Reading Journal

In the time it took me to update my Reading List sidebar (I shelved "Waiting for the Galactic Bus" because I didn't like the irreverent way it was portraying religious history) to add "Drowning Ruth," I finished it. No, seriously, I added it yesterday (even though I started it a while ago) and stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish it. The cover bills it as a "psychological thriller," but I'm not sure I even understand what that term means.

Sharing the plot is the best way I can think of to share how, well, thrilling, this book is. A woman drowns in a lake in Wisconsin in November of one of the years during WWI. Her husband was away at war and she was living on an island in the lake with her toddler daughter and older sister when it happened. The mystery of what happened that night and how it got to be that way is told through repressed and distorted memories of Amanda and Ruth (sister and daughter). There's also some 3rd person omnicient narrative going on, mostly in "present" time, so it was a little difficult to latch on to.

But the rising action really got a rise out of me. Just ask my roommate. She was in the living room with me until around midnight, so she heard me gasping and saw me covering my face with the hand that wasn't holding the book. When a book moves me like that, I know it's good. Or, at least, that part of it.

Here's my goodreads review of it:
I thought it was a little slow to start off, but I will say it had the best rising action I've ready in a LONG time! I was gasping and talking to the characters like you do at game show contestants. My biggest irritation was all the shifts in perspective. I enjoy changing points of view and jumps in chronology, but the combination was difficult to get used to. I definitely plan on reading it again.

all my reviews

I also have some writing ideas, but I'll make a separate post on that next week.