aiming for 100 books a year ... i usually make it .... it is easier now that the kids are grown and flown ... it is also easier, now that i listen to audio books while i walk or exercise (or do the laundry or work in the studio) .....
starting the year in the middle of
1. plains of passage by jean auel .... the fourth in a prehistoric series that i've read numerous times but always enjoy ....i'm listening to it ....
2. daisy jones and the six ... read it for my thursday book club .... it is in an enjoyable, non standard format ..... it's about a rock band .... great discussion too
3. the tao of pooh.... zen and winnie. i got this book like 20 years ago ... or more .... so it's a reread ... if you like a zen self help ( i do ) it's good.
3. the tao of pooh.... zen and winnie. i got this book like 20 years ago ... or more .... so it's a reread ... if you like a zen self help ( i do ) it's good.
4.shelters of stone
5.land of painted caves ... both by jean auel... five and six in the series
i've read this series five or six times .... these aren't the two best but i do love them.
6. the girl who fell from the sky by heidi durrow ..... oh my! .... a grandma raising her grandchild ..... a mysterious backstory and sadness..... a great, sweet, sad book.
7. southern magic by amy boyles ..... i listened to this on chirp .... cheap audio books .... it was a happy, easy witch mystery book... a young woman discovers she's a witch... moves to a witch community.... mystery stuff happens .... i liked the characters and will likely listen to the next one ....
8. the story of arthur truluv by elizabeth berg ... i've read a lot of e. berg books and quite enjoy her ... as usual, she has well fleshed out characters .... some people, all sad for various reasons, find and help each other .... i picked this for a book club read ..... we'll talk about teen pregnancy, aging and loneliness, dysfunctional families, how grief can change you, wills, cats.
9. vagabonding. an uncommon guide to the art of long term world travel. by matthew davis. whoa! i read this because ... well ... because a girl can dream, right?
10. wake up! how to practice zen buddhism by bonnie myotai treace..... i read a lot about buddhism these days.
11. small great things. by jodi piccoult. i like jodi piccoult books as a rule. some are def better than others but they usually have super topical themes, great character development, nuanced moral issues .... and this is like that .... the overarching themes are race and a trial .... it was a little john grisham-y ... which is not a bad thing.
12. then she was gone by lisa jewell ... super twisty murder mystery psychological drama with a missing teenager ... and unraveling her story .... really good.
13. this tender land by william kent krueger .... was pretty epic ... sort of huck finn like ... some boys who were in a terrible orphanage for native americans escape and run into troubles and redemption.... great book.
14. the witch's daughter by paula brackston .... i just adore witch books. this one is no different ... really this one is historical fiction .... a witch who is centuries old tells her story over the years, including her modern day struggles .... loved it.
15. you were there too by colleen oakley .... two people run across each other and freak out because they have been dreaming of each other ... and not necessarily in a good way .... seemed hokey at first but then i totally bought in and really enjoyed the untangling of the story.
CURRENTLY listening to SHOGUN .... but it is 50 hours long ... so i stop and read book club books in the middle ....
16. Shogun. Epic. I read this because I was planning a trip to Japan for the fall of 2020. I've now finished the book but it is entirely unclear as to whether or not international travel will be advisable six months from now. Shogun was well worth the time.... i listened to it for days and weeks and miles and miles.... i'm sure i didn't absorb it all, but i enjoyed what i learned as well as the adventure and historical fiction aspects.
17. the girl with the louding voice by abe dare. SO GOOD. thursday book club. great discussion ....
adunni, a nigerian girl, loses her father, betrayed by her mother, abused by her "employer" ... and saved, taken under the wing of a kind woman..... she learns english and uses her louding voice to help other girls stuck in the society where she was born. EXCELLENT.
18.the oyster catcher by jo thomas ... fiona runs away from a wedding, hides on the coast of ireland, gets a job at an oyster farm even though she can't stand oysters .... sweet, light, easy, happy read.
19.the rebellious sister by sarah noffke ,,, YA urban fantasy with witches and wizards .... i read the whole thing, liked it fine ... but don't love the characters enough to carry on with the series .... i might just not be in a witch mood and could consider circling back later.
20. a week in winter by maeve binchy ... good old maeve binchy ... i read this because a bunch of girlfriends were talking about what we used to read .... and i thought i'd circle back to maeve binchy, who i've not read in years, though i have read loads of her books .... this was great .... one soul opening a hotel and all the stories of the people that surround her intertwining. great book.
21. ruby and roland by faith sullivan ... ruby was orphaned and moved to a farm in the early 1900s.... great story telling about well developed and developing characters .... loved it.
22. mr. nobody by catherine steadman ... this was for my thursday book club ... it was our first (will there be many) book club on zoom due to the pandemic .... the book was a thriller/ psycho suspense .... fun and easy and edge of your seat ... but then during the book club it sort of gets dissected and doesn't hold up to close scrutiny ... but really, i thin that just means don't do them for book club... just read it and love it!
23. the vacationers by emma straub... two weeks of vacation with an extended family .... family drama and oddities... i listened to it on my many walks in the pandemic... i liked it but didn't love it.
23. the call of the wild by jack london. this is out of order ... i read it in early march, i think ... with the intention of seeing the movie that's just out ... but then the pandemic came, theaters closed, and the book was a bit too rough for me and i don't feel so compelled to see the film! this was a reread from my childhood but i didn't remember it accurately!
