November Reading Wrap Up+

Oh man, I am behind on writing this. Turns out the end of the year flies by. Lots to do with the holidays and wrapping up work at the end of the year and just I can't believe it's already December and there's so much to do and so little time left. But we're more settled into our new place, even finishing unpacking recently so the place feels less temporary and the Christmas decorations are up and the stove even works again so all good things

But that's not what we're focusing on right now. Right now, let's talk about books, shall we? 

Number of books read

6

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar

Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World by Michael Pollan

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I apparently read this book around this time every year which honestly, excellent choice by me. I love this book so much, I love it every time and the full cast audiobook is amazing. Lots of love and many tears at the end. It gets me every time.

Rating: 5 stars

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

Another re-read! November was the month for it. This was mostly because none of my library holds were available yet, nor was anything on my TBR so I was just scrolling through whatever I had on audiobook. Always a fan of Bryson stuff and his science and history. 

Rating: 5 stars

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

Another great choice. Mary Roach's stuff is very similar to Bryson's science books (he references her book Gulp in The Body) and this time she deals with the different ways people have dealt with nature. Or specifically the entities tasked with dealing with those times when the lives of people and wild animals intersect. Park services dealing with bears in Canada or a government body that handles elephants in India. Perhaps not my favorite Roach book but it has her enthusiasm and humor when dealing with some strange science

Rating: 4 stars

Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar

This is really more a radio play. It's a little over an hour long and the story is told through a series of phone calls and voice mails between a mother in India and her daughter in the US. Usha is focused on finding her daughter Pallavi a husband. But when Pallavi finds the perfect guy, her mother feels something is off. It's a short story but manages to balance humor and suspense in a focused story. 

Rating: 5 stars

Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World by Michael Pollan

Another short story (I was waiting for a library hold which told me would be available any day now) this time about the history and science of caffeine. Or really the history and science of coffee and to a lesser extent tea. To write this Pollan decided to give up caffeine so he talks about his own relationship with the world's most popular drug, what being off of caffeine was like, how caffeinated drinks became so prevalent across the world (though the focus is largely the western world). 

Rating: 4 stars

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

This book is the reason I was listening to some shorter books. I had been waiting for months for the second Thursday Murder Club book to become available from the library (at this point, I should just buy them) because i loved the first book so much. This second installment has the same humor and the same dynamic between the TMC members that I loved so much the first time around. And of course there's the mystery which kept me guessing. I've already put the third book on hold (a several month wait so we'll see if I end up just buying it).

Rating: 4.5 stars

Total pages read

1,629

Fiction

50%

Female authors

33%

BIPOC authors

17%

US authors

67%

Book format

audiobook: 100%

Where'd I get the book

Kindle/Audible: 83%

Library: 17%

Rereads

33%

Readalong/Book club

17%

Decade published

2000s: 17%

2010s: 33%

2020s: 50%

Resolution books

33%

The Graveyard Book is written by UK author Gaiman

Evil Eye is written by Indian-American author Shekar

October Reading Wrap Up+

Last month I said September was busy. And it was busy. But it wasn't October busy. We sold our old place (yay but also SAD FEELINGS), we moved into a new place and even started unpacking, though since the plan is to be here less than a year we're probably going to be leaving a fair amount in boxes. I'm trying to balance making life easier for future me while also making this place feel like a home, even a temporary one. Also it was Halloween so we spent time driving around looking at the decorations and I want to thank everyone who just...goes nuts this time of year. My own little goblin loves it (even if he refuses to go to those houses cos too spooky).

Now, time for some book stats!

Total books read

5

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix

The Secret History of Food: Strange but True Stories About Everything We Eat by Matt Siegel

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

In a Dark, Dark Wood By Ruth Ware

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix

Hendrix is probably one of my favorite horror writers. He has a knack for female protagonists and he approaches ridiculous premises with a seriousness that works. Sometimes that's a haunted Ikea, sometimes that's a high school exorcism. And sometimes that's the world of heavy metal where some dabbling with the darkness is to be expected. Kris used to be the lead guitarist for a 90s heavy metal band but for the last 10 years it seems like she's been living in a hell on earth. Meanwhile lead singer Terry is bigger than ever. But something seems off and things have gone badly for most of the band ever since Terry brought in an exec to get them a big record deal if they'd just sign this mystery contract. The book is creepy and had me on edge for a few scenes. Not my fav Hendrix but still a good one and one I would def read again.

