meg reads and reads

Title: Blaze Author: Richard Bachman If you've ever wondered what happens when Stephen King forgets a manuscript in a drawer for thirty years and then decides to dust it off during a book tour, Blaze is your answer. It's a crime novel that's wearing a Bachman mask, but the voice underneath is pure, unadulterated King--complete with his signature "bloat," even at a modest 300-something pages. The story follows Blaze, a goliath with cognitive challenges whose life choices are currently being managed by George. The catch? George is dead. Whether George is a supernatural hitchhiker or just a symptom of Blaze's tragic head trauma is up for debate, but either way, he convinces Blaze to kidnap a baby for ransom. The book operates on two tracks, and like a lopsided train, one side is much sturdier than the other: The Flashbacks (The Good): This is where the heart is. Seeing Blaze's transition from a normal kid to a "simpleton" after a brutal beating from...

Title: The Highly Sensitive Person Author: Elaine N. Aron I picked up this book hoping for a biological roadmap to explain why I jump three feet in the air when a toaster pops, but instead, I found a manual on how to join a "priest class" I didn't sign up for. The first half of this book is an endless loop of, "You thought there was something wrong with you, but there isn't!" Look, as an introvert--and part of the 70% of us who usually have enough self-awareness to realize we're just wired differently (and often gifted)--I never actually thought I was "wrong." I've always quite liked my sensitivity, thanks. I don't need a book to fix my self-esteem; I need it to help me explain to my neighbor why their windchimes are an instrument of psychological warfare. We need a version of this book for people who enjoy being sensitive and just want the data, not a pat on the head. The opening chapters actually start strong with genuine information ...

Title: The Nowhere Child Author: Christian White Christian White's debut thriller, The Nowhere Child , is a wild, wiggly ride (and yes, that is a snake joke). This 2019 Minotaur Books publication takes the well-worn missing child trope and gives it an unconventional spin that's both absorbing and slightly unhinging. It had me hooked, despite giving me a mild case of the jitters.  Our protagonist, Kimberly Leamy, is a photographer living her best normal life in Melbourne, Australia, until a total stranger pops up and informs her she's actually Sammy Went, who vanished as a toddler from Manson, Kentucky, twenty-six years ago. Kim is understandably skeptical. After all, who believes news like this from a random bloke? But then she checks the baby photos, and, gasp , the resemblance is uncanny! Her life, she realizes, has been one giant lie wrapped in a secret, hidden inside a cryptic admission from her stepfather, Dean.  Kim's quest for truth takes her from the sunny stabi...

Title: Lisey's Story Author: Stephen King This book is a fascinating read, not least because it feels like Stephen King is trying to prove all those fussy literary critics wrong. He's clearly showing off his range here, delivering a gothic, melancholy romance full of loss, grief, and magical realism. It's so exceptionally well-written--the prose is clear, imaginative, and resonant--that I kept thinking, "See that, Dr. Snob? He can do fancy!" The whole plot is derived from King almost dying and seeing his wife, Tabitha, packing up his stuff. It's a sweet, personal origin story, which is great, but the resulting book, dedicated to Tabby, is basically an extremely long, beautiful, and sometimes bewildering peek into King's marital love language. Every couple has their own code words, but Lisey and Scott's felt like they were communicating entirely in footnotes from a very specific New England dialect. I'm waiting for the Rosetta Stone. The story itsel...

Title: All the Devils Author: Barry Eisler I have a serious complaint about Barry Eisler: He is a master of suspense who clearly does not respect my sleep schedule or my to-do list. All the Devils is no exception--in fact, it's the literary equivalent of a high-speed pursuit you can't abandon until the last page.  Livia Lone is officially on par with John Rain, which is the highest compliment I can give an assassin-adjacent character. She is complex, meticulous, and thankfully, utterly ruthless when dealing with the kind of men who deserve to be hunted down by a former child trafficking victim. This makes her not just a hero, but a force of nature. The plot: Livia is desperately trying to chill out and appease Chief Best when B.D. Little shows up, desperate to avenge a decade-old disappearance. The villains? A psycho named Snake and Boomer, a congressman and the Vice President's son. Livia has to take down a political dynasty and a Special Forces killer with nothing but her...

Title: The Stories of Eva Luna Author: Isabel Allende Let me start with a confession: I am generally not a fan of short stories. I have fictional separation anxiety. I prefer one continuous plot where I can settle in, unpack my bags, and live with the characters for a few hundred pages. With collections like this, I tend to lag behind, emotionally clinging to the protagonist from the previous story while the new one is already trying to introduce themselves. It's exhausting. However, rules were made to be broken, and Isabel Allende is apparently the one to break them. Allende is good. She's really good. She possesses a literary depth unlike few authors I've ever read, sitting in that rare VIP section with the likes of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. But be warned: if you are looking for sunshine and rainbows, you are in the wrong place. In true literary fashion, these stories rarely have a happy ending, a happy middle, or even a happy beginning. They are tragically beautiful in a w...