February Reading Wrap-Up+

February is done. How is this the shortest month but also it was 1000 years long and ALSO over in a flash? Witchcraft, that's what this month was.

In the Northeast we're coming off of a blizzard (at least at the time I'm writing this) and while it could have been worse in my area (I see you, Providence and Boston with like 30 inches of snow) it was still not fun to deal with. OK, I mean, the snow is a little fun, but there's just been So. Much. Of. It. We spent basically all of Monday trying to clear the snow. And we have a snowblower* but it still took all day, mostly because it's battery powered and it demanded mandatory breaks every 1hr 45min, which, tbh, I did not mind. AND THEN, after digging ourselves out and dealing with 2 snow days, we got more snow. Not much, sure, but enough that schools were delayed. 

All that is to say, if whatever I write below feels a little...off, please know I'm writing this in that frame of mind, which is to say exhausted, both physically and mentally. You're welcome.

Did I spend any time relaxing and reading? Hahahaha. I did a few times decide, when I had a second to sit down, to set a stopwatch to see how quickly I get interrupted and how often. First attempt was 11 min of trying to relax with 4 interruptions. I did get one almost 5 minute stretch so. That was something. But I did get reading done so let's take a look

Number of books read

7

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

May Contain Murder by Orlando Murrin

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose

The Wizard of Oz (graphic novel) by L. Frank Baum & Ben Caldwell

Little Bosses Everywhere: How The Pyramid Scheme Shaped America by Bridget Read

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

I can't quite remember when I picked this up but it was relatively recently on a trip to a bookstore. I recognized the title as a show my husband and I had started before getting distracted (this is not the show's fault) and we should really go back and watch it again. The book is a bit hard to describe. It's not a straight narrative. Willis Wu is Generic Asian Man in this world with dreams of becoming the pinnacle of what is available to people like him: Kung Fu Guy. Sometimes a screenplay, sometimes character background, a look at race & stereotypes in TV & movies, and in American more generally. "Who gets to be American? What does an American look like?...After two centuries here, why are we still not Americans?" "Why doesn't this face register as American?" and topics dealt with subtly (to an extent) at times, and then very direct (those are quotes, after all). The story is clever and entertaining and a quick read (once I finally had some time to sit down and read it).

Rating: 4.25 stars

May Contain Murder by Orlando Murrin

A sequel to Knife Skills Paul Delamare is back, this time on a luxury superyacht headed from England to the Caribbean to celebrate the recent wedding of an old friend. But then a priceless necklace goes missing, a person is found dead, the ship seems to be drifting off-course and Paul is trying to figure out what is going on, what secrets do the other guests have and how is he going to get out of this one? All while things back at home in London seem to be falling apart. These books are mostly...fine. The mystery is interesting enough, the characters are colorful and there is some charm in the fact that, generally, Paul is SO BAD at detectiving. He tries and he's in very precarious situations where he finds himself without much solid footing and he's not a detective. He's a chef (so there are many lovingly-described food scenes) so he shouldn't be good at this and that piece works, even if it can get frustrating. At times the story drags and it was easy to zone out a times.

Rating: 3.25 stars

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Bedtime read for the little guy (when I can tear him away from Captain Underpants and Dogman. No shade to either of those series, btw). He was a big fan of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG and I realized I didn't remember much of this book except there's a huge flying peach and some giant talking insects. The whole story is wild because there is all of that, as well as an eccentric man that appears out of the woods offering James a special concoction that will turn his sad lift around, attacking cloud men and a trans-Atlantic voyage. Also a cadre of giant talking insects. It was weird and silly and also a bit "Oh. OK." It was fine. Strange things happen and it's a bit of a series of things that happen that ultimately don't ladder up to much.

Rating: 3 stars

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen

Historical figures have shown up in modern times and listen, that is honestly not a big deal for the story. Everyone is fine with that. The important thing is now Harriet Tubman has returned, is in NYC and is looking for a producer to help her with a project. She's going to make an album and looks for our narrator Darnell. Darnell doesn't entirely know why he was chosen or if he's even up for the challenge. He listens to stories Harriet and the others in her entourage (of course she has an entourage) can tell her about their time, about slavery, about their lives. Darnell is also dealing with is own concerns and secrets. This was clever and moving and funny and highly recommended.

