GenreLand discussion

It's up to you if you want to drop articles (a, an, the) that begin titles, and I imagine this will be more difficult in some languages than in others.

Just glancing over at my shelves, I spy Whisper to Me. But it's kind of a chonker, so unless there's a Tome Topple round in April, I expect I will choose something else.

I was thinking ahead this morning and peeked at my shelves to see if I could read ONLY books that start with W in April. I have 24 W books (omitting the articles a and the), so I think I can do it. The only exceptions I would make is for books for my 2 book clubs. Otherwise, I have sufficient variety that I can find something that works with my mood all month long.

I know I'm reading West with Giraffes for this one since I've got to read it for a book club in April.

I started off easy with a middle-grade book: When You Reach Me.

My second book, White Fragility, was a surprisingly quick read.

So I got carried away and finished a third book in a single day -- The Wily O'Reilly, a group of short stories featuring many of the characters from Patrick Taylor's charming Irish Country series.

Book #4 was Whatever You Do, Don't Run -- True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide.

I liked West With Giraffes- it's set during the 1930's and is a road trip book. You could read it with The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles for another road trip book set in the 30's about a young man who's trying to find his way. They are both very American books for what that's worth.

I happened upon a bit of fluff that was ripe for a reread and just happened to start with W -- Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores.

Tackled a long-term resident of Mt TBR by finishing off A Widow's Curse by Philip DePoy. Better than I expected.

Title starts with W is proving to be an interesting phenomenon for me. All of these books -- regardless of genre or heaviness of topic -- have proven to be quick reads. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi was no exception.

Ways of Dying by Zakes Mda was not an easy read but it was short. Lots of poverty and violence.

Okay, the last one was grim so I broke my pattern of alternating fiction and non-fiction with a lighthearted murder mystery, What Are You Wearing to Die?

Book 10 was also a quick read -- especially during the BookCrossing 24 hour readathon -- but not the most cheerful subject. We Are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel.

#11 this month was the slowest read of them all.

The Wisdom of Crowds

An Even Dozen #12 = The Writing on the Wall. Definitely Nordic noir

Cheryl wrote: "An Even Dozen #12 = The Writing on the Wall. Definitely Nordic noir"

Wow, that's an amazing month of W books!

I managed 3:

The Writing Retreat - Like NaNoWriMo on acid. Literally, at one point in the story. A lot of it was old hat to me, as I've been reading mysteries and thrillers for almost 50 years now. The rest was bizarre and over-the-top. Which is not always a bad thing here.

I read it for the Literally Dead Book Club, and one of the guests at Saturday's live show was unhappy that she had not been warned of the "carnal" nature of the book. So, here's your cw: carnal scenes and lots of sapphic angst. Also, if you're older than 35, you will probably find some of the plot threads tedious. Overall, I did enjoy it, but I was most definitely not in its target demographic.

Where Billy Died - A violently fun short story in which a bounty hunter learns some secret history. It's too short for me to safely say much more than that.

The White Rose: Munich, 1942-1943 - I had heard of this Resistance effort but never in any detail. This was fascinating and heartbreaking.

It was the last week of April when I remembered to check the prompt... so I picked What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, thinking it would be quick. It was! Also pretty interesting, and really absurd. LOL