Rating: 4 stars

The Secret History of Food: Strange but True Stories About Everything We Eat by Matt Siegel

A pop-sci book about the history of food. Honestly I don't remember a huge amount about this one. I picked it up because it was available from the library and that was a big plus. I had it on my TBR list but don't entirely remember where I heard about it. Basically a lot of things I don't remember with this book. It was fine. Some funny stories, nothing groundbreaking, nothing offensive. It was fine, probably.

Rating: 3 stars

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

A lesbian coming of age story set in 1950s San Francisco. Chinese-American Lily Hu knows there's something different about her that goes beyond her love for math and a desire to one day work for JPL like her aunt. Classmate Kath introduces Lily to the Telegraph Club, a lesbian club featuring a male impersonator. Here their love story begins against a backdrop of racism and homophobia. When the story is focused on Lily, it's good (though it can be slow at times). When the story follows flashbacks of various Hu family members, the book moves away from the pieces that worked the best. 

Also fun fact, the author's newsletter is called "Lo and Behold". 

Rating: 4 stars

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware is a bit hit or miss for me but in general I like a thriller and she does deliver. Here we have the  story of a hen party in, well, a dark secluded wood (classic bachelorette location). Nora is invited to a hen party for a childhood friend she hasn't spoken to in a decade. It seems odd given she isn't invited to a wedding but, she decides to make the trip. But things seem...off. With the house, with the host and pieces of Nora's past are coming up. There's enough there to keep you guessing so it was a fun thriller even if it didn't really stick with me.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Elizabeth Zott is a scientist. But she's also a woman and this is the early 1960s when women were expected to stay at home, something Elizabeth has no inclination to do. The story follows Elizabeth as a chemist at Hastings research, her relationship with fellow chemist Calvin Evans and then later her life as a single mother to a precocious little girl Mad hosting a cooking show. Elizabeth is uncompromising, and the world is trying to get her to make a lot of compromises so there is plenty of opportunity for tension. I flew through the book and while I had a few issues (it gets preachy at times) overall I really liked this one. 

Rating: 4.75 stars

Total pages read

1,742 - highest of the year so far

Fiction

80%

Female authors

60%

BIPOC authors

20%

US authors

80%

Book format

audiobook: 100%

Where'd I get the book

library: 100%

Readalong/Bookclub

20%

Decade published

2010s: 80%

2020s: 20%

Resolution reads

40%

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is by an Asian-American author

In a Dark, Dark Wood is by a UK author

September Reading Wrap Up+

September has been a very busy month. We're selling our place, which we've lived in for longer than any other place since childhood. The move is going to come very soon and I am very much not prepared. Where are we moving to, you ask? Not entirely sure, but we're working on it. It's only making me very stressed. Hopefully I'll be settled by the next wrap up but honestly who knows!

Somehow though I managed to get a fair amount of reading done in September. Stress reading? Perhaps! I had a couple starts and stops, picking up books and listening to a bit before realizing this wasn't the right time for me. Why don't we just get to those stats?

Total books read

5

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Young

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

LOVED THIS! Love a good mystery with competent amateur detectives (looking at you, other cozy mysteries where those characters seem new to the concept of interacting with other humans). Loved the characters and the back and forth between focus on the cases to the minutiae of everyday life in this retirement community. Elizabeth is wonderful and I love all of the little clues to her past and also hope they never full flesh that out in other books. I feel like I flew through the book, even reading it as a physical copy vs an audiobook (the wait at the library was "several months, don't hold your breath"), making it only the 3rd physical book I've read this year.

Rating: 5 stars

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

I can't remember where I first heard of this book (I really should write that down) but I very much enjoyed this sorta romance, sorta coming of age (even if she's a bit older than the usual coming-of-age character). Grace wakes up after a drunken night in Vegas to find that she got married to a woman she doesn't remember. This is wildly out of character for Grace, who has followed a clear path to her astronomy PhD only to find that something is missing. She doesn't know what she wants but what if she finds that wife of hers? The story gets slow at times and there's a bit of manic pixie dream girl energy that sometimes works but overall it was a compelling story.

Rating: 3.75 stars

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The sequel to Dial A for Aunties involves more Aunties, more mayhem, more misunderstandings. Meddy and Nathan are getting married and while her Ma and Aunties won't be working the wedding, they're causing Meddy enough stress without the fact that some folks in the mafia are trying to take someone out at her wedding. It's over the top, there's chaos and awkward moments, and of course lots of fun with the Aunties personalities.

