Friday Reads 1.31.25

People, it was a week. There were lows. There were highs! There was loss. There was joy. There was pain, and there was relief. There were words, and words, and words. And there was everything in between. Our lives are dichotomous by design; it’s impossible not to have these swings. But it’s been a wild one.

I’m absolutely heartsick about the CJR/Blackhawk crash in DC. It’s starting to look like this was a breakdown in ATC communication creating a collision vector. This shouldn’t have happened. It’s always a perfect storm of problems, and I’m sure we’ll know more soon enough. But so many hopeful lives—what a terrible loss for the US Figure Skating team, the Army, the airline, and everyone in between.💔

You probably don’t know this, but in a past life, when I first left the political world, I went to work for Lockheed Martin on their FAA contract. Part of my job was to do the budget and finance for the multitudes of TRACONs (Terminal Radar Facilities Approach Controls) across CONUS. Yes, they paid me to do math. I’d make a joke about the government here, but…inappropriate. I can still maneuver the hell out of an Excel spreadsheet. I spent a lot of time in planes, visiting dozens of air traffic control towers and TRACON facilities all over the country. I usually flew in and out of Reagan. That’s a scary flight path on a good day, and even tenser at night. No room for error,.

Not to date myself, but tracking flights wasn’t wholly electronic then. They actually wrote the flight details on a slip of paper that went into a metal plate, and they slid the plates along a board in reference to where the planes were on their approaches. It used to be a lot of fun to listen to the pilots talking to the tower as I flew away. (For a few controllers, a girl in the TRACON was akin to a woman aboard an 1800s vessel angering the sea gods, which they were happy to let me know.) It's astounding, really, how much the technology (and society) has changed.

(True story: After a particularly grueling twelve weeks on the road, Mr. E put a ring on it, and I moved jobs.)

Anyway. Out of the wayback machine. Flying is still the safest mode of transportation. But any time there’s an incident, it terrifies us all. “PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight?” is going down in aviation history.

On to brighter subjects: The books.

I finished ONXY STORM and it was everything I could have hoped for. Twists I expected, twists I didn’t, and a few whoppers that left my jaw on the floor. So much fun, and I can’t imagine how long we’re going to have to wait for the fourth installment. Congrats to Rebecca for breaking the all-time record for week one book sales!

It’s always hard to pick up another book after one so immersive, but I picked well: I’m now deep into SOCIETY OF LIES by Lauren Ling Brown. It is utterly engaging from page one, and I do so love a dark academic theme.

I also started HEARTWOOD by Amity Gage, which is lyrical and beautiful. The literary thriller is gaining popularity again, which makes me very happy.

I grabbed two books on Kindle that I haven’t started yet: GIRL, FORGOTTEN by Karin Slaughter and BEAUTIFUL UGLY by Alice Feeny. Two stunningly great authors, and I’m sure will really get me in the mood for work next week.

And a couple of books are releasing that are well worth your time… A KILLING COLD by Kate Alice Marshall, which I blurbed because I loved it so much. If I recall, the words feral and gothic were used. Also, Carter Wilson’s TELL ME WHAT YOU DID is on sale this week. I think the world of Carter; he has a great podcast that is a lot of fun, too.

On the research side of the fence, I’m reading THE MEANING OF MYTH by Neel Burton, who is a psychiatrist interpreting 12 Greek myths. It’s fascinating to see the myths I am so familiar with through a new lens.

Not a ton of progress on the new book this week, as I had to do the copyedit of THE SCROLLS OF TIME, but I sent that off last night. Another step forward toward wrapping the whole Jayne series in a tight little bow.

That’s it from me today. How about you? What are you reading this weekend? Do you have any great recommendations?

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