I lost sleep last night. But for one of the best reasons: staying up too late finishing a book.
It reminds me of my best readings years – this last year finally being one of them again – when the rest of the world truly melted away and all that feels real is the story. In this case, I finished These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly.
Donnelly has been a favorite author of mine since high school, mainly because of the book The Tea Rose (a Jack-the-Ripper era rags-to-riches masterpiece) but I haven’t kept up with her most recent work. I had the chance to briefly meet her at the Texas Teen Book Festival in the fall though and have her sign my old copy of The Tea Rose along with her newest book Stepsister (a stepsister of Cinderella retelling I’ve yet to read). I borrow These Shallow Graves from my friend Madeline who attended the festival with me and purchased the book there for Donnelly to sign.
These Shallow Graves takes place in 1890s era New York and involves a high society female protagonist (who wants to write stories in the vein of Nellie Bly), her father’s accidental death (or was it?), a scrappy newspaper reporter looking to make his break, as well as a good deal of mystery, villainy, romance, and heart.
It was a book worth losing a bit of sleep over and I was smart enough not to look at the actual time when I turned off the light so I could convince my body getting up at 5 am was still perfectly reasonable.
But it’s such a joyful reason to stay up and I did so without guilt. There’s plenty of books I don’t like. Plenty I do. But you know you’ve hit a gem when the rest of the world disappears and all that matters if finding out what happens next.
With Love,
Natalie