Rating: 4.25 stars

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose

The third Molly the Maid novel. This time, things seem to be going pretty well for Molly. She is engaged, work is going well, and she recently learned, via an Antiques Roadshow-esque show, one of her gran's items turns out to be worth more than a small fortune. That is, of course, until the item goes missing. There are no murders in this book. Instead we spend a lot (a lot) of time in a diary her grandmother started keeping late in life to explain to Molly some of her (gran's) early life. These chapters make up what I would estimate to be like 60% of the book. Was it actually 60%? I dunno but it was a lot and I gotta tell you, it wasn't for me. The second book had a lot of flashbacks (which is essentially what these were) but they still centered on Molly and seemed more connected to who Molly was and the present-day mystery. This one...less so. 

Rating: 2.75 stars

The Wizard of Oz (graphic novel) by L. Frank Baum & Ben Caldwell

I didn't actually mean to take out a graphic novel version of this when I was looking for something to read to the boy (the risks of borrowing books on the app and also not reading descriptions). But it all worked out because this story treatment was fun, the artwork was evocative and at times funny and there is some praise on the fact that none of the images looked like the oh-so-famous movie. Given it's place in culture, that is impressive. Was this close to the actual, original story? I have no idea, but I liked it and the boy liked it.

Rating: 4 stars

Little Bosses Everywhere: How The Pyramid Scheme Shaped America by Bridget Read

I don't know why but I am drawn to pyramid schemes (or MLMs). Not in a participatory way, but in a "I wanna hear about these scams" kind of way. I don't know exactly what it is about them but I can't seem to get enough. Maybe it's because they're cult adjacent but typically don't end in mass violence. So why not read about how MLMs / pyramid schemes have had a much bigger hand in shaping America since the early 1900s? I mean, other than the fact that it's sort of depressing to see how much powerful people have lobbied and shaped consumer protections and basically did whatever they could to keep the money flowing to them (and keeping most people in the downline in the dark for just how much they were actually spending). I wished there was a bit more about the people affected by MLMs today but overall this was a very good (if infuriating) read.

Rating: 3.75 stars

Number of pages read

1,913

Fiction

86%

Female authors

29%

US authors

57%

BIPOC authors

29%

Rereads

14%

Book club

14%

Format

audiobook: 57%

ebook: 29%

paperback: 14%

Where'd I get the book

library: 86%

chain bookstore: 14%

Decade Published

1960s: 14%

2010s: 14%

2020s: 71%

Resolution books

71%

Interior Chinatown is by an Asian author

May Contain Murder is by a UK author

James and the Giant Peach is by a UK author AND published before 2000

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert is by a Black author

The Maid's Secret is by a Canadian author

*AMAZING foresight on our part to decide to get one this year 

January Reading Wrap-Up+

Oh man, I am already killing it this year! And by killing it, I mean totally forgetting to update over here. Auspicious start to the new year, let me tell you.

Was I doing anything especially busy that kept me from updating this? ...eh. I mean, no more busy than usual. But I am cold. I am cold right now when writing this and it has just been cold out and when I am cold and tired, you know what I want to do with my limited free time? It's mostly huddle under a blanket and I've been playing Pokemon ZA (Xmas gift for the boy, also present for me!) 

But I DID actually get reading done last month, so why not talk about that?

Number of books read

6

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

How To Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places by Mary Roach

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

I'm Starting To Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin

I am in general a fan of Jason Pargin. I liked his stuff when he wrote for Cracked. I like the TikTok videos he makes now. I was sort of in the middle when it came to his John Dies at the End novel. But I heard he had a new book unconnected to the John ones and decided to give him another try. I definitely enjoyed this one more. It's a road trip story. A Lyft driver pulls up to a job where he finds a young women sitting on a big, black box. She offers him $200K to drive her and the box out to DC except he can't look in the box, ask what's in the box, they have to leave right then and oh, he also has to leave behind any devices that could be used to track them (like a phone or a laptop). Before leaving, Abbott (the Lyft driver) leaves a message on his Twitch stream he's going to be offline for a couple days and don't worry. The internet loves a mystery (conspiracy) and the story is made up of these 2 on their cross-country trip, a scary biker guy that really wants that box, and many members of the Reddit community trying to figure out what is in this box. There's a bunch of action, lots of social commentary about male loneliness, internet algorithms, social media that at types felt like they would fit in with some of the videos Pargin makes (not saying he agrees/disagrees with all of the points made but yeah). Overall, I liked it, even if I had a few eye rolling moments. Because at the end, I liked the way things unfolded (I didn't see it shaking out that way)

