Idiosyncratic Interests: Thrillers, Tarot, and ADHD
February 2024 Reading Roundup
Before we dive into my February reads, a bit of housekeeping: to understand the format and concept behind my reading roundups (and why I’m posting my February reads in April), please start here. If you hate spoilers, please be cautious in clinking links. This newsletter is mystery- and thriller-heavy. If you’re concerned about trigger warnings, please search Goodreads reviews or check Storygraph.
And for the best reading experience please hit expand on this e-mail, or read it in the Substack app.
I very much hope that you’re enjoying highbrowlowbrow. As I’ve written about before, I’m ambivalent about growing my internet presence and attracting new subscribers.
And yet, I have an almost visceral desire to build community around an idiosyncratic set of interests. To start, I want to chit chat about: re-reading bonk busters before they grace our screens; what East Asian stationary is bringing us joy; and what is a reasonable amount of time to spend Googling the end of Lisa Jewell’s None of This is True.1 And this is really just the very beginning of what I want to discuss.2 I’m somehow, suddenly an ideation machine. BUT in order to do all of this, we need people—lots and lots of people.
How do I know this? I know this because I have lovely (truly lovely) IRL friends. However, the friend who loves reading is not the friend who is currently watching Palm Royale.3 And the friend who read all the Bridgerton novels (and convinced me to do the same), has no idea what a BookStack even is... and so on and so forth.
So, if you’re enjoying my musings, could I ask you to hit share below and ask *your people* to subscribe? Not so I can monetize this newsletter and not so that I can become internet famous but so that we can all ask each other what is the appropriate amount of time to spend on any given rabbit hole. So we can collectively consume the books and the entertainment and the art other people need us to—so that we can be an engaged audience (in a world full of “content” creators). But, really, so we can be delightfully random and overly zealous in our interests, in this happy, little corner of the internet. OK PLEA OVER. THANK YOU. Let’s get to it.
📚 The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett. A true crime writer re-examines a cold case, involving a cult and a kidnapped baby, in order to write a bestseller. Told through e-mails, text messages, and transcripts, this is the best mixed media novel I have recently read. [It could also be the best mixed media novel I have ever read but I am unsure because I haven’t kept good reading records, until now.] The book is somehow both dark and witty. I liked it so much (despite the mixed reviews) that I am endeavoring to be a Hallett completionist by year-end. This is quite the commitment as she has a new release coming our way in September. I suggest listening to Gilbert Cruz, Sarah Lyall, and Sadie Stein discuss the book (and others) on this episode of The New York Times Book Review podcast before or after reading the book.
Read this if you’re in the MOOD for: being an amateur sleuth from the comfort of your own armchair. Given this is a dossier novel, I know of at least one person that took out their colored pens and highlighted it as though it was a real case file. Pairs well with rainy days and uninterrupted reading time.
A quote to keep: On a fictional young adult series ➡️ “It’s basically Jane Austen with avocado on toast.”
Hot Take: Even though the charm of this novel lies in its use of multimedia, it was enjoyable as an audiobook—a credit to the cast. Also, if you’re reading on an e-reader some of the post-it notes and scribbles were hard to decipher and listening to the book on audio was one workaround.
📚First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston. A Southern con woman’s elaborate escape from the “life.” This was a very buzzy book. It was discussed on two of my three favorite bookish podcasts. The New York Times covered the author’s “process” (butcher paper? hm, cool). And it was a Reese’s Book Club pick (which can only mean it will be a limited series one day soon). THAT much hype generally turns me off a book, but I enjoyed this one. The pages basically turned themselves, the writing was clear (and easy to read), and there were no plot holes that I could discern (see aforementioned butcher paper). I especially enjoyed a little plot device involving posting on random corporate Instagram accounts.
Read this if you’re in the MOOD for: a beach read or a novel to read on the plane to a gorgeously warm location (preferably where serving iced tea is part of the culture). This book won’t demand a lot of you but will still keep you engrossed.
A quote to keep: “Fuck you and fuck all the way off, you fucker.” [There is absolutely no circumstance in which I’ll be able to use this quote but I love it anyway.]
