Like a Bat Out of Hell
This post was updated Sunday, May 3, 2026, at 9am.
Currently reading:
Imposter by LJ Ross
Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London
Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice [audiobook]
Books finished this week: 1
★★★☆☆
Where this book came from: Purchased via the BookHampton pop-up shop at Hamptons Whodunit.
Why this book: I heard Julie Clark talking about this book on a panel and almost immediately ran upstairs to buy it, because I loved her pitch and just really enjoyed listening to her talk about her process.
Thoughts: If I did half stars (and maybe that’s something to consider), I’d give this 3.5 stars. Three feels too low, but my frustrations with the book won’t allow me to go a full four. I devoured the first fifty pages or so, but once Olivia started digging into the mystery of what happened in 1975, the book really slowed down. The book also alternates between two perspectives in the past and Olivia’s in the present, so there was a unique opportunity to reveal and suppress necessary information, and show what was real and what had been tweaked or fabricated. Clark did that a bit, but in a way that made reveals of new clues feel repetitive rather than revelatory. I’m always thrilled to find a new crime writer to love, so I’ll definitely be giving Julie Clark a try in the future, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say already that this isn’t my favorite of her books.
Library updates:
Librarian’s Note: As you can see above, I did indeed finish reading a book this week (yay!), contrary to the first line of the write-up below. But I finished it yesterday, Saturday, after 11pm, and I was too tired to get out of bed, add it to the post, and edit everything else accordingly. So I’ve added the review above, as well as swapping in a new currently-reading book; I have not edited the text below, because though I did manage to finish one book just in the nick of time, my ruminations and goals still stand. Enjoy!
Okay, I can’t lie, I’m a little disappointed in myself for not finishing even one book this week. Admittedly, I’ve really been slacking on the personal reading/reading for pleasure front, as I try to keep up with work reading and editing, plus a bunch of new writing submissions that Meg (hi, Meg!) and I have been encouraging each other to work on. All good things, but I do miss reading. Especially because I keep catching myself scrolling mindlessly in the way I hate to do and thought I had done a pretty good job of abolishing from my life. But just when I think I’m done, Instagram reels, new Reddit posts, and YouTube commentary videos I’ve already watched a dozen other times pull me back in.
As always, I’m working on it.
Anyhow, Tori——hi, Tori!——and I saw the touring production of Bat Out of Hell on Wednesday, and . . . huh! Notice that I’m not linking to it, both because I think the tour ends soon and also because I do not recommend anyone see that show. I love the Bat albums by Meat Loaf, but from what Tori and I read on Wikipedia, the musical the songs were ultimately used for is just bonkers (post-apocalyptic Peter Pan??), and the touring production cuts out basically all the expository scenes, making it a truly incomprehensible mess. The only positive was having basically every Meat Loaf song stuck in my head for the last couple days.
As of this past Friday, May 1, we’re also officially celebrating the Moratorium Library’s fourth birthday(??!!)! Honestly, I completely spaced on it until I started drafting this missive, and I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by. I haven’t really succeeded in stopping myself from buying books——*cries in 434 books (and counting) purchased since the opening of the Library*——but the fact that I’ve stuck with consistent writing and posting through joy, grief, and anxiety for the last four years gives me plenty to be proud of. I’m still hoping, in my heart of hearts, that one day I win the lottery and can actually take a year or two away from full-time work and life responsibilities to just read, like I kind of hoped this project would look like when I first conceived of it. But I’ve enjoyed fitting it all in around my life.
I’m working hard to catch up on a lot of different things this weekend, to set myself up for success in the coming week. I’m also pledging, here and now, that whenever I have the urge to stare at my phone or my laptop screen, I’m going to try to pick up a book instead. All these books I shouldn’t have purchased over the last four years ain’t gonna read themselves!
(Also, I just realized I forgot to share my word count for March! I wrote 13,272 words in March and rounded out April with 13,409 words,bringing my 2026 total word count to 62,843. Most of my April words were written feverishly over the course of a week or so, as I finished drafting and editing a folk horror story to submit for anthology consideration. Fingers crossed for good news there, and for even more words written in May!)
Closing thoughts:
And I know that I'm damned if I never get out / And maybe I'm damned if I do / But with every other beat I've got left in my heart / You know I'd rather be damned with you*
*“you”refers to the Moratorium Library and anyone who has been kind enough to read the Sunday Missives since 2022.