24. the writer in all of us by june gould. i'm trying to establish a writing habit. this book gave me some ideas of what to write about and how to write .... if i could just get myself to sit down and write more often!
25. syllabus by lynda berry. OMG. i LOVE this book. LOVE.
26. picture this by lynda berry. OMG i need to draw more.
27. what it is by lynda berry. OMG i need to write more.
28. the future by neil hilborn. april is poetry month. so i'm reading extra poetry. i have met this poet. he's intense and awesome.
29. accidental tourist by anne tyler ... i read some stuff on the internet that anne tyler said about this book ... that made me want to reread it .... and i own it .... and i started an every thursday in the pandemic book club ..... and we read it ... and it sort of didn't hold up to my memory of it ... which is interesting to me .. i still liked it ... but i LOVED it when it first came out .....
30. my antionia by willa cather .... a favorite from long ago .... i used to think of it as a grown up little house on the prairie .... a love story .... liked it again on the reread....
31.quilter's apprentice by jennifer chiaverini .... i read it ages ago but listened to it this go ... sweet, easy, happy story.
31. house on mango street by sandra cisneros .... loved it .... a young latina growing up ... sort of inventing herself ... lots of strong imagery ... women in windows ... well done.
32. the reluctant fortune teller by keziah frost .... super cute .... bought inexpensively on chirp ... charming and entertaining ....
33. poet x by elizabeth acevedo ... GORGEOUS writing .... by a poet about a young poet ... spectacular book.
34. peace in every step by thich nhat hanh .... so good. i listened to it this time and it was quite serene ... lots of bits to really hang onto and learn .... accessible buddhism.
35. the lost gate by orson scott card ... i have always liked orson scott card ... i loved this book ... magic! it was witchcraft and wizardry mixed with greek mythology .... great story, quite entertaining. loved it.
36. red at the bone by jacqueline woodson ..... beautiful writing ... about an intergenerational family ... and how their backgrounds form them .... and an unwed mother and collective memory of terrible historic moments ( 9/11, the tulsa massacre) .... well done ... loved it while i read it ... during discussions decided that i wanted even more from it ....
37. late migrations by margaret renkl ... sunday book club ... WOW ... great, beautiful book ... beautiful prose that reads like poetry ... short stories that tell a whole story .... i love how satisfying each chapter/short story is and yet it builds the whole .... it is observation and nature and family and memory ... and just gorgeous.
38. the memory of earth by orson scott card .... yes. my second OSCard book in not very long .... sci-fi future on another planet as earth descendants .... the failure of earth is eye opening to read during the pandemic..... how long will our planet last is not discussed in this book, only that it didn't last .... but apropos to our times.
39. ordinary grace by william kent krueger.... excellent .... such a good story and likable, flawed characters managing through hard things ... so good.
40. norwegian wood by haruki murakami .... for my th. book club .... now that was a weird/hard/difficult/intersting book ... it was a little dark for me ... and a little too much sex for me .... and after reading about it after the fact, i missed a lot of the nuance of things specific to japanese cuture .... quite literary ... maybe i needed a teacher to talk me through it !
41. arthur truluv by elizabeth berg .... love and choosing who your family is. great book.
42. when we believed in mermaids by barbara o'neal .... i thought this was going to be heavy .. but it wasn't as much as i thought .... it's about sisters .... and secrets.....
43. the art of gathering by priya parker ..... a friend told me to read this .... and i don't love non fiction .... but enjoyed this book ..... i think some of it is intuitive to extroverted entertaining me .... but it was an affirming book .... AND TOTALLY WEIRD to read during a pandemic when you wonder if we'll ever gather again. sigh.
44. herman wouk's don't stop the carnival .... fun .... funny .... guy buys a tropical resort and has some troubles....
45. red head on the side of the road by anne tyler. i LOVE anne tyler's books ..... i used to think she had such quirky characters .... but now i think she has real characters and we just know them so well from her writing .... but aren't we all quirky, sometimes in ways that people don't know about unless they really, really know you? ... anyway .... a man, a relationship, baggage, a break up, and so much more ..... i think this book was more optimistic feeling that anne tyler's books usually are... i loved it. maybe one of my favorites of hers. (andy gave it to me for my birthday)
46. zami: a new spelling of my name by audre lord .... an autobiography by the poet .... a book about women ....a "biomythography" ... making it kind of magical realism murky .... well done. super unique.
47.the great alone by kristin hannah ..... alaska .... abuse ... neglect ... hiding .... super compelling book .... really enjoyed it .... couldn't put it down. ended happier than i thought it would, so that was a nice surprise.
48.eleanor oliphant is completely fine .... but she really isn't .... what a great book .... re read it for a book club ....
49.lights on the sea by miquel reina .... oh, i loved this book. i think it was magical realism ... but it might have just been a story..... about a couple and love and an accidental journal .... and worrying about a house .... i'd actually suggest just reading this and not reading the amazon blurb to know what you are reading. just be surprised.
50. i still dream about you by fannie flagg.... i used to LOVE fannie flagg books and read them whenever they came out .... but i guess, depending on amazon instead of going to border's every weekend, i dropped the habit .... but i'm happy to be back to her .... i always love her characters so much, and the protagonist alabama beauty queen was awesome.
