Killers of a Certain Age - Book Review

 

The book choice for my book club over the last month was Killers of a Certain Age. This is a book about a group of women who are paid assassins who have been working for "The Museum" for 40 years and are told they are being forced into retirement. However, they find out that they are not quietly going into retirement. They have a bounty placed on their heads. Through the book we are taken through the process of finding out why they have a bounty on their heads and what they do about it. 

When I was told the basic plot of the book, I was quite excited to read this book. For the most part, it is a good book. My main complaint is that the flash backs in the first half of the book are not in good places. Through the flashbacks, we learn how they are recruited, trained, and build relationships within the company. These are important bits of information, but I feel like it would have been better had they been at the beginning of the book and used a flash forward type of thing as the book went on. Another thing that may have worked would have been somehow including the recruiting and training into the dialog. I'm not a writer, so I don't even know if that would work. I just didn't like how the author would have a cliff hanger at the end of a chapter then suddenly change to something from the past. Again, this is only a criticism of the first half of the book. In the second half of the book, flashbacks were used to show the relationship between the main characters and the people they were perusing. This felt like a good use of flashbacks. (I'm not a total hater of the flashbacks. I just think it is used wrong or too much in a lot of novels now days.) The good part of the book is that the basics of the plot move along at a good pace. The imagery was perfect with not too much description but enough to really know, understand, and feel a part of what was going on. Overall, I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads. I will probably not read the second book because I was satisfied with the ending of the book and don't feel the need to. One person in my book club read it and said it was ok but not as good as the first one. 

It took me almost 2 weeks longer to read than it should have (my deadline was July 16, but I finished today). This was not because it was a bad book. I have traveled over the last month which slowed me down, and I spent way too much time on my phone over the last few months. One of these days, I will give myself more time to read like I did at the beginning of the year. 

The Invisible Live of Addie LaRue - Book Review

I believe I have a new favorite book, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. The author, V.E. Schwab, is a wordsmith! It has been a long time since I've listened to or read a book that has made me feel something real other than when I read scriptures, but this feeling is different. The words of this book are almost poetic, and there is so much symbolism that even I am able to see it and enjoy it. 

This book is about a girl who makes a deal with the devil, or as they call it, the darkness, but she doesn't understand how it will manifest. Instantly, she is forced to live centuries being forgotten by everyone as soon as she is out of sight. One day, she meets a man who remembers but only because he is also cursed due to a deal he made with the same devil. 

Here are some of my favorite passages:

"Take a drink every time you hear you're not enough.

    Not the right fit.

    Not the right look.

    Not the right focus.

    Not the right drive.

    Not the right time.

    Not the right job. 

    Not the right path.

    Not the right path.

    Not the right future.

    Not the right present.

    Not the right you.

    Not you.

    (Not me?)

    There's just something missing..." (page 229)

"...when the devil speaks again, there's a new depth to his voice, a steady warmth like a blanket drawn around his shoulders. Hendry Feels himself learn into it. 

    'You want to be loved,' says the stranger...'And I can give that to you for a price of something you won't even miss...'

    And he doesn't think any of this is real.

    So it doesn't matter.

    Or perhaps the man in the rain is right. 

    He just has nothing left to lose. 

    In the end, it's easy.

    As easy as stepping off the edge.

    And falling. 

    Henry takes his hand, and the stranger squeezes, hard enough to reopen the cuts along his palm. But at last, he doesn't feel it. He doesn't feel anything, as the darkness smiles, and says a single word.

    'Done.'" (pages 233-234)

"A curtain falling on a play: the lovely sets, the stagings, the trained actors all vanish behind the darkened cloth.

    Surrender.    

    An order whispered in the dark.

    A demand made over and over and over for years - until it stopped. How long ago did he stop asking? But of course, she knows - it was when his method changed, when his temper towards her softened." (page 410)

I could go on and on about this book. It has woken something inside me that I didn't know was there: a greater love for fiction. Who knew that joining a book club at the library could bring me this much joy? 

2025 Reading Goal

 At the beginning of 2024, I set a goal to read 6 books through the year. Little did I know, I would  end up in a self-help deep dive. Between nonfiction and fiction reading, I achieved my goal by the middle of the year and upped my goal to 10. As I spent at least 10 minutes a day on self-help, read my fiction series when I went to bed, and found other moments to read here and there, I finished the year having read 14 books. I know this isn't a lot to some people, but it's significant to me. 

This year, my goal is to finish at least 15 books. I think I can go over that goal, but I will be happy to have read more than last year. Right now, I am working on three books: Fast Like a Girl, Garters and Gargoyles, and Standing for Something. My bag of books has 7 more books in it that I will finish by the end of the year. I also have books here and there around the house that I read a few chapters from for classes but didn't finish that I will pick up and books in my Kindle that I will start when I finish my fiction book to get me to and past my goal. 

I have the goal of not buying any new books this year unless I have read everything I have that I haven't read. I don't think I will be buying any new books. Although, there is a possibility that I will get a library card...