This year I’m going to try something different. Besides books, I’d like to share essays I’ve read from around the web, as well as any novels I stopped reading. When I joined StoryGraph, I found that to be an interesting option, so why not include them as well?
The Rook by Australian author, Daniel O’ Malley is a fun sci-fi adventure – a bit of Dr. Who meets X-Files.
Myfanwy Thomas wakes up with no memory, but through a series of letters she has written to herself, she discovers she works for a top secret government agency that keeps the world safe from supernatural threats.
I’m not surprised this was turned into a TV series, of which I knew nothing about. I can’t even remember who recommended this one to me.
This is also Book 1 of 3, again, me is clueless. And a quick peek at the first few reviews of #2 claims the second is better than the first. Rather extraordinary considering O’Malley does an amazing job of creating a modern world meets crazy creatures and X-Men-like operatives with detail and wit.
I heard about Donna Tartt’s bestseller from a YouTuber. It sounded intelligent, so I took a chance on it without any other research.
The novel starts off strong, with a murder, and the writing is really good. You know, the kind that you feel like you could never do.
As I read, I had to look up big words that I didn’t know, too. And I figured out that the narrator, Richard Papen, was soon going to be part of an exclusive group of six students hand-picked by an eccentric professor.
So, I thought, I was in for a good winter read – college students are notoriously good fodder for stories. They murdered one of their friends, right? But I found myself feeling the most dreadful of feelings as I read — not caring.
Have you read this? Should I pick it back up again?
Okay. I’m on Cloud 9 because author Cheryl Strayed, read and commented on my essay.
But let’s go back a bit. I discovered Oldster Magazine through Memoir Monday’s newsletter. And I felt like I had finally found a publication of “my people” — and by that I mean, Gen Xers and intelligent women (and men!) who are of a certain age.
Anyway, I was inspired to write this because I had read the first “Letter to My Younger Self” in this budding series. I’m over the moon that it was published, and as I mentioned, currently floating among the sky.
Other essays I found groovy are: Two Immigrants by Ajay Makan, A Migrant’s Fashion Manifesto by Ucheoma Onwutuebe, and Lessons In Lust and Life from ‘Dirty Dancing’ by Sara Lippmann. I’ll stop there to see if this new section is anything folks are interested in.
I suppose if there is one word to describe what I like in an essay, it’s “unexpected”. But if I do know how it ends or where it’s going, I hope it’s uplifting and beautiful.
Have you read any good books or essays lately? Anything you didn’t finish?
Life, the Universe, and Lani 
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