51. through the wall by caroline corcoran ... psycho suspense drama .... based on listening to your neighbor through a shared apartment wall ..... yikes.
52. the post by kevin munoz .... post stands for post apocalyptic .... i loved it more because it was set in atlanta ... specifically around little five points/ inman park area .... it's actually a pandemic ... but their fictional pandemic has zombie sorta folks .... at least our pandemic doesn't have that!
53. the lieutenant's nurse by sara ackerman. i LOVED this. pearl harbor .... suspense ... and love .... and a smart woman. based on the pearl harbor advanced knowledge conspiracy theory .... so not even really historical fiction ... just fiction set around the bombing of pearl harbor.
54. daphne by will boast..... i bought this because it is based on daphne of greek mythology ... didn't end well then, as her river god dad turned her into a tree to protect her from apollo ..... so .... i'm not sure i understand the myth well enough, or maybe the book well enough, to be super clear on the correlation ..... they don't match to me ... but it was still a good book .... of self control vs. falling in love.
55. the cursed witch by chandelle lavaun ..... i love this series .... it is book 1 of the fae magic set ..... but the characters are in 8 or 10 or 12 books ..... i'm always waiting for the next one .... they are YA and just happy easy light.
56. out of the silence: after the crash by eduardo strauch. an uruguayan soccer team's flight crashes in the andes mountains. horrifying. non fiction.
{so it is MID july .... by the end of june i was supposed to be at 50 .... so i'm doing ok ... on track ... maybe even a bit ahead because: pandemic .... i think i get through fewer books now because i listen to a lot ... i think i listen much slower than i actually read! haha. so my fast reading skill isn't advancing me as much ... but, i'm walking way more with books in my ears, so it is a decent trade off. }
57. between the world and me by ta-nehisi coates ..... excellent. sad. current culturally. definitely you (who is that reading my list?) should read it. it will make you smarter.
i've read this series five or six times .... these aren't the two best but i do love them.
6. the girl who fell from the sky by heidi durrow ..... oh my! .... a grandma raising her grandchild ..... a mysterious backstory and sadness..... a great, sweet, sad book.
7. southern magic by amy boyles ..... i listened to this on chirp .... cheap audio books .... it was a happy, easy witch mystery book... a young woman discovers she's a witch... moves to a witch community.... mystery stuff happens .... i liked the characters and will likely listen to the next one ....
8. the story of arthur truluv by elizabeth berg ... i've read a lot of e. berg books and quite enjoy her ... as usual, she has well fleshed out characters .... some people, all sad for various reasons, find and help each other .... i picked this for a book club read ..... we'll talk about teen pregnancy, aging and loneliness, dysfunctional families, how grief can change you, wills, cats.
9. vagabonding. an uncommon guide to the art of long term world travel. by matthew davis. whoa! i read this because ... well ... because a girl can dream, right?
10. wake up! how to practice zen buddhism by bonnie myotai treace..... i read a lot about buddhism these days.
11. small great things. by jodi piccoult. i like jodi piccoult books as a rule. some are def better than others but they usually have super topical themes, great character development, nuanced moral issues .... and this is like that .... the overarching themes are race and a trial .... it was a little john grisham-y ... which is not a bad thing.
12. then she was gone by lisa jewell ... super twisty murder mystery psychological drama with a missing teenager ... and unraveling her story .... really good.
13. this tender land by william kent krueger .... was pretty epic ... sort of huck finn like ... some boys who were in a terrible orphanage for native americans escape and run into troubles and redemption.... great book.
14. the witch's daughter by paula brackston .... i just adore witch books. this one is no different ... really this one is historical fiction .... a witch who is centuries old tells her story over the years, including her modern day struggles .... loved it.
15. you were there too by colleen oakley .... two people run across each other and freak out because they have been dreaming of each other ... and not necessarily in a good way .... seemed hokey at first but then i totally bought in and really enjoyed the untangling of the story.
CURRENTLY listening to SHOGUN .... but it is 50 hours long ... so i stop and read book club books in the middle ....
16. Shogun. Epic. I read this because I was planning a trip to Japan for the fall of 2020. I've now finished the book but it is entirely unclear as to whether or not international travel will be advisable six months from now. Shogun was well worth the time.... i listened to it for days and weeks and miles and miles.... i'm sure i didn't absorb it all, but i enjoyed what i learned as well as the adventure and historical fiction aspects.
17. the girl with the louding voice by abe dare. SO GOOD. thursday book club. great discussion ....
adunni, a nigerian girl, loses her father, betrayed by her mother, abused by her "employer" ... and saved, taken under the wing of a kind woman..... she learns english and uses her louding voice to help other girls stuck in the society where she was born. EXCELLENT.
18.the oyster catcher by jo thomas ... fiona runs away from a wedding, hides on the coast of ireland, gets a job at an oyster farm even though she can't stand oysters .... sweet, light, easy, happy read.
19.the rebellious sister by sarah noffke ,,, YA urban fantasy with witches and wizards .... i read the whole thing, liked it fine ... but don't love the characters enough to carry on with the series .... i might just not be in a witch mood and could consider circling back later.
20. a week in winter by maeve binchy ... good old maeve binchy ... i read this because a bunch of girlfriends were talking about what we used to read .... and i thought i'd circle back to maeve binchy, who i've not read in years, though i have read loads of her books .... this was great .... one soul opening a hotel and all the stories of the people that surround her intertwining. great book.
