Just One Damned Thing After Another

Title: Just One Damned Thing After Another
Author: Jodi Taylor
Genre: Wacky, intelligent fiction
Format in which consumed: Kindle ebook
Rating out of 5 stars: 3.75

This book is smart, funny, and interesting. But for some reason it took me forever to read. There was just no urgency for me to find out what was going to happen.

Max, the main character, is witty and well-educated with some kind of vaguely tragic backstory. And I don't know quite how to put this, but she was made all the more relatable because it's easy to forget she's a woman. I imagine it would be easy for a male reader to put himself in her shoes because she's neither very feminine nor masculine. She just sort of goes about her life, pursuing the bizarre occupation of time-traveling historian and eventually falling in love with a man, thereby providing some of the few reminders that somewhere under those dusty coveralls, there beats the heart of a girl. But other than her awkward love life, there is nothing much to set her or any other female apart from their co-workers other than their education and titles at St. Mary's (hotbed of secret historical research via never-explained time travel pods).

And maybe that's not a good thing. Because I honestly couldn't keep the characters straight, even Max's love interest. Other than Max it was just a blur of snarky, subversive people who were constantly popping out of hallways and making off-kilter statements.

I know that isn't a ringing endorsement, but if you enjoy smart books about history and adventure with a little bit of sci-fi flavor, you will probably love it.

The Haunting of Hill House

Creeping me out is not that easy. I can watch ghost movies or read scary books right before bedtime and then sleep like a baby. Turns out the supposedly scary books I've read have been too obvious, or perhaps a little too weird, for me to take seriously.

Stephen King is all well and good, but I've never found any of his creations truly frightening. Probably because I just can't see a sentient car trying to kill me.

Visiting a house which is known to be haunted and having the heck haunted out of you, however, seems possible to me.

Shirley Jackson, as the undisputed queen of 20th century Gothic tales, was a master at creating a chilling atmosphere. I love those moments in books where I stop reading and gasp aloud. Usually, they're brought on by the pieces of a mystery falling into place or a sudden revelation. I can't ever remember having that reaction because something was so spooky. Until now. Twice while reading The Haunting of Hill House, I jumped back, wide eyed because the story had lulled me and then shaken me violently.

But the scary bits are just a tiny part of what makes this book so wonderful. The characters are real and intricate, especially the two women. Eleanor and Theodora take Dr. Montague up on his invitation to investigate the titular haunting and find themselves instant friends.

The vast majority of the book comes to us from the perspective of Eleanor, a narrator of dubious reliability. But is it Eleanor herself who is unreliable or is the house affecting her in strange ways? She is a highly imaginative woman whose stifling life has made her hungry for the enchantments of stone lions and picnics by a brook. Her desperation to belong draws her toward any available port and Theodora's easy camaraderie gives her hope that she will find a home with her somehow.

As Laura Miller points out in this edition's introduction, Jackson frequently presents the reader with two paired women as representations of her own dual personality. She could write about the bleakest, most distressing topics, but at home she was the happy mother and hostess. Drawing on this chaotic version of domestic bliss, she wrote articles about her real life for women's magazines. How fortunate she was to find a willing audience for both the darkness and the light inside her.