Three Books I'm Reading Now, 4/28/25 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now

I'm reading climate journalist Emma Pattee's novel, which is set during a devastating earthquake, Tilt; I'm reading Chris Bohjalian's newest historical fiction, The Jackal's Mistress, set during the Civil War; and I'm listening to Erich Puchner's novel Dream State.

What are you reading, bookworms?

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01 Tilt by Emma Pattee

Annie is nine months pregnant and finally getting around to choosing a crib at IKEA when a devastating earthquake hits Portland, Oregon.

The story alternates between the present-day crisis, with mass destruction, frantic, often hurt citizens, and Annie's own worried, dangerous slog across town to find her husband; and imperfect moments in the past leading up to the morning before the quake.

Pattee places Annie's periodic, sometimes steady dissatisfaction with her life in the months leading up to this fateful day against the immediacy of urgent needs: wanting to see her husband again, protecting her unborn baby, and the struggle of simply trying to survive.

Emma Pattee is a climate journalist as well as a fiction writer. She notes that there is a 37% chance of a massive earthquake in the Pacific Northwest in the next 50 years, and that it would be one of the biggest natural disasters in North American history. This chilling possibility was her inspiration for this novel.

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02 The Jackal's Mistress by Chris Bohjalian

In Chris Bohjalian's newest historical fiction novel, Libby Steadman lives in Virginia on the edge of the Confederate-Union Civil War conflict. Her husband has been away fighting for the Confederacy since soon after they were married, and Libby is warden to her orphaned, strong-willed niece. She's also living alongside a hired hand, who's a freedman, and his wife. Together they’re working grueling hours milling grain for the Confederacy. 

Then she finds a gravely injured Union officer in a neighbor’s abandoned home. Because she hopes that a Union woman would take pity on her husband in the same situation, she cares for him. He and Libby slowly begin to bond, but it’s an impossibly complicated situation.

I received a prepublication edition of The Jackal's Mistress courtesy of Doubleday Books and NetGalley.

This is Chris Bohjalian’s 25th book. He also wrote Hour of the Witch and Skeletons at the Feast (a WWII-set book that I read about 15 years ago and loved).

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03 Dream State by Eric Puchner

Cece is at her in-laws' summer home in Montana several weeks before her wedding, solo and handling the details while her doctor fiance Charlie works.

Charlie has asked his friend from college, Garrett, to look in on Cece--really intending for Cece to be positive company for Garrett, who tends to be morose--particularly after the tragic death of their dear friend years earlier.

But Cece's time with Garrett begins to make her question her future with Charlie. When a stomach bug ravages the wedding guests and Charlie himself, will Cece use it as a chance to bow out, or will her determination to see through her commitment see her married and a doctor's wife?