This Week's Page-Turners

Yes, once again it's a two-for-one post, as I finished one book yesterday and the other book today, before I'd even had time to update this blog. So here we are. 

My Lovely Wife (by Samantha Downing)

This is a suspense novel in the vein of Gone Girl, narrated by a husband who is married to a lovely woman named Millicent. Their hobby? Murder. Without being graphic, this novel is incredibly suspenseful. Yes, the ending is somewhat ridiculous but I couldn't put this one down and found it wickedly entertaining. (I can't even write that word without hearing John Travolta's voice in my head. "The wick-edly talented Adele Dezeem.") Pulpy fun.

The Valedictorian of Being Dead (by Heather Armstrong)

I was disappointed in It Sucked and Then I Cried, and I was expecting this to be similarly glib and full of all caps annoyingness, but I still have vestigial interest in Dooce and her life so I wanted to read it anyway. However, I was so pleasantly surprised. The writing is more restrained (in the acknowledgements she gives credit to her editor, so well done editor) but it's also more detailed, more earnest, more honest, and more emotionally vulnerable than I was anticipating.  Everything that was wrong with that first memoir is right with this one. Truly good!