Reading Q4H1 2023

 Here are the latest six books that I have read, making 32 for the year 2023 out of a goal of 36 books. I should complete my goal but I do have a few large books that are in my bucket list. Two of the latest 6 books are from the bucket list, while the other 4 are ones I either checked out from the library or I bought at Barnes & Noble.

Last year I was introduced to this author and read three of her novels.  I found this one, The Singer's Gun, at Barnes & Noble and decided to add it to my collection. I will admit this book was very entertaining and I gave it a 2.5 (Good to Great). This was Emily's second novel, published in 2009. I think her fourth novel, Station Eleven, is her best so far. They made that one into a mini-series on HBO which I have not seen.

From my bucket list, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next, is a classic by Ken Kesey and published in 1962. Most people have seen the movie with Jack Nicholson. I could not remember if I had read the book before, but the movie follows the book so well, I still do not know. Maybe I was just remembering the movie and not the book. I give it a 3.0 (Great). If you have never read it, give it a try.

This book, Case Histories, was published by Kate Atkinson in 2004. I found this at the library but I have three novels by her in my personal library already (see below). In my notes, I recommended at as a beach read because it is great (I gave it a 3.0), it is easy reading, and I like the interweaving of multi-stories (that is Cases) throughout the book. This is the first novel in the Jackson Brodie series which has four more novels.

In my bucket list, I have the author Virginia Woolf in the list, but no particular novel defined. I had found her in a Must Read author list. The two local libraries I frequent does not seem to carry her novels, but I did find this book of short stories. It was a little slow at the beginning, she is tougher to read than what I normally like, but I did find that I like her style and give this book a 2.5 (Good to Great). I am counting it as book #62 read from my bucket list, and plan to keep a search out for one of her novels. I may have to buy it.

I found this non-fiction book at the library and decided to give it a try. I am glad I did. Just the title, Bad Days in History: A Gleefully Grim Chronicle of Misfortune, Mayhem, and Misery for Every Day of the Year, is fun to read. I give the book a 3.0 (Great). From Goodreads website:

In brief: One bad historical moment for every day of the year. Some are horrible, some are hilarious, some are outright unexpected.

 

Back to the library and what was sitting on the new releases area, the latest by Kate Atkinson, who wrote the Case Stories I just reviewed. This was published in 2023 and I give it a 2.5 (Good to Great). Some of the stories were more entertaining than others, and a few were approaching science fiction. I guess a book of short stories gives an author a chance to play around with genres and ideas. 

My Library Grows

My home library has reached over 500 books, including both Fiction and Non-fiction. The following list include the number of Fiction books I own by some of my favorite authors.