Three Books I'm Reading Now, 3/24/25 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now

I'm reading an upcoming mystery set in glamorous Capri by Katy Hays, Saltwater; I'm listening to standup comedian Youngmi Mayer's memoir, I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying; and for my book club I'm listening to Patric Gagne's memoir, Sociopath.

What are you reading, bookworms?

01 Saltwater by Katy Hays

Thirty years ago, Sarah Lingate was found dead under suspicious circumstances below the cliffs of Capri, leaving behind her young daughter Helen--and a host of relatives who might have wanted Sarah dead. Each year, the wealthy, powerful Lingate family returns to Capri as thought to quash rumors about Sarah's mysterious death.

But this year, the family arrives at the villa to find a haunting relic from the past: the necklace Sarah was wearing when she died.

Helen, determined to get to the bottom of her mother's death, begins to dig into the truth, uncovering danger and beginning to fear that not everyone in her family may leave Capri alive.

I received a prepublication edition of this title, to be published March 25, courtesy of Ballantine Books and NetGalley. Hays is also the author of The Cloisters.

02 I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying: A Memoir by Youngmi Mayer

Youngmi Mayer is a standup comedian and podcast host, and she is intrigued by dark humor, aiming to inject it into her memoir I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying.

She tracks her Korean heritage and her white GI father's complicated connection as part of the white oppression of women in Korea; explores issues of race; and explains her zigzagging path to where she is now, through drugs, danger, demeaning situations, a disinterest in success, low self-esteem, and more.

So far her tirades feel heartfelt but without a clear path; I'm interested to find out where this is going.

I'm listening to I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying as an audiobook.

03 Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne

I don’t care what other people think. I’m not interested in morals. I’m not interested, period. Rules do not factor into my decision-making. I’m capable of almost anything.

Patric Gagne always knew she didn't feel emotions the way other people did. She wasn't concerned with consequences, danger, or other people's feelings. When she was a girl, she adhered to her mother's rule of always telling her the truth--but the truth seemingly made everyone upset. She began to keep secrets--because she was stealing loved ones' treasured possessions, breaking into homes, lying, and frequently fighting the urge to inflict violent harm on others.

All I knew was that I didn’t feel things the way other kids did. I didn’t feel guilt when I lied. I didn’t feel compassion when classmates got hurt on the playground. For the most part, I felt nothing. And I didn’t like the way that “nothing” felt. So I did things to replace the nothingness with…something.

But during college, Gagne self-diagnosed herself as a sociopath. Frustrated by depictions of sociopaths as villains in the media and by the prospect of there being no treatment and little knowledge of how to manage sociopathy, Gagne examined herself, went to therapy, continued her studies, and researched like crazy. Meanwhile she introduced the topic of her sociopathy very quickly upon meeting people, she reconnected with her teenage love, and she tried to shape a future knowing that little guidance existed regarding sociopaths' leading successful lives.

I'm listening to Sociopath as an audiobook; it's an upcoming read for my book club.