I’m off to the northwoods soon for my family’s annual girls only vacation. We’re way the hell up in northern Wisconsin with nothing to do but sit by the pool, paddle out on the lake, shake some dice and read. And boy do we read.
Every year I treat myself to a book shopping spree where I buy enough books to last me all week long and plus a few spares just in case. Favorites from last year were The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes and The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell. Let’s just say I made some good choices.
This year I planned to do the same: head to my local bookshop, grab an armful and enjoy. This didn’t go according to plan. After an unsuccessful trip to a small bookstore nearby, I ended up at ye olde Barnes & Noble just frumped. At $15 a pop I couldn’t afford to buy a half dozen books. I know there will be some great ones, but I also know that some will simply be a good time and some might be pretty meh. So I was standing there debating if some historical fiction about Marshall Field would be worth the price when I thought – duh – does the library have this? Is this too weird a title? So I looked that baby up, and it was available. And so was the next one about an obituary writer and another about a haunted house! Who knew the library would have every odd title I wanted? Everyone. Everyone else knew that, but I still have this mindset where I’m 10 at the Saukville library and they never have the Dear America book I want.
But not anymore! Thank you, Milwaukee Public Library.
Here’s everything I picked up (excluding the Lana del Rey albums that I find catchy and problematic all at once):
- The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler – yes, I know this is YA, but what’s vacation for if not easy reading about the spiritualist movement?
- Dollface by Renée Rosen
- The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb
- The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood
- The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro
- The Vanishing by Wendy Webb
- What the Lady Wants by Renée Rosen
So that’s it! I’m off for a bit. I won’t be reading them all, but a girl has to have options. Maybe if there are some standouts I’ll write you all a little recommendation. In the meantime, go buy The Shining Girls. It was so good and all your friends will want to read it too. My copy is still making the rounds.
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