Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Surprisingly few this month, not sure why.

Yellowface R.F. Kuang. Read by Helen Laser. 5/5

A preposterous, dark, funny novel about a young white author who is witness to the freak accident of her sort-of-friend, a successful Chinese author. She absconds with the dead author’s manuscript, rewrites it and presents it as her own. This novel covers so much ground including racial appropriation, racism, backlash, the fickleness of the publishing industry and social media, and just desserts. A spectacular read, or should I say listen, with the accomplished narration of Helen Laser.

One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School. Scott Turow. 4/5

This is Turow’s account of his first year at Harvard Law. A fascinating look behind the curtain of the country’s oldest law school. Turow gets into the weeds a bit with his description of the courses and the issues behind the cases studied, but he seems spot-on in depicting the tension and stress of the first year law student. I don’t know how he had the time to study and to take the detailed notes needed to write this book. And it was published a year or two later, so he juggled studying with shopping and editing the book. A remarkable accomplishment by the author of one of my favorite mysteries, Presumed Innocent.

Drowning. TJ Newman. Read by Steven Weber and Laura Lavante. 5/5

I hate reading thrillers because they are so stressful, but enjoyed every minute of this one. A plane goes down into the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii, and a handful of passengers are trapped inside. The account of their attempted rescue, and the characters Newman draws, makes for a spellbinding read. Expertly read by Weber and Lavante.

Three very good ones Carol! I’ve been eyeing Yellowface. When I get an empty slot on my library hold list I will try to slide it on. One L sounds right down my alley as we have discussed before. Thanks for the reminder.
I find recalling Drowning to be haunting.

nice month, carol. i'm hearing lots of good things about Yellowface

Three very distinct choices. Good for you.

Yellowface and Drowning are definitely on my TBR list!