Friday Reads 3.29.24

It’s Friday, and you know what that means. Grab a cuppa, and let’s talk about what we’re reading!

I hope you’ve had a good reading week! Today is Good Friday, and Easter is on Sunday, which means my social media sabbatical is over. I’ll be honest: It wasn’t the idyllic six weeks away I’d hoped for. That’s all on me; there were admittedly some very interesting news events that captured my attention in unbelievable ways (Catherine, Princess of Wales being the primary one, but also two local crime stories: the disappearance of Sebastian Rogers and the sad death of Riley Strain.) I am not making excuses—it was my own lack of willpower that had me following along—but as a crime fiction writer, when crimes happen in your backyard, it’s only natural to follow the cases.

And also, in A VERY BAD THING, there is this same sort of social media storm, the fallout from an event that is whipped into a tornadic fervor by well-placed bots, the original story being manipulated, falsified, and blown up into something that it isn’t—exactly what happened when the princess asked for privacy to heal. Seeing my book threads come alive is always interesting.

In addition to all the international news, there were at least three massive publishing kerfuffles, too. Every time it seems we’ve reached the pinnacle, there’s another misunderstanding, another personal vendetta, another blatant disregard for personal safety, another incident of past abuse—on, and on, and on. The platforms’ power has shifted. An anonymous tweet can take down a titan, that we all know. Now, a bot can ruin your life, too.

I’ve seen this happen too many times to count. It’s not healthy for any of us to be sucked into, that’s for sure. It’s why I try to make sense of these things in my fiction, exploring the ramifications for those who are in the eye of the proverbial storm. I almost deleted my Twitter account several times over the past few weeks because I hate being manipulated, and it’s hard to know who to trust anymore. In the end, I settled for logging out, but I have my own reconciliations to do in the coming weeks.

But I still got a lot of work done during the sabbatical. Moved the story forward on the new standalone, started edits on the new Jayne book, posted a couple of steps to the writing series, finalized the manuscript for A VERY BAD THING…

Speaking of, galleys are here for A VERY BAD THING! Big pink doorstops (it’s a long book). Barbiecore on steroids, people. I’d love to give one away, so I’ll choose a winner from the comments today!

I finished THE LAST MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Stuart Turton yesterday, and I have to say, it was a wild ride. It took me almost two weeks to read, though, because it is complicated, and I had to pay close attention to the multitudes of threads. Speculative fiction is really popular right now, and this has echoes of NEVER LET ME GO and CLOUD ATLAS, for sure. The world-building was really interesting, and the moral quandary that’s so prevalent in these kinds of stories was fascinating. I’m still processing my thoughts, but it is a classic murder mystery at its core.

Mary Kubica has a new novel coming this week, SHE’S NOT SORRY, and I for one can’t wait. Mary’s got a keen eye for chatters and plot, and I’m sure this one’s going to be just as great as her last few.

It’s been a rather fascinating month of new releases from the titans of suspense. We’ve got new books from almost all the Lisas (Lisa Unger’s The NEW COUPLE IN 2B; Lisa Scottoline’s THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVLINS; Lisa Gardner’s STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE; Lisa Jewell has a departure Marvel tie-in coming in May); Heather Gudenkauf’s EVERYONE IS WATCHING; and the NEVER TELL collection of short stories featuring Liv Constantine, Loreth Ann White, Andrea Bartz, Rachel Howzell Hall, Ivy Pachoda, and Carolyn Kepnes. I’m sure I’ve missed a few (feel free to remind me…). It’s almost too many brilliant books at once.

In addition to ALL of these, I have several more books in the queue, mostly ones that need to be read for possible endorsements. I try very hard to balance books I’m reading for fun with books for work. The one I started last night, though, is superb. It’s called A KILLING COLD, by Kate Alice Marshall. More on that when I finish.

If you’re a Rebecca Yarros fan, I’m sure you’ve heard the fantastic news that the third book in the Empyreum series is coming on January 21, 2025. It’s called ONYX STORM, and you better believe I’ve already pre-ordered it. I got a Kindle version so my Dad can read it — he loves this series — and I’ll be on the lookout for a special hardcover version as well. I like the sprayed edges. If y’all find one, drop a link.

The rest of my reading time was spent traveling and working on some back-end business stuff, so I have a short list this week. Baseball is back, though, so I expect my reading to increase dramatically. There’s nothing I enjoy more than a book and a baseball game. Go Dodgers!

That’s it from me. How about you? What are you reading this weekend?

And blessed Easter to those who celebrate.

The Creative Edge is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.