Rating: 4 stars

Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

I was going through a reading slump. I tried a few books but I just wasn't in the right mood for them. Then a friend mentioned she was reading this book and it sounded like a fun mystery and something that was a better choice for the time. It took me a little time to get into it (but that may have been the reading slump bit) but once I did, I was hooked. Finlay is a single mom, barely holding it together, trying (and often failing) to keep the lights on. She's a suspense romance author and when someone overhears her talking about her latest book and mistakes her for a contract killer, well things get complicated and Finlay finds herself in the middle of an actual murder. 

Rating: 4 stars

An Immense World: How Animals Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Young

We tend to think of senses in the terms of how we experience things (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) and sure we may think of dogs as having better smell than humans or eagles as better sight but Young pushes to consider it goes beyond that. It's not just that dogs have a strong sense of smell but the way that they experience the world through smell is an important piece of their world (umwelt). Instead the book encourages people to think about animals within the context of their experiences. The book does a good job bringing what could be very complicated ideas to a general audience and while things can get a little dry at times, overall Young brings his enthusiasm for this world to the page.

Rating: 4 stars

Total pages read

1,735

Fiction

80%

Female authors

60%

BIPOC authors

60%

US authors

40%

Book format

audiobook: 80%

paperback: 20%

Where'd I get the book

Indie: 20%

Library: 80%

Readalong/Bookclub

20%

Decade published

2020s: 100%

Resolution reads

80%

Thursday Murder Club is by a UK author

Honey Girl is by a Black and queer author

Four Aunties and a Wedding is by Singaporean author

An Immense World is by a Malaysian author

August Reading Wrap Up+

I've not been good about updating here in general, which isn't really surprising given the last, oh about 4 years. But at least I'm still doing these monthly updates. It's nice for myself (if no one else though if you're still reading Hi! Hello! I appreciate you) to write down the reminders of how I've been doing, what I thought about what I've been reading. I mean, I'm keeping my spreadsheets updated anyway.

It's crazy that summer is over. I mean it's still hot out though I'm now at the point where low '80s feels almost cozy. There's so much back to school stuff and we're not quite there though with the (not-so-little) one yet but it's soon. Speaking of, I haven't shared a pic of him in a while so look at this cutie who is a bundle of energy and very outgoing which can be exhausting but I'm happy for him. Hopefully it will continue to be this easy for him to make friends 

But hey, why not get to those book stats?

Total Books Read

4

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer J. Chow

North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, And How I Survived Both by Cea Sunrise Person

To Have and To Hold: Motherhood, Marriage and the Modern Dilemma by Molly Millwood, PhD

Mother of Invention: How Good Ideas Get Ignored in an Economy Built for Men by Katrine Marcal

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer J. Chow

I feel like I'm having some trouble figuring out the cozy mystery genre. I like a mystery. And I'm not always in the mood for something serious and dramatic. Sometimes I want something light. But a lot of the cozy mysteries I read have left me a bit flat and I don't know if it's the genre itself and the issues I'm running into are the tropes in the genre and if I don't like it, I need to move on, or if it's the books themselves. My biggest issue, here and in others, is that when it comes to solving a mystery, the protagonist is not just clueless but sometimes I wonder if they've interacted with humans before. ANYWAY, here there is a dead dog breeder and the main character Mimi is suspect number one who needs to find the real killed to prove her innocence. Also she has a talking cat Marshmallow that only she can hear. It was fine, it was light, it had its moments but overall fell short for me.

Rating: 2.75 stars

North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both by Cea Sunrise Person

I can't remember how I stumbled on this, I think it was one of the "currently available" audiobooks in the library app and it seemed intriguing. I was thinking maybe something like Educated by Tara Westover, though it's nice that this didn't involve any fundie religion. Instead, Person's family were '60s counter-culturists who decided to leave CA for the Canadian wilderness, to get closer to nature. Her early life was spent living off the grid in the woods, where her favorite meal was bear her grandfather hunted. But really, much of the story is the relationship between Cea and her mother, who was a teenager when she had her and while may have meant well, had her own issues raising a young child while trying to satisfy her wants. There are crazy moments, some very upsetting ones, some very frustrating ones and ultimately it's good she got out. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

To Have and To Hold: Motherhood, Marriage and the Modern Dilemma by Molly Millwood, PhD

