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!