#litsavant

Hello book nerds,

I just wanted to take the time out to apologize for being m.i.a these past few weeks. I have been so overwhelmed with teaching, prepping, and being a mom. It has been way too much lately. So I hope to catch up and get down to business during this mid-winter break. Thank you all so much for understanding. 

In October I started the LitSavant bookclub with two friends. I was feeling quite bored and lonely and was encouraged to see my friends more. I had always considered the idea of starting a book club because I love reading and I love spending time with others who have the same zeal for cracking open a book. I’ll discuss my read with anyone willing to listen. But it is not as satisfying as talking about it with likeminded individuals. The feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself and not feeling quite so alone is a great thing. 

So I took a chance and messaged one of the biggest readers I know, F, and asked if she was interested. And as expected she loved the idea. So we started talking about what we could do and how we can work it all out. This lasted a few days with us infectiously talking about our current reading and our overall enthusiasm for the idea. Finally, we started considering if we knew anyone else who could be involved. 

That is when I messaged my friend, I. She was interested. We never thought that it would be something to bring us closer. In my mind, a club centered on a shared interest would be fun and a new way to focus on my wants and needs. But it has become so much more than that. I love spending time reading the same book as these other members and then coming together in a constructive and enthusiastic manner to talk about it. We don’t always see things the same way but it doesn’t matter. We are all different people who live their lives as they see fit. We do our reading the way we prefer it (i.e. reading multiple books at once or one at a time) but still take it seriously. We have our own families, careers, and our day to day routines to contend with but we try our best to meet each month to bond and gab. We’re scholarly patrons of literature. And we really look forward to meeting each month. I’m glad we found each other.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

My first thought upon finishing this book was “Wow this book was fucking crazy!” (in the best way possible Thursday). The blurb on the book mentions a straight forward concept: a wife is in a polygamist marriage but soon things are not so simple and drama ensues causing the wife to doubt her husband. This book is so much more than that. There were so many moments I could recount but the things I enjoyed the most were the pacing and anticipation since page one. 

“He comes over on Thursday every week. That’s my day. I’m Thursday.” 

Immediately the readers are told two things. One, that “He” only comes on Thursdays and second, that the narrator identifies as Thursday. These two details accomplish two things. The readers or at least I, believe the narrator, sympathizes with her and gets the feeling this is something that gets her through the week and she takes it seriously. Throughout the rest of the chapter, Thursday explains her views on her marriage and readers learn that even though Thursday has a rough time not putting on a show. 

“...I am queen of presentation, after all. Everything is just right, the way he likes it, and thus, the way I like it. It’s not that I don’t have a personality; it’s just that everything I am is reserved for him. As it should be.”

Readers get it. Thursday lives to please Seth. It is a rough start. The narrator stakes her life on this man but does so without apology. I know some readers can find this chapter cringy but that’s how secrets can be. They can be shameful and things that bring shame can be difficult to witness. This makes us, the readers feel like we’re confidants. We know something she refuses to share with her best friend. This connection helps lead to a great payout climax wise.

As the story goes on Thursday starts to become visibly disturbed by all that she keeps discovering. Seth starts to look dubious and like a friend we start to worry and cheer on Thursday’s rebelling of her circumstances. This behavior unlike what she showed in chapter one comes off as her finally standing up for herself and it adds to the anticipation and our ideas of what could Seth be possibly up to.

“It takes a minute for things to sink in: the first that today is not Thursday; the second that, Seth is not smiling; and the third-there is a bandage on the knuckles of his right hand. I lick my lips. my brain working frantically. He knows!”

One of the best scenes filled with tense and action is when Thursday comes home to find Seth in her condo clearly livid. The tension is overwhelming and Thursday fears that Seth knows he’s been caught. I felt like jumping out of my skin and I literally paused after the bandaged hand line to make eye contact with my fiancee’ to gasp “He knows!” to his valid bewilderment. The book was a thrilling ride that makes you grip the book and read uninterrupted until the very end.

“Her laughter hurts my ears. I cover them with my palms, pressing hard, trying to block out the sound...I’m shaking when I rear back, slamming my head against Regina’s nose. The force slams my jaw together. I bite through my bottom lip and feel the shards of a broken tooth...I am helping. I’m helping myself.”

Thursday experiences another violent moment at the end and it’s horribly violent but satisfying. She lashes out on Regina who refuses to admit any responsibility.  Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out it switches it up. These plot twists aren’t cliches either. Thankfully by the end, I was satisfied with the way things turned out. 

Our rating: 4.5 stars (5 stars means perfection not possible)

Our book of the month for January, The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters. Heather buried her best friend Becca years ago when she was just a girl but someone knows and is threatening everything she’s worked for. Who can it be? And why now?