Psychologist Molly Millwood looks at the ways motherhood affects and disrupts a woman's sense of self, how it changes her relationship with her partner and how it can feel easy to completely lose your identity when there's a baby involved. The book does center on cis, hetero relationships (something she addresses early on) with a fair amount on how motherhood seems to require so many drastic changes for the women and far fewer from the men, even those that are fully committed and involved co-parents. There's a lot of discussion of shame and guilt women feel, some I could relate to, others less so. She lost me a bit on the section on giving birth sans any sort of pain medication since it seemed to take on the tone of "everyone makes the choice that's best for themselves (but this way is prob the best way)" which I wasn't keen on, but perhaps I was reading into it. Overall an interesting read, even if some of the situations she shared from her life or patients' (names, details changed/combined to keep identities private) felt like AITA posts where I wanted to yell "Girl, RUN". 

Rating: 3.25 stars

Mother of Invention: How Good Ideas Get Ignored in an Economy Built for Men by Katrine Marcal

Despite humanity knowing about the wheel for sometime, they weren't widely put on suitcases until the 1970s. Not that people didn't consider this idea, but it wasn't something people believed could be sold because it would emasculate the men, who were supposed to be able to carry the family's luggage. And so opens Mother of Invention, which is in the vein of books like Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez or Doing Harm by Maya Dusenbery, about how society fails women when research and ideas are only focused on men. Except unfortunately this felt like it fell flat of those other books because it was a bit all over the place. Some sections, such as the wheeled suitcase, were fairly straightforward. But other sections seemed to be lacking a clear message (there's a long section about witches and wizards while, interesting, I struggled to follow how it fit into the rest of the book). The second half is less about individual instances but more women's place (or sadly lack of) in the economy, so the theoretical ideas are missed, though of course we don't necessarily know what we're missing. Not yet, anyway. It also spends a fair amount on climate change and job automation while interesting, seemed like they were sections lifted from a separate book. Lots of good information that I think could have been structured a bit better.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Total pages read

1,268

Fiction

25%

Female authors

100%

second month in a row and third month this year 

BIPOC author

25%

US author

50%

Book format

audiobook - 100%

Where'd I get the book

library - 100%

Translation

25%

Decade published

2010s: 50%

2020s: 50%

Resolution reads

75% 

making up (a bit) for last month

July Reading Wrap-Up+

Already August. Incredible, hows this keep happening? Time moving and so on. July tends to be a fun month. It's the lil monster's birthday. I suppose he's a less lil monster now. We had a fun birthday in the park for him, and he got, conservatively, every dinosaur toy that has every been sold. There's a definite theme in our house right now.

It's also our wedding anniversary. On the same day, no less. While we didn't celebrate on the actual day, we did have a chance to go back to the venue where we got married for a friend's wedding and have a little mini trip away. And I didn't burst into flames during the outdoor ceremony, so a win all around! 

August however. I am starting August without the ability to talk, thanks to a sore throat exacerbated by lots of yelling while at the zoo and mini golf. I don't know if it's ever been this extreme before where I've had to reschedule work meetings because I literally couldn't talk on the call. (And the "calls" I did do, the other person spoke and I typed all of my answers or made exaggerated expressions while on camera.) Hopefully I'm not spending too much more time playing charades.

Anyway, stats? Stats.

Total books read

3

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Magic, Lies and Deadly Pies by Misha Popp

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

I was more than a little excited when my library finally had a copy of this as an audiobook. I'd sporadically done searching on a couple different apps but it never showed up and then one day I was scanning available titles and look what popped up. This book is a linguistics look on how different groups, from Heaven's Gate to Cross Fit use language to create their us/them ideologies. It's an excellent look at how important language is and gives some indication about what to be aware of.

Rating: 5 stars

The Diviners by Libba Bray

This was a Libro.fm purchase when they were having a big sale on audiobooks. I didn't know much about this book but I loved Libba Bray's Beauty Queens and this seemed interesting enough, even if it is the first of a series which usually is something I avoid. But I love a sale and I really liked this. Set in 1920s NYC, where Eve has managed to escape to, getting away from her small-Ohio town. Sure, she has to stay with her Uncle who runs a museum of the occult but Evie has her own occult talents, even if they just seem to cause trouble. Though maybe they an help with a grisly murder scene turns up. The setting is fun, the mystery is a good one and the characters are interesting enough even if a lot of this book was clearly setting up the series for books to come. Other books I'll probably end up reading.

