Finished: Demon Copperhead (Kingsolver) Barbara Kingsolver won the Pulitzer Prize for this modern-day retelling of Dickens’ David Copperfield. It is a beautifully written book that transported me immediately to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and into the thoughts and experiences of Damon Fields, aka, Demon Copperhead. Though it seems unfathomable, I believe Demon Copperhead was even more intense and tragic than David Copperfield. David Copperfield is #10 on my list of Top Books and #36 on my list of Favorite Books.

When I re-read my blog recap of several years ago about David Copperfield, I could see that I used to write much longer, more detailed, and introspective recaps. Personal time has not been as readily available these last few years, but it was interesting to go back and read that one to compare. I will include that blog entry, and some character “who’s who” at the end of this one!

Demon Copperhead is set in the 1990s when the oxycontin crisis struck, planting very deep roots. Born in a small town in the Virginian Appalachian Mountains, Demon lived a very poor existence as a child. Both stories are about a boy who is orphaned at the very young age of 9, after being raised by a single mother, their fathers having died before they were born. In Demon’s case, his mother is also a recovering drug addict. They live in a trailer on the land of the generous Peggot family, the grandparents of Demon’s best friend, Matt. The Peggots become practically surrogate grandparents to Demon. Demon’s mother (who is never given a name in the story) falls for Murrell Stone, a man who charms her and marries her, and then shows his true colors, turning physically and emotionally abusive. He thinks that her love for Demon, and their close relationship is weird, so he 8insists that she distance herself from Demon. He sends Demon off to a horrible boarding school and proceeds to get Demon’s mother hooked on drugs again. Demon comes home on a break to find out that his mother is pregnant, and he is happy at the thought of having a little brother. That happiness is short-lived when Demon’s mother dies of a drug overdose, taking her future child with her. Thankfully Demon isn’t left to be raised by the evil Murrell Stone, but he does become the victim of two different nefarious foster homes. At the first one he meets some friends for life, Fast Forward, who became tragic and Tommy, who made something of himself. In the second home he was basically just being used for the foster care money. The first home is run by tobacco farmer, Mr. Crickson. Mr. Crickson is physically and emotionally abusive to the boys living there and expects them to miss school to bring in the tobacco at harvest time. Fast Forward is a former football star at the high school Demon will attend. He introduces Demon and the rest of the boys at the home to drugs. He is very charismatic, however, and has them all under his spell and thinking he is their best friend. Tommy, who enjoyed drawing like Demon did, actually goes and makes something of himself. After leaving the farm, Demon doesn’t see Tommy for several years, but when he does, Tommy is working at the local newspaper.

Demon’s next foster home is only minimally better, when he goes to live with the McCobb’s and their young children. His room is in a dingy, large closet and he’s made to either starve or work for money to pay for his food…food that is supposed to be paid for by the foster care stipend they receive each month. Demon soon wearies of this life as well and sets out to find his father’s mother and see if he’s still got some familial connection. He finds his grandmother, Betsey Woodall, who lives with her physically impaired brother, Dick. Betsey can’t believe how much Demon looks like her deceased son and is happy to have him in her life. Paying all the bills, she arranges for him to go and live with the football coach in town, to attend high school and hopefully make something of himself. Coach Winfield is a widower who has a quirky daughter, Angus, who is the same age as Demon, now 14. They become the absolute best of friends. Both having lost their mothers at a very young age, they teach each other things. For instance, Angus has not celebrated Christmas since her mother died and Demon shows both Angus and Coach how to bring that season back into their home and hearts. And Demon, having never really known the embrace of a loving family and comfortable home, learns to accept that Coach and Angus both really care for him.

By the next year, the naturally talented Demon has become a football star under the tutelage of the coach. Despite his talent and finally being someone at school that people not only recognized, but admired, Demon’s football career ends after the first season when, at the championships, he suffers such a hard tackle that his knee is horribly displaced. The team doctor, who we later find out dispenses illegal prescriptions to oxycontin addicts, insists that Demon will be fine with some pain pills, so the coach goes along with it. Everyone else recommends surgery so that he will eventually be able to actually use his knee again, but the doctor convinces the coach that the pills are the way to go. Of course, those pills are oxycontin and Demon becomes addicted when he's only 15 years old.

