What I’ve been reading

Downhills Don’t Come Free by Jerry Holl (not pictured; the desk was a little crowded)

I finished it. It was fine. I don’t know if I would specifically dissuade anyone from reading it. But there are better books about cycling out there.

The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste

I finished this book shortly before I left for my bike trip, which was about a month ago. I don’t remember the story’s particulars, but I remember being engaged and wanting to continue reading. I’d rate it as a recommendation.

The Werewolf at Dusk by David Small

I finished this one before my bike trip as well. I was satisfied by the simplicity of the art style and impressed with the quality of the storytelling. The book consists of three short stories.

I’d definitely recommend this book and even recommend multiple readings of it for a full appreciation of it. Like other visual media, there is the chance to notice additional details or nuance with multiple readings. And these stories are short enough that multiple readings isn’t a major time investment. I read the book in three nights, reading one story per evening.

Administrations of Lunacy by Mab Segrest

While I have noted my strong preference for fiction previously, I do find myself reading nonfiction a fair amount, usually by recommendation. However, with this book, I have only myself to blame.

Found as a result of researching resources on schizophrenia, I think I first took this book to be more of a nonfiction version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, or something along similar lines. What it actually is is an examination of the concept of mental health through the lens of a particular southern institution that holds up a mirror to America’s history of slavery and post-slavery racism.

If that sounds dense, I’d have to say you’re absolutely correct. Trying to describe the book to a co-worker, I said it was like a book you’d read for a higher level college history course. Thankfully, Segrest’s abilities as a writer, as well as the story threads she’s weaving together, are engaging enough to keep me going. But the subject matter is heavy and the writing is dense, so it’s taking me a bit of time to get through it.

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

This will be the first book of Iglesias’s that I will read. I believe this was another recommendation to me. Since I hadn’t read any of his work, I decided to give it a whirl.

The synopsis on the back of the book sets up the story as a “one last job” type of plot. The last job is high risk, high reward of course and our three characters have secrets from each other that will get in the way. The title and the synopsis imply horrific and supernatural complications as well.

I’m looking forward to this one and not just for the chance to read a story after another nonfiction book.