Rating: 4 stars

Magic, Lies and Deadly Pies by Misha Popp

When I don't want to think to hard, which, let's be honest, is pretty often nowadays, I look for a mystery. I like a mystery. I don't often love them, but I like them. And I saw a list of top cozy mysteries and figured I'd give it a try. Daisy's pies all include a secret ingredient: magic. The ability to make people feel content or safe, want to come clean or pay more attention. Or even kill. Daisy uses her power to help avenge women who are in dangerous situations with her Pies Before Guys business. But someone discovers her abilities and blackmail her into baking some of her special pies or have her business revealed. Can Daisy figure out who's blackmailing her while continuing to help women? Also there's a bit of a love triangle going on. There's Noel, a cute farmboy and Melly, a purple-haired activist. AND a pie baking contest. Overall it was a fun if not necessarily the most memorable story and did cause a few eyerolls. 

Rating: 3.25

Number of pages read

1,222

Fiction

67%

Female authors

100%

BIPOC authors

0%

US authors

0%

Book format

audiobook - 100%

Where'd I get the book

library - 67%

indie - 33%

Decade published

2010s: 33%

2020s: 67%

Resolution Reads

0% - pathetic

June Reading Wrap Up+

We're well into summer now. So I'm trying to enjoy some additional time off, some hot weather, while still spending a fair amount of time hiding indoors because the sun makes me burst into flames. I am making an effort to get out and the little monster has a new hobby, mini golf (thanks, Holey Moley) so I am managing to get out of the house. We've even made it to the beach (where I hide under lots of sunscreen, hats and umbrellas, envying the guys in my life that tan).

But for now, let's focus on the reading, shall we?

Total books read

4

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up by Alexandra Potter

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

The New Girl by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

The book is a mix of true crime, the murder of Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter Erica, as well as the often violent history of the LDS church, particularly focused on the fundamentalist sects. It's an upsetting story (violent murder, and all) and the history provides interesting context certainly not to excuse any of the horrendous acts but to explain how they could come to pass. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up by Alexandra Potter

Nell is in her forties but life isn't quite was she thought it would be. She figured she'd be married, maybe on her way to having a kid, living her best life out in California. Instead, her engagement has fallen apart and she's moved back to London, living with a roommate and looking for a job. She finds one writing obituaries and meets the 80-years-young Cricket and embarks on some new adventures. She also has a pretty good support system between her family and friends (even if she feels like her friends are where they're "supposed to be"). Sometime the story is funny, sometimes I rolled my eyes, it's a bit predictable at times but still fun

Rating: 3.25 stars

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

I did not expect to read this book. I've been on the waitlist at the library for months and anytime I checked the status I got a message that was basically "Don't hold your breath". So I was shocked, shocked I say, when suddenly the book said it was available. The book is a memoir of Michelle Zauner's relationship with her mother, who died of cancer when Michelle was 25 as well as her Korean identity. The story is touching, painting a complicated relationship between Michelle and her mother, the good and bad, ups and downs, pushes and pulls. There is lots of talk of food as well, the role food and memories play together. 

Rating: 4 stars

The New Girl by Jesse Q. Sutanto

I have audiobooks I bought during a sale that are just sitting there waiting for me to listen to. Instead I was scrolling through my library apps to see what was available when this book by Sutanto (of Dial A for Aunties) showed up. I figured I like a mystery and I liked Sutanto's other book so hey, why not? Fish out of water, Lia Setiawan earns a track scholarship to an exclusive boarding school filled with richy-rich kids. Her first day she sees a student being dragged out, though few of the students or teachers seem to be fazed by this and Lia wonders what is going on with this school. Then there is the schoolwide social media app that seems made only for bullying and Lia gets on the wrong side of a few important people, student and teacher alike. Corruption, blackmail, drugs and murder. Can Lia make it out?

Rating: 3.75 stars

Number of pages read

1,536

Fiction

50%

Female authors

75%

BIPOC authors

50%

US authors

50%

Book format

audiobook - 100%

Where'd I get the book?

library - 100%

Decade published

2000s - 25%

2020s - 75%

Resolution reads

75%

Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up is by a UK author

Crying in H Mart is by a BIPOC author

The New Girl is by a BIPOC, non-US author

May Reading Stats+

I'm a bit behind on writing this. This wasn't a great reading month for me. I don't know if it was for too much reason. Lack of motivation I suppose. Though that's not why I'm behind on writing this. Well, not the only reason anyway. We were also on vacation which didn't lead to a lot of time to get things written. Or read anything actually. Such are vacations when kids are involved since before-time vacations involved much reading. I brought a book that I didn't even take out of my bag. Not even on a cross-country flight because it turns out being interrupted every 2-3 minutes by a small child makes it frustrating to try to read anything. But hey, we did get to spend a lot of time seeing friends and going to the beach and a dog birthday party and we even took a trip to Disneyland! And we took the little monster on Haunted Mansion and possibly gave him some excellent fodder for therapy in a few years*. Ah, memories.

