September Reading Wrap-Up+

Autumn is here and the weather in this area is starting to feel like the season. And after moving to our house sometime in May, we have, I believe, finally found all of the boxes of books. That's exciting, after having kept them in boxes for almost 2 years. Also, I'm pretty sure there was some book multiplying happening because how do we have so many books? I'm not sure. I've also realized just how many built ins our previous townhouse has and I really took those for granted. 

This is just one of our bookshelves (I guess the floor counts as a shelf) and it is very indicative of what every bookshelf in the house looks like. And this is a new bookshelf. Someone in the house (ahem, me) suggested perhaps just one new bookshelf would not be enough but it's fine. I'll be ordering more soon now that the reality of the situation is clear. It's a good thing I started using the library as much as I do now, though of course I also bought a new book yesterday. Two actually cos the little monster got one as well.

Now, let's take a look at those stats. 

Number of books read

4

Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbary

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Shit Actually: The 100% Definitive Guide to Modern Cinema by Lindy West

The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan

Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbary

A re-read while I waited for library holds to come in (in particular the next one which I had pushed back at least 5 times). Really frustrating (though slightly repetitive) coverage on all the ways the healthcare system fails women. Whether its not taking their medical complaints seriously, or just not studying them at all, it's one thing after the other. The book does start to make the same points again and again which made it a little hard to focus on at times

Rating: 3.5 stars

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

I have been trying to figure out what to say about this book even before I finished it. And I don't think I'm any clearer on it. The book is a bit slow and not a lot happens for a while. But also a ton happens. It hops from one genre to another at times, but the storytelling always feels consistent. I was on multiple times surprised with the direction the story took. I was also bored at times, but also really wanted to know where this was going. I'm saying all this cos I don't know if I can describe the plot. A woman who works at a men's magazine in Tokyo finds herself becoming obsessed with this woman who is currently in jail for killing a number of former lovers (though she proclaims her innocence) and who had a great appreciation for food, especially butter-heavy French cooking, slightly unusual for Japan.

Rating: 4 stars

Shit Actually: The 100% Definitive Guide to Modern Cinema by Lindy West

Another re-read while I again, waiting for the library hold timing to line up. I've read/listened to this a few times and of course the titular "Shit, Actually" review of Love Actually is a classic that I think about whenever the movie comes up. Some of the reviews made me laugh, some made me cringe, some made me roll my eyes. I think I've enjoyed it more in the past but it still entertained me, moreso when she's talking about the movies she enjoyed (The Fugitive) than the ones she didn't (Love Actually notwithstanding) 

Rating: 3.25 stars

The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan

I'm not even 100% sure where I heard about this. I may have been browsing the library app for titles that were available right then. Or I was looking through books that were on sale and decided to see if the library had a copy. However the way, the library did have a copy of this murder mystery available right away and I love a murder mystery. A ghostwriter (who I am confirming now remains unnamed throughout the book, something I did not realize until I just went to name her) gets the opportunity to write the memoir for former Senator and failed Presidential Candidate Dorothy Gibson, a not-especially-subtle Hillary Clinton-inspired figure. Before they can do much in the way of memoir discussing, Dorothy's neighbor turns up dead and for reasons that are never explain, Dorothy decides she wants to investigate the case. The mystery itself, very Agatha Christie-esque is fun and has your colorful suspects with lots of motives. But why have the political candidate angle? I have no idea. I kept assuming all would be revealed at the end and nope. It never came up. But if you sort of ignore that part (it can be hard at times, I acknowledge) it's fun mystery.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Total pages read

1,472

Fiction

50%

Female authors

75%

BIPOC authors

25%

US authors

75%

Rereads

50%

Translation

25%

Format

audiobook - 100%

Where'd I get the book

Kindle/Audible - 50%

Library - 50%

Decade published

2010s - 50%

2020s - 50%

Resolution books

25%

Butter is by a Japanese author and is a translation

August Reading Wrap-Up+

Another month has passed and with that, summer is over as well. The little monster has started first grade ("What?" I hear you say. "What do you mean? He is just baby, how is he doing this?" Believe me I ask these questions too.) We continue to work through unpacking and we've found what I hope to be most of our boxes of books. It's definitely not all, which is somewhat unfortunate because we have already filled the bookshelves we have. I did not consider the fact that our previous place had built in bookshelves that are lacking here. Oops. Guess we'll have to go shopping for some more shelves!

