"The Word" (aka Books 16-20)

 I have read five more books for 2024, making my total at 20. My start-of-year goal was 36 so I am 5 books ahead of schedule. This latest group of five includes two from my bucket list, four fiction, one non-fiction, and two were written before I was born. Here they are.

I has seen the movie The Giver and found it interesting so I decided to give the book a read. Reading the whole book in less than 24 hours, I thought it was Great (I gave it a 3.0). Published in 1993, The Giver is a American young adult dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry. The novel is the first in a loose quartet of novels known as The Giver Quartet, with three subsequent books set in the same universe: Gathering Blue (2000), Messenger (2004), and Son (2012). I may have to give them a read. Interesting tidbit, Taylor Swift was in the movie.

The book 1984 by George Orwell was #8 on my original bucket list. It is #69 in my current reads from the ever-growing list. I give it a 2.5 (Good to Great) because I got lost (I should really say bored) in the philosophical description of the world of 1984. I thought I read this in High School, but it became apparent quickly that I did not remember much. Maybe I forgot because I was bored 50 years ago. It was published in 1949, and thankfully did not become true in 1984, but we still have time for Big Brother to take over. Interesting tidbit, Orwell's telescreens are similar to what we call smart phones. They listen to you and try to sway your beliefs and thoughts.

This is the fifth book I have read by Kendra Elliot. There is a series of six books by her called the Callahan & McLane series.. Targeted is the fourth book of the six, published in 2016. I started with the fifth book because it was a B&N impulse buy and I did not know there was a series. The book, The Last Sister, was so good I decided to read more and found the series on Goodreads. I gave this book a 2.0 (Good) because I did not like it as much as some of the others. There is one more book in the series that I own so I plan to read it.

The fourth book I read, and only non-fiction book in the latest readings, I was actually looking for a different book by this author at the library. Being a Mathematician, I was intrigued by the title Numbers Don't Lie. It was good (Rated 2.0) and informative. Not all people will like what he has to say, but he tries to just present the numbers in 71 stories.

The last book I have read was published in 1890. This became #70 on my bucket list, but it was not in the original list. I am glad I added it. The Picture of Dorian Gray bi Oscar Wilde is a very interesting read and I gave it a 3.5 (Great to Excellent). It was actually in a Goodreads List of top books by members. We all know the story and I am not sure why, but the book was better than the story I thought I knew. Tidbit, the cover above is not from the edition I read. I got an edition from the library that also contains other short stories by Wilde, and all were great to excellent.

Note

"The Word" is a song by English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded with Lennon on lead vocals. It was first released on their 1965 album Rubber Soul.

"Say the word and you'll be free".

Books are full of words and they will set you free...