Dewey Readathon check in: Hours 1-5

I had a bit of a rough start to the readathon since I had a hard time waking up this morning. I usually get up a little before 7 so 8 should have been easy. But it wasn’t. I think it’s because I should have listened to my body better yesterday and rested more. But I didn’t so today is a bit more of a struggle. I did wake up and try to listen to my first book but I fell back asleep! So once I finally woke up around 10 I have been listening non stop to my first book chosen.

I am 67% through Moon of the Crusted Snow and I’m really enjoying it. I found it on a list of horror novellas written by indigenous authors. So far the horror has been the isolation and the apocalyptic events that slowly happen at the beginning of the book. The pacing has been pretty slow and I’m wondering if it’s building to an explosive ending. However, I really like the writing and how the author has balanced the events happening with the realities of the community.

My next book chosen is actually a NetGalley book that has already come out. I might listen to it on audio since it’s on Scribd and it should take me about four hours to get this one done.

Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, and Octavia Butler, a biting social commentary from the acclaimed author of Lakewood that speaks to our times—a piercing dystopian novel about the unbreakable bond between a young woman and her mysterious mother, set in a world in which witches are real and single women are closely monitored.

Josephine Thomas has heard every conceivable theory about her mother’s disappearance. That she was kidnapped. Murdered. That she took on a new identity to start a new family. That she was a witch. This is the most worrying charge because in a world where witches are real, peculiar behavior raises suspicions and a woman—especially a Black woman—can find herself on trial for witchcraft.  

But fourteen years have passed since her mother’s disappearance, and now Jo is finally ready to let go of the past. Yet her future is in doubt. The State mandates that all women marry by the age of 30—or enroll in a registry that allows them to be monitored, effectively forfeiting their autonomy. At 28, Jo is ambivalent about marriage. With her ability to control her life on the line, she feels as if she has her never understood her mother more. When she’s offered the opportunity to honor one last request from her mother’s will, Jo leaves her regular life to feel connected to her one last time.

In this powerful and timely novel, Megan Giddings explores the limits women face—and the powers they have to transgress and transcend them.