Would you believe that, once again, I had this post mostly written and then just forgot to post it? Well, you should because that is very on brand for me.
I'm not really sure what to say about April. It flew, but don't they all? The weather was nuts in these parts. We got some false summer where it was brought home just how excited I am for the prospect of getting AC put in on our second floor (unfortunately something that won't be happening until late summer/fall). I got to see friends. There was a Wild Kratts Live show for you theater buffs (who are under the age of 10 anyway). Things have been a bit crazy in some work world things (it's always something). And I got some reading done, which is really, the most exciting part, no?
Total books read
5
How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay by Jenny Lawson
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Strange Pictures by Uketsu
Everyone In This Bank Is A Thief by Benjamin Stevenson
How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy and Creative In Spite of Myself by Jenny Lawson
Not only was I of course stoked to know a new Jenny Lawson* book was coming out but also I managed to get on the "Notify Me" list early enough at my library that I was the first person to check it out. See, I leave app notifications off on Insta but I have them for the Important Things. Anyway, this book was different from her earlier books in that she frames it less as memoir and more as advice, of things that have worked for her when she's, well, not okay, whether because of her depression, ADHD, anxiety or various autoimmune conditions. It was less laugh-out-loud funny than her previous stuff (though still had its moments), but still a wonderful book that I will probably pick up a physical copy of at some point because while I loved hearing her read it, this does feel like the type of book you may want to flip to a particular section of at different times.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
OK, sure, I read this before. Not even a year ago. But now we're are in the middle of full-blown media tour for the movie and lots of people were talking about how GREAT the audiobook is, and a bunch of my library holds hadn't come in yet so I decided to look for it. Unfortunately because it is an Audible exclusive (which should not include libraries, Amazon I hate you so much), the only versions my library has are in Italian and Spanish, which, NGL, I briefly considered the Italian and testing how well Duolingo is working out for me. But in the end I caved because it was on sale for $5 and look, I'm not happy about this either but people were right and the audiobook really is SO GOOD. I was a little worried because while I loved reading The Martian, the audiobook fell flat for me but no, this was just as good this time around and I loved it as much and now I need to figure out time to see the movie (in an actual movie theater!). And I realize I haven't talked about the story at all but I just read & wrote about it not long ago so I guess I'll just link to that...here.
Rating: 4.5 stars
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
This started as a Matthew bedtime story. I didn't remember a ton about it but when I saw it on some list of kids books, I remembered how much I liked it as a kid, so thought I'd give it a try for him. Here's the thing. He didn't really care. Mostly it seemed to center on too many adults and he wanted more children. I tried for a few days but it wasn't sticking. Except at that point, I was invested and also I couldn't remember how things turned out, so I decided I would just read it myself while he listened to Diary Of A Wimpy Kid audiobooks. Everyone was happy. The Westing Game involves a dead business tycoon, a bunch of seemingly unrelated "heirs" named in the will, and a game to figure out who murdered Westing and thus win the $200M. It's a fun mystery with word games and unexpected pairings, and twists, and turns. It did drag a bit here and there, especially in the latter half but I still enjoyed and was still surprised.
Rating: 3.75 stars
Strange Pictures by Uketsu
Should I have read this instead of listened to it so I could see the pictures? I mean, probably. The audiobook said both at the start and the end, how you should look at the companion PDF to view the titular Strange Pictures. Except I got a library copy which came with no such PDF so I relied on a bit of Google Image searching and sure, maybe that isn't ideal but even after seeing the pictures, I think I was fine. Strange Pictures is a collection of interconnected stories where the pictures serve as important clues to solve multiple-crimes. Even without the images, I was drawn into the stories, to the mysteries. It starts the discovery of a blog that seems normal enough but ends abruptly with a post about how the writer can never forgive an unnamed "you" and the feeling that these pictures posted years earlier hold the answer. Sure, it's not the most believable of mysteries (and if anything, I would probably categorize it more as horror than mystery) but it was enough to draw (ha) me in and I will probably check out another Uketsu book, this time probably in physical book form.
Rating: 4 stars
Everyone In This Bank Is A Thief by Benjamin Stevenson
Another Ernest Cunningham book! He's solved a few murders in the past and now it's time for a bank heist! Because who doesn't love a locked room mystery? Ernest and fiancée Juliette are in a bank in a remote town trying to secure funding for a detective agency when they, along with 8 other people, are taken hostage by a masked man whose motives seem...confusing to say the least. There are lots of motives, lots of secrets, and of course Ernest is compelled to try to solve the crime(s) going on. The Ernest books are all so much fun and while the first (Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone) is still my fav, this was still fun and twisty (but no cheating the mystery!) and I love Ernest as narrator.
Rating: 4.5 stars
I also started a book The Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer, but honestly a lot of little things just had me arguing with the book (largely to yell "did you Google nothing while writing this??) and I dunno maybe it will get better or maybe I will continue to wonder how a grim reaper works a 9-5 job because don't people die outside of those hours? Do others take those cases? Also how has she had no experience with people who maybe aren't thrilled to find out they're dead, given this is a job she's had for years? Sorry I will stop now. But you can prob see why I just returned it to the library.
Total pages read
1,540
Fiction
80% - right now, prob the best place to be
Female authors
40%
US authors
60%
BIPOC authors
20%
Translation
20%
Reread
20%
Format
audiobook: 80%
ebook: 20%
Where'd I get the book
library: 80%
Kindle/Audible: 20%
Decade published
1970s: 20%
2020s: 80%
Resolution books
60%
The Westing Game was published in 1978, so pre-2000
Strange Pictures is by a Japanese author and is a translation
Everyone In This Bank Is A Thief is by an Australian author
*Fun side story that I have FOR SURE told on this blog before but TBH, I'm not going to back right now (maybe ever?) to see what I wrote so you're getting it again. The first ever book signing I went to was Jenny Lawson's first book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened. And just by luck of where we were sitting, my friend and I were the first people at the table to get our books signed. When we got up there, my friend and I looked at each other and then looked at Lawson and sort of sheepishly said "Hey, we're not really sure what we're supposed to say here cos we've never done this." To which Lawson said "I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say either cos I've also never done this. So we'll just figure it out together." and it was wonderful and lovely and really made things feel way less awkward. Though don't worry, I made things real awkward at a Christopher Moore book signing a few months later because I was owed one, I guess.