Talking about books, let's see what my stats looked like for August

Number of books read

6

The Murder of Mr. Ma by John Shen Yee Nee and SJ Rozan

The Good, The Bad, & The Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Andrea Vernon & The Corporation for UltraHuman Protection by Alexander C. Kane

Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson

Brat: An '80s Story by Andrew McCarthy

How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

The Murder of Mr. Ma by John Shen Yee Nee and SJ Rozan

Historical fiction murder mystery taking place in 1920s London, trying to track down who has been killing Chinese immigrants. Lots of Sherlock-esque elements here (a Sherlock/Watson relationship between Dee Ren Jie and Lao She, street urchins as eyes and ears, opium use, the general setting) with an interesting twist. It look me a little time to get into the setting and get myself into the story but once in, I was in. Fun, quick-paced mystery that I very much enjoyed. Looks like it’s the start of a series so I’ll prob check out the others.

Rating: 4.15 stars

The Good, The Bad & The Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Meddy Chan, her mom and 3 aunties are back, this time in Jakarta celebrating both her honeymoon to Nathan and Chinese New Year. Now that Meddy has found her love, it’s time to focus on the aunties, in this case Second Aunt rekindles a romance with a former boyfriend (who may or may not be a crime boss). Naturally, there is a mix-up and our heroes get tangled up in 3 feuding families. While still a lot of fun, this is probably the weakest of the Aunties books, probably because I feel like we spent way more time with Meddy (and Nathan who, I’m sorry, is very boring) and less time with her mom and the aunties, who, let’s be clear, I am THERE for. 

Rating: 3.75 stars

Andrea Vernon & The Corporation for UltraHuman Protection by Alexander C. Kane

I've read this at least three times and it is just as fun every time. Office-comedy except the office is for a company that manages superheroes. There's an equal amount of superhero-ing (a giant alient egg thing shows up over Yankee Stadium one day) and office-ing (the superheroes need to complete sexual harassments training) and I love it. And it includes my favorite/most obnoxious superhero, Inspector Well Actually, who has powers of super observation and can basically tell the future but only if he is correcting someone ("Well, actually...") 

Also, I've listened to a few audiobooks that Bahni Turpin has narrated and she is great

Rating: 5 stars

Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson

I think the summary for this book does it a disservice. Because it describes something that sounds like a cozy mystery with two misfits team up to solve a crime. Which...eh. Not really the tone. The initial mystery sort of takes a back seat to a lot of background for the two main characters who are both in their own ways running from their pasts. Pasts that I think the author could have done a better job with (something I am struggling to put into words without spoilers but I think the author was too concerned with keeping them likeable that it hurt the impact of their pasts). I liked the set up but things took a turn that was fine but not really what I wanted. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Brat: An '80s Story by Andrew McCarthy

A memoir from Andrew McCarthy that seemed to be full of contradictions. He talks about revisiting his early acting career and gaining a better understanding, but I felt like he kept the reader at arm's length and I never really got to know him. Which I suppose makes sense, considering he talks about how a defense mechanism of his to act very aloof and pretend he doesn't care, which seemed to have rubbed some of his costars the wrong way (although hard to say cos he doesn't really get into it... except with Jon Cryer and that's mostly cos McCarthy didn't like him). His timeline jumps around a bit because he's trying to keep things tied to the 80s, which made things a bit hard to follow at times. He describes his acting style and what he was drawn to as much more prestigious work than his IMDB page would suggest (sir, you were in Mannequin and Weekend at Bernie's. Not shade to either but come on). And honestly, he titles this Brat but then talks about how he wasn't really part of the original Brat Pack. He was more Brat Pack-adjacent. But I did like his writing and he had a turn of phrase about his dad that I liked and wishing I had written down before I returned the book to the library.

