Book Chatter

Miracle Creek
By Angie Kim
Sarah Crichton Books, 9780374156022, April 2019, 368pp.

The Short of It:

I do not know what I thought this book was about before reading it but I certainly didn’t think it was about a hyperbaric oxygen therapy accident.

The Rest of It:

I simplified that blurb a little because Miracle Creek opens with a terrible accident but then quickly turns into a court room drama, a mystery, a story with an immigration thread and even a bit of scandal.

Young, Pak, and their teen daughter Mary, run a hyperbaric oxygen therapy business that they call Miracle Submarine. Adults and children, enter the chamber to partake of its healing properties. On this particular day, the normal group enters but there is a terrible explosion which kills one adult and one, autistic child, Henry. The accident leaves several other injured as well.

It’s believed that Elizabeth set the fire which caused the oxygen tanks to explode. Elizabeth being the mother of Henry. The prosecution believes that she wanted her child dead, due to his burdening care. This triggers all kinds of thoughts about the care for special need kids.

The story bounces between characters. Who did it? Who set the fire? Why? Many of the witnesses are lying but for different reasons. In all honesty, this story was difficult to get through. There is a lot of back and forth and even though it revolves around just a handful of characters, I had to keep reminding myself who they were.

However, the ending… the ending was beautiful and sad and left me with thoughts about how hard it would be to care for a special needs child. How hard it is for people from other countries to make a living here. How hard it is to fit in. So I think in the end, I liked it much more than I thought I would.

I read this for my book club discussion which was cancelled due to social distancing but we may try to meet via Zoom so we can discuss it. Have you read it?

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Sunday Matters

This is challenging time for many of us. I just keep telling people how weird I feel. It feels good to be home and to live a simple life. It does. I think it’s hysterically funny that my word for 2020 is GATHER. I wanted to cut my schedule down to something more manageable and I think I’ve succeeded but I certainly didn’t expect it to go to this extreme. Some think we will be living this way for months.

Right Now:

We watched online church earlier in the week. Later, I meet with my high school group in a Zoom room. They wanted to try video this time. That means I need to actually do my hair.

The rest of the day will be doing much of what you are doing. I was wondering if taking my daughter for driving practice would be okay if we don’t stop anywhere. We are under a “safe at home” order.

This Week:

I am working from home but online classes start at the university this week so I suspect it will be very busy. I’ve actually been swamped so I’m anticipating it getting much busier.

Reading:

For the past two weeks, my reading has suffered and you know how well I was doing in that area. It was the combination of work craziness, a book I could not get into, and my need to keep checking news feeds. I simply could not focus, but I finally finished the one book and just picked up The Woman in the Dark. One of the students in my group dropped it off for me!

Watching:

Oh man, The Walking Dead got really good.

The Crown, still good but kind of dark. Not as light and amusing.

New Things I’ve Tried:

On a supply run, I picked this up. Notice how it’s mostly gone. It’s so yummy.