Rating: 3.75 stars

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

I realized I had a read a few different Ogawa books in the past (The Housekeeper and the Professor, Revenge, Hotel Iris) and liked her but it had been a while. So While I was looking for something to read, I found the library had a copy of The Memory Police. A woman lives in a town on an isolated island and for years, things on this island are forgotten. One day, the inhabitants will wake up and will no longer have any memory of common things, such as roses or perfume. Most people don't even really realize these things have been forgotten, but for those that somehow can still remember, the memory police patrol to make sure no forbidden items are kept. The unnamed young woman has lost her both her parents (one to death, the other to the police). She's a novelist and she learns her editor, R. still remembers the lost things. She and a family friend, the-old-man, create a hidden room under the floorboards to hide R. as more and more things start to be forgotten. The story is slow and methodical, with a tension under every scene. I know I am missing deeper meaning in much of this and while this isn't my favorite of hers, it is one likely to stick with me.

Rating: 3.9 stars

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur

I have read this the last few Januarys because it is an excellent way to start the year, reminding me that I should continue to try to be better each day but that I am going to fail and fail and fail again. But to keep trying. It's funny and I'm going to keep recommending it and keep reading it.

Rating: 5 stars

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

I read this many years ago when I was young, so when I was trying to find something to read to the small one, this came up on a list. I don't know that he understood all of the jokes and puns but he still like it. Milo, bored with the world, comes home one day to find a mysterious toy tollbooth in his room. He goes through it and finds himself in a fantasy land, and on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason and help unite the Kingdoms of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, with the help of a Watchdog named Tock and The Humbug. It's silly and fun and Matthew liked it, so for a children's book, that's also a pretty good rating.

Rating: 4.5 stars

My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places by Mary Roach

I was scrolling through my digital libraries for something to listen to while I wait for my library holds to come in. This is a collection of columns Roach wrote for Reader's Digest about all sorts of things (shopping at Costco, dinner party invite rules, calling customer service, many of them about her husband). The columns have Roach's sense of humor but I miss her interest in learning something new that you get in her books like Stiff or Gulp. They're fine but there isn't really much to them and for the most part, they didn't stick with me, despite the fact that this is a re-read.

Rating: 3 stars

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

A sequel to The Maid, Molly the maid is back again. Now head maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, and helping set up the new tea room to host a famous mystery writer, JD Grimthorpe. However, this being a murder mystery and all, the author drops dead on stage, right before he is able to make his mystery announcement. Detective Stark is back, trying to solve the case and Molly has some key information from her past about Grimthrope, when she and her Gran used to clean the huge Grimthorpe mansion. The story is then split between Molly trying to solve the murder and flashbacks to Molly's childhood. I liked this one even better than The Maid and I'll probably read some more of her stories. 

Rating: 4 stars

Number of pages read

1,660

Fiction

67%

Female authors

50%

US authors

67%

BIPOC author

17%

Rereads

33%

Translation

17%

Format

audiobook: 83%

ebook: 17%

Where'd I get the book

library: 67%

gift: 17%

Kindle/Audible: 17%

Decade published

1960s: 17%

1990s: 17%

2010s: 17%

2020s: 50%

Resolution books

50%

The Memory Police is a translated book by a Japanese author and written pre-2000

The Phantom Tollbooth was written 1961 (so also pre-2000)

The Mystery Guest is by a Canadian author

2025 Year End Stats

This blog is pretty much just a bunch of stats a t this point, so why not carry on the tradition with the end of year book stats? 

How was 2025? I mean, let's ignore, you know, the larger world and focus personally. It was fine. Certainly less eventful than the last couple years. If nothing else, we didn't have to pack up and move again which is nice. I mean, sure we're still unpacking boxes but this is mainly a laziness thing and the fact that we have so much stuff and really need to get rid of more. But I think all of the packing and unpacking (repeat, repeat) has scarred me a bit so the thought of either unpacking more or even putting stuff in boxes to get out of the house is stressful so I'm mostly in a frozen state about that, relying on Tom's motivation (in his brief free time) to take the lead.