Rating: 3 stars

How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

A murder-mystery that flips back and forth between 1965, the summer when Frances got a reading from a fortune-teller that told her she would be murdered and started a lifelong obsession, and present day with her great-niece Annie who is trying to uncover the truth and find out who did kill her Great Aunt Frances (that's not a spoiler, it happens pretty early in the book and the summary describes) in part to gain access to a vast fortune and let her and her mom stay in the home they've always lived in. It's a fun story, with lots of twists and turns, potential allies and suspects.

Rating: 4 stars

Total pages read

1,817

Fiction

83%

Female authors

50%

BIPOC authors

33%

US authors

67%

Rereads

17%

Book Club reads

17%

Format

audiobook - 83%

hard back - 17%

Where'd I get the book

Kindle/Audible - 17%

library - 83%

Decade published

2010s - 17%

2020s - 83%

Resolution books

50%

The Murder of Mr. Ma is by an Asian-American author

The Good, The Bad & The Aunties is by a Malaysian author

Nosy Neighbors is by a UK author

July Reading Wrap-Up+

What started as a slow month (I didn't start reading anything until the 8th) really picked up near the end. Which is surprising considering July felt like a very busy month. I mean, I didn't move or anything so I guess there's that but the monster turned 6 (what is time, even?) and we had our 10 year wedding anniversary (again, time, what?) so there were Things happening.

Hey look, I have actually kept up with my book bullet journal, even if I keep forgetting to post it here.

Anyway, let's get to those stats, shall we?

Number of books read

5

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism by Amber Ruffian & Lacey Lamar

Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism by Amber Ruffian & Lacey Lamar

This book is so much fun. I’ve read it at least 3 times now and it’s just as funny each time. And yes, it’s a book about racism and what is funny about that? Well, when recounted by comedian Amber Ruffian & her sister Lacey Lamar about mostly the everyday nonsense Lacey runs into being a Black woman in very white Omaha. While the audiobook lacks some of the visuals Amber describes, the fact that it is read by Ruffian herself (with some interjections from Lacey) more than makes up for it. Very funny and a quick read
Rating: 5 stars
 

Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
Gilda is anxious. She’s constantly worried about death, can’t hold a job, can’t keep her apartment clean, ignores her sort of girlfriend and can’t talk to her family, who seem to rather hide problems rather than confront them. She finds herself at the local Catholic church and is mistaken for someone applying for the new receptionist job, she’s too embarrassed to correct the priest and instead pretends to be straight and Catholic to accept the job (that she admittedly needs). She even pretends to be the previous receptionist, Grace, when she starts seeing emails from Grace’s old friend start turning up in the church inbox and can’t bear to break the news. But when suspicions arise around Grace’s death, Gilda finds herself in a tricky position. See how interesting that premise sounds? There are moments here and there, but it felt like at least 80% of the novel was Gilda being anxious. Anxious in different locations but as a character, she was one-dimensional, hardly changing throughout the book. The set up and even the outline of the characters felt like there was so much potential that never really materialized.
Rating: 2.75 stars
 

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
Murder mystery around a Great British Bake Off-esque show? Yes, please! Or at least "yes, please" in theory. In execution, well. Six amateur bakers make their way to a Vermont estate for a 5-day Bake Week challenge, hosted and judged by estate owner and celebrity baker Betsy Martin. The book opens a few days into the contest with a body being found before we jump back to day one and meet the contestants who each narrate their own chapters, along with chapters from Betsy. Things seem to be going wrong from the start, odd things happening to the ingredients, and what is up with that wing of the house no one is allowed in? Lots of interesting things being set up, but, as I mentioned, the whole book takes place over a couple days so from the start, things felt rushed. Still a mostly fun book (I still wanted to know what happened) but fell a bit flat.

