Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

2. A book connected to something you read in 2023 - Completed 05/03/2024
The Big Four by Agatha Christie 3 ✮

Not at all what I was planning to read for this week. My intent was to continue on with the next book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series (House of Chains) or in the Culture series (Look to Windward) but instead went for the next book in the Hercule Poirot series.

This one leans more heavily into the Sherlock Holmes influence of Poirot. It was apparently Dame Christie's goal to rewrite and improve upon that character and it must have worked since all modern versions of Holmes far more resemble Poirot than his original book counterpart. But its the book's Watson, Captain Hastings, that annoys me most. He's supposed to be an everyman, but he's just too damned stupid to relate to. At least, Poirot uses this to his benefit - playing into Hasting's tendency to guess wrong on every hint to manipulate him like a chess piece.

I think Poirot worked best when Christie moved him away from the Holmes type and dumped Hastings.

40. A book involving a wild animal or endangered species, in the content, title, or on the cover - Completed 05/05/2024
Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams 5 ✮

The difference between a non-fiction book by Douglas Adams and one of fiction is that the former is based on real life events. I was reluctant to read The Salmon of Doubt, because I feared that it meant that I had read all of the books by Adams. But was comforted to know that there was one more - his one non-fiction work.

Now, I have read them all.

But being older, I now know that I have lost nothing and gained a lot. And I can always re-read the nine books he gifted us with.

New 52 - 37. A book that uses all five vowels in the title and/or author's name - Completed 05/07/2024
Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 ✮

The second book I read that is challenge adjacent. I also bumped up my rating, after the reread of this one. Knowing the larger story and themes, it was cool to see how much everything built toward that. It should have always had full marks,

So much of this book was very memorable. I originally read it a decade ago. This time, I was waiting for my favorite parts and then enjoying every minute of it.

50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024 - Completed 05/12/2024
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 5 ✮

Now this was a book that I had a hard time putting down! Susanna Clarke is quickly becoming a contender for my favorite author.

Only trouble is, she hasn't put out that many books. And I am fine with that. If that's the time necessary to put out books of this quality, then keep it up. Do whatever you need to do to write more books of this caliber. I'll just patiently wait for the next one.

Because, unlike all of my other favorite authors, Clarke is still around and can keep putting out content. So, even though I've completed her bibliography - it's certainly not over.

44. A book with a touch of magic - Completed 05/13/2024
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez 3 ✮

A bit disappointing, in the same way as Blood Meridian. It's well written, that's not surprising, but I can't care a bit for the story or the characters. Where the other book seemed to have a plot built to just have as many scenes of violence as possible, this one is primarily sex scenes.

Ultimately, it breaks even on the score because the very good is counterbalanced with some very bad. Though, still worth reading.

11. A book with an X connection- Completed 05/20/2024
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind 2 ✮

Writer's First Rule:

Readers are stupid. If you want them to get the underlying message in your book, explain it down to them in the simplest of terms. Write your characters stupid enough for your readers to relate to.

Rule 1, subheading a: if you manage to come up with any decent characters, kill them off. They'll only crowd up the sequels.

Excellent! You don't have to read any more of those now and have saved yourself thousands of pages of frustration!

51. A book published in 2024 - Completed 05/23/2024
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett 3 ✮

So, I did something crazy.

This topic appears every year (that is a week where you are to read a book that was released that year) and it's always fairly challenging for me, since I don't tend to read new books. Rather, I wait until they have been out for around 10 years, and if people are still talking about it, it must be pretty good (e.g. The Three-Body Problem).

My normal way of filling this prompt is just to look at all the authors that I already love and see what they have releasing this year. Of course, most of my favorite authors are long dead, but there are a few that are still kicking around and dropping new books occasionally.

But there are two other issues that I've found with the current year. We aren't even half-way through, so most of the 2024 books haven't been released yet. And those that have, often have big wait lists from the library.

So, imagine my surprise when I found a book to read that was released in 2024, already out, and freely available from the library. Only problem being, it's the second book in a series, and I have not read the first book.

No problem, I just have to get the first book.... the first book has a long wait list. Nobody is reading the second because they are all waiting to get through the first.

And then I had a crazy idea. Back in my day, it was a lot harder to get all the books in a series (especially the first book, which tended to go missing from the library) and it was also challenging to find out which books were in a series and what order they belonged in. Inevitably, we would end up reading the books out of order and there are a lot of series, from back in the 80's/90's that I did not start with the first book.

So, why not just read the second book first, if not simply for the nostalgia?

13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list - Completed 05/23/2024
The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke 3 ✮

After the very solid A Fall of Moondust, I knew that I wanted to get another book by Arthur C. Clarke in this year. Thankfully, one of the lists from the '5 Books Lists' website was for Clarke's books and one of those was a book on my TBR, The City and the Stars.

This one, it turns out, is actually his first novel. I thought I had already read Clarke's first in Prelude to Space, but it turns out that this one was written first, but then later edited and rereleased with a different title.

