What We Read 2024 - Our Annual Literary Adventures

Entertainment Books
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Jan 2024:

  • Just After Sunset By: Stephen King
  • Holly By: Stephen King
  • NOS4A2 By: Joe Hill
  • Leslie F*cking Jones By: Leslie Jones, Chris Rock - foreword
  • The Best of Richard Matheson By: Richard Matheson
  • The Policy By: Bentley Little
  • The Hunger By: Alma Katsu
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I’ve been reading rock autobiographies. First Geezer Butler, then Tony Iommi, and now Geddy Lee.

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Currently reading/listening to Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica and I am consistently grossed out and terrified every couple pages.

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Oh, nice. I’ve added this to my audible wish list.

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Last night, I finished The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins.

I’m pretty sure it was responsible for the weird dreams I had last night. It was kind of a modern twist on Jane Eyre, only… worse.

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Feb 2024:

  • The Devil Aspect By: Craig Russell
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer By: Mark Twain
  • Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection By: Alexander C. Kane
  • This Much Is True By: Miriam Margolyes

My Notes re: This Much Is True By: Miriam Margolyes

  • Talking about smoked salmon she says ….”but like a woman, it must be moist.” and later when referring to a fellow actress, “She may not look it but she is still moist.” WHY must this word haunt me? Why?
  • She got separated from her group while visiting Broadmoor (an asylum for the criminally insane) and she was left alone with the inmates in the wood-working shop where they had hammers, saws, drills etc. She says her thought was “I better not show them how scared I am, that would be terribly rude.”
  • The English can’t be this polite, right?
  • I learned that if you want to kill someone and not get caught, inject above the hairline.
  • She sucked off (her words) a lot of men and frankly I got tired of hearing about it.
  • That story did not come across as “charming” as I think you meant it to be.
  • I’m not sure I believe that story. I don’t know if that’s even possible at 8 years old.
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*I’’m judging for the BookTube Prize, so there are some books I can’t publicly rate until the round results have been announced, so I will add those when I can

January 2024

  • So Late in the Day: Stories of Men and Women by Claire Keegan (B)
  • A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes (A+)
  • The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare (C)
  • The Good House by Tananrive Due (C+)
  • In the Woods by Tana French (A)
  • Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie (A)
  • Mercury by Amy Jo Burns (A)
  • 24 Hours in Ancient Athens by Philip Matyszak (B+)
  • Hid From Our Eyes by Julia Spencer-Fleming (B+)
  • Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper (A+)
  • The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (A+)
  • Snowblind by Ragnar JĂłnasson (A)
  • Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie (B+)

February 2024

  • Tomb Sweeping by Alexandra Chang
  • Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer (Grade to come)
  • Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith by John F. Dawes (Grade to come)
  • Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb (A+)
  • Indigo by Beverly Jenkins (C)
  • The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare (A)
  • A Memoir of My Former Self by Hilary Mantel (Grade to come)
  • Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (A)
  • Acqua Alta by Donna Leon (A)
  • The Marriage Question by Claire Carlisle (Grade to come)
  • Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (A+)
  • The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote (:star::star::star::star::star: Reread)
  • Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing by Maryla Szymiczkowa (C)

March 2024

  • The Underworld by Susan Casey (Grade to come)
  • North Woods* by Daniel Mason (:star::star::star::star::star:)
  • King: A Life by Jonathan Eig (Grade to come)
  • Brooklyn by Colm TĂłibĂ­n (A+)
  • Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie (A+)
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (C+)
  • A History of Ancient Rome in 100 Lives by Philip Matyszak and Joanne Berry (A)
  • Nightblind by Ragnar JĂłnasson (A)
  • The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (A)
  • Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare (A)
  • My Side of the River by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez (A+)
  • The Likeness by Tana French (A)
  • Weyward by Emilia Hart (B+)
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This list is amazeballs, @HazelEyes! How in the world do you have time to do anything else?

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My house is a mess.

Ha ha! I just make sure I have time in my day to read and then squeeze in more reading time when I can. It’s surprising how much “free” time you have when you are waiting for your kids!

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Last month I read “A Court of Thorns and Roses”. Late to the party but I am excited for the rest of the series.

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I still haven’t read that. Maybe someday.

Hazeleyes list made me remember I need to add Better Living Through Birding to my Amazon list. I’ve been wanting that one.

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I’m currently reading I Feed her to the Beast and the Beast is Me. Set in the world of the French Ballet. Think Center Stage, but as a horror. Loving it so far.

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I’m currently reading The Sweetness in the Bottom of the Pie, and next up on the list is Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club, for my work book club.
With my ongoing visual symptoms from my concussion, screen/reading time is a bit limited unfortunately, so I haven’t had time to read nearly as much as I would like.

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March 2024:

Oliver Twist. By: Charles Dickens (In Progress)

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Recent reads:
The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill - would not recommend. Wasn’t horrible but the last third was a very disjointed mess.
The Burnout by Sophia Kinsella - typical Kinsella. To me, that’s a plus but if you’re not a fan of her other work, probably skip. It’s not one of her stronger outings.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister- horrible; do not recommend. This was my book club’s choice
The Good, The Bad, the Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto - another hilarious installment in the aunties series. Recommend!

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I started the Aunties series but had to return it before finishing a third of the first book while shuffling a long holds list. With your recommendation above I am going to restart that series.

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That sounds really cool.

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That sounds right up my alley.

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April 2024

Finally finished Oliver Twist
Demon Copperhead. By: Barbara Kingsolver (In Progress)

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Okay, I don’t think I’ll finish anything today, so here we go:

April 2024

The Wager by David Grann (Audiobook) - A
As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh - A+
Coriolanus by William Shakespeare - B+
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton - A
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair - :star::star::star::star::star:
The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie - B
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather - :star::star::star::star::star:
Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda (Audiobook) - C
I Am I Am I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O’Farrell - A
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie - B+
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 edited by Lisa Unger - A
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods - A
Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair - A

DNF’d:
The Blue, Beautiful World by Karen Lord (DNF at 48%)

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