I was looking at last year's post and I mentioned that I had changed jobs because some of the stuff I worked on was being sold and that surprise! It was happening again at my new job so I was back to some uncertainty. I'm still at that job, though my role has expanded a bit, in a way that helps make it a bit less up in the air, even if it does make things more hectic. What will 2026 bring? I just keep repeating how the future is unknowable, so I'll just focus on what's in front of me. As with last year, I'm gonna try not to make any sudden movements, lest I spook the new year and we'll just see what happens.

Also I had this post written DAYS ago and yet I'm just getting around to posting it now. That's how the year is going so far.

Let's see how the year shook out, reading-wise

Total books read

70

Once again, this is the most books I've read since I started tracking. Part of this is because I was doing more reading to Matthew that I have arbitrarily decided counts towards these stats (think chapter books). That and for a while I was also reading books out loud to him while he fell asleep, though that has somewhat been replaced by listening to someone else (aka audiobooks) read to him while he's drifting off. Don't worry, we're still reading to him when he's awake.

Historic average: 55

Year with the most books: 2025 / Year with the fewest books: 2016 & 2018 (48 books)

Total pages read

22,966

You would think it would be obvious that this year, when I read the most books, would also result in the most pages. But given some of that volume was, as I mentioned, made up of kids chapter books, I wasn't sure that would be the case. Surprises never cease.

Historic average: 18,359

Year with the most pages: 2025 / Year with the fewest pages: 2018 (13,525)

Months with the most / fewest books

Most: June, August, October (7) / Fewest: May & November (4)

The historic average is 4-5 books a month. July used to only be 3 but that's been pulled up

Months with the most / fewest pages

Most: July (2,430) / Fewest: November (1,406)

Historic avg: September (1,730) / May (1,296)

Fiction

77%

Historic avg: 64%

BIPOC authors

12%

Historic avg: 18%

Female authors

49%

This is the first time in the last 10 years this stat has fallen below 50%

Historic avg: 57%

Author's nationality

US: 50% (historic avg: 65%)

UK: 29% (historic avg: 22%)

Canada: 7% (historic avg: 2%)

Sweden: 4% (historic avg: 1%)

Singapore: 3% (historic avg: 2%)

Australia: 1% (historic avg: 1%)

Germany: 1% (new country!)

Japan: 1% (historic avg: 2%)

Malaysia: 1% (historic avg: 0.4%)

New Zealand: 1% (historic avg: 0.4%)

Translation

7%

Historic avg: 4%

Rereads

27%

Historic avg: 20%

Book format

audiobook: 64% (historic avg: 50%)

ebook: 26% (historic avg: 26%)

paperback: 10% (historic avg: 20%)

Where'd I get the book

library: 77% (historic avg: 37%)

Kindle/Audible: 10% (historic avg: 31%)

indie: 9% (historic avg: 14%)

gift: 3% (historic avg: 9%)

chain bookstore: 1% (historic avg: 3%)

Decade published

2020s: 67% (historic avg: 25%)

2010s: 17% (historic avg: 49%)

1990s: 4% (historic avg: 5%)

1960s: 4% (historic avg: 2%)

1970s: 1% (historic avg: 1%)

1890s: 1% (historic avg: 0.3%)

1810s: 1% (historic avg: 0.4%)

Top genres

Mystery: 26% (historic avg: 14%)

Literary fiction: 11% (historic avg: 10%)

Fantasy: 10% (historic avg: 6%)

Kids/Childrens: 10% (historic avg: 1%)

Thriller: 10% (historic avg: 5%)

Resolution Books

60%

Historic avg: 50%

December Reading Wrap-Up+

I am trying to start this post early, before the month ends because I don't know if you know this about December, but it's a busy month. And tbh, I am exhausted from spending literal HOURS wrapping presents and yes, they look pretty and also yes, I hate wrapping things. I also took a brief break to go out to a MALL, days before Christmas, so listen, errors were made. What I'm saying is, be nice to some of these mini reviews because I do not know what's about to happen.

Also be nice because while I wrote a bunch of these early, I clearly didn't get this post out early or even on time. Between reading another book before the year ended and then also trying to keep the small one entertained throughout break (he has spent literal DAYS scatting, so my constant background has been "Beep da boop de da de da ba BAH" and sometimes him humming the theme to Sanford and Sons), it's been hard to get things done. But we try our best. I'll be working on some wrap up posts as soon as I can

Number of books read

6

The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown

The Maid by Nita Prose

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

(I also read a few Encylopedia Brown books to the small one but didn't count them here for what is ultimately arbitrary reasons [I forgot]. That said, did you know there is a character in these stories that collects TEETH? It's mentioned in multiple stories, often unrelated to the case and everyone is just like "Cool, better give this kid our teeth for his collection." I have bothered people IRL about this and am now spreading this for all of you to enjoy as well.)