This reads much more like a first book, and while I'm still impressed that Clarke started out so strong, it's not as strong as Prelude to Space.

While the book has some amazing ideas (and I see a lot of influence it had on subsequent Sci-Fi), it also seems to lack direction, a hook to keep the reader interested, and in show don't tell. So, again, I end up balancing the really good with the poor and coming up with a middle rating.

5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world (Venice) - - Completed 05/25/2024
Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway 3 ✮

Well written, certainly. But what reason do I have to care about the story or the characters. Mostly, I was just bored. Though thankfully, the protagonist acknowledged how boring he was.

And we honor the fallen...

At this point in the challenge, I have started the final two books to complete the 52 prompts. I'd like to acknowledge those books which had been on the list, but did not get read. My main goal in doing this is to remember their role in this adventure and make sure that they do get read at some future point. They are:

✔ Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne (week 29, put off because I really hated 800 Leagues on the Amazon.) Completed 09/22/2024

House of Chains by Steven Erikson (week 2, cut because I was already reading a lot of big books that I didn't like.)

If I Were You by P.G. Wodehouse (week 7, cut because I was getting a bit burned out on Plum.)

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (week 8, swapped out for a different Atwood book, because I couldn't easily get a copy of it.)

✔ The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (week 8, considered briefly, but it is a bit long.) Completed 11/10/2024

✔ The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi (week 13, similar to above: hard to get a copy.) Completed 06/04/2024

✔ The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin (week 24, it got postponed because I didn't read the first book. And now that I have, it will likely be read soon.) Completed 08/08/2024

✔ Death's End by Liu Cixin (week 14, see above.) Completed 10/13/2024

Inversions by Iain M. Banks (week 35. Actually bumped in favor of The Three-Body Problem. I had intended on finishing The Culture Series, this year.)

Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks (week 37, See above.)

✔ Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (week 21, I added this one to the plan under the assumption that I owned it. But it turns out that this is one of the Vonnegut books that I don't have.)

✔ The Tommyknockers by Stephen King (week 47, due to the terrible reviews, I am afraid of this book.) Completed 07/15/2024

✔ Holly by Stephen King (week 49, I really want to read this book, because my sister-in-law loved it. But it keeps getting put off.) Completed 09/20/2024

✔ Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (never nailed down a week, I needed to read this before the sequel.) - Completed 05/30/2024

Overall, I did exceptionally well at keeping to the plan. Much better than previous years. I suspect that I am just getting better at writing the plan.

I love the idea of honoring the fallen! I change books from my original plan but then don't keep track of those original books; might be fun to track!

Jacqie wrote: "I love the idea of honoring the fallen! I change books from my original plan but then don't keep track of those original books; might be fun to track!"

Yes, in previous years I wished that I had kept track better. I was trying to do so, this year. Often, I will prioritize such books in the next challenge - when I can remember them.

21. A book with a title containing 6+ words - Completed 05/27/2024
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie 4 ✮

This time, the point goes to Dame Agatha. I had wanted to read this book for week 2, since it is a year that I have not yet read a book from, but there was a Poirot book in between them. This one is much better than the last few Poirot books, and I suspect that Mrs. Christie took him in a new direction simply because she was not satisfied with those outings.

It also gives me hope for future Poirot books (I have read some that occur after this and all that go before.) This one had a few obvious red herrings that I'm glad to say that I did not fall for, but there were so many red herrings, that it was quite a challenge to sort them out. Ultimately, my choice was not the who had done it. On top of that, it is a very fun read, with some obvious influence by P.G. Wodehouse.

17. A book involving intelligence - Completed 05/29/2024
The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton 3 ✮

This was my first choice for this week's topic. I've been meaning to catch up on Michael Crichton books and this one has always sounded really interesting to me. It's an especially cool title.

Unfortunately, it turns out to be a book with a really cool idea/concept and a pretty mediocre execution. As a sci-fi, I still have to give it a lot of credit for prediction so much of the future. At the same time, it was interesting to see what someone from the 70's thought of the technological progress that is no longer speculative fiction for us.

And that concludes my 52 books for 2024.

With the 2024 challenge complete, now seems like a good time to discuss what I plan to do with the rest of the year. I decided that what I would do is work backwards and complete the ATY Challenges that I didn't participate in.

