AJ Dunn Reads

  The Magician's Assistant By Ann Patchett 4 stars

  The White Boy Shuffle By Paul Beatty 4 stars

  Golden Child By Claire Adam 4 stars

  Far from the Madding Crowd By Thomas Hardy   4 stars

  The Girl on the Train By Paula Hawkins   5 stars

  Dolores Claiborne By Stephen King Originally meant to be published in one volume along with Gerald's Game, Dolores Claiborne recounts the story of Dolores's interrogation for the murder of her employer and long-time companion Vera Donovan. Through telling the tale of why she is innocent of the crime, Dolores tells about the real crime she committed decades before. That crime being the murder of her husband, an alcoholic who abused Dolores and sexually abused their daughter. In the telling, Dolores recounts her acquaintance and employment with Vera, a woman who reveled in being a bitch and who gave Dolores the idea that husbands have "accidents" all of the time, as Vera's did. After Dolores's husband drains her children's college funds dry, she decides she's had enough and plots to take care of him for good during the same eclipse that occurred in Gerald's Game . This book has similar ideas to that one, with pervert fathers, abusive husbands, and

  Homesick for Another World By Ottessa Moshfegh A collection of short stories exploring more of the same ideas that appeared in Moshfegh's previous two novels. The main ideas I come away with in these poignant, often humoress, stories is that she is showing us the worst of humanity, our greed and baser natures, the things we do to or think about others and ourselves that we hate to admit to. She forces us to examine ourselves and our own prejudices. Through these readings we can feel above others, however false that is, which in itself forces us to face our own selfishness and dark places. I'm really enjoying Moshfegh's writing. Their is a depressed nature to them, but their is also hope and a light at the end of many of them. But not everything comes out all right in the end,. Such is life, and she shows us that. It is a mirror. 4 stars.

  The Overstory By Richard Powers This book follows several characters who each come to begin to see and understand the interconnectedness of the natural world and their place in it as their stories eventually converge in different ways over the idea of saving the natural world from the world's most invasive species: humans. It unfolds in tightening circles as the characters begin to come together over this idea of trees and the communication structures they hold underneath the ground, unseen but alive and resourceful. The characters eventually have to face the inevitable catastrophes that await them as the destruction of forests occurs despite their efforts to save them. This was a complicated book, the language sometimes difficult, but I was enthralled with it. The unfolding of the stories of these characters as their stories began to intersect was interesting. I liked the structure of it. It was, perhaps, too long in spots and sometimes felt repetitive, but the descriptions of t

  The Book of Form and Emptiness By Ruth Ozeki After Kenji Oh dies in the alleyway below his apartment, his wife Annabelle and their son Benny have to navigate the grief of his loss. Each finds comfort in two very different and self-destructive ways. Annabelle finds solace in hoarding objects, imbuing them with personalities and memories. Benny starts to hear the voices of objects, particularly that of a book narrating his life, telling his history both before his birth and through his coming to terms with his father's death. Benny and Annabelle have a hard time communicating with each other; Annabelle has a smothering personality and Benny finds her to be an embarrassment and does anything to avoid contact with her. As their behaviors increase in chaos, Benny starts taking to the streets in search of The Aleph, a homeless girl he meets in a youth mental health facility, and the Bottle Man, a homeless philosopher who encourages Benny to find his own voice to drown out the others he

  Blacktop Wasteland By S.A. Cosby   This book follows Bug Montage as he gets himself back into a life of crime as a getaway driver, a skill he inherited from his late father, a man he idolizes even though he left his kid behind to be a criminal.  Bug has fought against that life, trying to be a good husband and father to his two boys, but under the crushing weight of mounting debts due to a failing business and his mother's stay at a home for the aged Bug finds an opportunity to get to the better side of financial stability by returning to the life he tried to leave behind. He finds that he is in a battle with himself, because he likes being a getaway driver and the risk and adrenaline involved. He battles with himself over whether or not he can truly be a changed man. In the end, is he going to end up like his father? This was a good book, though I think I would have liked it better if I was a fan of cars. It's a decidedly masculine story. Despite that, I was interested in hi

  In Cold Blood By Truman Capote In this true crime novel, Truman Capote recounts the events leading up to the murders of the Clutter family in their home in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959 by Richard Hickock and Perry Smith. Capote gives the timeline of events from both the Clutter family and the murderer's points of view until the fateful night of the killings, then continues on through the search by detectives and what the killers did afterward before being arrested, tried, and hanged. It was a great read, the prose elegant and effectual in sympathizing for the victims while trying to dissect the states of mind of the killers. Capote limits his own role in the book with his involvement in interviewing Hickock and Smith, but his presence in the story is noted. His prtrayal of the cold bloodedness of the killers was haunting. In the end, I thought Capote had no sympathy for them. They got what they deserved. It was an easy 4 stars.