Reading Q4 2022

I have read seven books in the last Quarter of the year 2022. Three of the books were from my Bucket List. The other books I have been reading are either books I already own and have never read, books I see at the library not on list but I check out anyway, and books that I buy that are on the shelves at Barnes & Noble by authors I like. My goal for 2022 was 30 books and I read 38. I am very happy with that.

Here are my latest reads...

Atonement

This book was #50 on my original 100 books that should be read. I actually read it as the 51st book from the list. It was written by Ian McEwan and published in 2001. Wonderful story about an English family and how lives can be messed up by the wrong interpretation of what people see. It deals with class within English society, war, death, and of course Atonement. There were more than a few surprises in this novel.

I give this book a score of 4.0 (Excellent). Even though I have saved the movie on DVR, I am not ready to watch it yet. It is a disturbing story.

Tenth of December

This book of short stories was written by George Saunders and  published in 2013. There are ten stories and all were first published in magazines, including seven in The New Yorker and two in Harpers. I had purchased in when it first came out and realized I never had read it. Some of the stories ended so abruptly I would check to see if pages were missing from my copy.

I give The Tenth of December a 3.0 (Great). Give it a try if you like short stories.

Fairy Tale

This is the newest novel released by Stephen King. Published in 2022, I purchased at Barnes & Noble because my collection of King is growing, currently at 29 books. 

The book was well done and at over 600 pages, read fairly quickly. I liked the concept of the story.

I did not like the ending but he could change his mind, and maybe write a sequel.

I give the Fairy Tale a score of 3.5 (Great to Excellent).

Rebecca

This Gothic novel was #15 on my original top 100, read as the 52nd book out of a current list of 211. It was written by Daphne Du Maurier and published in 1938.

Most people have heard of the Alfred Hitchcock movie made in 1940. I had never seen it so I think that

made the book even better for me. Because it was so high on my original list, I am glad I read it.

There are very few novels where the author completely surprises me, and it happened multiple times.

I gave Rebecca a score of 4.5 (Excellent to Memorable). I highly recommend it as a book to read.

The Boys from Biloxi

This is the latest novel released by John Grisham. Published in 2022, I purchased at Barnes & Noble because my collection of Grisham is also growing, currently at 10 books.

This book seemed different than past novels by him. The pacing seemed off, like I was reading a historical account. Maybe that is what he intended and the underlying story is great. Halfway through, I found that I could not put it down.

I gave this book a score of 3.0 (Great)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Although not on my original 100, I did find it on other lists of best books ever written. It was the 53rd book read from my list. Written by Victor Hugo and published in 1831, it originally was just titled Notre Dame de Paris. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a French Gothic novel and all its elements—Renaissance setting, impossible love affairs, marginalized characters—make the work a model of the literary themes of Romanticism.  It focuses on the unfortunate story of Quasimodo, the Gypsy street dancer Esmeralda and Quasimodo's guardian the Archdeacon Claude Frollo in 15th-century Paris. There is a lot about Paris, how it became the city it is and the importance of different architectures throughout it's history.

I gave the book a score of 3.5 (Great to Excellent). There are some slow spots but the overall story is classic. Not sure why Disney made an animated version.

Fantastic Voyage II Destination Brain

The last novel I read in 2022 was by Isaac Asimov. Published in 1987, I had seen the movie Fantastic Voyage when I was an impressionable young teen and the star was a young Raquel Welch. Published in 1987, I did not realize that Asimov did not write the movie but only wrote a novelization after the movie was completed in 1966. He was not happy with the result,  so years later he wrote this novel. I purchased back when it came out and never found time to read it.

I gave the book a score of 2.5 (Good to Great). If you remember, The Soviet Union ended in 1991, after this novel was written. This book, although taken place in the future, focuses a lot on the conflicts between the Soviet Union and the United States. Well, there is no Soviet Union in the current world. 

My plan for 2023 is to read 36 books. Problem with my list is that it keeps growing (as I said, currently at 211) and I keep finding other current books I want to read. It is a good problem to have...

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!