AJ Dunn Reads

  Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens This is the tale of an orphan named Oliver Twist who ends up finding his way to his original family, rising from the depths of the seedy underbelly of London to a life of love and means. Oliver is born in a workhouse and his mother dies. Mistreated, in typical Dickens style, Oliver runs away and falls in with a band of thieves who plan to use his innocence for their own evil ends. But one of them, Fagin, knows who Oliver is and has been told to keep him in a position of poverty and loneliness. Oliver Twist is full of delightfully awful characters, fully drawn in their wickedness. I often wonder when reading Dickens if people back then were really this terrible to one another. There is no compassion for poor little Oliver by anyone until he meets those who recognize a resemblance in his face to someone they loved who has passed. Oliver is repeatedly saved by them only to again be duped by Fagin and his crew, and dragged back into their realm. When ...

  North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell Margaret Hale and her family must move to an industrial town in the north of England called Milton. Her father has resigned as a clergyman due to a conflict of his faith. He moves the family to this place to become a tutor to working men, far away from their home in Helstone (in the south) so he does not have to be reminded of his failures there. Margaret is resigned to go, believing she never cared for Helstone anyway, having returned to her parents after being raised by her aunt Shaw. She goes believing she will be lonely, though, as the Hales are used to gentlemen and ladies of a higher stature, and does not think anyone in her class will be living there. The Hales are rather poor, so this is a curious attitude, but I guess since her Aunt Shaw had some wealth the entire family socially benefited from it. In Milton Margaret becomes a regular visitor to a poor family after taking an interest in the sickly daughter of a working man named Higgi...

  Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens When Kya Clark was a little girl her mother walked out on her family and never came back. leaving Kya and her siblings with their abusive father. One by one the siblings, much older than Kya, leave as well. Her brother Jodie, seven years older than Kay, tries to stay to protect her, but even he ends up leaving. Her father stops coming home and eventually disappears as well, leaving Kya all alone in the marshes of North Carolina, a stone's throw from the ocean. Kya spends her time foraging for food and collecting bird feathers. She finds a way to make money through the local African American gas, food, and small items vendor named Jumpin. Jumpin and his wife decide to look out for Kya and help her with clothes and food. Kya becomes legendary in the small town as the Marsh Girl, elusive living removed from society on her own. Kids periodically come around and she hides from them, observing them and longing to have connections like they do. The...

  Pet Sematary by Stephen King There is a lot of hype surrounding this book. It is one of King's most beloved stories that deals heavily with loss and grief, and ruminates on the uncertainty of death and what happens after. I expected to love it. The story follows Louis Creed as he moves with his wife Rachel and their two kids, Ellie and Gage, from the Midwest to Maine. Louis has gotten a job as a doctor in the university hospital and has purchased a house along a very busy road, where large Orinco trucks have made many animals their victims. As such, the Creed property adjoins a pet cemetery where many kids throughout the decades have laid their pets to rest. But a sinister and macabre history is also attached to the cemetery, which Louis's new neighbor Jud tells him about with first-hand experience of the power of the place. Past the pet cemetery is an old Micmac Indian burial ground, where some pets have been taken with the idea that their corpses would come back to life. Ju...

  Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter The Carroll family was torn apart when the eldest daughter Julia disappeared decades ago. Middle daughter Lydia turned to drugs and a life separated from her family. The youngest, Claire, hid her emotions and married a man most considered beneath her as she sought safety and normality. The matriarch, Helen, hid in the bottle for a few years before deciding to let the past be the past. And Sam, the father, killed himself. Years later Claire's husband is killed in an alley while she watched. Or at least that's what she's led to believe. Her wealthy genius husband, Paul Scott, drove a wedge between her and Lydia years before after Julia's disappearance. Lydia accused Paul of attempting to rape her. Claire refused to believe it and made Helen choose a side. She chose Claire's. Lydia, now with a daughter of her now named Dee, lives her own life, risen from the depths of despair to become a successful small business owner and is in a rela...