A Sudden Light by Garth Stein I wanted to read this for a long time, then unexpectedly came across it on my library’s digital download site. It was not at all what I expected. I don’t typically read ghost stories, and that’s exactly what this was. The names “Brother Jones” and “Sister Serena” only hinted at the complete weirdness of this family. Especially Serena. Her over-the-top dramatics and her pure meanness towards her father made me hate her  ...

Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella My dad loved baseball. I grew up going to my cousins’ baseball games and watching the Braves on TV. Ever since my daddy died, I’ve felt like baseball kind of connects me to him. When I found out that this book was the basis for Field of Dreams I decided to read it right away. I had no idea that J.D. Salinger is a character in this book! Apparently they weren’t allowed to use him in the movie, which is where James Earl Jones as Terrence Mann  ...

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins I love that Rachel is such a mess. She’s a complete alcoholic, which makes her a totally unreliable narrator. She literally doesn’t remember half the things she does; of course you can’t trust her judgment. It took quite a while (probably longer than it should have) for me to realize who actually killed Megan. I loved that! Scott scared the crap out of me every time Rachel was around him. I love that in the end, it wasn’t Scott  ...

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls What a freakin’ mess. The fact that Walls has lived through this disaster and come out of it as a functional human being is amazing. Jesus Christ. I feel like a real jerk for saying this, but I wonder if anything in the memoir was embellished. Some of it just struck me as a little too over the top, even for this family. I spent so much time Googling the towns and houses where Walls grew up, it was ridiculous. One of those rabbit holes it feels like  ...