Anyway, stats!

Total books read

3

Mexican Gothic by Silveo Moreno-Garcia

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson

The Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan

Mexican Gothic by Silveo Moreno-Garcia

This was a surprise read for the month. Surprise in the sense that I have had it on hold at the library and the wait time on it was something like "Hahaha yeah sure, you'll get to read this sometime this year" when it suddenly became available. Creepy story (gothic perhaps) about a mysterious family in a secluded village in Mexico and a frantic letter from Noemi's cousin begging for help. There are lots of secrets, lots of atmosphere and right when you think you have things figured out, you don't. It gets scarier than I thought it would and overall the pros outweighed any complaints.

Rating: 4 stars

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson

A re-read for me, though first time listening. Bryson (or rather his editor) decides that he needs a new book and it being the anniversary of his book Notes from a Small Island that this is an excellent opportunity to revisit this adopted island nation, especially as he is officially taking a citizenship test. So Bryson creates the Bryson line, the 2 furthest points on Great Britain and visits a bunch of towns and is in general funny and curmudgeonly. Possibly more curmudgeonly than in other books or at least it stood out more. I liked it (it was a re-read after all) but not quite as much as I like his science and history stuff.

Rating: 4 stars

The Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan

A writer, Frankie, escapes her home in London following a negative review and a public breakdown to spend some time in Venice to get away and get inspired. While there and waiting for her friends to join her she meets a young woman Gilly who says they have an acquaintance in common, but is that really true? The story has interesting points and bit of a mystery but overall was slow with not-especially-likable-or-interesting characters. A lot happens (relatively speaking anyway) in the last quarter of the book which makes things feel a bit uneven. But hey, most of the setting is Venice and I'm a fan of that. Even if I wasn't a fan of the narrator's over-pronunciation of Italian words (perhaps I would have liked the book more not as an audiobook). 

Rating: 2.5 stars

Total pages read

1,021

Fiction

67%

Female authors

67%

BIPOC authors

33%

US authors

33%

Book format

audiobook - 100%

Where'd I get the book

library - 67%

indie - 33%

Bookclub/readalong

33%

Reread

33%

Decade published

2010s: 33%

2020s: 67%

Resolution books

67%

Mexican Gothic is by a Mexican-Canadian author (Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination, or so says her bio)

The Palace of the Drowned is by an Irish author

Bryson can get honorable mention here as he has spent at this point more of his life in England than the US though I still primarily count him as a US author so 

*To defend myself here, he loves the Haunted Mansion. In theory anyway. He has watched the Behind The Attraction about the ride an estimated 1,000 times, included twice on the flight over. He has a story book about the Haunted Mansion that he reads on a regular basis. From the moment we parked, he was going on about how he wanted to see the Haunted Mansion. And he was wide eyed through the ride. Until we came out and he goes "Oh no, that was too scary" and then refused to go in any where that was dark or other rides (which could also include ghosts) and didn't like disembodied voices (i.e., the PA system making an announcement). We did eventually get him to go on Jungle Cruise which he was a big fan of and kept saying "Hey that wasn't scary!" And when we asked him his fav part he goes back and forth on telling us it was Haunted Mansion or not. Also he made me read him the Haunted Mansion book every night before bed. So maybe we haven't permanently scarred him.

April Reading Stats+

Here we go, another month done. So I'm not writing much but at least I'm still reading. And I actually bought a book, which is the first in a while since I've been relying on the library for most of my stuff in the last year or so. Well, bought a book for me. While we try not to buy any toys for the boy (the grandparents have that covered) I've announced that books don't count so plenty of those have come in.

Reading this month as been a bit hit or miss. But again, it's mostly library stuff so at least I'm not out dollar bucks (note, I have been watching a lot of Bluey recently, for anyone familiar. And if you aren't, you should probably check it out, whether or not you have small kids cos it is GREAT).

Anyway, let's check out some stats.