Unlike David Copperfield, who goes on to make something of himself with the benefit of his aunt, Demon sinks further into oxycontin addiction. When he falls for a new girl, Dori, fentanyl is added to the addiction as well. He feels like he fails the team, fails the coach and fails at life so he drops out of school to live with Dori, who also dropped out of school to take care of her sick father, her mother having passed away a few years before. They are both only about 16 when they fall in love but it's a spiral of mutual addiction and they both go further and further down the drain. Demon’s grandmother comes to visit and when she sees that he's dropped out of high school and is spiraling on drugs she withdraws the money she has supported him with. Both Demon and Angus, who often nurses Demon through drug hangovers, hide the truth about Demon’s drug addiction from the coach. He also hides his level of pain from the coach, but Coach soon sees for himself that Demon will not be playing football again.

Demon sinks to his lowest low when Dori who is just not interested in life after her father dies, stops eating and dies from a drug overdose. Following almost immediately Fast Forward, who is still driving around trying to influence boys and sell drugs, insists that Demon meet him at the Devil’s Bathtub, a local swimming spot that happens to be the same spot where Demon’s father drowned. The Devil’s Bathtub is described as having crystal-clear, aquamarine-colored water and being cold enough to "squelch the fires of hell".  Demon has never been there, but goes there to confront Fast Forward, who, in his arrogance, decides he can dive off a cliff into the water. When he does, he hits the rocks instead and dies. After so much tragedy in his recent past, Demon finally takes Mrs. Peggott's daughter, June, a nurse, up on her offer that she’ll pay for him to go to rehab to kick his drug addiction. (June is a great character who becomes an instant advocate against doctors prescribing oxycontin, to no avail.)  Demon spends three years away, gets clean, meets and sees a wonderful therapist and stays away from his hometown. When the high school decides to throw Coach a retirement bash, Demon cautiously returns to his hometown. By now his touchstone Angus, who he's been able to call on throughout the years, arrives back in town from college. Rather than attending the celebration for Coach because he thinks it will be too difficult, Demon goes to see his grandmother who's very proud of him for getting his life cleaned up. He tells her he’s nervous to see the coach and Angus, who he has started to wonder if he has more than feelings of friendship for. His grandmother implies that Angus has loved a boy for many years but would be happy to see Demon. Demon thinks he's walking into Angus having a boyfriend when he visits their old house that is now being packed up. Little does he know that it's Demon himself who Angus has been in love with all these years. When they see each other in person, the more-than-friendship looks between them are clear.  They share a first kiss and decide to drive to Virginia Beach so Demon can finally see the ocean he’s always been hours away from, but never seen. As the book ends, they drive away with Demon’s arm tentatively placed around Angus’ shoulder.  Unlike in David Copperfield, we don’t get the happily ever after chapter of marriage and children with newfound love. We are left to assume that ending, or not, for ourselves. I’m definitely assuming the happy ending for Demon and Angus. 😊

Here are how some of the Demon Copperhead representing David Copperfield characters:

Damon Fields (Demon Copperhead)                                             David Copperfield

Angus Winfield                                                                              Agnes Wickfield

Mrs. Peggott                                                                                   Pegotty (Tiny David’s loving nurse)

Murrell Stone                                                                                  Edward Murdstone

Fast Forward                                                                                   Sterling Ford

Tommy Waddell                                                                              Tommy Traddles

Grandma Betsey Woodall                                                               Aunt Betsey Trotwood

Dick, Betsey’s brother                                                                     Mr. Dick, Betsey’s boarder

Dori  Spencer                                                                                   Dora Spenlow

Jip (Dori’s dog)                                                                                Jip (Dora’s dog)

Mr. Crickson                                                                                    Mr. Creakle

Mr. & Mrs. McCobb                                                                        Mr. & Mrs. McCawber 

Last but not least…U Haul                                                              Uriah Heep

(U Haul is a menacing character who terribly mistreats Demon but has the trust of Coach and ends up swindling him. Uriah Heep is an equally despicable character in David Copperfield!)

