Isobel > Recent Status Updates

Interesting people don’t really seem to like this book. I am really enjoying!

Approved for an ARC! Thanks NetGalley & HarperCollins!

Loving this novel, which is episodic (possibly indicating publication via serial in magazines) and includes gems such as: "Fool! Fool! Will you never learn? Fool! complacecy! To think that you woul be the only one taking sanctuary in a circus!"

"Love Interest" - Noir homage featuring a cyber-sleuth and an actress who retired in the '70s. I liked this one quite a bit.

"Flight" - Two black girls in Washington Heights are growing apart and learning what they believe in. Suspense story, as NY is a dangerous city filled with adult men who want to do harm.

"Crime Scene" - Adler is good at killing people. But lately, he's been wondering why people will pay him so much money to do so. When he gets a good offer about a month away, he decides to scratch his itch while performing his job. Does Adler get the sense of fulfillment he's hoping for? Decent mystery yarn.

"How Hope Found Chauncey" - Little suspense or mystery, just a story about two teens who are living in an awful neighborhood trying to get out.

"The Obsession of Abel Tangier" - A small town in Louisiana is in an uproar over the teaching of Black history in America and the school board is voting on whether or not such curriculum should be allowed. Chilling suspense story.

"The Ticks Will Eat You Whole" - Decent suspense story.

"The Blood-Red Leaves of Autumn" - A sci-fi mystery taking place in the future, in an enclosed space (space shuttle) where mankind is doing just fine but Earth may be forever unlivable. It was ok.

"The Invitation" - Alternate possibilities - to take a journalist internship or paid trip to Barcelona? Mystery I guess? Didn't really understand why this story is in this collection.a

"33 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister" - I just don't like Joyce Carol Oates' writing. Tried a few, and it's just...not for me.

"Valley of the Moon" - Well, everyone in this story is kind of horrible. It was fine. The aimless and apathetic narrator and her relationship with her family isn't great, but it does feel she is allowing a fair amount of it.

"Not Exit" - Good story, lot of terrible things happen. Interesting analysis of justice, knowledge, and living.

"The Land of Milk and Honey" - Decent suspense story.

"Mr. Filbert's Classroom" - Mystery through and through that merges the tragedy of a school shooting incident with fantasy. Didn't much care for this one, though the idea was interesting.

"When We Remembered Zion" - Unusual story about what it means to be free and feel safe. Feel neutral about this one. It's not bad, but wasn't quite there for me, either.

"Home is the Hunter" - This story was okay. A bit self-righteous for an assassin.

"Flip Lady" - Menacing & creepy story about a grieving woman and son in a small town.

"Foreword" - Predictable, but well written and fun little story where the reader clearly identifies a fact pattern that the male narrator is hopelessly oblivious to. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

"The Mayor of Dukes City" - Another dud. Gruesome just to be gruesome, with no elegance to the solution of the crime, just a pretense for justice that, once actually meted out, won't fill the hole in the heart because dead stays dead.

"New York Blues Redux" - I guess this one was more of a suspense story as it had mystery. Didn't really have suspense for me, either. Clear characters that kind of just so things while the reader is like, "Oh, that's not good." I didn't much care for this one, as the story never seemed to have a point in existing.

First short story: "Ripen" - well done story, mainly about power dynamics. Light on the mystery, high on the concept of getting justice

Wowza - chapter 5 is all exposition, and that exposition is A.K. wanted to write a Beetlejuice story.

Loving this so far...

I'm not hating this book, but I just realized what the protagonist's name is... (It's Hannah)

Pretty sure I see where this is going, but I'll finish it, primarily because I want to do a comparison blog post to another book I have a library hold on.

Gosford Park meets Quantum Leap, with a dash of amnesia. Sounds great, but not 100% enjoying this...