I’m playing catch up but… I still wanted to document the books I read this year and my thoughts on each.
The Dry by Jane Harper
★★★★.75
This book was the selection for MMD’s 2020 Reading Challenge prompts “a debut
novel“. Federal Agent Aaron Falk receives a letter, demanding his presence at his best
friend Luke’s funeral in his hometown. He hasn’t been home in over twenty years
because, as a boy, he was wrongly accused of a murder and he and his father left.
Luke was his alibi. When Aaron returns home for the funeral, he investigates his best
friend’s death, and also uncovers, and solves what really happened when they were
boys. Aaron’s hometown has some long-buried secrets…
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
★★★★.75
This book is about Lydia, who runs a bookstore in Mexico. Her husband, a journalist,
publishes an article about a drug cartel. Several members of her family, including
her husband, are killed because of the article. Only she and her eight-year-old son
Luca survive. While this novel itself is a work of fiction, the reality is definitely true:
they are running from drug cartels and trying to get to the United States (reading
the introduction, I found that the author did 5 years of research. Her father and
grandmother are both Puerto Rican and had knowledge/experience with that
culture). The majority of this book is about that journey. It is so well written that at
times, I almost felt like I was with them. We all know that these things happen, but do
we really know? I think everyone should read this.
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