21. ruby and roland by faith sullivan ... ruby was orphaned and moved to a farm in the early 1900s.... great story telling about well developed and developing characters .... loved it.
22. mr. nobody by catherine steadman ... this was for my thursday book club ... it was our first (will there be many) book club on zoom due to the pandemic .... the book was a thriller/ psycho suspense .... fun and easy and edge of your seat ... but then during the book club it sort of gets dissected and doesn't hold up to close scrutiny ... but really, i thin that just means don't do them for book club... just read it and love it!
23. the vacationers by emma straub... two weeks of vacation with an extended family .... family drama and oddities... i listened to it on my many walks in the pandemic... i liked it but didn't love it.
23. the call of the wild by jack london. this is out of order ... i read it in early march, i think ... with the intention of seeing the movie that's just out ... but then the pandemic came, theaters closed, and the book was a bit too rough for me and i don't feel so compelled to see the film! this was a reread from my childhood but i didn't remember it accurately!
24. the writer in all of us by june gould. i'm trying to establish a writing habit. this book gave me some ideas of what to write about and how to write .... if i could just get myself to sit down and write more often!
25. syllabus by lynda berry. OMG. i LOVE this book. LOVE.
26. picture this by lynda berry. OMG i need to draw more.
27. what it is by lynda berry. OMG i need to write more.
28. the future by neil hilborn. april is poetry month. so i'm reading extra poetry. i have met this poet. he's intense and awesome.
29. accidental tourist by anne tyler ... i read some stuff on the internet that anne tyler said about this book ... that made me want to reread it .... and i own it .... and i started an every thursday in the pandemic book club ..... and we read it ... and it sort of didn't hold up to my memory of it ... which is interesting to me .. i still liked it ... but i LOVED it when it first came out .....
30. my antionia by willa cather .... a favorite from long ago .... i used to think of it as a grown up little house on the prairie .... a love story .... liked it again on the reread....
31.quilter's apprentice by jennifer chiaverini .... i read it ages ago but listened to it this go ... sweet, easy, happy story.
31. house on mango street by sandra cisneros .... loved it .... a young latina growing up ... sort of inventing herself ... lots of strong imagery ... women in windows ... well done.
32. the reluctant fortune teller by keziah frost .... super cute .... bought inexpensively on chirp ... charming and entertaining ....
33. poet x by elizabeth acevedo ... GORGEOUS writing .... by a poet about a young poet ... spectacular book.
34. peace in every step by thich nhat hanh .... so good. i listened to it this time and it was quite serene ... lots of bits to really hang onto and learn .... accessible buddhism.
35. the lost gate by orson scott card ... i have always liked orson scott card ... i loved this book ... magic! it was witchcraft and wizardry mixed with greek mythology .... great story, quite entertaining. loved it.
36. red at the bone by jacqueline woodson ..... beautiful writing ... about an intergenerational family ... and how their backgrounds form them .... and an unwed mother and collective memory of terrible historic moments ( 9/11, the tulsa massacre) .... well done ... loved it while i read it ... during discussions decided that i wanted even more from it ....
37. late migrations by margaret renkl ... sunday book club ... WOW ... great, beautiful book ... beautiful prose that reads like poetry ... short stories that tell a whole story .... i love how satisfying each chapter/short story is and yet it builds the whole .... it is observation and nature and family and memory ... and just gorgeous.
38. the memory of earth by orson scott card .... yes. my second OSCard book in not very long .... sci-fi future on another planet as earth descendants .... the failure of earth is eye opening to read during the pandemic..... how long will our planet last is not discussed in this book, only that it didn't last .... but apropos to our times.
39. ordinary grace by william kent krueger.... excellent .... such a good story and likable, flawed characters managing through hard things ... so good.
40. norwegian wood by haruki murakami .... for my th. book club .... now that was a weird/hard/difficult/intersting book ... it was a little dark for me ... and a little too much sex for me .... and after reading about it after the fact, i missed a lot of the nuance of things specific to japanese cuture .... quite literary ... maybe i needed a teacher to talk me through it !
41. arthur truluv by elizabeth berg .... love and choosing who your family is. great book.
42. when we believed in mermaids by barbara o'neal .... i thought this was going to be heavy .. but it wasn't as much as i thought .... it's about sisters .... and secrets.....
43. the art of gathering by priya parker ..... a friend told me to read this .... and i don't love non fiction .... but enjoyed this book ..... i think some of it is intuitive to extroverted entertaining me .... but it was an affirming book .... AND TOTALLY WEIRD to read during a pandemic when you wonder if we'll ever gather again. sigh.
44. herman wouk's don't stop the carnival .... fun .... funny .... guy buys a tropical resort and has some troubles....
45. red head on the side of the road by anne tyler. i LOVE anne tyler's books ..... i used to think she had such quirky characters .... but now i think she has real characters and we just know them so well from her writing .... but aren't we all quirky, sometimes in ways that people don't know about unless they really, really know you? ... anyway .... a man, a relationship, baggage, a break up, and so much more ..... i think this book was more optimistic feeling that anne tyler's books usually are... i loved it. maybe one of my favorites of hers. (andy gave it to me for my birthday)
46. zami: a new spelling of my name by audre lord .... an autobiography by the poet .... a book about women ....a "biomythography" ... making it kind of magical realism murky .... well done. super unique.
