The Night Shift by Alex Finlay
Ok did I pick this book simply because the plot mentioned murders at a Blockbuster Video? Yes. The book goes beyond that because there are not only one set of murders, but a second timeline with another set of teen murders. Both time, there was only one survivor. The final girl from the Blockbuster murders is now trying to help the new girl survivor to go through her trauma and figure out who is the murderer – the same person, or a copycat?
I loved: the strong woman characters, the alleged original killer set free who disappeared, and the short binge-reading format.

How to be an antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
I am not gonna lie it was not an easy read. It does require your full attention. I really enjoy that the author looked at his younger self and applies his theories to himself, enlightening the moment he was himself racist while thinking he was fighting racism. For hi, not being racist is not being antiracist, and this is maybe the most important idea in the book and I will surely take it with me. However, I had troubles with some of the extreme he goes to, for example the fact that you are an activist only if you make the laws change, which, in my opinion, you are an activist if you are actively trying to make the laws change. I am unable to say if some of my disagreements come from a possible internalized unconscious racism in me, so for sure the book raised some thinking.

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson
9 strangers each receive a list of names of strangers, except for their own. Quickly after, the people on the list start being murdered…
It was “fun” that one of the investigators was also on the list and overall it was entertaining enough, but I was really disappointed by the big reveal.

The book brings awareness to the deaf community’s struggles in education (when no access to deaf schools) and shine a loving light on the deaf culture. It is centered around the unfortunate issue of deaf schools being closed down, and the spread pressure for cochlear implants.

This was a quick read, the book is hard to put down even though it just makes you soooo angry at the stupidity and cruelty of the men (males) in charge of that society. When they are 16, the girls are sent on exile in the woods for a year to “get rid of their magic(k)” while trying to survive the wild – which involves killing each other – to return to their village pure and ready for marriage (often times to a much older man, that of course they had no say in choosing).
The book does have some problematic developments and miss the true feminist mark but it was fast-paced and suspenseful enough to go through it in a very short time.

It’s an autobiography so it’s hard to critique but it was interesting to get to know more about someone you come across to on internet and what their journey was. Laura’s was much darker than I expected.

I liked me some Paris location and I was quite into the book, the search, the mystery, but the resolution… It started strong but ended up being disappointing.

I am still playing catch up with my reads but this will be my last delayed post. Hopefully, I will continue more regularly.

In April, I read 4 books on 4 very different topics:

• An essay on the persistent racial injustice in America.
• A friend-to-lovers vacation story.
• A collection of essay about pregnancy, birth, and motherhood .
  A bit hard to relate as most writers have tons of money, which does make a difference in the options you have for your care and baby’s. Be prepared to cry everything you have (especially if you listen to the book as the authors are reading) during Emma Hansen’s essay. It really made me want to read her whole book, “Still: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Motherhood”, I am just not ready to face it at the moment.
• A “memoir meets masterclass”. We follow the author from aspiring author to professor. Her book is an “exploration of how we think and write about intimate experiences—“a must read for anybody shoving a pen across paper or staring into a screen or a past” (Mary Karr).”

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
This had a great interesting start, with the narrator being the daughter of a serial killer arrested when she was a teen and “left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath”. When the book begins as Chloe is trying to keep moving on with her life – through with the help of alcohol and drugs – the murders start again… the work of a copycat?
Though it was slow-paced, it was a quick read. It has a bunch of twists, some predictable, some less, I expected a bit more. It seems like it was meant to be a psychological thriller but I found the end a bit too messy on this side.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
A psychic tells siblings the date of their death, some soon, some decades later. How will each of them handle the prophecy and how much knowing when they’ll die will influence how they live?
I had some troubles getting into the book at first, but then we dived into Simon’s story and it was so representative of his time, so sad but so full of life too… My favorite part of the book for sure.

A Good Man by Ani Katz
The narrator is a good man, with a good family and a good life. Or is he? How fragile can this perfect life be? Everything has taken a turn for the worst and though we won’t know specifically what happened until the very end, we listened as he unraveled the story of his life to try to understand when things took a spin, and if he is a victim, or a monster.
Through the story was not groundbreaking or the ending as surprising as maybe intended, it was a super short read, I picked it up and didn’t put it down before it was over. A good drama book for an afternoon.

The Body in Question by Jill Ciment
Another great starting point: Hannah is a juror on a very mediation and horrible crime, we follow her during her period of sequestration. It was a quick read too, some passages about jury duty life were interesting, but overall I couldn’t really believe the [SPOILER] love affaire with another member of the jury.[/SPOILER]. The choice of not telling us either what really happened in the actual murder case was a bit frustrating, but I actually loved that choice. The jurors don’t know more than what was presented and a year later they still can’t be sure if their verdict was right. Annoying, but real!