Monster Mash

Little this, little that

If you read my last post, you know I recently embarked on the journey that is A Secret History. I’m about halfway through and it’s getting really good—a chilling, college campus mystery perfect for spooky season. I was in the mood to write a new post today but didn’t want to wait until I finished (most people have already read it anyway) so I thought a little mash-up of much-loved previous and much-anticipated future reads was in order.

Let’s rewind to last month, when I was on a family trip to South Africa. In-between game drives at sunrise and sunset, treadmill runs followed by solo reading time are what anchored me to somewhat of a regular routine.

I picked up Happy Wife on our way out of the country, during a long layover at Newark airport, despite already having two books in my carry-on (if you’ve been here long enough, you know that airplanes and travel activate my book scarcity mindset). I had never heard of Happy Wife nor its authors, but its cover and description were exactly what I was looking for: fun, frivolous, not necessarily up for a Pulitzer.

It delivered. The writing was a little lacking, and I definitely tripped over a plot hole or five, but it absolutely provided entertainment and escapism. For those wondering why one would need to escape a luxury vacation in an exotic country, note that I finished Happy Wife as a not-so-happy wife experiencing violent food poisoning in a Cape Town hotel room. Suffice it to say I left that germ-ridden book behind when we departed for our final destination.

Enter Excavations, one of the two books I originally brought on the trip (along with The Displacements, which I wrote about here). I absolutely loved this book, as I suspected I might based on my love of Kate Myers’ newer novel Salty (which I wrote about here!). Myers has quickly risen to the top of my list of favorite authors, and I’m beyond excited to see Peacock’s TV adaptation of Excavations (“Dig”), co-created by Amy Poehler!

As for what’s ahead, I recently picked up two books I’m eager to dive into later this fall: Meg Mitchell Moore’s Admissions (you may remember I loved Mansion Beach) and Alice Feeney’s Beautiful Ugly (I read Rock Paper Scissors last year and wasn’t enamored but this one came highly recommended).

I love nothing more than a lunch date on the downtown mall, since it gives me the best excuse to stop into a bookshop and, well, shop. Happy reading and Halloween-ing!