I had a full head of steam today and wrote for longer than usual. Helped that I removed some distractions and also that my children were asleep. Here are today’s stats:

Time spent: 25 minutes
Words written: 638

As I promised on Day 13 / Distractions and again yesterday, I’ll introduce you to some of the great books I’ve been reading lately. I’ve been relying on Book Riot’s TBR service to recommend books for me to read. I typically try to gear them toward whatever project I’m working on at the time. Leave a comment if you notice the theme running through some of the books I’ve been reading lately. I’ll note below which books TBR recommended. All book links below are affiliate links. The links to the authors’ sites are not of course.

The Changeling by Victor LaValle
I would almost go so far as to call this book life-changing, that’s how good it is. Life-changing if you’re an aspiring writer anyway. It’s a modern retelling of a Nordic fairy tale about children taken and replaced by imposters. Only their mothers can tell that something is wrong. This feeling of isolation and madness leads to some seriously dark material. I don’t mind that kind of thing though. Also, Victor LaValle can just flat-out write.

Night Film by Marisha Pessl
I mentioned this book yesterday, and for good reason. It’s a great thriller that leaves you wondering what’s true and what isn’t until near the end. A disgraced journalist becomes obsessed with revealing the truth behind a mysterious filmmaker and the death of the auteur’s daughter. The ending might be unsatisfying for some since it’s not nice and tidy, but that fits with the theme of the book just fine. I stayed up late trying to finish it. So worth it.

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
This was an interesting read for me for several reasons. First, it takes place in South Africa, a place I know very little about. Second, in this world, people who have committed a terrible crime have an animal familiar that follows them around and they must take care of. Our main character Zinzi has a sloth. Her boyfriend has a mongoose. Those with animals are called “zoos” and treated like second-class citizens. They often are forced to live in slums, hence the title of the novel. However, they also have magical abilities that make them both feared and needed by the “unanimaled.” In Zinzi’s case, she can find lost objects, which is how she gets pulled into a job to find a missing pop star that goes sideways, to say the least.

I’ll probably post some more that I’ve been reading in the near future. Leave me some of your recommendations in the comments.