#booklyapp

[off-the-beaten-timeline]

May in the books! Finally getting some of my novel-reading mojo back, and it feels so gooood.

[off-the-beaten-timeline]

March was kind of a weird reading month for me - lots of distractions, brainfog, and very specific slumps (been reading a lot of theory but struggling to pick up any fiction for instance). I’m also in the middle of too many books and need to actually finish some of them. Oh, and way behind on reviewing too.

But! Overall I liked what I read, I like what I’m reading, and I’m excited about what’s on the shelf ready to be picked up next. I think April’s gonna be better.

[off-the-beaten-timeline]

2026 Reads #3: Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser

The 70’s and 80’s in the United States was the age of the serial killers, peaking at over 600 active predators, compared to the 100-200 that were typical in previous and subsequent decades. This is a fact.

From the post-WWII years through the 1980’s, there was a lot of industrial pollution being pumped into the air and water around US cities, including absurdly high levels of arsenic and lead, which only decreased when market and regulatory forces made it less lucrative. This is also a fact.

Lead poisoning will fuck you up in the brain. We have known this for centuries.

In this book, Fraser weaves a causal web around these facts, arguing that serial killers disproportionately grew up near polluting factories, which stunted their cognitive development, making them more aggressive and less inhibited in acting out their violent fantasies.

This kind of reasoning feels quite satisfying, and wouldn’t it be nice if it were true? If complex historical phenomena could be explained by one simple factor? (Especially if that factor is lead poisoning? We do love to blame things on lead poisoning)

And it may be true; I am not an expert. However I am highly skeptical, because Fraser cites very little actual science on this, and the examples she focuses on are purely anecdotal. Ted Bundy grew up in the general vicinity a smelting plant, as did Dennis Rader (BTK), Gary Ridgway (the Green River killer), and about half a dozen other murderers Fraser discusses. But she offers no context that would make these data points meaningful, such as: What percentage of Americans were living near such facilities at that time? Were crime rates actually higher among that group? If so, does it remain true once confounding factors (poverty being a huge one) are controlled for? Are lead levels in the blood higher in violent offenders than the general population? Is there anything to back up this idea other than vibes?

So that’s my main problem with the book. The other major issue is that it includes several threads that aren’t connected to the main topic at all. The most bizarre one is poor bridge design. Fraser spends a ton of page space, throughout the entire book, on people dying in car crashes on bridges. I do not know why this is in there. It never links to serial killers or anything else.

She also makes the truly odd claim that a geological anomaly called the OWL, which cuts across Washington state, may be interacting somehow with the lead in these killers’ brains? And that that’s why so many of the murders took place in its general vicinity?

So, yeah. I had some problems with this book.

And yet - I really loved reading it. Fraser is a compelling writer, and I flew through this. Never wanted to put it down. Part of the reason is that it is mostly about the Pacific Northwest, where I am from, and pretty much any book about the PNW is inherently interesting to me. And part of it is that true crime in general has that can’t-look-away fascination to it. But also, even though I am not convinced by her arguments, I am intrigued by them. Maybe there’s something there? Maybe this is one small part of a bigger tapestry? I don’t know. Interesting to think about it, though.

Published: 2025, Penguin

Genre: nonfiction | history | true crime

Format: hardcover

Source: owned (Christmas gift from my sister)

Interest piqued by: Goodreads best nonfiction of the year list

Piqued an interest in: Fraser’s previous book, Prairie Fires (a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder) has been on my radar for awhile; I enjoyed this one enough that I’m pushing it up my tbr

My ratings:

Information/Ideas: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Clarity: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Novelty: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half

[letrasdetania]

Anoche terminé “Libera tu magia” y para continuar con el maratón, seguiré con 1984 de George Orwell. Es un libro muy distinto al anterior, y me parece un salto muy interesante de narrativas. Veamos qué tal nos va con este y si logramos el reto. Tengo fe en que sí 😊. #letrasdetania #summertimefreedomreadathon #booklyapp #bookly #leyendo #bookstagram #libros (en Mexico City, Mexico) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC87Oi0Fw03/?igshid=1nqp261ltd0g0

[keepingupwithaskillings]

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a frontal shelfie, let alone a labeled one (swipe to see). 📚♥️ . . #billybookcase #tezzapresets #tezzaapp #2018reads #booklyapp #transgressivefiction #labels #keepingupwithaskillings #unburycarol #myonetruelove #reading #legos #bookcases #iphone8plus #fiction #sketchesapp #ipadpro #ipencil #pagehabit #danielle #camels #shelves #bookcase #shelfie #creatorlegos #chardonnay #decorations #reader #englishmajor #classics #barnesandnoble #thriftbooks (at Colorado Springs, Colorado) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsOUmYtHaTK/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=19wbiso2br045