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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post #288

On The Blog Recently

• I showed you the books on my Christmas list.
• I talked about the best books I read in 2021.

On The Blog This Week

• On Tuesday, I list my most-anticipated adult book releases for 2022.

In My Reading Life

My library hold for book #6 of the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series finally came through. Of course, I dropped everything and read it immediately. This is the final book in the series, and I'm slightly devastated that it's over. I need to find more joyful books in 2022. I read too much serious stuff.

The Incorrigible finale is pretty good. Like the other books, this one is sweet, funny, and fast-paced. The mysteries are finally solved! There are too many coincidences for my tastes, and some of the mysteries could have been solved sooner if the characters had asked questions and communicated better. I'm not the target audience for these books, though. I would have loved them and overlooked their flaws when I was a kid. If you have children in your life, or if you want to read a joyful historical fantasy romp, please pick up this series. Book #1 is The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood.

My next book was at the opposite end of the joyful spectrum. Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón is a bit depressing. I think the book is supposed to be a metaphor for AIDS? I don't know. Everything in this novel is kind of abstract, so the meaning whooshed right over my head. I'm not great with abstract literature. That is why I did terrible in poetry classes. Moonstone is an Icelandic novella that has been translated into English. It stars a teenage boy prostitute who lives in Iceland in 1918. He's going through some stuff and uses movies as a way to escape from his problems. Then, the Spanish flu arrives in Iceland, kills tons of people, and sets his life on a new course.

This is a 140-page novella that I read in a few hours. I'm not sure how I feel about it because it's such a weird little book! It's surreal and dreamlike. I never knew where it was going next. I enjoyed the reading experience and the historical aspects, but I don't think I totally got the meaning behind the strangeness. If you love poetry, you'll probably like this novella.

(Also, this book is NOT safe for work. The main character is a prostitute, so prostitute activities occur and are described in great detail. Use caution if you're reading in the workplace, my friends.)

Then I read Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett. I can see why award committees and college professors adore this book: It's pretentious literary fiction! It's about a white, middle class, New England family. The father and oldest son develop serious mental health issues. The story examines how those issues ripple through the family and impact them and the community around them. The descriptions of mental illness are spot-on (based on my experience). The author really understands depression, anxiety, and obsessive thinking. It's a raw, honest book that will give you a lot to ponder.

This book reinforced the fact that I'm a cold-hearted witch. I found the characters to be exhausting and irritating. They have a lot of personal issues, but they're loving and forgiving toward each other. I felt like the author wanted the reader to be loving and forgiving, too, but . . . I wasn't. If these were my family members, I would have been a lot tougher with them.

The oldest son, Michael, develops an obsession with slavery, which leads him into stalkerish relationships with African American women. I felt bad that Michael was sick, but I couldn't stand the dude. He was too intense with women. Sometimes I felt like the author was trying to manipulate me into liking Michael. I could see the author attempting to pull my emotional strings behind the curtain. It didn't work. Joke's on the author because I don't have emotions.

Even though I didn't love this book, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It's an exhausting novel to read because the characters are intensely realistic. I truly feel like I know these people. The author does an amazing job of capturing what it's like to live with (and around) mental illness. I can see why this novel ended up on so many award lists.

Right now, I'm reading Little Heaven by Nick Cutter. It's a horror novel about three bounty hunters who are hired to rescue a family from a cult compound. Unfortunately, the compound is guarded by dangerous supernatural critters. I'm struggling with this one because the pacing is so slow! And it's 500 pages! I considered DNFing it, but I'm going to push through because the action scenes are excellent. There's just a lot of filler in between them.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy recently:

1. Happy 2022! I hope it's better than the last two years.
2. I was bored and overcaffeinated, so I downloaded TikTok. I guess I'm on TikTok now? I'm having fun with it. I don't know if my elderly phone is up to the task of posting videos, but if you want to follow me, I'm @ajsterkel.
3. I got 8 new books for Christmas.
4. Baby Brooklyn doesn't need surgery! Okay: story time. On Christmas, Brooklyn was jumping on the couch (which she knows is not allowed). She fell off and broke her arm. We spent Christmas at the hospital. The doctors thought she might need surgery to fix her arm, but so far, it's healing fine with just a cast.
5. Other than the broken arm, Brooklyn had a good Christmas. She got tons of gifts, which she opened with one hand and her feet.

Follow Me To 2022!

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Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!