Three Books I'm Reading Now, 10/12/26 Edition
The Books I'm Reading Now
I'm reading Ariel Lawhon's newest novel about a female Irish pirate that's based on the life of a real woman, The Pirate Queen; I'm listening to the second in Karin Slaughter's North Falls mystery series about a female sheriff and her ex-FBI agent sister, The Secrets We Hide; and I'm listening to John Kenney's novel about an obituary writer learning to live again, I See You've Called in Dead, before I go hear the author speak this week.
What are you reading, bookworms?
01 The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon
I clearly fell for this slam dunk of a premise: A novel about a female pirate based on the life of Grace O’Malley, an Irish folk heroine who was legendarily willing to risk everything for her people. Yes, yes, and yes.
In Lawhon's tale, Grace is born to take to the sea and lead her people. But her family's noble expectations are that she marry well and have babies.
Her life is upended by death, deceit, the insult of being an underestimated woman, male cruelty, and being kept from her true love. But Grace's uncanny sense of the sea and its moods, her undeniable fortitude, and her passion for and loyalty to her people allow her to lead her people through all manner of dangers.
Ariel Lawhon is also the author of The Frozen River. Her novel Code Name Helène wasn't for me; I didn't finish that one.
02 The Secrets We Hide (North Falls #2) by Karin Slaughter
I love a story driven by a female investigator main protagonist, and in book one of this small-town mystery series, officer Emmy Clifton came into her own. The situation at hand quickly became dark and twisted, and Slaughter built tension without red herrings or manipulation.
In book two, Sheriff Emmy Clifton and her sister, ex-federal agent Jude Archer respond to gunshots nearby and find a tragedy: local former cop Allison Vickery has been shot dead in her kitchen, and her daughter has been shot and left for dead upstairs.
Slaughter offers her signature layered mystery, buoyed by character depth and interpersonal complications. I'm completely hooked on this story.
I'm listening to this novel as an audiobook through Libby and my public library.
The first title in this series is We Are All Guilty Here.
03 I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney
Awkard, endearing Bud Stanley is an obituary writer who's going through some things. He's gone downhill since his wife divorced him for her prior boyfriend, and now he's all but given up on love; his last blind date involved a woman who brought her ex along and explained that they were back together and she couldn't stay.
His work is currently subpar, and he feels less and less engaged with his life in general. All of this worsens when he accidentally publishes a joke version of his own obituary.
Bud's few friends are concerned about him, his therapist urges him to explore unexamined feelings around his mother's death when he was young--and now he's begun attending the funerals of strangers on weekends. Can anything help Bud learn how to live again?
I'm listening to an audiobook version of this title through Libby and my public library.
John Kenney is coming to speak at an upcoming Friends of the Library event; I can't wait to attend!
If you're interested in books that explore issues around mortality, please check out these titles and book lists.
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