The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown

The Wild Robot was one of my favorite reads of last month, which was unexpected (and I read a lot of really good things in November, so this says a lot). We continued on with the story, this time as we see Roz try to get back to her island after being refurbished and sold to a farmer. It felt like there is more action this time around, though we still get moments of Roz connecting with the creatures around her (this time, the cows and even the children on the farm. The story is still touching and funny at times but it lacked some of the wonder of the first book. Now, did I cry while reading this? Yes, multiple times. Was it still very good? Yes, very, would read again. Will I read the last book? Yes, eventually, though Matthew has opted for some different stories for now so we're taking a break.

Rating: 4.5 stars

The Maid by Nita Prose

Molly is a maid at a high end hotel. She's very exacting in her work and proud of the work she does. Things have been difficult for Molly these last few months because her Gran, the woman who raised her and helped her navigate the world, has passed away. Molly has trouble reading other people and following social cues, so to not have her grandmother's guidance has been daunting. Especially so when she finds a rich and prominent regular guest at the hotel dead in his room and Molly becomes the main suspect. There seems to be something going on at the hotel that Molly isn't quite clear on (something that some people take advantage of). It is a fun locked-room mystery, and the character of Molly at the center makes the mystery something fun (and frustrating at times).

Rating: 4 stars

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

A thriller that I do not even remember how it ended up on my radar but this one was pretty fun. Cons and secrets. Evie Porter is getting ready to move into with her boyfriend, a guy with a close-knit group of friends and a big house in Louisiana. Except there is no Evie Porter; it's just an alias she was given by her employer Mr. Smith for a job she doesn't really know the details of yet. Her last job didn't go so well and her boss doesn't like mistakes, so she knows she has to be careful. Maybe there's even a chance she can change the path she's on. This book pulled me in with an early scene and I had to know what happened next. 

Rating: 4 stars

Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones

OMG this book. This audiobook, specifically. Which sure, I listen to a lot of but I feel it is important to say this is specifically a review of the audiobook because I am pretty sure there is little overlap between the audiobook and the written book. Leslie Jones narrates her memoir, which appears to be about twice as long as the written book and multiple times she makes comments like "Oh I guess I should read this part as I wrote it" or "They wouldn't let me put this in the book, but I'm going to tell you it here." And let me tell you, it is WONDERFUL. The book is just Leslie telling you stories, some sad, some hard to hear, most hilarious about what is has been like for her. This was so much fun. Granted I couldn't listen to it when the little one was around because to say there is a lot of cursing is an understatement. I mean, look at the title, you know what you're getting into. Jones seems like a lot, and not in a bad way. She seems to be very much like the persona you see in her standup or when she was on SNL. What you see is what you get and what you get is so much fun.

Rating: 4.25 stars

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson

I read this last November and this year, I was looking for something Christmasy to read. Something Christmasy but also I had just finished watching Wake Up, Dead Man the latest Knives Out movie* so I was naturally in the mood for a bit of a murder mystery. While I already knew this mystery, it was still fun and just the right choice for a full day of wrapping. And it's a quick read (the wrapping outlasted the audiobook). Ernest, returning from the other Stevenson books, is trying to figure out if his ex-wife is really innocent of her boyfriend's death, given she woke up covered in his blood with no memory of what happened. 24 chapters, so you can read as an advent calendar if you wanted. Fun, quick mystery and I look forward to more Ernest Cline mysteries

Rating: 4.5 stars

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Admittedly, I picked this up because I wanted something short I could finish before the month ended. And I was looking for something to do that wasn't just scrolling social media, but easy enough to pick up and put down (I've read this a bunch of times, in addition to seeing stage productions and the movie) because over break, it's me and the boy and turns out children cause a lot of distractions. (Seriously, you should see how long just this mini-review has taken me to write.) If it wasn't clear from the amount of times I've read this, I am a FAN of this play. It's so funny and moving and has beautiful lines.