47.the great alone by kristin hannah ..... alaska .... abuse ... neglect ... hiding .... super compelling book .... really enjoyed it .... couldn't put it down. ended happier than i thought it would, so that was a nice surprise.
48.eleanor oliphant is completely fine .... but she really isn't .... what a great book .... re read it for a book club ....
49.lights on the sea by miquel reina .... oh, i loved this book. i think it was magical realism ... but it might have just been a story..... about a couple and love and an accidental journal .... and worrying about a house .... i'd actually suggest just reading this and not reading the amazon blurb to know what you are reading. just be surprised.
50. i still dream about you by fannie flagg.... i used to LOVE fannie flagg books and read them whenever they came out .... but i guess, depending on amazon instead of going to border's every weekend, i dropped the habit .... but i'm happy to be back to her .... i always love her characters so much, and the protagonist alabama beauty queen was awesome.
51. through the wall by caroline corcoran ... psycho suspense drama .... based on listening to your neighbor through a shared apartment wall ..... yikes.
52. the post by kevin munoz .... post stands for post apocalyptic .... i loved it more because it was set in atlanta ... specifically around little five points/ inman park area .... it's actually a pandemic ... but their fictional pandemic has zombie sorta folks .... at least our pandemic doesn't have that!
53. the lieutenant's nurse by sara ackerman. i LOVED this. pearl harbor .... suspense ... and love .... and a smart woman. based on the pearl harbor advanced knowledge conspiracy theory .... so not even really historical fiction ... just fiction set around the bombing of pearl harbor.
54. daphne by will boast..... i bought this because it is based on daphne of greek mythology ... didn't end well then, as her river god dad turned her into a tree to protect her from apollo ..... so .... i'm not sure i understand the myth well enough, or maybe the book well enough, to be super clear on the correlation ..... they don't match to me ... but it was still a good book .... of self control vs. falling in love.
55. the cursed witch by chandelle lavaun ..... i love this series .... it is book 1 of the fae magic set ..... but the characters are in 8 or 10 or 12 books ..... i'm always waiting for the next one .... they are YA and just happy easy light.
56. out of the silence: after the crash by eduardo strauch. an uruguayan soccer team's flight crashes in the andes mountains. horrifying. non fiction.
{so it is MID july .... by the end of june i was supposed to be at 50 .... so i'm doing ok ... on track ... maybe even a bit ahead because: pandemic .... i think i get through fewer books now because i listen to a lot ... i think i listen much slower than i actually read! haha. so my fast reading skill isn't advancing me as much ... but, i'm walking way more with books in my ears, so it is a decent trade off. }
57. between the world and me by ta-nehisi coates ..... excellent. sad. current culturally. definitely you (who is that reading my list?) should read it. it will make you smarter.
58. the soul is here for its own joy. sacred poems from many cultures ... compiled by robert bly..... absolutely beautiful!!! a lovely collection. (gift from SPJ)
59.....the paper magician by charlie holmberg .... i like witch books .... and really enjoyed these characters ....
60. the ballad of songbirds and snakes ... hunger games sequel by suzanne collins ... oh! i really enjoyed this .... i thought is was well done .... and imagine/hope that there will be another as we watch the rise of snow ....
61,,,, stephen king 1922 ... i admire stephen king ..... he is a prolific writer with an extraordinary imagination .... and his plots and characters are always intriguing .... this book was worth reading as a fan ... but not my favorite book of his ....
62 ..the stationery shop by marjan kamali ... thurs. book club ..... i really enjoyed this book .... upon being pushed to "rate" it at book club, i didn't rate it as high as others did ... largely because there was a twist that i saw coming from the very beginning .... however ... it was excellent and i'd absolutely read other books by this author .... great, beautiful writing ....
63. whistling past the graveyard by susan crandall. i LOVED this book so much. i loved that it was written in a child's voice ... i loved and hated the people that i was supposed to love and hate ... i was captivated.
64. lady in the lake by laura lippman .... a mystery for wedn book club ..... i thought the main character was excellent ... well developed, interesting .... but, like many mysteries, the twisty road that gets tied up weirdly/neatly at the end wasn't perfect for me .... so, great characters, plot issue for me .... however, the chauvinistic, big newspaper era that it was set in was really great .... great book, any criticism from me is because somehow i find it easier to pick apart a mystery or a thriller rather than just getting lost in it.
65. janet evanovich's tricky 22 ..... i saw a j. evanovich book offer on kindle and thought, oh, i haven't read her in a long time .... so i sorted out what i had read to, got this book, to test it out to see if she is still appealing .... and yay, she is ..... not sure how long ago book 1-21 were .... but i'm happy to have quite a few to read now ....
66. just after midnight by catherine ryan hyde .... good book about a girl, a horse, a terrible father.... i always like this author ... well thought out, multi dimensional characters in a good story.
BY janet evanovich
67. turbo 23...
68. hardcore 24
69. look alive 25
70. twisted 26 .... i do love this stephanie plum series. i'm glad i'd lost track of it though and got to read 22-26 in a row .... now i have to wait for 27 to be written. darn.
71. the vanishing half by brit bennet for th. book club .... black twins running away and taking different paths .... very good. so interesting how we all find our paths .... and how twins can take such different ones...