📖 Northwoods by Amy Pease. No, not that North Woods but worth reading all the same. A murder takes place in an idyllic vacation town in Wisconsin and a down- and-out detective (suffering from PTSD and alcoholism) must find the culprit. This book confronts the enduring damage of the opioid epidemic. I was surprised to enjoy it as much as I did, given the protagonist was sinking into a quagmire of struggle and the themes were so dark. My enjoyment of the book probably related to the fact that many detectives are portrayed as uber competent. Therefore a damaged detective was a refreshing take—a trope turned on its head. I know there are other series that feature detectives with difficult pasts but this narrative was quite an extreme version of what we have seen before. The book was originally intended to be the debut of a series and it helps to have that in mind as you move towards the ending.
Read this if you’re in the MOOD for: a fresh (but dark) take on the detective novel. This could be a good fit if you’re on a terrible summer vacation (being attacked by plump mosquitos) and want to be reminded that it could always be worse.
A quote to keep: “She saw the bone-deep bitterness of the continually overlooked, the pushed aside, but there was something about him beneath the saturnine facade that she found touching: a fierce pride, a vulnerability.”
📖 How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe. I picked this up because certain of Jessica McCabe’s YouTube videos were revelatory to me when I was trying to build my own toolkit of coping mechanisms to alleviate my symptoms. The book offers many of the tips and suggestions from her YouTube channel, in a more streamlined and organized manner. I found it to be helpful and clearly written but perhaps the book is best suited for those who are recently diagnosed or just beginning to build their own compensatory habits.
Read this if you’re in the MOOD for: understanding the medical research on ADHD in an accessible or simplified manner.
A quote to keep: “Our sense of self and sense of empowerment ends up being much stronger if we are able to accept and understand ourselves as we are, not as we feel we should be.”
Hot Take / Media Pairing: There have been a plethora of TikTok’ers and social media mavens that have taken to discussing ADHD. I think it is generally positive that people are using their platform to discuss this often misunderstood diagnosis. That said, like with anything on the internet, there is a worrisome amount of misinformation (which is particularly dangerous in the sphere of mental health). I trust McCabe to vet her information but in case your attention span is so taxed that her videos feel long, I suggest TheCenteredLifeCo.
📚 Evil Eye by Etaf Rum. A Palestinian-American woman contends with malaise, a general sense of foreboding, and generational trauma in this poignant, sophomore novel from Rum. This book gutted me. The way Rum discusses belonging and identity was somehow both simple and insightful. While this probably fits into the SadGirlLitFic genre, I think it is also a must-read for any child of immigrants trying to find their place in wider American culture. I also appreciated how Rum wove in meditations on numbing ourselves with television and the false lives we create with our social media profiles. The book is also for those of us who identify as mothers and are trying to adopt the best from our inherited cultures without passing on any of the attendant prejudice or trauma.
Read this if you’re in the MOOD for: a therapy session. A good cry. Insight into a culture different from your own.
A quote to keep: “As she wrote and wrote, it became clear to her how much energy she’d expended suppressing her inner chaos over the years. Her mind and body had been locked in that fight, and it had kept her from being fully present in the world. She had organized her life as if her past was still happening, as if she was still anticipating an attack. But through her writing, she was beginning to feel a new agency. She’d spent her life running from her memories and now she was running toward them. It was painful, yes, but she had more control now. The memories were no longer knocking on her door uninvited. She had opened the door and let them in.”
📖 Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. An editor at a publishing house tries to solve the murder (initially thought to be a suicide) of her star novelist by reading his last, unfinished work. If the expletives in the quote above weren’t controversial enough for you, let’s *get into it* with this one. I know Horowitz is revered in some circles but this book was overwritten for me. The novel-within-a-novel conceit was interesting to begin with but then I found it to be exhausting (and it unnecessarily lengthened the book). Perhaps my deep loyalty to Agatha Christie (Murder on the Orient Express was my favorite novel from ages 10 to 16) can explain my feelings here. I found one of the characters to be a complete knock-off of Hercule Poirot. I understand that was intentional—a clever nod to us mystery lovers—but still.