Books Read

5

One by One by Ruth Ware

Later by Stephen King

Salt Sugar Fat: How The Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb

One by One by Ruth Ware

I was looking through what the library had available and it recommended this new mystery by Ware. I've had mixed results with her but figured even when they're bad mysteries are at least interesting so let's give this a shot. There's a chalet up in the Alps, cut off from everyone due to an avalanche and one by one (see what she did there) people start dying. That and it's got a couple narrators and I love that. However, I didn't love this. I did love it, or at least really like it, for a while and I won't go into how things shifted because I can't get into that without spoilers but to say it was an abrupt about face with me going "Oh but I mean, they wouldn't do that...she wouldn't...cos I mean, you can't" and then angry listening to the remainder of the story going "Well...I guess she did that."

Rating before the turning point: 4 stars

Rating after the turning point: 2 stars

Later by Stephen King

It felt like I hadn't read King in a while. Though actually I read one of his books just last year. But I used to read a lot more King and then he just hasn't been top of mind for a while. Anyway, the point is, I was still scrolling through available titles from the library and this new King story came up. A young boy can see the spirts/ghosts (?) of the recently deceased and talk to them. Importantly, he can ask them questions, ones they have to answer truthfully. The story is interesting and feels very much like a King story. (Side question, has anyone, other than King, ever talked like the characters in King books talk? It is fascinating.) it also, despite being almost 250 pages, felt like it was a novella or at least the beginning of what could be a much longer story. Which I would definitely read.

Rating: 4 stars

Salt Sugar Fat: How The Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss

This book sort of fell flat for me. The conceit is that processed foods have a lot of salt, sugar and fat in them and those things are bad for us and we should eat less processed foods. Which great, agreed. There's a lot of stuff the food industry does that is presented as very ominous but it's mostly "they put a lot of these things in food, even when you wouldn't think the foods have a lot of salt/sugar/fat in them". Which. Yeah. They also went into "Sometimes the businesses make it a goal to change and make foods healthier but then people buy less of the healthy versions so businesses decide to go back to the less healthy version" which again. Yeah. At one point the book does seem to claim that sometime in the '90s Kraft came up with the concept of using cheese as an ingredient in recipes instead of as something to be eaten on its own and, no sir, I do not think that is true. The parts about how unhealthy these things can be were interesting. It seems to want to make the point that there should be gov regulation on these things because businesses won't make things healthier on their own since it costs them money without actually saying that, which was too bad because it left me going "OK making a lot of good points about how people eat too much of these but falling short on what can be done"

Rating: 2.5 stars

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

What if you had the chance to undo your regrets, to take a different path in life? Nora is given this opportunity for reasons, presented as a library and she can read herself into all new lives if she had just made different choices. What if she met that guy for coffee, what if she had studied glaciers, what if she had stayed in that band with her brother, what if she kept up with swimming? There are thousands of "what ifs" and each decision, big and small, can have drastic outcomes in a life. I like the idea of the novel but there were pieces I found frustrating. For example, whenever Nora jumps into one of this new versions of her life, she's her current age with no memory of what came before it. There's a lot of bluffing her way through these different lives since she should know, say, all of the band's hit songs before she plays in front of a crowd of thousands. Maybe I just found the idea of having to do this very stressful and while it added suspense to the story, I didn't see why, per the logic of the book, how that was helpful. Especially if the idea is Nora should find a life she would rather lead. That and the fact that Nora seemed to be AMAZING at whatever she decided to do. Should she have stuck with the band? Great, she's an international rock star beloved by millions. Should she have stuck to swimming? Olympic gold medalist! And while those frustrations did drop my rating down a bit, overall I did want to keep reading, even if the ending is fairly predictable. So that's something

Rating: 3.5 stars

Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb

This is a pseudo-memoir about Bess Kalb's relationship with her grandmother. Pseudo because it is based around conversations, many imaginary (as in, after her grandmother is dead) though some are taken direct from voicemails with her grandmother. Talking about her grandmother's life, and her grandmother's relationship with others in the matrilinear line (her mother, her daughter and of course, her granddaughter, Bess). The book is funny and touching, with a few pieces a bit more serious though mostly it's lighthearted and full of Jewish grandmotherly advice. And short. As an audiobook it was just about 4 hours.