 

Here is my blog from years ago about David Copperfield:

Finished: David Copperfield (Dickens) Oh my, what a good book! Of course, with an opening line like..."Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show", I couldn't have expected any less! In this journey of reading books, I can always count on Dickens to give me beautiful writing that draws me into the joy mixed with heartbreak, terrible reality mixed with hopeful dreams, and such vivid characters, descriptions and conversations, that it is like I'm always there viewing the action from a little corner of the horse cart. As I approach having read 250 books in the past 19 months, I am pretty sure I can count on ONE hand the number of books that have had a happy ending, and David Copperfield turns out to be one of them. Oh, poor David goes through so many horrific, abusive experiences to get there, but he does in fact get a happy ending. :-) It was so difficult to read about the early years of his life, though. I just wanted to snatch him right out of the pages! David's father having died before he was born, David's mother and nurse, and David become a tight, inseparable, loving trio until David is about 8 years old. Then, David's mother is courted by a horrific man named Mr. Murdstone. Just the name brings shudders! Of course, Murdstone pulls the wool over the eyes of Mrs. Copperfield, and pretends to be a pal to David, but the minute she marries him, he becomes the domineering, evil man that he is and bullies her into submission to the point where she's not even allowed to hug or kiss her own son, or show any emotion towards him whatsoever. Then, he arranges for David to be sent to an awful school for boys where the headmaster, a former prison warden, is mercilessly, physically abusive to the boys. When David goes home for the Christmas break, he is made to feel like an unloved stranger in his own house. And...he's just a little boy. :-( We are privy to all his thoughts and emotions, and it's just heartbreaking. Mr. Murdstone's evil sister, Miss Murdstone, has also moved in with the family at this point and between the two of them, they keep David's mother browbeaten into submission. The loyal nurse and friend, Pegotty, can't defy them or they'll fire her and she wants to stay close to David's mother to help her as much as she can. When David arrives home, he sees that he has a new baby brother, who he instantly loves! His mother is thrilled to let him hold him. David's mother, Pegotty, David and the new baby have a wonderful evening like old times, because the Murdstones are out on a social call. When they arrive back home, though, the horror continues. David's not allowed to go anywhere near the baby, and his mother must refrain from showing any emotion towards him. His mother is also a bit sickly and weak after the birth. There is one moving page of dialogue where David sums up his feelings of not being wanted around the house, and of him actually looking forward to going back to the abusive school for boys, since he has made a couple of good friends there. One snippet of the lament stayed with me...."What meals I had in silence and embarrassment, always feeling that there were a knife and fork too many, and that mine; an appetite too many, and that mine; a plate and chair too many, and those mine; a somebody too many, and that I! - what a blank space I seemed, which everybody overlooked, and yet was in everybody's way". David hasn't been back at school long when his 9th birthday arrives. He's called to the headmaster's office, hopefully wondering if maybe they do something nice for a boy on his birthday, only to be told of a letter from home that his mother and baby brother have both died. His mother had been sicker than anyone knew after the birth, and the baby brother didn't live much longer after she died. Poor David is devastated. He goes home for the funeral, not realizing that it is also the last time he'll see his good friends he has made. With his mother dead, Mr. Murdstone doesn't send David back to school. He sends him to work with the lowest of the low in his run down, rat infested wine factory. David's one hope for the future before that was that he was at least being somewhat educated and surrounded by other boys being somewhat educated. Now, he is thrust into the life of the lowest socioeconomic status, made to live by himself in a rundown "let", made to fare for himself in terms of food, comfort, etc. Again, he's only 9 years old. :-( David finally makes up his mind to run away and find the long lost aunt he had always heard about, Miss Betsey Trotwood. He does this, and shows up on her doorstep as a dusty, starving urchin. Having only heard stories of how rigid and unloving she had been to his own father for years and years, David is desperate to beg her for her help. Moved beyond words, and not nearly the old bitty that he had come to expect, Aunt Betsey Trotwood takes David into her home and her heart. His turnaround is immediate! :-) David is sent to a wonderful school, he is fed, and clothed, and most of all nurtured by his aunt and her friends. I can't possibly recap the entire book