"I'm Looking Through You" (aka Books 21-25)

 The title "I'm Looking Through You" is probably more appropriate when I am trying to find books at Barnes & Noble or at the library than the actual reading of the books, but I wanted to keep my Beatles title theme going.

We are still in July, but I have already read 25 of the planned 36 books for 2024. According to Goodreads, I am five books ahead of schedule. But the bucket list is still long and I keep finding other books not on the list that I want to read. The original bucket list was from an article I saw listing the top 100 novels everyone should read, then I found other lists and also asked friends for suggestions and now the current list has 265 books.

It was in August of 2019 that I started to read from the original 100, just about five years ago. The first was Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I have read 71 books from the full bucket list, 41 of them from the original 100.

There were 21 books I had read before making the list, some more than once, and decided I was not going to read those books again. Sixteen of those were on the original 100. There were nine others I had read but I am thinking I may read again. They are in bucket list limbo at the moment. Here are the latest five books I have read, only one from the bucket list.

A Short History of the World in 50 Lies

Written by Historian Natasha Tidd, illustrated by Emily Feavor, published in August 2023.

I found this book on the New Releases shelf at Melbourne Library. Very interesting take on 50 stories where  the original facts were altered into lies for either political or personal reasons and gains. Kind of scary to read, but in the current day and age, it is just more of the same. Some of the stories were new to me, but a lot of them were familiar. I give the book a 2.5 (Good to Great).

The Lost Tomb: And Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, and Murder

Written by Douglas Preston, forward by David Grann, and published in December 2023.

I need to stay away from the New Releases shelf at Melbourne Library, or I am never going to get through my bucket list. This was my first book I have ever read by this author, but I found him to be a great writer of non-fiction. I see he has over 40 books of fiction, so I plan to check him out. He is not on my bucket list. He also has done a lot of articles for top magazines and that is what this book contains. I gave this book a 2.5 (Good to Great)

The Foreword was written by David Grann, another non-fiction author I like, having read four of his books. His book Killers of the Flower Moon was made into a movie.

Crime and Punishment

Written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated from Russian by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

Published in January 1866

Finally, I read a book from my Bucket List. This book was #27 on the Original 100, and is the 71st read. It took me a while to get through it, but it is a wonderful book. What slowed me down is all the Russian names and it is almost 600 pages. But the book did make me do some self reflection on my own life and it's meaning. I know I do not want to go back and live in Russia in 1866. I give the book a 4.0 (Excellent). There is a second book on my list by Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov. Oh my, even the title has Russian names. I hope the brothers first names are Bill and Ted.

You Like It Darker

Written by Stephen King, published in May 2024.

The latest from King, this book contains twelve short stories. Some are great and all are good. I give the book a 3.5 (Great to Excellent). One of my favorites is Rattlesnakes, the protagonist Vic Trenton originally appeared in King's 1981 novel Cujo. Trenton's wife Donna and son Tad were in the car. Other favorites are Two Talented Bastids and Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream. I am not going to spoil them for ya.

Relic

Written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, published in January 1995.

As I said, I wanted to try a fiction book by Preston, and this is the one I choose. The library has two shelves full of his books. I guess he is very popular. I myself, have a little problem with his writing style. It seems like he over indulges in details. If he would put them in a spreadsheet, I probably would enjoy it more. I think his non-fiction writing is much better. I give this book a 2.0 (Good). I may seek out The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story from  2017.

Next up is the latest John Grisham novel and maybe Sense and Sensibility, the first novel by the English author Jane Austen. Happy reading!!

About Title

"I'm Looking Through You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 album Rubber Soul. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. McCartney wrote the song about English actress Jane Asher, his girlfriend for much of the 1960s, and her refusal to give up her stage career and focus on his needs. The line "You don't look different, but you have changed" reflects his dissatisfaction with their relationship. The lyrics also refer to his changing emotional state: "Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight".

Song on Youtube