Rating: 5 stars

Number of pages read

1,788

Fiction

83%

Female authors

50%

US authors

50%

BIPOC authors

17%

Rereads

33%

Format

audiobook: 67%

ebook: 17%

paperback: 17%

Where'd I get the book

library: 83%

indie: 17%

Decade published

1960s: 17%

2010s: 17%

2020s: 67%

Resolution books

67%

The Maid is by a Canadian author

Leslie F*cking Jones is by a Black author

Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret is by an Australian author

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is by a UK author and was written pre-2000

*Side note, I loved this. I mean, I also loved Glass Onion and Knives Out remains one of my most favorite movies, so I expected to and way to live up to expectations, please give me 4000 more Benoit Blanc movies, thankyouverymuch

November Reading Wrap-Up+

First, what happened to November? What do you mean it's already December? I am not prepared for that. October felt like it went at a somewhat normal clip but November was a real blink and you miss it situation. 

Second, I dunno what's going on with comments on here. I'm working on it. Slowly. Basically I have a plug in for comments and it's been acting up for...honestly who knows how long. A long time. So I'm trying to figure that out. 

Third, I am tired. And sore. I guess putting up Christmas decorations, which I did the other day, was too much for me. Am I ready for the holidays? Yes I am. I mean, I am ready for some more time off. Am I ready like I have anything done or planned? No, no I am not. So I'm sure this month will also go super fast because stuff is going to sneak up on me.

But hey, why don't we just get to those stats. 

It's a little lighter this month than the past few. In part because I had a hard time getting into books for a bit here. Then the little monster has moved on from me reading to him till he falls asleep to listening to Harry Potter audiobooks. And I was right in the middle of Sarah Vowell's Unfamiliar Fishes which I know I could just finish on my own, but I haven't done that yet. 

I also read The Wayside School Collection which includes Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Wayside School is Falling Down, Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger and Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sacher but I never counted it for some reason. And since it's made up of 1/2 re-reads and 1/2 new stuff, it seemed too complicated to try to count it as one long book and since I read it between last month and this, I really don't feel like going back and re-doing October to account for what I read when. I like tracking my stats but I am also quite lazy when I fall behind.

Number of books read

4

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

I actually started this book back in February and while I enjoyed it then, I found the book a little hard and things in the world were a little...depressing and while I was enjoying it I couldn't do it right then. Plus my library hold got returned and it was a long wait to get it back. Not that I waited for that, I just bought the audiobook* knowing I was going to want it eventually. Well, eventually came.

The story is about, as the title says, witchcraft for wayward girls. Unwed pregnant girls living in a world before Roe v. Wade who find themselves at a home in middle of nowhere Florida where they can have their babies, give them up for adoption and then go back to their old lives. The girls don't even learn each others' names, instead going by plant names like "Rose" and "Fern". The girls are given strict rules to follow by adults who "know what's best". Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her a book about witchcraft and makes her feel powerful. But at what cost?

This has all the hallmarks of a Hendrix book, which I love. Well-rounded female characters, a premise that feels a bit silly (the book is called "Witchcraft for Groovy Witches" afterall) but that is treated seriously and thus, the story is tense, moving, upsetting. There is horror (gory moments, body horror) though I wouldn't say this is as scary as some of his other stuff. Not in the traditional way. But the trauma that the girls go through, it was rough to read at times. By the end though, I loved it. It's not my favorite of his stuff but it's probably one of the strongest ones.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang

This story is wild. Every time I thought I figured out what the story was and where things were going, we'd take a turn and be somewhere entirely new. And not in a "twist for the sake of twists" frustration. It was crazy and fun. Julie Chan's life isn't going great. When she was young, her parents died in a car accident and she and her twin sister were split up. She was taken in by a disgruntled aunt who resents having to raise Julie (and never lets her forget it) while her sister was adopted by a wealthy white couple and became a rich and famous lifestyle influencer, living the seemingly perfect life. The sister's never really spoke (save for when Chloe used her sister for a viral video). But one day, Julie gets a strange call from her sister and not long after, she finds Chloe's dead body and the police think Julie is Chloe. 

Julie is now trying to fit in to her sister's life, in part to try to figure out what happened, but in larger part to take part of the life she feels she deserved. Of course, that picture perfect life was anything but. Julie isn't the most likable character, which made the story work so much better, especially as things amp up with an influencer retreat on a private island. Thrills and twists and funny and nuts.