here, or I'd be typing forever. I'll just smile in the knowledge that even though there are many more hardships to come, David does end up happy in the end, and with the one true love he didn't realize was his one true love until he grew wise enough from his experiences to realize it! Yes, there were some of the most evil characters that David has to face: Mr. Murdstone & Miss Murdstone, making appearances throughout his life; the slimy, duplicitous Uriah Heep; Mr. Creakle, the evil headmaster with the zealous whip. And, there are some of the kindest characters who help develop every good and strong aspect of David: Pegotty, the faithful and beloved nurse from the time he is born; Aunt Betsey, his benefactor in heart, strength, advice, and means; Mr. Dick, the "simple" friend of Aunt Betsey's who teaches David that there is always honesty and honor to be found in that simplicity; Mr. Pegotty, Pegotty's brother, who teaches David about compassion, fierce love, determination; Tommy Traddles, who teaches David the true meaning of friendship; Dr. Strong, David's second, schoolmaster, the antithesis of Creakle, and a lifelong mentor and friend; even David's mother, Clara, who at least starts him off in life with kindness and love, even though she is tortured into not demonstrating those feelings; and last, but not least, Agnes...the true love of David's life, and his guide, his angel, his conscience, who teaches him, without him even knowing it, about true unconditional love. Of course, there are also the "characters" of the book, and I mean true "characters", who David meets along the way who have great influences on his life: James Steerforth, his charismatic, charming, too-good-to-be-true friend who David adores and worships, who ends up selfishly performing an act that devastates many characters, including David; Mr. Micawber, with his verbose letters of woe and conundrum and his wife, Mrs. Micawber, who float in and out of David's life in their poverty, and unconventional means of surviving in London, but who also become the saviors of the day against the evil Uriah Heep; and Dora...sweet, beautiful, silly, "childbride", Dora. Though David's age, they are only about 18 when they meet and fall in love. Married when they are about 20, David has continued to grow, mature and have deep feelings about the world and issues and their future, while Dora, who grew up rather wealthy, is thrown off by the merest of household duties. She is content to just be happy with David and her dog, Jip, but doesn't really provide David an equal partner that he truly needs. After about a year of marriage, David comes to realize this, and decides to just be happy with his sweet young bride and not try to mold her into something she isn't. She is his first true love, and he doesn't really realize that he rushed into that marriage unwisely until he hears Dr. Strong's wife reassuring Dr. Strong that she loves him and not her first love of her youth. The following words stick with David for long after: "There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose. If I were thankful to my husband for no more, instead of for so much, I should be thankful to him for having saved me from the first mistaken impulse of my undisciplined heart." David repeats the first line over and over to himself and realizes that there will always be unsuitability of mind and purpose between himself and Dora, because she will never "grow up" with him. He adores her, though, and is determined to make the best of their marriage. Sadly, Dora has a miscarriage and grows weaker and weaker afterwards until it is clear she is on her deathbed. :-(  David is devastated by Dora's death, and comforted by Agnes, who has loved him all these years, but also been a true friend to Dora, comforting her in her time of death. Aunt Betsey and Agnes both encourage David to travel abroad for awhile to overcome his grief. David, who is by this time working his way to being a pretty successful writer, travels to Switzerland, where he stays for three years, writing. He realizes in this time, what he never allowed himself to realize during his life with Dora....that he has also truly loved Agnes all his life! At the old and ripe age of about 25, lol, David travels back home, and it takes him awhile to admit his feelings for Agnes, since he's the only person in all their circle of family and friends who has never realized that Agnes has loved him forever. When they do both finally make their admissions, they are married, surrounded by loved ones, and are shown ten years later, happily, in their little home, surrounded by a passel of children. :-) Oh, and Uriah Heep has been locked in prison for the rest of his life! Getting into the why's of that, is a whole other story. I only wished that the book had wrapped up with Murdstone in prison somewhere as well...but that would be my only disappointment in the book! A wonderful, deep, story full of all the highs and lows of life, and full of all manner of characters, and most importantly, full of David Copperfield, who indeed, did become the hero of his own life, with a little help from others along the way. :-)