Rating: 3.25 stars

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz

Oh look, another entry in the Hawthorne & Horowitz series. This time Anthony is telling the story of a past Hawthorne investigation, one that he is not directly part of because, let's face it, there are only so many intriguing murder mysteries that can happen "in real life" before belief has been suspended a bit too far. A grisly murder happens in what seems to be an idyllic cluster of homes in Riverside Close, when the new neighbor (who didn't really fit in with this tight-knit community) is found dead. Everyone had motive. Everyone had secrets. Who could have done it? And how can Anthony help tell the story of a case that's already closed? There's less of the dynamic between Hawthorne & Horowitz than in the other books, which is a shame because that is fun to see, but it's still an entertaining murder mystery and yes, I'll probably continue on should Horowitz keep writing them.

Rating: 4 stars

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

My first Stevenson book, Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, was one of my favorite books of last year. But I was surprised to see it listed as the first in a series because it didn't seem to be the kind of story to lend itself to a sequel. But apparently it did and we once again join Ernest Cunningham as he writes about solving a murder complete with clues, both hidden and those called out to the reader, lots of twists, humor and in general a good time. I mean, it's five crime writers trying to solve a crime. That's a good time, isn't it? 

Rating: 4.25 stars

Total pages read

1,523

Fiction

80%

Female authors

60%

BIPOC authors

20%

US authors

40%

Rereads

20%

Format

audiobook - 100%

Where'd I get the book

Library - 80%

Gift - 20%

Decade published

2020s - 100%

Resolution books

80%

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey is by a Black author (or pair of them, really)

Everyone in This Room Will Be Dead Someday is by a Canadian author

Close to Death is by a UK author

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect is by an Australian author

June Reading Wrap-Up+

We’re in the middle summer now. Which means vacations, maybe some that involve some travel time. Maybe some time relaxing by the pool or sitting on the beach. You know, prime time to get some reading done? Well, I have done a trip! It involved a cross-country plane ride.* And there was time by the pool and on the beach. How much reading did I get done on said vacation? Nothing. Zilch. Oh, I had books. I had a library book I had been on the waitlist for I think 100 years waiting on. I had a physical book I threw into my bag as backup. But it turns out that children can be a bit of a distraction. Oh the plane, because I was interrupted every few minutes, I couldn’t get into the flow of a book without just re-reading the same couple sentences over and over, so I ended up relistening to some old podcasts because who cares if I miss big chunks? And the pool and beach, well there is no sitting down time there. Not that this wasn’t a fun vacation. I have just accepted that, for now, vacations are a gap in my reading time instead of my time to read. Which is really too bad because that library book I mentioned? I had to send it back to the library only about 25% of the way through because my time was up and there was a long line of others waiting for it. Rouge, I will come back for you.

Let’s get to those stats! 
 
Number of books read
4
Joyful Recollections of Trauma by Paul Scheer
The List by Yomi Adegoke
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka
The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo
 

Joyful Recollections of Trauma by Paul Scheer
I am a big fan of the podcast How Did This Get Mad, where 3 comedians (plus guests) talk about bad movies. Paul Scheer is the ringleader of this and a number of times throughout the 10+ years’ worth of episodes little tidbits about his life growing up have come out. They’re usually awkward and hilarious. So, as he’s been talking about this book he wrote, of course I was going to check it out. I actually think I was the first person to get it when my library got a copy (love that “notify me” feature in Libby, btw). And first thing I want to say is the book is funny. There are a lot of funny anecdotes about growing up and getting into comedy and all of that. But the “Trauma” in the title isn’t metaphorical and things were a lot rougher and sadder for parts of his life than I would have thought from the personality he puts out in his work. If you’re a fan of his work in general (and seriously, check out HDTGM), then definitely give this a listen. And I recommend listen since he reads it which really sells some of the humor. Plus, the audiobook includes clips from the podcast when he’s telling various childhood stories so you get the bonus of reactions from his co-hosts Jason and June.
Rating: 4 stars
 