Rating: 4 stars

Number of pages read

1,628

Fiction

60%

Female authors

40%

BIPOC authors

0% - not good, not good

US authors

60%

Book format

100%

Where'd I get the book

library: 80%

Indie bookstore: 20%

Bookclub/readalong

20%

Decade published

2010s: 20%

2020s: 80%

Resolution reads

40%

One by One by Ruth Ware (UK author)

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (UK author)

March Reading Stats+

March is over, another month down. I'm always a fan of March, considering it has a few birthdays in it, including my own. Not that we did much this year, given we're still dealing with this pandemic. Which is fine, and given how many times I needed to be reminded it was my birthday, not something I was worried about. 

I thought I had done more reading this month, but I had a few starts and stops that slowed things down, though I still managed to fit in more than 1,000 pages, which is apparently a goal I have set for myself, seeing how each time I look at my tracking sheet I see how I'm doing to that goal. But why not take a look at those stats?

Number of books read

4

A Spy in the Struggle by Aya de Leon

Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell

A Spy in the Struggle by Aya de Leon

Yolanda Vance, a driven FBI lawyer, gets sent undercover to infiltrate an "extremist" African-American group who are making trouble at a local chemical company with government ties. She isn't a field agent but she is relatively young, black and the group is operating in the town where she went to college so that's enough to make her the best agent for the job. I enjoyed much of the spy pieces and Yolanda deciding where her loyalties lie (although some of the stuff she discovers about the FBI's past seems like...yeah you should have probably known about that before, it's not exactly hidden). When the story focused on an "unexpected romance" I had more trouble staying focused. But overall, it was an engaging book and I did want to hear what would happen next.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

An early Hercule Poirot book, the third one published if Goodreads can be believed. There were several times the book swung from "Well this is just a product of its time" to "Nope, nope that's just racist" so something to consider if you're thinking of picking it up. This was a collection of short stories and I think if I was reading them vs listening I probably would have had a better time focusing. As it was, I found myself zoning out and honestly, the app I was using makes it hard to start a chapter over so most of the time I just stayed in the confusion. It's everything you'd expect from a Poirot mystery but they were shorter and Hastings seemed overall more annoyed with Poirot than I remember him being in later ones, but perhaps that was the narrator. Oh also, since I listened to this as an audiobook, one note on the narrator. Overall he did a very good job but he...he cannot do an American accent. He tries. And Americans seemed like they were in almost every story. But here's the thing. The accents were SO BAD and the American characters were only around briefly that it was honestly a delight each time I heard one. There were many different accents, all bad in different ways and never around long enough to be annoying. 

Rating: 3 stars

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

Have you heard of the art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum? Biggest unsolved art heist in history. Very interesting stuff, recommended. Anyway, this story is about artist Claire who makes her living making reproductions of famous works of art but can't seem to get her own art off the ground for reasons that are, honestly, sort of convoluted. But that's not the point here. The point is the reproductions she's doing are all on the up-and-up. But one day she's given something different to reproduce: one of the stole paintings from the museum. If she does this, she can get her own show at one of the top galleries in Boston. But what if this stolen Degas is also a fake? Some art history, some mystery, these are the good things. Some of the details around Claire and her history...bit less so. Overall the story probably could have done with some more editing but interesting story at the core.

Rating: 3 stars

Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell

Feminism and linguistics. I mean, what's not to love there, right? It's a funny book about the intersection of language and feminism, language and sexuality, language and gender. Each chapter is basically a stand alone piece looking at language from a particular lens, all with very nerdy humor. Definitely a quick read, one I enjoyed picking up. 

Rating: 4 stars

I also started to listen to A Killer Sundae by Abby Collette, the third in the Ice Cream Parlor cozy mystery series. I liked the first 2 books well enough and the library had an audiobook copy available of this latest one. I made it through about 2 minutes. Cos here's the thing. They've changed the narrator from the others in the series. Which could be fine, I didn't stop reading it on that fact alone. But 2 minutes in, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to listen to a whole book read this way. The pace was slow and sounded in no way like natural speech. If it was a book I was really into, I might have been able to power through (definitely listening on a faster speed), but honestly, I didn't think it was going to be worth the annoyance. Which is too bad but also reminds me the importance of narrator when choosing audiobooks. Maybe at some point I'll pick up a book (readable? non-audio? you know what I mean) version of this one

Number of pages read

1,267

Fiction

75%

Female authors

100%

BIPOC authors

25%

US authors

75%

Book format

audiobook: 100%

Where'd I get the book?

library: 100%

Bookclub/Readalong

25%

Decade published

1920s: 25%

2010s: 50%

2020s: 25%

Resolution Reads

50%

A Spy in the Struggle is by a Black author

Poirot Investigates was published before the 2000s and by a UK author