 

 Finished: The God of the Woods (Moore) A good page-turner about a 13 year old girl who disappears in 1975 at summer camp. Barbara Van Laar is not just a camper, but she's the daughter of the rich Van Laar family who owns the camp. On the discovery of her empty bunk, we embark on a twisty story of interesting characters: Tracy, Barbara's new friend and bunkmate; TJ Hewitt, the camp director who has lived on the grounds with her father Vic since he was the groundskeeper for many years; Louise, the "townie" camp counselor who cherishes her job, but at the same time makes a few bad judgement calls; Judyta, the young, new female detective who investigates the disappearence along with her supervisor, Denny...but Judyta is the clever detective who puts most of the clues together and figures things out in the end. Is Barbara in peril somewhere, or has she run away from her family who is very controlling and still mourning the loss of their 8 year old son, Bear, the year before Barbara was born? The story goes back and forth between 1961 and 1975 as we find out that in 1961 Bear had also disappeared at the camp and his body has never been found. All the same characters, except Judyta and Denny, are part of the Bear story too. It's a good mystery with lots of suspects and an unsuspecting culprits in Bear's disappearance, who also become suspects in Barbara's. And, what comes of Barbara? Is she found? I won't give that away. I'm glad to be back to having time to read books again. :-) 

 Finished: Expiration Dates (Serles), First Lie Wins (Elston), Think Twice (Coben) and What Have You Done (Lapena). Well, I finally had time to look back through my reader and I did manage to read these four books between March 2024 and now, December 2024. Most of them were read on airplanes, traveling back and forth between Florida and Houston to oversee our new house in Texas. Any time in Florida in the six months it took us to move was spent packing, planning, organizing, and all that moving across the country after 25 years in the same house entails! We've been in Texas for almost two months now, and I still haven't picked up a new book to read...but I'm getting there just by looking through my reader and unpacking all the books into the new study! I am still reading Palmares, and have been since Christmas of last year. It is one that my son gave me that was a Pulitzer finalist, but didn't win. It's complex and long, and not the kind of book to make an airplane trip fly by. hee hee! Anyway, I will probably try to fnish that one before moving on. 

I do have my own thoughts in my head about the books above, but I'm just going to give very brief thoughts:

Expiration Dates: I was really looking forward to Expiration Dates, because it was written by the author who wrote In Five Years, a book I really loved! It was not quite as good, but the premise was interesting with a woman who has yet to find the true love of her life...because she always knows how long each relationship she has will last...literally! She gets a note just before each relationship with just the words of the time length written on it..."three years"...."two weeks"...."9 months"...."1 day". And then, she goes out on a blind date with a friend's friend and she doesn't get a note!! She takes this to mean he is THE one and goes about the relationship that way. No one knows where the notes come from, but they always come true. It was interesting, but not as heart-grabbing to me as In Five Years. Worth reading! 

First Lie Wins: I'm just putting the Amazon blurb for this one, but I really did enjoy it as a nice page-turner. And, it did have lots of twisty twists. If you enjoy puzzling books out, then you'd like this!

 "Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn't like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there's still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn't be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge. . . ."

Think Twice: I'm a huge fan of Harlan Coben books, and a particularly huge fan when he continues the story of Myron Bolitar, an ex-pro basketball player turned sports agent turned sometimes detective because of all his complicated relationships. His best friend is Win, and he is a favorite character...ruthless, rich, deadly, but only to protect those dearest to him, like Myron and Myron's family. This book was a nice change because it was actually narrated by Win! Another good story that delves into something that happened in Myron's past. If you have read Harlan Coben, and enjoy him, you'll like this one too! 