72. the silent patient ... by alex michaelides .... for sunday book club.... good psychological thriller ....
three by nora roberts! .... i feel like i used to read my mom's romance novels ... and some were by nora roberts ..... but this is not that ... it is an excellent post apocalyptic series with a fantasy/witch twist. if you can get past the pandemic story line that is just a bit too familiar right now, and settle into the battle of good vs. evil, it is JUST excellent. i loved them so much.
73.... year one, chronicles of the one, book 1
74...blood and bone, book 2
75...the rise of magicks, book 3
76,,, solar reboot by matthew hunt ...wow. in a pandemic, apocalyptic books seem prescient .... the beginning(only a spoiler if you didn't read the book description when you bought it), the solar flares are spoken of as no big deal ... and then the government quit commenting and the news went into overdrive ....and people quit working for the greater good and .... well ... we aren't really that bad, but the US toilet paper hoarding and the no mask for me stuff seems similarly selfish and distracts from the dire circumstances.... this book is about a family that is separated when the apocalypse starts ... and how they get back together ....i really enjoyed it .... i'm weirdly loving apocalyptic books right now.
feeling good, because, by the quarter system, i am ahead ... to read 100 books, i need to read 25 every three months ... so, i should be to 75 by the end of sept..but instead am there at the beginning of the month .... which gives me hope, because my reading slows down dramatically around thanksgiving and christmas because of family and visiting and holiday doings ..... will that be the same this pandemic year? likely not.
77. standing in the rainbow by fannie flagg ... quirky characters in elmwood springs .... i always love folksy fannie flagg.
78. how to do nothing by jenny odell ....
79. the little dog in the big plague, a novella by c.c.alma ..... yup ... another book in my 'read post apocalyptic books during the pandemic' phase ..... short .... left me wanting more! reminiscent of the art of racing in the rain where the dog can smell sickness on people.....
80. ellen foster by kaye gibbons .... SO GOOD. sad and funny and poignant and sweet .... i think i especially appreciate books for adults about children ... (different than YA books about kids) ....
81..... the book of forgiving by desmond tutu and mpho tutu (his daughter) ..... tell the story, name the hurt, grant forgiveness, renew or release the relationship...... i picked this up because i liked his other book on joy that tutu wrote with the dali lama .... i've read it twice .... cause maybe i'm not a quick learner .... but in this time of pandemic and what seems like universal strife, we could all learn from this book .... whether your forgiveness needs to happen in your house, your neighborhood, your city or your world....
i have started to read the sisterhood series by fern michael ... i like the first one enough to read the second .... though in some ways it is a little rougher, tougher than i like .... it's really about vengeance ... a whole series on women taking vengeance .... (which is ironic cause simultaneously i've been reading archbishop tutu's book on forgiveness, haha) .... anyway ... it is a long series, 32 right now..... i'm just beginning.
82. weekend warriors by fern michaels, 1 in the sisterhood series
83. payback by f.m.... #2 .... scandalous senator .. the boyfriend/guy i was feeling bad for might be resolving into a better story line
84. vendetta, sisterhood book 3 by f.m...... myra's revenge ....
85. the jury, sisterhood book 4 by f.m. ....
86. the wall by john lanchester ... post apocalyptic. yikes. super different feel than most of the others i've been reading lately.... bleak.
87. the guest list by lucy foley .... this choosing of this book is a story.... he and i were going on a long, should have flown, it's a pandemic car ride together .... and wanted to listen to a book together .... but we never sat down to decide on one together .... so i just picked one ... this one .... not my usual, and not his usual (spies, cops, military) either ...... but it seemed like the middle ground to me .... at the beginning neither of us loved it ... because neither of us would pick it ... but i got it because it was likened to agatha christie ... who is sort of universally appreciated ... and the further we got in, the more i realized it was a good analogy .... and then a few short chapters in we are totally pausing and dissecting the characters .... 6 hours in, he's like, it has to be almost over .... but no, audio books seem SO much longer than a written book .... listening is longer! ..... and besides .. no one had died yet! haha .... so we are guessing who is going to die ... AND guessing who the killer is going to be .....and had half the book still to go ....
anyways. i recommend this book, particularly on audio, particularly to listen to WITH a pal (or partner) .... well done book.
88. the things we cannot say by kelly rimmer .... a ww2 book set in poland .... i sort of feel like i have to steel myself to read a ww2 book these days ...but, like the others, this one is quite compelling ... well done ... another side of the terrible story that was ww2 and the holocaust.... back and forth between past and present .... a different sort of love story.
89. rift
90.skywave
91.magsafe... all by andreas christensen ... post apocalyptic .... future world after nuclear war in a future that doesn't really remember the past .... and the earth is dominated by people called "moon people" ...
read all three ..... but the first was best ... like most world building books, the discovery of the world is awesome ....
92. magnificent vibration by rick springfield .... kinda boy humor ... pretty funny ... a lot weird .... quirky, in a phone call with god way ... and even quirkier cause it is coming from rick springfield
93. the year of magical thinking by joan didion .... a book about mourning.... sad but compelling ....
94. the summerhouse by james patterson ... not my usual read ... but i listened to it with andy on a car ride (two actually) ..... at the beginning i thought we'd have to stop ... it was pretty gruesome .... but the detective part of it, the mystery was quite good and kept me going .... way grittier characters than i usually read about!
95. this tender land by w.k.kreuger .... second read .... epic. Huck Finn like .... four kids escaping an orphanage and going on an odyssey ... really great.
