Some library haul love to get me through the rest of this season

It’s been a rough slog towards the end of this month, made more wearying by the cold that I caught and still fighting off(don’t worry, folks-it’s a standard cold at best).

Nevertheless, I masked up and took a trip to my local library to stock up on some new to me books . The first one that I went for was Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adei-Brenyah, set in a not too distant future where prisoners of the state are used to entertain the masses via death matches broadcast far and wide.

Two of the top contenders, Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Saxxx” Stacker , have a romantic relationship that doesn’t interfere with their public rivalry and yet, Loretta’s chances of getting her freedom soon does hover above them both.

However, Loretta is sick of playing the corporation ‘s game and wants better not only for herself but the other inmates constantly being shredded by the system. I’ve heard great things about this novel very eager to be challenged by this brilliant battlefield of a book:

Next up is Stephen King’s Holly, which takes this offbeat detective on the search for a missing woman that leads her to a deadly duo of killers.

As it turns out, Holly may have another person to save from this most unlikely looking couple as she gets closer to the truth. Yet, can she stop herself from being caught by this sinister suburban trap in time?

I have always been a Holly Gibney fan ever since King introduced her in the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and it’s been wonderful to see this  unusually observant woman thrive on her own terms in such fierce fictional waters there. I so hope we get even more of this amazing character as time goes by:

And for something completely different, I rounded this library trio out with Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman.

You’re following the adventures of our leading man as he and Princess Donut(a cat once owned by his former girlfriend) as they make their way through a bizarre game show like reality created by outer space aliens. 

This is the first in a series that was independently published and is now making its way to traditional book world and frankly, it sounds like fun, which we could all really use right now:

I’m sure that I  don’t have to explain the amount of anxiety that has increased of late due to a certain political event about to happen and that my tension and concern over the outcome is shared by many of you out there.

However, I will say that it helps to take a break from this stuff and reset your emotional batteries, especially if you have a good book at hand. Also, if you want or are able to vote early, please do.

Nothing wrong with waiting until Election Day but my family and I voted early this past weekend and it’s such a relief to have already done my part in making sure our democracy keeps on going. Freedom of thought is important and something that we shouldn’t take for granted.

I just wish we could concentrate on more positive aspects of our society instead of dwelling on the negative but if things go the way I hope for, by this time next year, we can be in a better head space and share in the joys of library love(among other good notions) together: