Murder in the Crooked House by Soji Shimada is my next read. A locked room mystery! I was originally going to go with one of the "golden age" authors to fill my whodunit square (Ngaio Marsh, specifically), but I couldn't find any of the books listed in the digital catalog on the shelves at the library. Then I spied this one, and it's like it was fate, I think I'll like this more than the other books I was considering.

EDIT (5/17): Murder in the Crooked House was a fun read! I'm not sure if it was SUPPOSED to be funny, but it felt a bit campy to me. (Which is not a complaint, I like campy!) The ending wasn't exactly surprising to me (after a certain deduction, figuring out the culprit was simple logic) and some of the "howdunit" felt a little contrived, but I still enjoyed it.

Started David Mogo, Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa yesterday. Not very far, but I like it already! There was an inner page review saying that readers of Nnedi Okorafor would also like this book, and I can't argue with that so far, it has the same sort of... feel, I guess, as Okorafor's work.

EDIT (5/24): David Mogo, Godhunter was a great read! I am fully behind the reviewer that said fans of Nnedi Okorafor will like this book. It's a little bit fantasy, a little bit self discovery, and a bit feel good chosen family story.

Things We Found When the Water Went Down by Tegan Nia Swanson is my next book. I was just browsing the new arrival shelves at the library, and this one looked interesting. Seems to be a mystery told through collected "entries" (journals, interviews, transcripts, new articles, photos, etc.). The style is weird, but it's interesting so far.

EDIT (5/28): Things We Found When the Water Went Down turned out to be a fascinating read! A little less mystery than its categorization would suggest, and with a fair pinch of activism and human rights advocacy, but it was well written and treated the the involved topics with respect.

The Gordian Knot by Bernhard Schlink is up next. The book just kind of caught my eye as I was passing the shelf, and the cover blurb sounded interesting, some sort of spy novel or something? I'm enjoying the main character so far, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes.

Brought home a true a crime book from the library this time, American Demon by Daniel Stashower. It's about the "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run," a murderer in Cleveland in the mid 1930s.

EDIT (6/16): American Demon was... okay. It read more like a fanboy's biography of Eliot Ness than the deep dive into evidence that I was expecting. It was still interesting enough, but it leaned really heavily on Ness's background and his work during the prohibition (and a big part of the latter was about his time with the team that helped bring down Capone) to fill pages.

My next book is sure to be a pleasant read, though; Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Yes, I am a grown-ass adult that raided the kids' section of the library with no shame. I'd throw down with a child to check this book out, honestly. I love Gaiman's work, and I adore the film based on this book, but I've not actually read it before, so I was VERY happy to find a copy on the shelves.

EDIT (6/19): Coraline was as wonderful as I expected it to be. A good read for any age, in my opinion. (Though I feel like that about pretty much any book whose target audience is teens or children. It's mostly adults writing the books, so it seems only logical that adults reading the books is perfectly fine, and sometimes you just need a quick, fun romp through a fairy story.) I know now that the film clearly took several liberties, but they make sense from a film perspective, something that remained wholly true to the book would have made for a weird script and awkward film, so I'll just continue to love book and film for what they are.

Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques is the next read. Also technically a kids' book. I know I've read it before back in primary school, but I learned recently that it's part of a series, so I thought I'd give it a fresh read before snagging the sequels.

Library trip today, and managed to pick up a book I've been waiting to be returned! The Tonya Tapes by Lynda D. Prouse, which is a biography of the figure skater Tonya Harding. My book bingo has a space for a "sports biography" and I had NO idea how to fill it, having exactly zero interest in any sports. So I asked my beau for suggestions, and Tonya Harding was the suggestion. The library happened to have one book about her, and I was pretty much dead set on this being THE book to fill that space after reading up on Harding a bit, but it was checked out every time I went to the library for over a month. But finally, a ray of hope, it was in when I checked the online catalog over the weekend. I probably would have cried if someone had managed to check it out before me today.

EDIT (7/30): Sports biography space filled successfully. The Tonya Tapes was actually incredibly interesting. It was basically a transcription of taped interviews, but I liked the format, honestly.

Now I'm reading Stone of Tymora by R.A. and Geno Salvatore. I've actually already read the first third-ish of the book because this was, as far as I know, originally released as a trilogy, and I own the first book (The Stowaway). I guess this is a reprinting with all three books bound in one, but this book never mentions the original books or intimates that it was once a trilogy anywhere that I can find... I was honestly kind of alarmed to see the series title on a single book, but I'm also not going to complain, I wasn't sure how I was going to find the other two books to finish the set since I've never even seen the book I own in any stores other than the discount place where I bought mine, let alone the other two.

Up next is The Angel's Command by Brian Jacques. The sequel to Castaways of the Flying Dutchman! I'm prepared for the religious overtones this time, they won't be sneaking up on me again.

EDIT (7/14): The Angel's Command was less overtly religious than its predecessor. Still plenty of overtones, but less, I'll take my wins where I can get them. It was a pretty good read all the same. I mean, seafaring adventures with pirates? Fighting a witch? GOATS?! What's not to love?

Latest acquisition from the library is Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. Yes, my inner goth child is showing. I embrace it proudly. Was honestly surprised to find the library had any books by this author, but I'm not going to complain.

EDIT (7/16): Hawksong was fantastic~ Shapeshifters as the main characters was a bit of a surprise, since I'm used to vampires from the author, but they were beautifully written, I kind of fell in love with them, to be honest. It's a shame my library doesn't have the full series this book belongs to, I want to read all of them so badly now.

Now I'm reading Voyage of Slaves by Brian Jacques. Last of the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman books.

Next up is Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore. I can't stand the original and prequel trilogies of Star Wars, but my beau LOVES the whole franchise, and I want to learn more about the older storylines, so I asked for book recommendations! (Even though the vast majority of the books are no longer considered "canon" because Disney can't stand anyone not working for them playing with the toys from their toy box.) This is actually second choice from my beau since the library didn't have the top pick, but maybe it's for the best, this book is written by one of my favorite authors, after all.