96. the artist's way by julia cameron .... a re read from years ago ... because ... well... because i was cleaning off some book shelves and saw it and wondered why i wasn't living it anymore .... do more art .... so this is a moment of self help reading.
97. ron carlson writes a story by ron carlson.... i'm better at reading than writing .... so i try to rearrange that by reading about writing.
98. paint happy by cristina acosta. same as the artist's way, i'm trying to revive some energy .... this book is about the most perfect title for me .... and i find it harder to paint (successfully when i'm not happy) ... joyful painting is easy to me.
99. the book of longings my sue monk kidd ..... i have read quite a few sue monk kidd books and always enjoy them ... mermaid chair and the secret life of bees and the invention of wings come to mind ..... this one is about ana ... who lives in the time of christ ..... it is great story telling ..... but wow. this book is a lot of things.
first off, i love books about jesus ... fictionalized stories ... like lamb by chris moore or out of egypt by anne rice or the bronze bow by elizabeth someone .....
oh! i just found this: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/23737.Fiction_with_Jesus_as_a_Character
second, i also like books about strong women ... women who are doing things they aren't supposed to be doing .... and this is that ... a strong female character trying to make her life be what she wants not what others want.... sue monk kidd is pretty awesome.
100. the last policeman by winters .... i picked this for one of my book clubs ... it goes with my current reading list full of dystopian/post apocalyptic books ... though this one is sorta preapocalyptic ... an asteroid is about to hit earth and change life entirely. what would you do with just month left of civilization? the twist is that we are following a man who chooses to continue on with his job as a policeman ... and the book is following his path which turns this into a mystery ... whodunnit .... or really who did it and does anyone care since the world will likely be ending soon. super interesting premise ... slow bits in the book, but overall really captivating.
101. the lost boys by orson scott card .... orson scott card is such an interesting author ... long ago i read some of his books that were women of the old testament, sarah, rebekah, leah .... maybe some others ... and then i read enders game which is sci-fi .... and it seemed so interesting that the same writer did both .... and he's done other sci-fi and action books and sorta thrillers .... he's a world creator, making places that are not this that we live in and telling great narrative stories in them .... and he's got compelling characters .... so this book. lost boys. oh i loved it. no world building. a mormon family moved. a hard working, devout family .... and then some mystery and oddness ..... and some is it sci-fi in the back of head ..... so good. i loved this book.
nov. 22 update:
102. worthy by catherine ryan hyde. worthy is a dog. he's a plot device used to have two people meet. i really enjoyed the book. i think catherine ryan hyde books aren't great literature, but they are great reads about humans with human flaws and how they find/keep/struggle for humanity. there's always a a bad guy, always a plot twist, always an uplifting ending. i'm happy i read it.
103. shopaholic christmas by sophie kinsella ..... i've read a shopaholic book before, but they aren't enough substance to read them in multiples (though i've read 27 janet evanovich books, so i'm not actually opposed to no substance escapism) .... so i read this one for a book club christmas .... we always read a xmas book ... and they have varied wildly in their goodness ... so ... my recommendation to read this one is to read the first couple chapters to get your bearings and be aware of all the characters and some plot points ... then skim through the middle that i really got bogged down in and thought i wouldn't be able to finish the book ... and then savor the ending .... i cried THREE times at least as loose ends got wrapped up ... totally a heart string yanking sentimental loveliness .. that i like, especially in a pandemic where i'm about to have thanksgiving NOT with most of my top people.
104.the flatshare by beth o'leary .... chick lit, rom com, easy read, fun with a little bit of a gas lighting twist from an old boyfriend ..... easy, enjoyable, light read.
105. fortune and glory, stephanie plum #27! by janet evanovich. i woke up this morning and finished this book before i got out of bed. when i started this series, sophie was a couple year old, early 2000s, and i read four or five or more all in a row .... this year i caught up on the last couple of years worth .... and this one is brand new out .... i loved it. i'm pretty sure janet evanovich is writing better books now than some of the ones in the middle of the series ..... i think it is such a pandemic thing to do comfort reading. this was that. comfortable. i stayed up late reading it ... woke up and instead of falling back asleep picked it up. that's high praise.
106. billy collins. picnic. beautiful poetry
107. on writing by stephen king ... a memoir. super interesting. i need to read it again at a leisurely, take notes pace.
108. midnight mage by chandelle lavaun. i love this series. witches. i've read dozens now.
109. i'm dreaming of an undead christmas by molly harper ... vampire christmas
110. big summer by jennifer weiner .... an unexpected murder mystery in j.weiner's easy breezy style.
111. the things we cannot say by kelly rimmer ... a WW2 book .... and love ... and love lost ... VERY good.
112. perfectly impossible by elizabeth topp .... an artist who works as a competent assistant for dreadful rich people ..... and all the topsy turviness that goes on ....
113. where late the sweet birds sang by kate wilhelm ... old school post apocalyptic .....from the 70s .... generations after the doomsday, the clones are having trouble!
114. twelve slays of Christmas by jacqueline frost ... cute book about a family that runs a xmas tree farm. murder happens!
115. mr. miracle by debbie macomber ... cute book about a guardian angel working hard to help. the equivalent of a hallmark movie.
116. the henna artist by alka joshi... an epic novel of a woman's life .... bad marriage, making her own way, her sister, betrayal ... very good.