The List by Yomi Adegoke
Ola and Michael seem like the perfect couple, the best example of #BlackLove. But only a few weeks before their wedding, Michael finds himself on “The List”, a #MeToo inspired anonymous list of men in media who have committed some sort of assault on women. Michael is accused of sexual harassment, certainly not as bad as some of the multiple rape accusations others on the list get, but still not good. The book is then alternating chapters from Ola’s and Michael’s POV. Ola as she grapples with believing all women (she is a feminist writer for the publication Womxxxn) and if this wasn’t Michael on the list, she would be on the front line in calling for these men to be held accountable while also lambasting women who stood by them. Michael meanwhile is trying to understand who put him on the list and while he vehemently denies the claim, he has an idea who is behind it. While an interesting premise, this book didn’t really work for me. First, it jumps into the list almost immediately, to the point where I hadn’t really connected with the couple yet, so any shock that this character was on the list is…muted to say the least. Then there is the “mystery” of if Michael belonged on the list or not which could have made the book more interesting except it didn’t work here. There were interesting ideas here, especially the idea of being tried in the court of Twitter, but the execution was repetitive and fell flat.
Rating: 2.75 stars
 

Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka
Algorithmic recommendations say they’re going to give everyone personalized recommendations, but in reality these algorithms have the affect of making everything the same and no matter where you go or what you look for, you see similar trends be it in coffee shops or TV shows or music or even places to visit. Can you really make a free choice when algorithms determine so much of what you see? I think they’re interesting questions and there were good points made about how much affect the algorithms on social media, in Netflix, in Spotify, in TikTok affect what trends in culture. But there were multiple times when it seemed like the author just kinda wanted to talk about the cool music they liked and how it’s way better than the pop music Spotify will recommend, or how they did vacations better because they focused on “being there” instead of taking pictures to ostensibly post on social media later. And while I get this was not the main point, it seemed missing to not address at all the YouTube algorithm sending people down crazy right-wing, conspiracy theory rabbit holes.
Rating: 3 stars
 

The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo
Really wish I could remember where I heard of this book. I think it was some list of diversify your reading or maybe just about mysteries and thrillers. Who knows. I should probably write this down when I add a book to my TBR. Anyway, in continuing with a theme of geriatric killers, this book is about an aging contract killer who goes by Hornclaw. She seems like any other 65-year-old grandma, never standing out, but you wouldn’t guess her coat is lined with knives and she has enough kills under her belt she can’t remember them all. But what does she do as she ages? Can she retire or is that not really an option when this has been your world for the last 45 years? Like with a lot of this month, I liked the idea of the book but was surprised with some of the directions it took. I thought it would be a bit more humorous as Hornclaw figures out what is retirement like for someone like her? There is a bit of a line about her connecting with a doctor and his family but that played a much smaller role through most of the book than I would have guessed based on the summary. We got a bit about her past and how she came to this line of work but overall the story seemed disjointed and the ending a bit rushed.
Rating: 3 stars
 
Total pages read
1,170
 
Fiction
50%
 
Female authors
50%
 
BIPOC authors
50%
 
US authors
50%
 
Book club reads
25%
 
Translations
25%
 
Format
Audiobook – 100%
 
Where’d I get the book
Library – 75%
Gift – 25%
 
Decade published
2010s – 25%
2020s – 75%
 
Resolution books
50%
The List is by a Nigerian-British author
The Old Woman with the Knife is by a Korean author and a translation 
 
*If you’re curious, the trip was to San Diego, where we’ve actually gone the last few years because there are lots of fun things to do and also we have friends out there so it’s nice to be able to see people as well as like, go to Disneyland and Legoland. Two places that also do not lend themselves to much reading time.

May Reading Wrap-Up+

Man. May. I'm so tired.

I mentioned in the April post that we bought a house. Yay! Finally! Well in May, we moved into the house. Which is great! But also a lot of work. We moved just before Memorial weekend. And then we had plans for the weekend. And then I had to travel for work. So we're still living out of boxes but we're slowly getting things unpacked and soon enough (I hope!) we'll even begin decorating and have pictures up on the walls and things like that. Stuff to make it feel like it's really our house. Of course we had drama on move in day involved a hot water heater pouring water on the basement floor. (It's funny now because nothing was really damaged and my father-in-law is GREAT and fixed everything the next day). 

