What We're Reading This Weekend

School’s out, pools are open, and it is time to start catching up on our TBR (to be read) piles this summer. Librarians Kerri and Lorri share what they plan on reading this weekend. Tell us what you're reading in the comments.

From Kerri:

I’m just finishing up The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd, a psychological thriller about a woman named Samantha who moves from England to America to marry a death row inmate. Soon after their wedding, Dennis is exonerated for a murder he didn’t commit and the two move in together. Dennis and Sam are confronted by community members who still feel that Dennis is responsible for other unsolved murders, and his new wife becomes suspicious of Dennis’ strange behavior as a free man. Lesson to be learned here: a first date that takes place in prison might be a red flag.

I feel like the story is slightly different from the Gone Girl / Woman in the Window type books and would be enjoyed by fans of psychological thrillers. The storyline reminds me of the West Memphis Three murders that took place in the 90s.

I’ll also be starting Circe by Madeline Miller and listening to Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.

From Lorri:

The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Lear was my Friday read. Essie grew up in the spotlight’s glare as part of her evangelical family’s TV show, but she is seventeen and pregnant, and she wants out. There is a dark secret, a lost sister, and a reporter with a murky past of her own. It’s like the Duggars meets Lifetime Movie of the Week, but in an entertaining way.

Tommy Orange’s There There is getting a ton of buzz on the literary internet. It’s the story of twelve urban Indians (Native Americans) living in Oakland, California, who are attending the Big Oakland Powwow for very different reasons--some generous, some fearful, some joyful, some violent-- and momentum builds toward a shocking yet inevitable conclusion that changes everything. It’s told in short chapters in alternating points of view, which is like

catnip to me, and it is supposed to be breathtaking. Check back with me on Monday.

#readersadvisory