The Next Best Book Club discussion

Book 23 - It's a story collection so it was hard to find an appropriate task. I went with the easiest one, "God Bless the Girl" off THE NEXT DAY (EXTRA) album.

(Planet Grim - Alex Behr)

Book 24 - Is another short story collection but it was also given to me by the author for publicity consideration. It's not yet listed on goodreads, but will be soon! So I felt it was best placed against "I Can't Give Everything Away" off the BLACKSTAR album.

(What We Build Upon the Ruins - Giano Cromley)

Book 25 - Tried to fit this into one of the album's I already started but no go. The best fit, because of the total page count - 110 - was "Zero's" off the album NEVER LET ME DOWN.

(Buckskin Cocaine - Erika T Wurth)

Book 26 wasn't set in the "trippy" 70's but it does take place in the city of Chicago in the 70's. There's all kinds of dive barring, palm greasing, and skimming off the top shit happening here! I places it against "Lady Stardust" off the THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album.

(North and Central - Bob Hartley)

Book 27 - there were only a few tasks that this book would fit comfortably and because most of it takes place in or on the water, I felt "Looking For Water" off the REALITY album was the best task to use.

(River of Teeth - Sarah Gailey)

Book 28 - This one features a few characters who are involved in art in one form or another. The lead protagonist was photographed by her famous-artist sister in law; her son makes school films; her nanny is a performance artist and painter. It was a perfect fit for Pablo Picasso" off the REALITY album.

(Woman No. 17 - Edan Lepucki)

Book 29 - This book takes place over the course of one day and it is stellar. Very simply placed against "Day In Day Out" off the NEVER LET ME DOWN album.

(The Long Dry - Cynan Jones)

Book 30 - This one could have fit in a few tasks, but in the end I decided to go with "Nite Flights" off the BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE album because the main character has to go where he's headed in an airplane, twice. So that seemed pretty fitting.

(Mad Black Wheel - Joshua Malerman)

Book 31 - As is the case with many of the books I read, there were a number of fitting tasks. The main protag, a sixteen year old kid, travels quitea bit in this novel, the author uses unconventional grammar, the book felt like it took forever to finish... but utlimately I placed it against "I Keep Forgetting" off the TONIGHT album because the book was quite slow going and there were periods of time where I just didn't pick it up. Not so much that I forgot, but that I just didn't have it in me to slog through so many 'eh' pages.

(Dirt Road - James Kelman)

Book 32 - This one could have been placed against a few tasks, but in the interest of trying to complete at least one album... I threw it against "Tumble and Twirl" off the TONIGHT album. This fits because the main characters are alwatys in motion, over land and across the rivers.

(Taste of Marrow - Sarah Gailey)

Book 33 - I put against "The Loneliest Guy" off the REALITY album. It could have been used against a couple of others (spanning a long period of time, or a book that took me forever to finish) but I really feel this is the best fit.

(In the Distance - Hernan Diaz)

Book 34 - I put this against "Hang on to Yourself" off the THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album for two reasons. (1) I need to stick to the albums that I've already got tasks completed in, so I stand some kind of chance of at least completing one before the end of the year, lol. (2) Both main characters do seem to lose themselves the deeper into the novel we get. So it seems like the perfect fit

(The Grip of It - Jac Jemc)

Book 35 - I put this against "Beat of Your Own Drum" off the NEVER LET ME DOWN album because it really is like nothing I've read before. And it was fucking amazing.

(Mammother - Zachary Schomburg)

Book 36 - I put this against "Suffragette City" off the THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album. Though it's a political satire, it pulls heavily from Frankenstein. For real. It's a strange read for sure!

(Mr. Neutron - Joe Ponepinto)

Book 37 - This had a sex scene with 4 swingers, that takes place in a nudist colony in the 70's. So righteous that it would be placed against "We Prick You" off the OUTSIDE album.

(Absolutely Golden - D Foy)

Book 38- So this is such a cheat but in order to continue to try to complete at least one album this year, I chose to put this collection of short stories up against "I Feel Free" off the BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE album. I just couldn't find any other task in any other album I began that it could fit in. sigh.

(Uncommon Type and other Stories - Tom Hanks)

Book 39 - This book was also placed against a task in the BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE album. I read this thing in almost one sitting, all 260 pages of it. It's literary fiction but also crosses over into noir and reads incredibly quickly. "Lucy Can't Dance" was the perfect song title for it.

(Where Night Stops - Douglas Light)

Book 40 - This is a collection of 4 novellas, in which one of the stories is narrated by the survivor of an apocalypse, so I thought it fit rather well against "Sunday" off the HEATHENS album.

(Strange Weather - Joe Hill)

Book 41 - This is also a collection of stories but one of them is a series of dating site entries, so it fits well with "Leon Takes Us Outside" off the OUTSIDE album,

(Like a Champion - Vincent Chu)

Book 42 - I started this book a month ago and just couldn't seem to find time to devote to reading it. I would attack it in spits and spurts. So it fits perfectly with "Time Will Crawl" off the NEVER LET ME DOWN album.

(A Long Curving Scar Where the Heart Should Be - Quintan Ann Wikswo)

Book 43 - this was a ghost story set in a sort-of boarding house for terminally ill and problematic orphaned boys. Totally fits the bill for "Dancing with the boys" off the TONIGHT album.

(The Job of the Wasp - Colin Winnette)

Book 44 - There is no better fit for this book that "Thursday's Child" off the HOURS album. This character is about as unlucky as they come and never could seem to catch a break.

(Where All Light Tends To Go - David Joy)

Book 45 - So the main protag puts herself in positions where she is constantly being taken advantage of, but is also taking advantage of others, so very fittingly placed against "Days" off the REALITY album.

(Animals Eat Each Other - Elle Nash)