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Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

I’m happy to say I’ve jumped in with both feet to my goal of reading more this year thanks to one of you, our readers, who has loaned me two rounds of books so far since my column came out last week.

She warned me before I picked up the first two books that they would be hard to put down, and, boy, was she not kidding!

Thanks to the long weekend, I was able to read both of them and get started into a third book.

The first two books were night and day different, but I enjoyed them both.

The first, “What was Taken: An Untold Story,” about the story of a young girl growing up in Austin and her close call with an individual who went on to become a serial killer.

I love crime shows, so this book was a sure hit for me, but it was crazy, and quite disheartening, to hear how this man got away with victim after victim before he was finally caught. It was also a bit surreal to hear that all these things occurred so close to home.

It was such a quick read, and I was enthralled from beginning to end.

The second book, “The Yellow Wife,” told the story of a woman born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, and the hardships she and others faced because of slavery.

This, too, grabbed my attention quickly, and I found myself time and time again saddened to live in a country where these things happened. On more than one occasion, I was disappointed to be from the very state where the book’s plot was set.

While historical fiction is not usually my genre of choice, this one was written in a way that captured — and held — my attention the whole way through. And it was full of highs and lows.

Now I’m reading another crime-related book, this time one apparently tied to another true story about the death of a child that went unsolved for over 20 years and that was brought back up to police at the request of the boy’s birth mother.

I’m only about 100 pages in, but this one is also a page-turner.

After this one, I think I need to take a break from the crime genre and get into something a little different to change it up a little. Just like with my job, it can sometimes be overwhelming to read court documents about crimes that have occurred in our community, and over time it kind of wears me down.

I didn’t realize I’d already be sailing along like this just a week into setting my goal, and I forgot how nice it is to actually sit back and get sucked in to a story. Sadly enough, I can’t even tell you the last time I read a book like that for leisure before last week.

I am reminded that books not only entertain, but they widen our imaginations and they teach lessons.

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Wednesday.