Let's get into the stats and also see if I can get images to upload or not. (Hey look, I did it! Now to go back and update the past ones)

Total books read

4

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr

A cozy little mystery story. Clayton was found on the steps of a home for The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers when he was a baby. It's a bit of a commune for people who make puzzles. Mazes and jigsaws and crosswords and trivia. He's raised by all the members of the house, but primarily by Pippa, the founder of the fellowship. When she passes away, she leaves Clayton a series of clues to help him discover his past and where he came from. The story jumps between present day, as Clayton tries to figure out Pippa's clues, and the past, when Pippa was first forming the fellowship. It's a sweet story, with apparently some puzzles you can solve as you go but which I did not because I mostly listened to it but that sounds like it could have been a good time if that's your thing.

Rating: 3.75 stars

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

I loved Reid's earlier book, Such a Fun Age, so when library hold timing finally lined up with my real-world timing, I was excited to check this out. It's a story with multiple narrators: RA Millie, visiting professor Agatha and student Kennedy. The story is more about characters than any plot, because it takes a long time for any sort of plot to happen. On the one hand, this could be fine depending on the character. On the other hand, there was a lot about RAs and RA life and honestly, it wasn't all that interesting. There are also character reactions that seem entirely overblown. But once I did get over an initial hump, plot or no, I was interested enough to keep listening. That said, maybe check out Such a Fun Age

Rating: 3.5 stars

The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz

The library always seems to have a copy of these Hawthorne and Horowitz books available and it is pretty great that Horowitz makes his literary counterpart kind of a dumb dumb, so I am all in on this series. This time Hawthorne has to solve a murder of a critic and Horowitz is the lead suspect. I mean, this critic did give a pretty scathing review of Horowitz's play, putting much of the blame on Horowitz's writing. But could he really have done it? Hawthorne agrees to help or rather, agrees to solve the case, wherever the truth may take him. Very fun murder mystery series with a protagonist who is just a little bit pathetic. 

Rating 3.6 stars

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

After multiple attempts to get this book (including downloading a library copy to my Kindle and promptly losing my Kindle in the move) I managed to read this book for my book club. Fantasy from Clarke and while fantasy isn't my favorite genre, I loved Strange & Norrell so Clarke gets the benefit of the doubt. Which is good because this book throws you right into a world / labyrinthine of marble rooms filled with statues and you have to just kind of go with it. We meet the narrator, who is called Piranesi by The Other, the only other living person (there are a few skeletons Piranesi attends to). Piranesi sees himself as a scientist, filling journals with what he is doing, observes, as he survives in this House. Some rooms regularly flood (providing him the opportunity to fish), some rooms that are filled with clouds that bring rain, and some middle rooms that birds have made home. But slowly there seems to be another world and we're learning about everything alongside Piranesi. The book grabbed me and I finished all but 30 pages in one sitting (having a flight helped).

Rating: 4 stars

Total pages read

1,413

Fiction

100%

Female authors

50%

BIPOC authors

25%

US authors

25% (the others were all UK)

Book club reads

25%

Format

audiobook: 75%

ebook: 25%

Where'd I get the book?

library: 100%

Decade published

2020s: 100%

Resolution books

100%

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, The Twist of the Knife, and Piranesi are all by UK authors

Come and Get It is by a Black author

April Reading Wrap Up+

Look at that, another month done. This one was less eventful than last month (no ER visits for me this time around!) but it's still been busy. Mostly because of the whole "we bought a house" thing. The people we bought it from were staying there for a bit after we closed, but they ended up moving out way sooner than we thought so we've been getting some stuff ready for when we can actually move in, as well as working to show the current rental we're in and hopefully get it rented out before our lease is up. That's in between general work stuff. 

I didn't get quite the reading done that I wanted to, mostly because library hold timing was not working out in my favor. They either all come in at the same time or I have this window where I don't want to start something cos a library hold is going to come in any second and then I realize a week has gone by and don't get me wrong, love my podcasts, but still.

Let's get right into it. What did I read in April?