What Have You Done?: A pretty good book about the mystery of a high school girl who is found murdered, and the arrest of her longtime boyfriend who she'd argued with and broken up with just the day before. I zoned in on who I thought was the real murderer pretty quickly, and I ended up being right. Not that it made me happy...because it's always someone who you don't really want it to be lol. Anyway, the truth comes out in the end. It's a pretty good airplane book. :-) 

I'm heading off to do some more unpacking! I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Holiday season! <3 <3 

 Finished: That's Not My Name (Lally) Another good mystery about a girl who wakes up injured in a ditch and doesn't remember who she is or how she got there. The local police officer of the small town takes her to the station and looks for hours through missing person reports trying to find her. He's about to call it a night when a frantic man shows up looking for his daughter, Mary. He's got pictures of them together and even her birth certificate. Though still skeptical, the officer takes her up to the secluded cabin that the man says they are staying at while their home is renovated. The girl doesn't recognize the man, but agrees to stay because he is acting so much like a panicked father, and is very kind to her. Meanwhile a few hours down the coast, a teenage boy, Drew, is being accused of murdering his girlfriend, Lola, who has been missing for five weeks. The entire town has turned on him and are begging him to tell the truth and reveal where her body is and what happened. Drew works frantically with his best friend, and Lola's best friend (who finally comes around to believing Drew) to discover exactly what has happened to Lola and find her before anything horrible can happen. A very good book that kept me reading and guessing until the end! 

 Finished: The Resemblance (Nossett) A pretty good page-turner about a detective, Marlitt Kaplan, who grew up on the University of Georgia campus where her mother was the dean. She knows the university inside and out, and is the detective on call when a popular fraternity boy is run down by a car at a crosswalk. Witnesses say the car sped up, and what's more...the driver looked identical to the dead boy! So begins an investigation of the Greek system at the university, along with the sons of many prominent locals, who themselves had been members. Add to that that Marlitt has her own past demons from her first year of attending Georgia that also involves the same fraternity!  A good one. :-)

Finished: Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six (Unger) A good page-turner about three couples who go for a weekend to a beautiful secluded cabin, only to be stuck there by a raging storm, and at the same time, unknowingly stalked by a dangerous person. Hannah and her husband, Bruce, have been married for awhile and have a baby daughter. When Hanna's high-tech "mogul" brother, Miko, insists that they, along with his wife Liza, and Hannah's best friend, Cricket and her new boyfriend, Joshua, join him at the expensive rental, secrets and demons are soon exposed. Is there still something between high school sweethearts Miko and Cricket? Why is Liza so distraught to be pregnant after two miscarriages? What kind of work does Bruce do for Miko that he can't share with Hannah? Are Miko's past deeds going to come back to haunt them all as the stalker closes in? Or, is Miko in danger from family connections that he's not even aware of? Bracken, the owner and caretaker of the cabin, is mysterious and a little bit suspicious. Then, every so often there is a chapter about Henry, who was orphaned as a young boy, but still managed to make something of himself. He must inevitably be connected to one of the other characters, but how? The book stays suspenseful as everything comes to a head with the deranged stalker there to do harm to whoever gets in the way of his/her mission! The perfect read for a couple of long airplane rides heading to vacation. :-)

Finished: Atlas the Story of Pa Salt (Riley & Whitaker) This is the final book in the Seven Sisters series, all written by Lucinda Riley. Pa Salt is the man who had adopted six of the sisters and raised them in safety, all while continuing to search the world for the 7th "missing sister". Each of Riley's books was dedicated to one of the sisters and what her actual heritage was. Pa Salt left the girls letters after he passed away (never having found the 7th and missing sister). The sisters all got together in the previous book of the series, The Missing Sister, to find Merry, their missing sister...and they succeeded! Atlas, the final book of the series, was partially written by Lucinda Riley, and finished by her son, Harry Whitaker, after Lucinda Riley passed away before it was finished. The book was a lovely wrap up to all their stories! We meet Atlas as a young boy in Russia! He suffers a trauma when his father must leave the struggling family in the freezing climate to put food on the table, and then his step-mother dies. His step-brother thinks that Atlas killed his mother and causes Atlas to flee for his life...and continue running for the rest of his life! We then get the life story of Atlas, as person after person, or family after family, takes him in or saves his life. He travels the world, and as he does so, we watch him grow up and eventually be thrown into each circumstance that leads to him adopting his six daughters. He also experiences true love with Elle, and after her seemingly voluntary exit from their relationship, he learns that she was pregnant with the 7th sister...actually his first and only biological child. I'm not going to give away any more spoilers. It's a very good ending to the series and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Finished: Small Things Like These (Keegan). I finished this short book while I waited for The Iron Flame to be available. I'd heard so much about it, and it truly didn't disappoint. Keegan writes beautiful prose that takes you right to what the character is thinking or seeing or feeling. I don't have the wherewithal right now to write my own update, but I did really appreciate this book! Here is the Amazon blurb:  

