Boy, 2020. What a decade, huh? The coronavirus pandemic sucks. It claimed the life of someone I cared about. It made fools out of countless Americans who turned mask-wearing to prevent the spread of a virus into the Ardennes of the culture wars. I don’t want to talk about my reading year without mentioning the effect it had. I finished over 200 books, which is probably a record for me. And yet, I wish I had read less. Reading helped pass the time and made […]
Go ‘Neers
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg
It’s important to note right off the bat that The Third Rainbow Girl is not a true crime tale in a conventional sense. It’s not In Cold Blood or I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. If you’re looking for a plucky sleuth to solve the crime and tell us *what it all means*, then keep looking. Instead, the book functions as an exploration of many things: of Appalachian culture in rural West Virginia, of class and gender, of human sexuality, of memory and the persistence of time. They don’t all […]
Them Too
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
(TW: mention of rape, sexual assault) As popular as this book was when it dropped last year, I didn’t have a burning desire to read it. I’ve volunteered before with a group that does arts and advocacy against rape culture so I know firsthand how difficult it is for survivors, especially those of marginalized identities. I had read the major pieces of Ronan Farrow’s (stellar) reporting and figured that was enough. A few weeks ago, I saw this in the library and figured What the heck? Finally […]
The Aviator
Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes' Hollywood by Karina Longworth
The male gaze. Wow. Yuck. Like many others, I adore Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This. Well researched and well told, Longworth is effective at dispelling old Hollywood myths while still reminding us about our fascination with these people. It’s unquestionably one of the best podcasts out there. Here, she turns her knowledge and skill into telling the story of Howard Hughes’ life and the lives of the women he pursued. I knew it was bad with Hughes; his fictionalized James Ellroy character prepared me enough […]
Snorky
The Confessions of Al Capone by Loren Estleman
This one is a tough book to pull off. There’s already tons of bs associated with the legend of Al Capone that it’s tough to discern the truth. Fortunately, Loren Estleman, a writer who I’ve been meaning to read for a very long time, gets it well. Estleman’s research is incredible. I read Max Alan Collins’ Scarface and the Untouchable before this so a lot of it was fresh in my head. I figured he (Estleman) might fudge the facts in order to tell a more compelling […]
Reading, Reading, Reading
Broken Places by Tracy Clark
The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie
Solos by Kitty Burns Florey
The Lady Upstairs by Halley Sutton
Finishing off the year right with another round of great crime fiction… Broken Places 4 stars A really good debut novel that’s pure Chicago without being annoying. A little predictable towards the end but well-written nonetheless. Also, much love for featuring black Roman Catholicism, which is a different expression than the commonly mass produced (re:white) Roman Catholicism of crime novels and movies. The A.B.C. Murders 4 stars This one was about to highlight why I’m not a big Christie fan, despite usually enjoying her novels. Whereas […]
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