Everything is F*cked, by Mark Manson. Pub 2019 This book was a gift from a friend and colleague, arising from a discussion last year wherein I'd said that I did not especially enjoy Manson's previous book as it didn't flow well (that book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, was essentially a compendium of... Continue Reading →
Play It As It Lays, by Joan Didion. Book Report #6 (2022)
Play It As It Lays, by Joan Didion. Pub 1970 Joan Didion died in late 2021. While I had heard of her before – my impression was of an elite New York writer dissecting upper class America – I’d never been moved to learn more about her or her writing. Until I read an obituary... Continue Reading →
Sad Cypress, by Agatha Christie. Book report #5 (2022)
Sad Cypress, by Agatha Christie. Pub 1940 I read something in the past year that recommended this somewhat obscure Hercule Poirot story, but I can't recall what or where. As a result, I deliberately sought this one out from the local bookshop, and waited months for its delivery. Now having read it, I'm not at... Continue Reading →
Fallout, by MM Blume. Book reports #3 (2022)
Fallout, by Lesley MM Blume. Pub 2020 I read the "Hiroshima" issue of The New Yorker a few years ago, and like most people over the decades - from 1946 to now - I was spellbound by the issue and article. I was therefore intrigued to read Fallout to learn, as advertised, about the cover-up behind it... Continue Reading →
How to Pronounce Knife, by Souvankham Thammavongsa. Book reports #4 (2022)
How to Pronounce Knife, by Souvankham Thammavongsa. Pub 2020 I selected this book (as a Christmas present) for a few reasons: I liked the title; it is a prize winner; there was positive "buzz" about it. Lessons learned - those are terrible reasons to read a book. All of these stories are about the... Continue Reading →
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. Book report #2 (2022)
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. Pub 2014 I've wanted to read this one for a while, and so was glad to have the new prize category to push it to the top of the tsundoku pile. This book was excellent - complex, well researched, engaging characters, surprising twists, and clever connections.... Continue Reading →
It Begins in Betrayal, by Iona Whishaw. Book report #1 (2022)
It Begins in Betrayal, by Iona Whishaw. Pub 2019 Yes, another Lane Winslow mystery, but I am quite hooked on this series. Unlike other murder mystery series, this is one that cannot be read out of order - each book links into the next, and the histories of the characters revealed in one book are... Continue Reading →
2022 Reading Challenge
Another year, another list. 2022's reading list takes us to 37 items, with some more new categories to keep things interesting. The list is below. For this year, we removed the category "new genre" (after a few years, there were no more genres to choose from), and added an old favourite, a prize-winner (Nobel, Pulitzer,... Continue Reading →
2021 Reading Challenge – summary
I didn't quite make it through the entire 2021 list, but was very close. The goal was 34 books, and I got to 33, including one that did not make the official list due to redundancy. Here's the final book list for 2021: 1 - Book with a murder in it Death in a Darkening... Continue Reading →
An Old, Cold Grave, by Iona Whishaw. Book report #32 (2021)
An Old, Cold Grave, by Iona Whishaw. Pub 2017 I'm clearly addicted to these books and characters -- three books in one year. I'm not a prolific reader and so must count every single book I read as part of the annual challenge. As I make my way through this series, they align with fewer... Continue Reading →
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