Caroline

An investigative journalist with a troubled past and self-destructive tendencies goes back to her hometown to investigate a murder. Gillian Flynn writes masterfully to the point where you can almost smell the vodka on the main characters' breathe and see the horrific scene of finding the little girl with her nails painted and teeth pulled out. Blending some of my favorite troupes, the destructive main character, murder mystery, family trauma, and an idyllic town where everything isn't as perfect as it seems.

Camille Breaker goes to her hometown of Wind Gap to write a story about a murdered little girl with another girl missing. However, it is not only the murdered and the missing that she uncovers, instead, she has to face her family demons with her southern charm mother, wild stepsister, and the looming memory of her sister who passed away. Through the past mixed with the present, she helps the FBI agent who is investigating the case in exchange for information on Wind Gaps vivid characters to help close the case. All of the evidence points to a young man in the town and the wild town gossip has everyone talking about who did it over their amaretto sours and gin martinis. The deeper she investigates the deeper she uncovers the past of the town and the memories of her family that she has buried away. Overall, I read this book in about a day and a half, and now I am searching high and low for more Gillian Flynn and her masterful writing. I highly recommend this book and you will not see the ending coming.

Memorable Quote: “I am a cutter, you see. Also, a snipper, a slicer, a carver, a jabber. I am a very special case. I have a purpose. My skin, you see, screams. It's covered with words - cook, cupcake, kitty, curls - as if a knife-wielding first-grader learned to write on my flesh. I sometimes, but only sometimes, laugh. Getting out of the bath and seeing, out of the corner of my eye, down the side of a leg: babydoll. Pull on a sweater and, in a flash of my wrist: harmful.”

Military Fantasy meets Asian lore! This is probably one of my favorite books that I have read so far for 2021. The characters are rich in development, and the main character makes you question morality. If you have a chance, definitely pick up this read. What more could you want from a book than a magical school, opium, wars, and a lost race?

I am a fan of Stephen King and the Gunslinger is one of his more interesting series. Originally written in short story format (1978-1981), these books are unlike anything I have read. Currently, I have read the first two books and I am not sure whether I am in love with the series yet. But the way the books are written not only makes you imagine the wasteland of the desert and the bustling city of New York City, but feel it. With the aid of drug slinging heroin addict, a woman in a wheelchair with dissociative identity disorder, and more unknown characters, an “unlikable” main character, Ronald, (based on a western cowboy) are on a quest to get to the unknown “dark tower.”

Ever since I read the book Pachinko, by Min Lee Jin, I have been looking for another historical fiction book that has a heart-wrenching and warming character-driven plot. I officially found it!

Kristin Hannah's book, The Four Winds, immerses you into the Great Depression-era and follows the plights of the main character Elsa and her family. From growing up as a plain girl with no marriage prospects to becoming a mother of two children, it follows her migrating from a farm in Texas to the “greener land and prospects” of California. However, upon her and her children's arrival to California, they immediately face discrimination, poverty, and living in slums. It provides a vivid picture of worker camps, the fight to take part in the “American Dream,” and the power of a mother looking to provide a better life for her children.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It also brought me back to history class in high school with scenes about how the U.S. government came to educate farmers on better irrigation techniques and passing relief legislation. Each of the characters are beautifully built. Also, halfway through it shifts to focus the narrative around the Communist Party uprising, which was a large part of the '20s and '30s, and organized farmers, unemployed workers, and factory workers in light of the depression. I recommend this title for those looking for a great historical fiction book.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW: I have been wanting to get more into books that have Asian influences or are written by Asian authors. So many recommended The Girls of Paper and Fire, and all I can say is that I read this in one sitting. Following a girl named Lei, the story is focused on the deep tradition of “Paper Girls.” Where eight girls of a lower class are selected to become the King's concubines. Selected from around the entire kingdom, these girls are taken to palace where they learn skills, including dance, court politics, and more. Although, this selection is seen as a great honor to be for the “Heavenly Master,” Lei and the other girls soon learn that they are only existing for the use of others. Come to a great sickness taking over the land, the cruelty of the court, and an assassination plot that is closer than anyone could imagine, follow these girls who are trained for obedience and submission, set the world on fire and change the world forever. Seeped in a fantasy Asian-setting, themes and underpinnings of class disparity, and a LGBTQ+ romance, I definitely recommend this title.