117. merry and bright by debbie macomber ... cute story .... her mom and brother set her up on a dating app .....
soon to read:
for th. book club....
for th. book club....
for sunday book club... christmas shopaholic
for w. book club .... deacon king kong
thursday book club
... jan .... daisy jones and the six
... feb ... you were there too by colleen oakley
... march ... abby .... the girl with the louding voice
---april ... sj... mr. nobody
---- may ... cu... norwegian wood
----june... tp... herman wouk don't stop the carnival ...
---july SKIP
.... august ... jr ....the stationery shop by marjan kamali ....
... sept.... ... mp ... the vanishing half ....
.....oct.... ....jm .. the things we cannot say by kelly rimmer
... feb ... you were there too by colleen oakley
... march ... abby .... the girl with the louding voice
---april ... sj... mr. nobody
---- may ... cu... norwegian wood
----june... tp... herman wouk don't stop the carnival ...
---july SKIP
.... august ... jr ....the stationery shop by marjan kamali ....
... sept.... ... mp ... the vanishing half ....
.....oct.... ....jm .. the things we cannot say by kelly rimmer
...nov ... eb ... the last policeman by winters
wednesday book club .... tao of pooh by benjamin hoff ... january
...............the tender land by william kent krueger .... feb.
................the overstory by richard powers ... march (i've started this SO many times and not been able to get into it. ugh)
................april elizabeth berg ... the story of arthur truluv
may .....
june ... days of the endless corvette by man martin
july... stephen king ... 1922
august.... lady in the lake by laura lippmann ... ls
may .....
june ... days of the endless corvette by man martin
july... stephen king ... 1922
august.... lady in the lake by laura lippmann ... ls
sept. american dirt by jeanine cummins ... kj
oct.the summer book by tove jansson ... fh
nov.deacon king kong by james mcbride .... ks
sunday book club ..... jan ... small great things by jodi piccoult
.........feb... becoming mrs. lewis by patti callahan
..........march... uprooted by naomi novick
..... april ....
....... may .... late migrations by margaret renkl
....june.... the great alone by kristin hannah
.... july... eleanor oliphant is completely fine
.... august ..... the silent patient
... sept.... white fragility by robin diangelo
...oct.... this tender land by w.k. krueger (i'm leading discussion)
nov... no meeting
dec. christmas shopaholic by kinsella
fern michael series... how far will i go?
1. Weekend Warriors (2003)
2. Payback (2004)
3. Vendetta (2005)
4. The Jury (2005)
5. Sweet Revenge (2006)
6. Lethal Justice (2006)
7. Free Fall (2007)
8. Hide and Seek (2007)
9. Hokus Pokus (2007)
10. Fast Track (2008)
11. Collateral Damage (2008)
12. Final Justice (2008)
13. Under the Radar (2009)
14. Razor Sharp (2009)
15. Vanishing Act (2009)
16. Deadly Deals (2009)
17. Game Over (2010)
18. Cross Roads (2010)
19. Deja Vu (2010)
20. Home Free (2011)
21. Gotcha! (2012)
22. Blindsided (2013)
23. Kiss and Tell (2014)
24. Eyes Only (2014)
25. In Plain Sight (2015)
26. Point Blank (2015)
27. Crash and Burn (2016)
28. Need to Know (2017)
29. Safe and Sound (2018)
30. Cut and Run (2019)
31. Truth and Justice (2020)
32. Bitter Pill (2020)
pandemic book club ... every thursday in the pandemic! oh my!
..anne tyler's accidental tourist
... willa cather's my antionia
.. sandra cisneros' house on mango street
.... elizabeth acevedo poet x
... jacqueline woodson's red at the bone ...
... zami ... by audre lord .. (got it)
.... interpreter of maladies... by thumpa lahiri .... (need to get)
...... meet me at the museum (need to get)...
....inside out and back again
fern michael series... how far will i go?
1. Weekend Warriors (2003)
2. Payback (2004)
3. Vendetta (2005)
4. The Jury (2005)
5. Sweet Revenge (2006)
6. Lethal Justice (2006)
7. Free Fall (2007)
8. Hide and Seek (2007)
9. Hokus Pokus (2007)
10. Fast Track (2008)
11. Collateral Damage (2008)
12. Final Justice (2008)
13. Under the Radar (2009)
14. Razor Sharp (2009)
15. Vanishing Act (2009)
16. Deadly Deals (2009)
17. Game Over (2010)
18. Cross Roads (2010)
19. Deja Vu (2010)
20. Home Free (2011)
21. Gotcha! (2012)
22. Blindsided (2013)
23. Kiss and Tell (2014)
24. Eyes Only (2014)
25. In Plain Sight (2015)
26. Point Blank (2015)
27. Crash and Burn (2016)
28. Need to Know (2017)
29. Safe and Sound (2018)
30. Cut and Run (2019)
31. Truth and Justice (2020)
32. Bitter Pill (2020)
pandemic book club ... every thursday in the pandemic! oh my!
..anne tyler's accidental tourist
... willa cather's my antionia
.. sandra cisneros' house on mango street
.... elizabeth acevedo poet x
... jacqueline woodson's red at the bone ...
... zami ... by audre lord .. (got it)
.... interpreter of maladies... by thumpa lahiri .... (need to get)
...... meet me at the museum (need to get)...
....inside out and back again
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