Read this if you’re in the MOOD for: a winky nod to the mystery greats. A romp through the English countryside. A peak in to the world of publishing.
Hot Take / Media Pairing: I started watching the mini-series on PBS and honestly, I think that it might be a better use of one’s time. The sets and scenery are fun (it was shot all around the UK) and Horowitz tightened up the story in writing the script.
📕 The Cloisters by Katy Hays. An ambitious academic heads to New York for an internship at the Met but lands at the Cloisters and starts researching the occult (specifically, tarot cards). Chaos ensues. I started this novel in November 2022 and finished it (after setting it aside for literal years) in February. I love the Cloisters, I love dark academia, and I wish I had never pushed myself to finish this. In my humble (emphasis on humble) opinion, this book goes off the rails towards the end. Mindy Rose from Goodreads has a take that made me chuckle: “a girl moves to nyc to work at a museum over the summer and gets caught up in drama and death and old ass tarot cards. uhhh i found this insufferable in almost every way. the whole thing was so slow and pretentious and stuffed with art history and every goddamn character was constantly up their own ass about ~academia my goddddd the sheer fucking ACADEMIA of it all.” [I promised you a newsletter that was *highbrowlowbrow* and that can sometimes involve amplifying funny anonymous reviews.]
Read this if you’re in the MOOD for: understanding how your favorite museum operates. Dating an academic and you want to appear vaguely interested in their life? [I don’t know, I was a curatorial intern at the MFA in Boston in college and my life as an intern was more interesting (to me) than this book.]
Hot Take / Media Pairing: If you’re interested in tarot, I would start with
’s Substack Between a Rock and a Card Place. The emphasis on tarot aside, it is one of my favorite Substacks for its encouraging and thoughtful tone.
📖 Young Rich Widows by Kimberly Belle et al. Four law firm partners are killed in a private plane crash in the ‘80s and their widows are left to pick-up the pieces. I was intrigued by this “book” because it was an Audible Original for a year before it was an actual, physical book. Also it was written by four authors. It was a campy, frothy read but the ‘80s of it all was a bit much for me. If you’re not interested in the many descriptors of the hot bods of three of the protagonists, maybe give this one a miss. I liked the Providence, RI setting as I have always been fascinated by the tiny city (and state). The sequel released on Audible at the end of March. I think this was another case of the concept being more interesting to me than the actual novel itself.
Read this if you’re in the MOOD for: an ‘80s soap opera à la The Bold and the Beautiful or Dallas.
Hot Take + Media Pairing: If you would like to learn more about Providence, RI and its links to the mob, I suggest listening to the excellent podcast, CrimeTown. I had previously thought *everyone* had heard of the podcast when it came out but a colleague of mine (who went to Brown) hadn’t so I thought it was worth bringing the series out of the archives and back into the conversation.
I am surprised by how many mysteries and thrillers I’ve read this year but please stick around, I promise there are more romance and SadGirlLitFic suggestions coming your way. Also several more raves. I know this roundup includes some flops (for me) and that is a bummer for us all.
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I spent 48 minutes reading about this not-intended-to-be ambiguous ending. I know the exact number of minutes because I am very crunched for time (trying to finish up projects at my job job) before I leave for CDMX next week… and still I spent *almost* an hour on this. I also very unabashedly (maybe aggressively?) spammed all my bookish communities to see if someone wanted to chat spoilers with me. Not many were interested See? This is why we need COMMUNITY!
The set design and fashion on this show is to die for—someone needs to win awards for it.
Interesting to read your take on Jessica McCabe's book! I also have ADHD (there seem to be a lot of us on here LOL) and one read I found *revelatory* was How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis. As someone who struggles especially keeping up with self-care / life admin tasks (cleaning, cooking, organizing, paying bills etc) it was honestly so huge for me. It changed the way I do (and perhaps more importantly, think about) care tasks.
On the pole : try book 2 if you can get it from the library.