(Oh also, it turns out for whatever reason I still can't get images to upload and I will spend some time trying to figure it out cos WTF man but I'm sorry right now we are image less. Again.)

Total books read

5

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwa

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World by Michael Pollen

Cut and Run by Ben Acker & Ben Blacker

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwa

What if you wanted to taste a very specific dish, a dish you couldn't just get yourself, one more time? And what if you liked Great British Bake-Off but thought it was just a bit too suspenseful and high-stakes for you? Well then, you are in luck because this book has you covered on both sides. The father-daughter-duo of Nagare and Koishi run a diner that is in a run down area with no sign out front, but they seem to do fine business, not only selling food but recreating specific meals for their clients. Lots of tasty meal descriptions, very little wondering if they're going to accomplish their goals. If you want to curl up with something nice, you could do worse. (That said, I have thoughts on their "Italian" dish which involved way more hot dogs and Tobasco than I think Italians would have considered, but what do I know?)

Rating: 3.75 stars

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

Backman gets me every time, with his prickly characters that seem so unlikeable at first and manage to completely win me over without them having to do some dramatic 180 in behavior. It worked with Ove and it worked here with Britt-Marie. She starts out so persnickity and particular, aghast that she would be served tea in a plastic cup, not a mug and where is the coaster? She's awkward, she's a nag, she's very critical (even when trying to compliment someone) and when she finds herself at 60 with no home and no work, she doesn't have much choice but to take a job as a caretaker to a rec center in a small faraway town. And of course then she worms her way into my heart and was a bawling at points as Britt-Marie tries to find a place for herself and confirm that someone can see her and that she matters? Yes of course I was.

Rating: 4.75 stars

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

I didn't read 2 Backman's back-to-back on purpose. And I certainly didn't consider the order I read them in, but it turns out that Britt-Marie Was Here is sort of a spinoff/sequel to this one and I probably should have read them in the other order, if I gave any thought to this at all. But I didn't. Anyway. This time the main character isn't so unlikeable, probably cos she's a 7 year old girl with no friends except for her grandmother. Her grandmother who was a trailblazer as a doctor at a time when women didn't do that and now is mostly a chaos-causer and story-teller to her granddaughter. And then, her grandmother dies and leaves Elsa with a series of letters to deliver to various people in the house they live in (which has been divided into a bunch of apartments, including one for the previously-mentioned Britt-Marie). She learns about her neighbors, about her grandmother, about where the make believe stories from the Land of Almost Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas come from. This was harder for me to get into, but once again, I was won over in the end.

Rating: 4.75 stars

Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World by Michael Pollen

It's fine. It's a short-story-really-more-of-a-magazine-article history of caffeine, mostly from coffee and Pollen's attempts to briefly go off the stuff. It's fine. I read it because of the whole library hold timing thing and I wanted to read something and this was sitting in my Audible library and was short so there you go.

Rating: 3 stars

Cut and Run by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker

This was another Audible Original I had sitting in my library but one I had never listened to before. This was more of a radio play wit ha full cast including D'Arcy Carden, Sam Richardson, Rachel Bloom, Ed Begly Jr and Meg Ryan, which is probably why I downloaded it in the first place (that and it was free). It's a tale of 2 lovable con artists who steal people's kidneys and it's less dark than that makes it sound (but it's not NOT dark cos still...kidney stealing). It's mostly funny and who doesn't love Sam Richardson? Anyone who says they don't is lying or hasn't seen him in anything and also lying. It was fun and short as a good in between waiting on those library holds to come in.

Rating: 4 stars

Total Pages Read

1,046

Fiction

80%

Female authors

0% - what the wha? I had to double check that, but alas, appears to be true

BIPOC authors

20%

US authors

40%

Reread

20%

Translation

60%

Format

audiobook - 100%

Where'd I get the book

library - 60%

Audible - 40%

Decade published

2010s - 60%

2020s - 40%

Resolution

60%

Backman is from Sweden and his stuff is translated

Kashiwa is Japanese and his stuff is translated (and I have feelings about the translation being heavily British inspired and maybe that's how the original was written but I dunno...)