Book Chatter

Havoc
By Christopher Bollen
Harper, December 2024, 256 pp.

The Short of It:

Quirky. Fun. Batshit Crazy.

The Rest of It:

Eighty-one-year-old widow Maggie Burkhardt came to the Royal Karnak to escape. But not in quite the same way as most other guests who are relaxing at this threadbare luxury hotel on the banks of the Nile. ~ the publisher

A luxury hotel on the banks of the Nile? Yes, please. Except, the Royal Karnak is dusty and threadbare and coming out of a pandemic shutdown. It has lost its luster, but for Maggie, recently widowed, she considers the staff her family, and the hotel, her home. It still possesses all the charm she needs, and the people within it are an added bonus.

Except, Maggie isn’t all that she seems. Older, yes, sweet, certainly can be, but she has a nose for trouble and has no problem sticking it into people’s business if she sees a reason to do so. Here, I will tread carefully so as to not give anything away.

If she sees a married couple whom she suspects is not happy, Maggie to the rescue. Inquisitive children seen with a single parent? What’s the story there? Where is the father? She befriends these folks as a service of sorts, whether it’s welcomed or not but this gets her into trouble.

As endearing as she is to the hotel staff, and loyal too, she is carefully warned by her beloved hotel manager, that she is 80 and should be living a life of peace and calm. Not running around in the ungodly heat. She takes these warnings lightly and does what she sees fit to do.

I can’t go into more without giving the story away. This is definitely a wild, crazy read and the title is fitting. HAVOC is what you will experience while reading this one. It’s very well done, in my opinion, but I’d put the book down and say to myself, “Phew, that is outright crazy” and then pick it right back up again.

The characters are very well drawn. My book club chose this book for discussion this month and at first I wasn’t sure there would be enough to discuss but oh boy, there’s plenty. There are two main characters in this book and both are off kilter which makes it a wild, fun read.

Highly recommend.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Sunday Matters, a latte on a wooden tray against greenery.

Hey there, friends. Wow. Hospitalizations, multiple times, work challenges and a heavier time-sensitive work load, mean that I’ve had a hard time managing this space and reading.

Although the reading has started to turn around. It’s weird how when you are really sick you cannot read. I mean, I spent hours in a hospital room and all I could do was stare at the wall or watch South Park. Seriously.

Right Now:

As you are reading this, I am preparing to head out the door to be with my students and leaders at church. That new format, three services back to back makes the day fly by. Post church naps have become a must.

This Week:

We are headed into the second week of classes at the university. It’s different this time around. Warnings involving ICE and preparations in place to deal with them should they approach anyone on campus. We are living in a police state. Straight-up 1984.

As of this writing, Garcia was kidnapped again. Again. While a certain someone gets away with everything. Absolutely no consequences. I don’t often mix politics with this space but it’s impossible to ignore.

In other news. My daughter returned to stay with us for a bit. After that shoot she did, she’s had to turn down some jobs because they wouldn’t pay for travel. She still needs her equity card so getting roles that require travel become costly, fast.

This Tuesday she heads to NYC for three weeks to find an apartment and to audition for a few shows. Then she will return to us only to leave again. Her cat Jinx is just started to come around. She’s feisty! And she will be leaving soon.

Here she is. She’s watching me work. Sweet, right? Then she will launch herself and attack me!! My daughter says she’s playing. Ha! She is very sweet and gentle with the senior Otter Pup, though. Follows her around to make sure she gets to where she wants to go.

Jinx, tabby cat hanging on the stairs.

My son got a new job working for the City of Bellevue!! This is what we’ve been praying for. It’s double what he was making and although he misses the kids at The Boys and Girls Club, this city beautification job is what he does with his non-profit so it’s really what he wants to focus on.

Reading:

Ok. Reading. All sorts of good stuff. I recently reviewed Finding Grace. Read it. What a sucker-punch of a read that was.

Still reading Infinite Jest. I’m ready to be done with it. It’s very weird but it’s over 1000 pages. Slow going.

Just finished The Wasp Trap. Review coming this week. Comes out 9/16.

Just started Havoc for September book club.

I received Ian McEwan’s new one, What We Can Know. Comes out 9/23.

Watching:

This absolutely stupid show for laughs, My Strange Arrest.

Grateful for:

You know, I thought my kidney failure and blockage came out of nowhere but now that I am where I am today, I see that it was a long time coming. I had been feeling pretty miserable for weeks. Swollen ankle, pain in side. It wasn’t until I got that high fever that I went in. Sepsis is a real B.

Here’s what I am grateful for besides the obvious. When I had my brain surgery 18 months ago, yep, can you believe it? They touched my hypothalamus by accident and said that I will probably never have a fever again. It’s the fever that sent me in, so praise Jesus for the 104 fever.

I know this was long but there was a lot to update you on. I hope you are all well. Thanks for the emails and comments. I read them while recovering and I loved every one.

Chatting with friends about books and life…