It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? 2-28-22

Recently Read

Who Is Maud Dixon? (Hogarth, 2019) by Alexandra Andrews

Florence Darrow has always felt she was destined for greatness, but after a disastrous affair with her married boss, she starts to doubt herself. All that changes when she sets off for Morocco with her new boss, the celebrated but reclusive author Maud Dixon. Amidst the colorful streets of Marrakesh and the wind-swept beaches of the coast, Florence begins to feel she’s leading the sort of interesting, cosmopolitan life she deserves.
But when she wakes up in the hospital after a terrible car accident, with no memory of the previous night—and no sign of Maud—a dangerous idea begins to take form.
A Best Book of the Year: New York Times, NPR, New York Post, Entertainment Weekly, CrimeReads

I’m drawn to books about writers, but in the end I felt suckered by this one. Ugh! Why do I keep reading these same twisty thrillers narrated by selfish young women with shaky morals who get into serious trouble when they try to take advantage of a situation that seems clearly a set-up. If they survive to old age, the narrators of these books will be fodder for all sorts of email and phone scams – the ones that prey on greed, not kindness.

Who Is Maud Dixon? is a first novel for author Alexandra Andrews, who works as a journalist. If you’re a fan of this subgenre of psychological suspense that is still going strong at the library (or, like me, you keep picking them off the shelf despite yourself) this one isn’t bad. You might love it! (After all, I didn’t set it aside without finishing it, as I have done with similar books over the past year.) The twisty plot seemed clunky and contrived to me, but the writing is smooth enough.

Currently Reading

Song of Solomon (Vintage, 2004) by Toni Morrison

Song of Solomon (Knopf, 1977) by Toni Morrison is still my morning reading – the one I read with my coffee, while my brain is fresh and is getting caffeine direct. It requires focus because if you skim, you’re going to miss out.

Live a Little (Hogarth, 2019) by Howard Jacobson

I set Live a Little by Howard Jacobson aside last week to read Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews. Both were impulse pick-ups from the library. Very different, but, so far, not crazy about either!

First You Write a Sentence (Penguin, 2019) by Joe Moran

Still reading this one here and there, but my ebook will be going to the next person on the library holds list today. I borrowed the print copy from the library to finish!

Currently Listening To

How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? (Hachette, 2018) by N.K. Jemisin

Three-time Hugo Award winner and NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin challenges and delights readers with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption that sharply examine modern society in her first collection of short fiction, which includes never-before-seen stories.
“Marvelous and wide-ranging.” — Los Angeles Times “Gorgeous” — NPR Books

I’ve had How Long ‘Til Black Future Month?, a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories by N.K. Jemisin, in mind to read since it came out in 2018. I won’t finish before the end of Black History Month (February’s being the shortest month, of course!) but I’ll come close. Recommended!

Recently Listened To

Death at the Alma Mater (Dreamscape, 2013) by G.M. Malliet

I’ve listened to three of the DCI St. Just mysteries so far, with one more new one from 2021 still in store! Like Agatha Christie’s mysteries, which these justifiably earn comparison to, these books are not hygged up enough to be cozies, in my opinion, but any violence occurs off the page and the murder investigations rely heavily on detection through conversation with the group of suspects.

A bonus! Death at the Alma Mater is narrated by Davina Porter, one of my favorites.

This post is linked up to It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. Check out the link-up party for more book lists!