August is a murder-free month

I’m excited to report that I didn’t have to resort to a reading reboot, and managed to steer clear of murder mysteries for a whole month! This is a bit surprising to me, because it was a high-anxiety month full of an endless heat wave, no rain, and some political nonsense that I have been working hard to avoid. I’m also pleased that, in hindsight, I read 4 1/2 out of 5 books that were written by women. It’s a good trend that I’d like to keep up. Part of my anti-anti-DEI efforts.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women, by Marie Bostwick

I’m of two minds about this book. On the one hand, if you’re an octogenarian looking to relive the 60’s and all the ways in which women were being tricked into oppression through women’s magazines, TV advertising, journalism, and psychology (thanks to Freud’s “penis envy” crap), then you will enjoy it. On the other hand, if you want to reflect on how far feminism has come while also realizing, slightly depressingly, how much of this oppression still exists today 60 years on, then you will also enjoy it. I guess what I’m saying is that my two minds are you’ll either enjoy it, or you’ll enjoy it. Your choice.

The Hunter, by Tana French

Nobody writes metaphors for the inner thoughts, feelings, and fears of people like Tana French. That is all. By now you have probably figured out that she is one of my favourite authors and I’m probably going to love anything she writes.

Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett

It took me a while to warm up to the idea of reading this book, since I originally assumed it was about a man named Tom Lake. Haha!! Wrong!! It’s about a place! A lake, to be specific. And it’s not about a man, it’s about a mother recounting to her 3 daughters the years she spent at Tom Lake working as a slightly famous actress and dating a very famous actor, all while the 4 of them harvest cherries from their family orchard. It’s a lovely book, much better than a book about some yucky dude. I love Ann Patchett and frankly should have just trusted her.

Blue Monday, by Nicci French

Nicci French is technically two people: husband and wife Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Whatever the case, he/she/they have a jarring habit of dropping new characters into this book as though they’ve been there all along. Most authors seem to introduce new characters the same way you’d meet them in real life, with a bit of explanation of who they are and why they are in the scene. “arriving at the station, rookie officer DC Foreman, greeted them eagerly with the results of the autopsy”. As opposed to Nicci French’s approach: ” ‘Here’s that report’, said DC Foreman” after which DC Foreman is literally never heard from again.

Luckily I was reading an e-book version, because at least 4-5 times, I had to search on a name to see where they had shown up previously only to find out this was their first, and often only, appearance in the entire book. It was very distracting from the story, which actually didn’t matter because I didn’t really like the story either. There are sequels, apparently. I will be passing on those.

Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, by Zarqa Nawaz

Zarqa Nawaz takes us on a humourous journey of discovery about what it’s like to be a Muslim, including pseudo-arranged marriages*, the rituals of the 5 daily prayers, the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, all wrapped up in the hilarious ways in which her family members use truth-adjacent statements about God’s wishes in order to get their way. She is fun and funny, in a way that would probably drive me bonkers if she was my friend but that is very enjoyable at a distance. Zarqa is the creator of Little Mosque one Prairie, which I’ve never watched but will probably do so now.

*Zarqa is married to a man named Sami who she met during an intense search for a husband that her family could marry her off to, which sounds bananas, but interestingly, she had full say in every man that was presented to her. Zarqa and Sami have now been married for over 30 years and have 4 children.