Books read in April

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Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll- This book takes place in the 1970's and is a fictional account of Ted Bundy's killings. I didn't know anything about Bundy and honestly didn't know that the book was based on him until I read reviews after I finished it. You see, he was never named in the book. Instead, the author always referred to him as The Defendent. The reasoning behind that was to tell the story of his victims and not lend his name to the narrative. Though in many of the reviews I read, people who were much more familiar with TB and his crimes mentioned how very loosely the book comports with reality- one of the victims is named and is a character but the rest of the names are made up. The book focuses on the aftermath of the killings by those who loved the women who were killed. It was hard to read and wasn't super fast paced; I didn't look forward to picking it back up to read but I did want to know how it ended. 

The book mentioned how many women were drawn to The Defendent (after his arrest when he was charged with murder) and I couldn't help but draw parallels between the alleged killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigo Mangioni, and Ted Bundy. Now I have no idea if LM is a serial killer or not; the parallel I am referring to is how many women were/are drawn to these men. There are some notable differences. For instance, I don't think anyone thought that Bundy's victims deserved to die. Though gunned down in cold blood, Brian Thompson's death seems not only to not bother a shocking number of people, but many people think he deserved to die due to his position as CEO of a company that makes a profit and for the profit to be made, some claims have to be denied (I have zero allegiance to the health insurance industry. We pay an obscene amount of money for health care insurance that does not provide good coverage. Notwithstanding that, I don't think that anyone in the health insurance industry deserves to be murdered on account of being employed in the industry.) 

Villette by Charlotte Bronte-  I thought that I had read everything by the Bronte sisters so imagine my surprise when I came across a few books by Charlotte that I have not read. I am sad to live in a world where men who allegedly murder executives are considered heroes by some but I'm happy to live in a world where I still have Bronte books to read to look forward to!  

There is a reason why Jane Eyre is much more famous and well liked than Villette. I read that many people believe Villette is the most autobiographical of Charlotte Bronte's books. And that she wrote it after a difficult time in her life. If those claims are true, that explains the somber/melancholy tone of the book. 

The heroine of the book is a young Englishwoman, Lucy Snowe, who moves to France to teach English to wealthy French students. She moves to France to get away from life in England that recently resulted in pain and/or hardship. (The precipitate event is not given; just something bad is alluded to.) I wanted to like this book but I... just didn't! I didn't find the storyline very engaging at all. We meet some interesting characters but nothing about the plot held my interest. The heroine sort of falls for a young man, but then she doesn't (which is good because he's a great guy but he has eyes for another). Then there is another romance that just... felt flat. She didn't like the man at all at first (the relationship arc in probably 99% of chick lit/ Hallmark movies) and then just... does. 

The writing is descriptive and lovely and with a better plot, it would have been a great book. But a good plot is kinda necessary to enjoy it in its entirety. I did take pictures of a couple of pages on my Kindle and I'll copy one that I took a picture of. It's an example of Bronte's observations and her good, descriptive writing. In the scene, the main character is in a theater where the king and queen (of England, I think) are also in attendance. Anyway, here is what she wrote:

"Till then, I had never set yes on living king or queen; it may consequently be conjectured how I strained my powers of vision to take in these specimens of European royalty. By whomsoever majesty is beheld for the first time, there will always be experienced a vague surprise bordering on disappointment, that the same does not appear seated, en permanence, on a throne, bonneted with a crown, and furnished, as to the hand, with a sceptre. Looking out for a kind and queen, and seeing only a middle- aged soldier and a rather young lady, I felt half cheated, half pleased."

The book was really long! Most books that I read on my Kindle typically say they will take me anywhere from four to six hours. 

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz- Make Murder Fun Again (MMFA)... I jest, of course. Murder is not something to be celebrated. But fictional murder told in a fun, meta way, yes please! Two murders occur under perplexing circumstances and Hawthorn, a fired detective is employed to figure them out (he helps the police with difficult cases because his record at solving them is so good). He convinces successful fictional crime writer Horowitz to write accounts of the murders that he helps to solve. That way Horowitz won't have to come up with new plots for his books and he'll get to work with Hawthorn to see firsthand what crime scenes are like and the workings of how crimes get solved in real life. They decide to split the profits from the true crime books and what the reader reads is the account of the writer writing a true crime novel. It's masterfully clever and a fun read, macabre topic notwithstanding. 

I started and did not finish two books. Unfortunately, I invested a decent bit of time in both before throwing in the towel. I kept hoping that both would turn around and become better and they didn't. That was it for April!