The Books I'm Reading Now
I'm reading Black Woods, Blue Sky, literary fiction about a single mother and mysterious man in the Alaskan wilderness by a favorite author, Eowyn Ivey; I'm listening to Southern comic Leanne Morgan's memoir, What in the World?!; and I'm reading Death at Morning House, a stand-alone young-adult mystery by the author of the Truly Devious series, Maureen Johnson.
What are you reading, bookworms?
01 Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
Birdie's a single mother to Emmaleen and a waitress in a small Alaskan town. She's not perfect, but she's getting by. Yet she often yearns for her more carefree youth and connection to nature.
Arthur, a recluse who only comes into town at the change of seasons--and who others avoid as actively as he avoids them--saves Emmaleen from being lost in the wilderness. Birdie is drawn to his capable outdoorsmanship, and against the advice of everyone she knows, she and Emmaleen move out to his remote home to live off the grid.
But Arthur is mysterious, and he's not who Birdie thought he was. Has she traded her safety and Emmaleen's for the false promise of an idyllic life immersed in the natural world?
Eowyn Ivey is also the author of To the Bright Edge of the World, which I listed in the Greedy Reading List Six Chilly Books to Read in the Heat of Summer, and The Snow Child, which I included in the list Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love.
I received a prepublication edition of Black Woods, Blue Sky courtesy of Random House and NetGalley.
02 What In the World?! A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings by Leanne Morgan
Leanne Morgan hit it big as a middle-aged comic from rural Tennessee talking about her kids' T-ball and her granny panties.
Her Netflix specials feature her plaintive looks at the audience and stories that sometimes end with such mock-despair she says she just "wanted to take to the bed."
What in the World?! offers current-day takes on her life that will feel familiar to fans, but her memoir also traces her youth ( when she imagined that she would find fame in some way), her first, brief marriage and mindset, her second, steady relationship to her current husband, the birth and joy of her kids, and her rocky start in entertainment.
I'm listening to What in the World?! as an audiobook.
You can find Bossy reviews of other memoirs here.
03 Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
Marlowe Wexler didn't mean to start a fire at the home she was housesitting. But now everyone thinks she's an arsonist, and the girl she was trying to date won't give her the time of day.
Now she's glumly working at the historic Morning House, giving tours and talking about Prohibition, stained glass, and the Roaring Twenties. The biggest danger seems to be exposure to dust.
But the person who brought her to the house has disappeared, and Morning House has a gruesome history that's coming to light. Can Marlowe solve the mystery of what happened there before she is targeted as the next victim?
This is a stand-alone young adult novel by Maureen Johnson, who is also the author of the Truly Devious series.
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