A Few Good Reads

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 I've been quiet on here this week, but as I'm likely writing for an audience of approximately one (maybe two), I'm sure it's all right. Let's dive in with another edition of Whatcha Reading Wednesday!


Nonfiction: From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death - Caitlin Doughty


I was just as surprised as you are to have picked up this book at my library. One of my dearest friends is a Mortuary Sciences student, and she read this one. I'm about halfway through, and it is a fascinating read. Doughty chronicles the way that different cultures approach death, funerary practices, and grief. No grisly photos, but the illustrations by Landis Blair are amazing and captivating in that train wreck, you-just-can't-look-away way. Place a hold on it at your library, or click the book cover image to find a copy on Indiebound.



Fiction: Straight On Till Morning - Liz Braswell


Disney's Twisted Tales series is a YA collection of the familiar tales you think you know, hooking you in with a "what if..." premise for each story. (My first and favorite read of this series, As Old As Time, for example, asks the question: What if it was Belle's mother that cursed the Beast?) Straight On Till Morning is in a timeline where Peter Pan never did go back to retrieve his lost shadow. Wendy still tells stories about the boy who never grew up years later, until she escapes a potentially dreary stint as a governess by making a deal with the devil—okay, Captain Hook—to finally gain passage to Never Land. Pan takes a back seat in this story, and the plot tends to drag and repeat itself to a frustrating degree, but it's still the ticket if you crave a little pixie dust in your life. As always, the book cover will link you to Indiebound if you'd like to get a copy from a local bookstore, or check your library!

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