The Books I'm Reading Now
I took a Bossy break last week while traveling with family, but I spent time listening to an audiobook and reading my books on the plane and in between exploring and walking one millllion miles.
I'm listening to Emily Habeck's odd and sweet novel Shark Heart: A Love Story; I'm reading Heather Webb's historical fiction novel about a female gang and a female police officer clashing after World War I, Queens of London; and I'm listening to the story of an AI bot who evolves from a companion created to please without questioning into a sentient creature with complex feelings, Annie Bot.
What are you reading these days, bookworms?
01 Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck
Wren's kind, artistic, loving--and recent--husband Lewis has just received a rare diagnosis. Due to a mutation, within nine months, he will undergo a transformation. Into a great white shark.
Shark Heart: A Love Story follows Wren and Lewis as they adjust to the prospect of such a drastic, potentially deadly (to Wren), fundamentally shift (for Lewis) and shocking metamorphosis.
Other characters in the novel face mutation-related difficulties--including Wren's new friend, who finds she is pregnant with twin birds, which will surely kill her when they emerge as newborns. We track back through time to witness Wren's mother's youth and the way her own mutation and diagnosis shaped both of their lives. And finally, we track Lewis in his new shape as a great white shark.
I'm listening to Shark Heart: A Love Story as an audiobook.
02 Queens of London by Heather Webb
In post-World War I London, female lawlessness in the form of the Forty Elephants gang of women, an offshoot of the Elephant and Castle men's gang, butts up against law enforcement, which only recently includes women officers.
It's 1925, and Diamond Annie is running a ruthless, savvy, gritty, loyal ring of female thieves and cons, and her significant ambition means she's dreaming of bigger and more wide-ranging success.
But one of Britain's first female police officers, Lilian Wyles, is underestimated, dismissed, disrespected--and desperate to prove her excellent mettle as an investigator by taking down Annie's gang.
When the two aspiring women's bids for victory clash, traditional female roles and power structures may never be the same.
03 Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
Annie was created to please her owner, Doug, in every way. Because Doug paid a premium to have Annie customized from the standard Stella model--and to strongly resemble his ex--Annie has all the bells and whistles.
She adjusts her sensitivity level so she is highly attuned to Doug's emotions (and libido), wears the clothing he chooses for her, and adheres to his strict cleaning requirements for the apartment she never leaves.
But as Annie's AI grows more complex and she becomes more aware of the possibilities in the world, she finds herself questioning her purpose--and questioning whether she really wants to serve Doug and subsume her own burgeoning feelings and desires.
I received an audiobook version of Annie Bot courtesy of Libro.fm and HarperAudio.