"It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church. 

Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers."

 

 Finished: The Iron Flame (Yarros). I finished the sequel to The Fourth Wing yesterday and I'm still reeling a bit from the ending! I've come to love most of the characters, and their relationships to each other. Violet and Xaden, the designated heroine and hero of the story, of course are now a couple in love who will do anything to keep the other safe. Violet has honed her lightening-wielding signet, which she developed in the first book, after bonding with TWO dragons, Tairn and Andarna. Xaden is one of the very best dragon riders and warriors, and he also has one too many secrets from Violet. He's got a secret mission going and he won't tell her about it....mainly because there are dragon riders who have memory reading abilities and he's afraid they'll see what he's up to with the secret resistance that is rebuilding by reading Violet's memories. He's also terrified of what Violet will think of a few of his secrets. Working closely with her presumed dead brother, who is very much alive, and her warrior sister, Violet, Xaden, and both of their teams put their entire energy into trying to figure out how to put power in the "wards", the magical protective barriers that can be raised around cities, by figuring out how the original ones were created, and just what the dragons have to do with it. I love that Violet finally confided in her best friend, Rhi, and their other close friends, Ridoc and Sawyer, the only four left from their wing of the first-years. It also makes it nerve-wracking to read the various battles and dangerous situations when each one of them, or their dragons, could perish at any time. It's another page-turning, really good book, as we watch all these relationships develop, watch the three Sorrengail siblings rebond after six years, and witness Violet and Xaden falling deeper in love. Is there anything that can tear them apart? You betcha. :-( Here's hoping there really are three more books to come! 

 Finished: The Fourth Wing (Yarros) This is such a good book! From the minute that 20 year old Violet Sorrengail steps into the prestigious, yet cutthroat Basgiath War College, the odds are highly against her. She's trained for years to enter the scribe academy, like her father before her. However, she is forced instead to go to the dragon riding academy like her brother and sister before her. Violet is smart as a whip, but small, frail and easily injured all her young life. Her warrior older sister tries to talk the general out of forcing violet in this direction, but the general is cold-hearted and stands by her decision to send Violet for the toughest challenge of all...to survive the dragon riding academy AND to then have a dragon actually select her to be its rider. Yes, the dragons get to choose, and often times burn to a crisp those potential riders who are too weak or not worthy. It's a terrifying process! Added to Violet's troubles is the "wing leader" she is assigned under, Xaden Riorsan. Xaden is a third year student, and the strongest and most respected in the school. He also happens to be the young man who killed Violet's brother in war....and, whose own father was killed during that same war by Violet's mother. Oh, did I mention that Violet's mother IS the cold-hearted general and head of the Basgiath War College?? There is a clear target planted on Violet's back, not just from the looming threat of Xaden, but from the threats of every other son or daughter of the people who rose up against the kingdom to break free. Xaden and the rest of the children had to watch as their parents were executed, and then they had to pledge to serve the kingdom loyally as dragon riders...if they survived the grueling process. There are lots of twists and turns as we see exactly how tough and smart Violet is, where everyone's loyalties lie, and just who is there to actually protect Violet instead of trying to murder her. This was a very entertaining read and hard to put down!! Of course, it ends on a great cliffhanger, but the sequel is out this coming week!!! I can't wait to read it next. :-)