ten things tuesday

I'm on book 58 for the year (so far!) and thought I would recommend ten:

1)  Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy: This is perhaps the most atmospheric book I've ever read.  The isolation, the relentless winds, the driving rain, and the frigid sea were all characters that shaped relationships between the people and the physical world around them.

2) Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: I was not prepared for this book.  It is absolutely bonkers and bananas. The audio is superb!

3) The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1-8 by Beth Brower: Checking in with Emma is not like reading a book; it's like catching up with a quirky friend.  I love this series!

4) Fire Exit by Morgan Talty: This is masterful storytelling.  Charles Lamosway deals with secrets, lies, and identity throughout this story.  Actually, the secondary characters do, too.  Having hopes and dreams crumble around him is really a theme of Charles's life, and in a lot of stories it would have made Charles a sadsack, but this story is almost hopeful. 

5) Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent: I could not stop this book--I did not want to pause for any reason!  I was heavily invested in Sally Diamond.  Sally is one of the most complicated, complex characters I've ever read. As I read, I was caught up in sympathy, compassion, disbelief, and anger.  There were times I had to repeat sections to make sure I was getting it.  Like, what the actual...?  

6) Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo: I really didn't know what to expect with this one. It’s a coming-of-age story that perfectly balances moments of whimsy with a deep, grounded faith and the secrets and lies that can do a family harm.

7) Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards: I did not expect to fall so deeply into the world of a young girl consumed with knowledge and religion, set in 13th-century Bruges.

8)  Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America by Scott Ellsworth:  This is accessible non-fiction. A compelling non-fiction that kept me engaged.  Lots of fresh information about the final year of the Civil War.  Each chapter begins with an interesting anecdote or phrase as a hook.

9) Heart The Lover by Lily King: I fell in love with this book as I binge-listened to it.  The surety of the trio of characters in their collegiate intellectual promise as they quoted obscure passages to each other drew me in.  The love story between Jordan and Yash was full of yearning and tenderness, until it wasn't. 

10)  Foster by Claire Keegan: Claire Keegan is an incredible storyteller.  This novella will stick with me for a long time.  It's poignant and spare and lovely.  The story centers on an unnamed young Irish girl whose large family is about to expand once again, so she is sent to unknown-to-her relatives in the country.