What I’m Reading (5.13.25)

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen (★★★★☆)

Print • Library • Mystery • 2022

Short synopsis: In 1952, disgraced ex-cop Evander “Andy” Mills is hired to investigate the suspicious death of Irene Lamontaine, matriarch of a queer household living openly behind the guarded gates of Lavender House. 

This was such an interesting mystery! The story follows two major threads: the investigation into Irene’s death and the circumstances that led to Andy losing his job as a cop. Andy is gay, and he’s caught during a raid at one of the gay bars in the city. Rather than facing jail time, he is unceremoniously fired from his job. And that’s exactly why Irene’s widow hires him to investigate Irene’s murder. Irene is killed at Lavender House, a home filled with queer people—from Irene and her wife, to their son and his paramour, to their lesbian cooks. It’s a queer wonderland for Andy who has never been able to live freely and happily as a gay man. While the mystery itself isn’t particularly exciting and the resolution felt a bit lackluster, the characters and setting more than make up for it. Plus, the author did an excellent job bringing us into the danger and isolation of being queer in the 1950s, where living openly meant risking raids, beatings, jail, and ostracization. I appreciate how this story weaved these serious (and sometimes deadly) realities into a genre that doesn’t always leave room for them. (3.5 stars, rounded up; Recommendation source: Kaytee of Currently Reading.)

The Journey Toward Wholeness: Enneagram Wisdom for Stress, Balance, and Transformation by Suzanne Stabile (★★★★☆)

E-Book • Libby • Nonfiction • 2021

Short synopsis: In this book, Suzanne Stabile explores how each Enneagram type responds to stress and security through the lens of the three centers of intelligence—thinking, feeling, and doing—offering practical tools for achieving internal balance and lasting transformation amid life’s complexities.

I really enjoyed this book—it’s definitely more of a “Level Two” Enneagram resource, meant for readers who already understand the Enneagram. I skipped over parts of this book (she starts every chapter with an anecdote; I skipped over those because I was most interested in the practical application). There’s also a fair amount of Christian language, as Suzanne Stabile is a practicing Christian. That didn’t bother me, but it might be good to know going in.

The heart of this book was teaching us about the three centers of intelligence—doing, thinking, and feeling. Each type processes the world through these centers, and each has a dominant, secondary, and repressed center. As a Type 9, I was surprised to learn that “doing” is my dominant center (because I don’t really feel like Nines are huge “doers”). It made a lot more sense when Stabile explained that some types’ repressed center is their dominant center. (How’s that for a brain twister?). And for Nines, our repressed center is “doing.” We lean toward thinking or feeling, even though we should be doing-dominant.

This passage especially stood out:

“In terms of processing information, Nines decide how to respond to life with thinking and feeling but without consideration for doing. That means they internalize information, and they value their interpretations. But they dismiss the value of acting on this information once it’s processed. In short, Nines take in information with what needs to be done, but it usually doesn’t occur to them that they should actually do anything.”

That description felt like a lightbulb moment. Sometimes I feel like other people are so much better at knowing what needs to be done and just doing it. It never occurred to me that this tendency I have to sit back and let others do things around me is based on my Enneagram!

And then there was this passage, which I consider my life’s work to become the best version of myself:

“Assertiveness is learned through doing, and we’ve learned from Don Riso and Russ Hudson that the unconscious childhood message for Nines is “It’s not okay to assert yourself.” But it is okay. Part of your work and responsibility is to overcome this message and find a way to make your thoughts and desires known to others, even those who might disagree.”

I found this book to be super helpful in my journey to better understand myself as it relates to my Enneagram number, and to better understand my friends and family members. If you have a good understanding of the Enneagram and want to dig deeper into this personality framework, this book is definitely for you! (Recommendation source: Jamie of The Popcast)

Look Closer by David Ellis (★★★★★)

Audiobook • Spotify • Thriller • 2022

Short synopsis: Vicky and Simon seem to have the perfect marriage. But that all begins to unravel after a socialite’s death, exposing an affair, a massive trust fund, and a long-buried grudge. As lies stack up, the question becomes: who’s conning who—and could it all lead to the perfect murder?

I loved this thriller! Every time I thought I had figured out what was going on, the author revealed a new clue that took the story in a completely unexpected direction. I had such a fun time following these characters. I read in one review that they found all of the characters unlikable, and I don’t know what it says about me that I liked all of these characters and found them totally captivating. They weren’t nearly as unlikable as I expected, and instead, I weirdly found myself rooting for the “bad guys,” which is not typical for me. This is a thriller truly unlike anything I’ve read recently, and I can’t wait to discuss all the twists and turns with book club (this was our May pick).

What are you reading?