Random books thread

[Culturegeek]

(01-07-2022 01:09 AM)Above the Title Wrote:  Anyone doing a reading challenge this year? I aimed for 24 last year and achieved it by the skin of my teeth because I was sick for large portions of the year (not Covid), this year I am upping to 30!

Yeah. I made it easier after missing my last two goals.

[misplaced validity]

I finished Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden the other day. It was a terrific book. It's suspenseful but also has good historical information about systemic issues facing Indigenous Americans.

[Tristan]

The Scar by China Mieville is such a stupendously good nautical adventure. It's got big ideas, bigger thrills, and a really curious, deeply-flawed protagonist who has to be one of my favorite characters I've encountered in all fantasy. It also has a floating pirate city, a rogues gallery of memorable antagonists, and some terrifying mosquito women for good measure. Can't recommend this enough.

[misplaced validity]

Is anyone reading the Britney Spears memoir? I haven't read it yet but will likely check it out.

[misplaced validity]

I've been on a reading tear as of late. Since Christmas I've read 4 books and am 1/3 of the way through another.

The Nix (Nathan Hill) - I loved this one! It's over 700 pages long, but it didn't feel like it at all. It tells the story of essentially 3 generations of a family, and I was interested in all of the characters (well, except for one side character, though she felt like the type of person I deal with a lot).

The Silent Patient (Alex Michaelides) - I literally read this one in a day. It was a proverbial "couldn't put it down" situation. It's kind of a detective novel, but with a psychotherapist as the detective.

the changeling (Victor LaValle) - I loved the first 2/3 of this one. It told an interesting story about a character I liked, and it had a supernatural element to it but it was subtle. The last 1/3 gets heavily into the supernatural element, which just isn't really my thing so I didn't love the end.

Pigs in Heaven (Barbra Kingsolver) - I'm pretty sure I read this back in the late 1900s, but I didn't remember anything about it really so maybe not. I liked it a lot; the story showed empathy for all sides while exploring an issue that needs to be discussed more.

The Wife Before (Shanora Williams) - I am about 1/3 of the way through. I chose this one because it's a mystery/thriller written by a Black woman. It's engrossing enough, but it's similar to other thrillers I've written by Black women in that the protagonist is kind of a mess (often late, often klutzy, etc) so it feels somewhat rote at this point.