten around to reading. This one features two cases for the women and their husbands. A rape victim suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and hospital facing a cyber attack that threatens to compromise patient records — potentially causing death of the most at-risk patients — unless their financial demands are met. This is a fast moving ebook that is also a nice change of pace from some of the other stories that I’ve read recently. Sometimes, predictability is relaxing.
The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett (p. 152 of 357). Parsifal the magician has died. Left behind is his wife-in-name-only, Sabine. Now Sabine must deal with the grief of Parsifal’s mother and sisters that she never knew existed. This is proving to be a neat look at the reasons we leave and the definitions of family and love — all through the lens of a broken son after his death.
Reading for Me 
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