Rating: 4 stars

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

An astronaut love story. Joan has always loved space and when she is chosen to be among the first class of women to join NASA in the summer of 1980 and try to become an astronaut she is thrilled. The story flips between the days in astronaut training, getting to know the other cadets and 1984 when a tragedy happens on the space shuttle and Joan is on the ground, doing what she can to help get the astronauts home.

The story was a bit slow and the the timeline jumping felt like more of a gimmick at first, though it's something that grew on me as the story went on. I won't say too much to avoid spoilers but just saying there is a love story, the world can be deeply unfair, and I was definitely crying on the plane as I finished the book (while also texting a friend about my feelings about certain characters who I am still mad at).

Rating: 4 stars

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

See, I thought I cried at Atmosphere. And then I read The Wild Robot to Matthew, a book that I thought would just be a fun book about a robot and animals. HAHAHA joke's on me. I didn't know much about the book when I picked it up, other than I saw it on a lot of lists for "books to read to your kid" and I vaguely knew about a movie made based on it that was supposed to be good. 

This book. Roz (ROZZUM unit 7134) is a helper robot that finds herself washed up on the shore of a remote island. She doesn't know why she's there or what her purpose is, the animals on the island see her as a monster and she is battling storms as she tries to survive. She slowly learns from the animals and  integrates herself into this strange world, even adopting an orphan gosling. The story doesn't shy away from death, though surprisingly that's not where the tears came from (or at least not the main place). But Roz's relationships with the animals, trying to find where she belongs, and what she does when her past catches up to her. Whew. The movie too. Beautifully (BEAUTIFULLY!) animated and just as lovely of a story and we are already reading the next book and when I am emotionally ready, I'm sure I will come back to this. 

Rating: 5 stars

Total pages read

1,406

Fiction

100%

Female authors

50%

US authors

75%

BIPOC authors

25%

Format

audiobook: 75%

ebook: 25%

Where'd I get the book

indie: 25%

library: 75%

Decade published

2010s: 25%

2020s: 75%

Resolution

25%

Julie Chan is Dead is by an Asian-Canadian author

*Using Libro.fm if you want to support small biz for audiobooks!

October Reading Wrap-up+

A few days late for this and I even managed to leave out a book I read when I posted on IG. So the month is going great, thanks for asking.

Except that's not true. The month is fine. It went very fast but then don't they all? There was prep for Halloween, including buying some new decorations (the skeleton family will get names at some point, especially because Matthew has decided one of them is going to live in his room the rest of the year. He's got the spirit. And he has enough candy I think to last him until next Halloween.

Why don't we just jump into the stats, shall we? I'm already so behind.

Number of books read

6

Holes by Louis Sacher

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Holes by Louis Sacher

Another Matthew bedtime read, I was looking up lists of good books to read to 2nd graders and saw this pop up a few times. Confession, as much as I looooooved Sacher when I was young* I missed this one. It came out a little late to my in my orbit, which is too bad for young me, because this was excellent. Stanley Yelnats is sent to a boy's detention center in the middle of no where Texas desert where he is sentenced to spending a year digging holes. There's clearly something going on here and no talk of "character building" is going hide something sinister behind this camp and whatever it is the Warden is searching for. It's a very different tone from Wayside School, more serious, more sad, though still funny at times. A few scary(ish) bits where I thought perhaps I have made a mistake reading this to the boy, but in the end he enjoyed and I keep thinking about it

Rating: 4.5 stars

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

And here is at least part of the reason I re-read the full Thursday Murder Club series over the last couple months. WORTH IT, GOOD IDEA, ME.

The gang is back, after taking some time away from solving crimes, following the events of the fourth book. Joyce's daughter is getting married and the best man seems rattled. There's a fortune, an unbreakable code, and someone wants him gone. Naturally, he turns to Elizabeth for help (even if he hasn't met her before, I mean, wouldn't you?). Now Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron & Ibrahim have to solve the case bringing their strength and their personal subplots along, as the gang tries to work through a mystery that falls in their lap. It is just as much of a goodtime as the last books and I am happy to delve back into the world of Cooper's Chase. If there are more TMC books in the future, I am certain I'll reread them all again before that one is released.

