It's not me, it's you

Remember when I said that I seem to be losing my ability to describe books based on their plot? I think maybe I was at least partially wrong! I didn't realize until reading Stone Junction, but it's been quite a while since I actually read a book that had a real plot, that was truly a story. Now, I do love beautiful prose as much as the next person, perhaps even more so, and I've developed a fondness for some extremely literary authors. That said, though, there really is something nice about having a plot. Simultaneously cozy and exciting.

Stone Junction was a fun change of pace, and overall was just a super fun read. It's hard to describe it without spoiling it a bit, so consider this your warning!

Now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about that plot. It's essentially a coming-of-age story about Daniel, though it starts just after his conception. The plot mostly takes off after his birth, laying the foundation for the story, with his mother's connections to a secret organization made up of a very eclectic bunch of folk whose only common thread seems to be their quirkiness (though they are all quirky in their own way), and perhaps a mistrust of the established order. Daniel's mother dies under questionable circumstances, and the rest of the story is about Daniel's quest to learn what happened and come to terms with it (along the way he apprentices to a safe cracker, a master of disguise, and a professional poker player, among others, who are part of the secret organization).

There's also one great quote about school (Daniel elects to not attend institutional school as a child), where someone says the only thing you learn in school is to interact with people under strange circumstances. Indeed.

I also read Written on the Body, which is a great example of the more typical books I'm reading on this list. At first I was thinking, I really expected this to be more explicit/erotic, and then I got to that part and I realize, yeah, it definitely is explicit. Anyway, not much to say, except just read this one if you sort of want to be depressed.