The Books I'm Reading Now
I'm listening to Lucinda Williams's memoir, Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You; I'm reading a light-fiction romantic comedy about a fake relationship, Ann Liang's This Time It's Real; and I'm reading the third book in Tamsyn Muir's dark, eerie Locked Tomb series, Nona the Ninth.
What are you reading these days, bookworms?
01 Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You: A Memoir by Lucinda Williams
In Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You, songwriter, singer, and musician Lucinda Williams shares stories of her childhood, her musical influences, and pivotal moments in her career and personal life.
Williams takes us along as she digs into her life's trajectory and the various conflicts, explorations, realizations, and challenges that have shaped her.
With wry humor, gritty honesty, and refreshingly candid reflections, Williams's singular voice is coming through wonderfully so far.
I'm listening to Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You as an audiobook.
If you're interested in this one, you might also like the titles on my Greedy Reading List Six Musicians' Memoirs that Sing.
02 This Time It's Real by Ann Liang
In Ann Liang's light fiction rom-com This Time It's Real, when seventeen-year-old Eliza's class essay about young love goes viral, it leads to a competitive internship and soaring popularity at her new school. She should be on cloud nine.
The only problem is, she made it all up. She's never been in love.
So Eliza makes a deal with a famous actor in her class: if he plays the role of her fake boyfriend at school, she'll help him write his college applications. He's already seen how convincing her writing can be, after all. She's got everyone fooled.
When the line between acting and reality becomes blurred, will Eliza's grand plans end up in her own heartbreak?
03 Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #3) by Tamsyn Muir
One of the reasons they had called her Nona was that the first thing she had said, when they saved her and brought her here, was No, no. Nono became Nona, and Nona meant Nine, and nine was an important number.
Nona's birthday is coming up and she just wishes she could have a normal party. But she woke up in a stranger's body six months ago and has lived in it ever since. Her city is under attack, and leaders want her to serve as a weapon against the forces aiming to tear apart her planet. It's complicated.
The Locked Tomb series so far is dark dark dark, with death, nefarious plotting, and gleefully gruesome elements (bone work, etc.). But the books in the series also offer fantastically bratty episodes on the parts of various characters; frenzies of double-crossing, long-term plans for destruction, and evil impulses; and endless moments of silly and dark humor that make me laugh. I'm hoping for more of those elements in Nona the Ninth.
For my review of the first book in this series, Gideon the Ninth, check out the info at this link. You can find my review of Harrow the Ninth, book two, here.
Book four, Alecto the Ninth, is expected to be published early in 2024.