Rating: 5 stars

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Another reread. Another book I was reading to the boy at night to bore him to sleep. Not that I think the book is boring. But maybe for a 7 year old that is already sleepy. Anyway, probably Bryson's most well-known work as he documents his attempt to walk the Appalachian trail with his buddy Katz. The book is funny, full of colorful characters and crotchetiness on the part of Bryson, as well as digressions about the environment, history and the nature of the trail itself. It's a reread for a reason and I enjoyed it just as much this time, even if it took me so long to read ( because I was reading only a few pages a night).

Rating: 5 stars

Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

I wish this was a movie. There were multiple times I was listening to this I was laughing thinking "Go ahead, and let me see how you would stage this and keep the tone serious. I dare you." 

Nick Radcliff shows up in Ash's life following her father's death. He sends a condolence card saying they worked together years before and suddenly he's striking up a relationship with Ash's mom. But Ash feels something is...off about Nick, though she can't quite say what. But the more she digs up, the more confusing things seem but the more she wants him away from her family.

It's hard to say more without getting into lots of spoilers so I won't. But I will say the book is very repetitive and for roughly the first 40% (I listened as an audiobook) I was wondering when we would get something new. And we do (kinda) at about the 60% point. Some of my issues could be with listening vs reading and actors' choices in reading lines (there were multiple actors for the multiple narrators) but I don't think that's entirely it. If anything, they prob helped because they gave me something to laugh at. There were moments of tension (this is a thriller after all) but many of them seemed to be resolved within a paragraph or so.

I reiterate I wish this was a movie because I think it would make very good fodder for something like How Did This Get Made** BUT to be fair to it, after a slower beginning (and some middle) I was interested to see where things were going and it was fun to bug my husband about.

Rating: 2.75 stars

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

I was searching for a spooky title in whatever was available immediately through my library when I saw this. I read another Tremblay book, The Cabin at the End of the World, a few years ago which I enjoyed but was also disturbed by. (It falls into the "I'm glad I read this but nothankyou to doing that again" pile.) So I was interested but hesitant to read this. 

In the early '90s, a group of young filmmakers decide they're going to make a horror movie. A movie that never got released in full, but has developed a cult-following around the few scenes that did make it out. And now 30 years later, Hollywood is going to remake it and they've brought back the guy who played "The Thin Kid" the only surviving cast member. The story jumps between flashbacks of what it was like making the original and current day, as well as a table read of the script (was this present day? the past? even listening with dif voice actors for everyone, I'm not sure and that's not a knock on the writing). It's a slow pace, though I thought it worked for the story and this was something I was looking forward to listening to, even through some of the more disturbing scenes.

I won't get into the ending too much. It's one you kind of see coming though it was a bit of a let down. I was hoping for something...more maybe? But overall, this was creepy and I enjoyed

Rating: 3.8 stars

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Another book I loved in the past that I'm going to foist on my son. Good news, hew as into it and is now listening to the audiobook sometimes while he sleeps.

Claudia feels unappreciated at home and decides she's going to run away. But Claudia, raised in an affluent NYC suburb, is going to run away in style. She decides she's going to run away to The Met and she's going to bring her little brother Jaime along with her because, well, he's got the money. The two manage to make their way to the famous art museum and get settled into a routine of hiding from guards, taking baths in the fountain and even doing laundry. But something is still missing. Until a new statue comes in and Claudia & Jaime decide they need to solve the mystery of Angel. Perhaps those mixed-up files from the title will come in handy? The book is so fun. To my adult eyes, sure it feels a little light on development (not really sure why Claudia wanted to run away, what were they really going to do to solve the mystery) but it was still charming and who doesn't like the idea of running away to somewhere like The Met. (Personally, my choice would have been The Museum of Natural History, but that's just a personal preference.)

Rating: 4 stars

Total pages read

1,792

Fiction

83%

Female authors

33%

US authors

67%

BIPOC authors

0%

Rereads

33%

Book club

17%

Format

audiobook: 50%

ebook: 50%

Where'd I get the book

library: 100%

Decade published

1960s: 17%

1990s: 33%

2020s: 50%

Resolution books

83%

Holes, A Walk in the Woods, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler were all published before the 2000s

The Impossible Fortune and Don't Let Him In are both by UK authors

*I knew I loved the Wayside School books, but I was recently going through my old books at my mom's and didn't realize just HOW MANY Sacher books (There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom, Dogs Don't Tell Jokes, and more!) I had that, I'm sorry, made very little impression, or at least hold very little memory in adult me. But I took them home anyway so as he gets to them we'll see if they spark anything

**A podcast about bad movies that I highly recommend