September 2024 BookSnacks
Vol. 21 — Mystery Edition?
Last-day-of-the-month-on-a-Monday kind of serendipity in here.
The Crumbs Podcast
My inaugural rant? I feel like I’ve ranted-light on the podcast before but this one I really leaned into. Enjoy.
Listen, the reading vibes have been off for a couple weeks. I listened to Tell Me Lies(more on that later), and I listened to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder(more on that later, as well.) It’s been a nice little reading slump for a couple of weeks. Nothing is really holding my attention or making me feel like I want to open my book(s) at any chance I get. This happens every 6-8 weeks it seems. Nothing is interesting until it is again. Regardless, I did finish a few books this last month so I will now share them with you!
Currently Reading
A Bit Much by Lyndsay Rush
Read if you like:
Poetry in present day vernacular
Feelings and stories that are very niche but also universal
Starfish by Lisa Fipps
Amazon—$16 | Barnes & Noble-$18 | Bookshop-$16
This was just released this last week I believe. I received a NetGalley copy about a month ago and have been spending my time enjoying it. I personally tend to twist my face up when I run into books of poetry, which is so rude, I know. But I have some chip on my shoulder that probably emerged in my college years about how I don’t enjoy traditional poetry, and collections of poetry even less. So if you also sail that boat around, then please hear me out for a minute. Lyndsay’s poetry is different. Here are some phrases I might use to describe her poetry: internal observation, modern metaphorical, and interpretative—in a good way. Her writing is poignant and open-ended and keen. It makes you snicker to yourself, sometimes cry, sometimes be mad. I love reading a few poems a day and have even skipped around in the book a bit, seeing what I’ll discover on a random page. I have surprised myself with how much I’ve enjoyed reading it. I’m posting some of my favorites that are on her Instagram account.
One I screenshotted from the book, I loved it so much!
Hope you don’t mind me sharing,
! This link will take you to her Substack: Mary Oliver's Drunk Substack.Tell me your poetry feelings—are we pro? Anti? Don’t really know cause you haven’t really tried it?
Just Finished Reading
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Read if you like:
Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
The Maid and The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose(also she’s set to release the third book in this series in April!😁)
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Amazon-$7 (Hardcover $9!) | Barnes & Noble-$11 | Bookshop-$10
I wanted to read this because the show on Netflix was just released. I had zero expectations, heard nothing about it. I only inferred from the show cover art that it was a young girl solving a murder. Well done to whoever created the cover art because that’s exactly what it is. Pippa is in school, working on a senior project(?) and decides to solve a 5-year-old murder case that went cold. The author did a great job of keeping you guessing for nearly the entirety of the book. It’s written with diary-style entries interspersed throughout, which I liked. This was more the kind of mystery I was hoping to read as we approached Spooky Season, so if you also desire a mostly fun mystery with minimal graphic content/trigger warnings then this one might be for you!
The Show
Not for young people, which I think should be obvious by content warnings and age limits. But it’s charming so far. Charming in the creepy, murder mystery type of way. The main character is played by Emma Meyers who played Enid Sinclair in the viral Wednesday Series of 2022. I loved her in that show and am loving her in this one. It has followed the book very closely so far, there are some bits and bobs added of course but nothing too drastic. I’d give it a try if you’re into these types of shows!
Vintage Read
Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering
Read if you like:
Drama
To relive the ‘00-10’s college experience
Amazon-$10 | Barnes & Noble-$18 | Bookshop-$17
TML was not exactly my cup of tea. It wasn’t a world I could connect with. That experience was not my college experience at all. I hated the main male character with a loathing that I haven’t succumbed to since meeting the love interest in Fourth Wing who insisted on hate-smashing the girl he ‘liked.’ Which, come to think of it, is exactly what Stephen DeMarco does in Tell Me Lies. The twist was medium to medium-well. Meaning it was slightly surprising and there were some good reveals in the last quarter of the book. But it was still just an uncomfy read. I hated the dialogue, but maybe that was the point? And it was almost interesting to be inside the mind of a narcissist, but it was also a little long to be inside the mind of a narcissist. Not my favorite, but not my least favorite thriller/mystery. I’m not sure I’d even call it a thriller—I would call it a mystery/young adult drama.
The Show:
This show has a lot of nudity, like a lot. Consider yourself warned. It doesn’t hit until I think the second or third or maybe even fourth episode. Once again, I didn’t like it because the college experience being portrayed was no where near mine. The partying, the sleeping around, the girl drama. Trust me some of those things were there but it was just in a different, less vulgar form. Therefore, I don’t relate. And honestly, the show moves s l o w l y. And the dialogue is so snippy and quiet that it’s kind of hard to follow at times. However, I have heard some absolute rave reviews about this show—one of the reasons I was excited to read the book and watch the show. All that to say, I just don’t think I’m the target for this show and book and I don’t think I’ll be finishing the show. I don’t relate to it, it’s not interesting or funny enough for me to keep watching. Based on what I’ve heard from all of you, not many of you are familiar with it anyway so maybe it’s not our vibe?
For the Kids(and sometimes adults, too)
My favorite children’s book of the past month!
This kid cannot go to sleep! His parents get him a goodnight buddy hoping that will help, but the goodnight buddy might not be as helpful as they thought. Shenanigans ensue.
Snacks To-Go
🍫 From Scratch by Tembi Locke: I talked about this one the podcast already so if you haven’t heard it yet, go listen. I like this book. It was more somber than I thought it might be. But I enjoyed hearing their story. It was sweet.
🍫 Good Material by Dolly Alderton: This was my first Dolly book. I enjoyed it. I really liked the ending and if you’ve read it, I must hear if you liked it or not. It’s the story of a comedian going through a terrible breakup and his journey through to the other side of it. It was charming, funny at times and very much cringe, only because he did some cringe things.
And that’s it! So happy you made it here this month.
There are now 183 of us here! I’m grateful for you!
If you found something here to add to your TBR, your TBW, or something to remove from either of those, become a paid subscriber so you don’t miss the mid-month content coming in two weeks!
Talk soon,
Adri