Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

I absolutely loved Walls' The Glass Castle.  I also love NASCAR, which of course has its roots in moonshine running.  When I read the summary on Amazon, I thought a book written by Walls set in the Appalachians of Virginia during the Prohibition era about a girl from a family of bootleg liquor runners would be awesome.  

It was..."readable".

I wish I liked it more, but, eh.  

Sallie Kincaid is the middle child of The Duke, a local big wig.  She's a free spirit, and her stepmother Jane has her banished to a maternal aunt (Faye) when her actions injure her young half-brother Eddie.  Upon her stepmother's death from the flu several years later, she returns to The Big House a young woman. 

It is like the Kincaids are cursed: one death after another.  Some from standard deadly illnesses, but most of accidents such as drowning, a suicide, and a few gun fights.

Sallie ends up running bootleg whiskey, as her older half-sister Mary turns the county dry.  The running scenes are the only real action in the book.

The rest of the novel is one revelation about the men of The Duke's family's philandering about the county.  Sallie seems in the dark about her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather's activities, and learns she has several more siblings/cousins/aunts/etc, of multiple races.  It became somewhat annoying and stereotypical of the region.  And also the "man who is secretly (but obvious to the reader) gay in a community that could never accept such" trope.

I wish there was a lot more action on the back roads of Appalachia running 'shine than "I have a(nother) sister!" *gasp* moments.        

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.  

   

Young and Damned and Fair by Gareth Russell

I did not read a new book last week over vacation for new #titletuesday.  Instead I reread Killers of the Flower Moon in preparation for the new Leo DiCaprio/Martin Scorsese film of the same name.  I am hoping our Criminal Justice cohort goes on a field trip to see it and invites me chaperone!

I actually read this the week before vacation, but totally forgot to publish the review.  I also totally forgot to share my CASL Board notes with the other LMSs.  Safe to say my brain was mush, and I definitely needed that vacation!

Anyway.

This is a biography of Catherine (more recently spelled with a K) Howard, the fifth wife of Henry the 8th.  

If you like musicals at all, you probably have at least heard the intro song to the Broadway and now touring Six.  The show features the six wives of Henry the 8th reimagined as pop princesses, each singing a song about their lives and reign, inspired by a real musician.  Katherine Howard's song is "All You Wanna Do", sung as Ariana Grande or Christina Augliera. 

Until now, most people have never heard of Katherine Howard.  Which really irks me because she's my very distant cousin.  Those who have heard of her just know she was beheaded from the rhyme divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Her name likely was spelled with a C, but recently the K spelling gained favor, partly due to Six, partly to differentiate her from wife #1 Catherine of Aragon and wife #6 Catherine Parr.  

This traces Catherine's rise to Queen from her family's manipulations to get her at court, the sexual abuse at the hands of men around her, and her demise. It is not a happy ever after.

A reminder all opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

A Killer's Wife by Victor Methos

If you're following my new #titletuesday posts on FB, you know I did not review Daisy Jones and the Six.  I actually had to put Daisy down as I found it was too similar to Opal & Nev.  The latter is the teacher and friend's book club selection for April; the former in June.  I felt they were too alike to read so close together, so Daisy is on hold. 

This novel is the club's choice for May, chosen by a friend of one of our Board of Education members.  It is a murder mystery thriller.  As such I don't want to spoil too much plot, but:

Eddie Cal is on death row for a series of gruesome murders.  His ex-wife Jessica is now a federal prosecutor, and their teenage daughter Tara is a math and artistic genius applying to graduate level university studies.  A copy cat has started imitating Eddie's crimes, and the FBI want Jessica to help, as she is the only person Eddie is willing to talk to.

I hated Eddie.  In addition to being a psychopath, he's just a jerk (I'd use stronger language in private conversation).  I wanted to punch him in the teeth.  I also wanted to smack Tara, as she's incredibly rude to her mother.  

Overall, it held my interest, although I saw the plot twist 1 coming pretty early.  Plot twist 2 was a bit more of a surprise.

This will be among the 18 books added to our collection as new titles donated by me, but it will be on hold until after our May meeting. 

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.