"Happiness Is a Warm Gun"

 My Bucket List of Books to Read and Goodreads list of "Want to Read" are full of titles and I continue to read into 2026. Happiness is a Warm Gun, I mean Happiness is a good book...

The past few years I have been writing a post after reading 5 books. I have decided to do the BLOG post every two months, which turns out to be six books, since my yearly goal is 36. It just happens that I am one book behind this year so here are the first five books I have read in 2026.

The Girl in the Spider's Web (#1)

Written by David Lagercrantz; published in 2015; 400 pages; BJ Score 3.0 (Great)

I loved the Stieg Larsson's three Millennium novels The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest when I read them. Then Larsson died and then his estate asked Lagercrantz to write this novel with the characters Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. All the stories take place in Sweden and are thrillers, where Lisbeth is a hacker and Mikael is a magazine writer and publisher. Other than the sometimes confusing people and place names, the book is a great read. There are two more books by Lagercrantz to complete the second Millennium trilogy, and they have already been added to my Goodreads list.

Germinal (#2)

Written by Emile Zola; published in 1885; 592 pages; BJ Score 4.0 (Excellent)



This became Book #83 on my Bucket list; and was #78 on my original 100 list. An excellent book by Zola, written in French in a series of 20 books about living in France in the 1880s.  Although Germinal very long and at times slow reading. I enjoyed the book immensely. It truly is a great book but at the same time, a very sad story. There is no plan currently to read the other 19 novels.

Outlive (#3)

Written by Peter Attia; published in 2023; 496 pages; BJ Score 3.5 (Great to Excellent)



This book was a gift from my friend Teresa. She had read it and felt that I should too. It was a great read and I did learn a few things from reading it. Most of the life changes he discusses I had already made, though moderately, but there is always room for improvement. It is non-fiction,

An interesting side note, the author has stepped down at CBS News analyst because of his Epstein relationship.

"D" is for Deadbeat (#4)

Written by Sue Grafton; published in 1987; 230 pages; BJ Score 2.5 (Good to Great)


This was the fourth book added to the Grafton Alphabet series in my Bucket List. The entry is for the whole series, but I decided to add as a note to Book #59 on the Bucket List, all books about PI Kinsey. Another good yo great read.

Quantum Bullsh*t (#5)

Written by Chris Ferrie; published in 2023; 224 pages; BJ Score 2.5 (Good to Great)


Non-fiction book that was on sale at B&N. The title kind of caught my eye. I had never heard of it but really enjoyed the read. I see he has written other books about Quantum Physics, which I may look up.

About Title

"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 album The Beatles (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. He derived the title from an article in American Rifleman magazine and explained that the lyrics were a double entendre for guns and his sexual desire for Yoko Ono.

Apple Records released The Beatles on 22 November 1968, with the double LP soon gaining the informal title "the White Album" due to its stark cover art. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" was sequenced as the final track on side one, following "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" was reportedly Harrison and McCartney's favourite track on the White Album.  All four of the Beatles later identified it as their favourite song on the album. American and British censors were unhappy with the song, and it was banned[when?] by the BBC.

Some Cover versions:

  • Tori Amos, on her 2001 album Strange Little Girls. 
  • Phish, on the album Live Phish Volume 13.
  • U2, as a B-side of the 1997 single Last Night on Earth.

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