THE 52 TOPICS OF THE 2022 ATY READING CHALLENGE

✔ 1. A book with a main character whose name starts with A, T, or Y - Completed 10/21/2024
Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy 2 ✮

✔ 2. A book connected to a book you read in 2021 - Completed 07/06/2024
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie 2 ✮

✔ 3. A book with 22 or more letters in the title - Completed 07/06/2024
Bluebeard, The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian 1916-1988 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 4 ✮

✔ 4. A book that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the list – Completed 04/29/2024
Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold 4 ✮

✔ 5. A book by an author with two sets of double letters in their name - Completed 09/25/2024
The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg 5 ✮

✔ 6. A book with an image of a source of light on the cover - Completed 09/20/2024
Holly by Stephen King 4 ✮

✔ 7. A book related to psychology, neuroscience or the mind - Completed 09/11/2024
Head On by John Scalzi 3 ✮

✔ 8. 3 books set on three different continents - Book 1 – Completed 10/01/2024
For Love of Evil by Piers Anthony 3 ✮

✔ 9. 3 books set on three different continents - Book 2 - Completed 07/25/2024
You Like It Darker by Stephen King 4 ✮

✔ 10. 3 books set on three different continents - Book 3 – Completed 11/10/2024
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough 4 ✮

✔ 11. A book from historical fiction genre - Completed 11/18/2024
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 4 ✮

✔ 12. A book related to glass - Completed 11/13/2024
Cinder by Marissa Meyer 2 ✮

✔ 13. A book about a woman in STEM – Completed 12/3/2024
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer 2 ✮

✔ 14. A book with fewer than 5000 ratings on Goodreads - Completed 06/20/2024
Isis Orb by Piers Anthony 3 ✮

✔ 15. A book without a person on the cover - Completed 08/08/2024
The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin 4 ✮

✔ 16. A book related to Earth Day - Completed 09/03/2024
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood 3 ✮

✔ 17. A book from NPR's Book Concierge - Completed 09/16/2024
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman 5 ✮

✔ 18. A book by an Asian or Pacific Islander author - Completed 10/13/2024
Death's End by Liu Cixin 2 ✮

✔ 19. A book that involves alternate reality, alternate worlds, or alternate history - Completed 07/19/2024
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde 2 ✮

✔ 20. A fiction or nonfiction book that is set during 1900 -1951 - Completed 06/02/2024
The Floating Admiral by Agatha Christie and G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers and G.D.H. Cole and Ronald Knox and Freeman Wills Crofts and Clemence Dane and Anthony Berkeley Cox 2 ✮

✔ 21. A book with one of the Monopoly tokens on the cover - Completed 05/31/2024
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L Baum 3 ✮

✔ 22. A book with a Jewish character or author - Completed 11/28/2024
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka 4 ✮

✔ 23. A book that features loving LGBTQIA+ relationship - Completed 05/30/2024
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett 3 ✮

✔ 24. A book related to inclement weather – Completed 12/08/2024
State of Fear by Michael Crichton 3 ✮

✔ 25. A book less than 220 pages OR more than 440 pages - Completed 07/15/2024
The Tommyknockers by Stephen King 3 ✮

✔ 26. 2 books with the same word in the title - Book 1 - Completed 08/01/2024
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

✔ 27. 2 books with the same word in the title - Book 2 - Completed 08/18/2024
Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

✔ 28. A book that won an award from Powell's list of book awards - Completed 08/26/2024
Babel by R.F. Kuang 1 ✮

✔ 29. A book set on or near a body of water - Completed 08/03/2024
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

✔ 30. A book related to mythology – Completed 06/12/2024
Fairy Tale by Stephen King 2 ✮

✔ 31. A book published at least 10 years ago - Completed 08/13/2024
Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

✔ 32. A book where the main character is a female detective/private eye/police officer - Completed 06/29/2024
Airframe by Michael Crichton 4 ✮

✔ 33. The next book in a series – Completed 08/28/2024
The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

✔ 34. A book with an academic setting or with a teacher that plays an important role - Completed 07/31/2024
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 4 ✮

✔ 35. 2 books related to flora and fauna - Book 1 - Completed 06/14/2024
MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood 4 ✮

✔ 36. 2 books related to flora and fauna - Book 2 - Completed 09/28/2024
Being a Green Mother by Piers Anthony 2 ✮

✔ 37. A book that uses all five vowels in the title and/or author's name - Completed 05/07/2024
Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold 5 ✮

✔ 38. A book by a Latin American author - Completed 10/25/2024
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya 4 ✮

✔ 39. A book from the TIME list of 100 Best YA Books of All Time - Completed 11/30/2024
Holes by Louis Sachar 4 ✮

✔ 40. A book related to one of the 22 Tarot Major Arcana cards - Completed 09/13/2024
Fool by Christopher Moore 5 ✮

✔ 41. A book with a theme of food or drink - Completed 09/15/2024
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 4 ✮

✔ 42. A book with a language or nationality in the title - Completed 11/09/2024
American Knees: A Novel by Shawn Wong 5 ✮

✔ 43. A book set in a small town or rural area - Completed 07/02/2024
A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie 3 ✮

✔ 44. A book with gothic elements - Completed 10/31/2024
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier 2 ✮

✔ 45. A book related to a game - Completed 09/06/2024
The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore 2 ✮

✔ 46. A book with a non-human as one of the main characters - Completed 10/04/2024
Robot Dreams by Isaac Asimov 3 ✮

✔ 47. A book with handwriting on the cover - Completed 10/28/2024
The Green Mile by Stephen King 5 ✮

✔ 48. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2021 or 2022 - Completed 06/25/2024
Beloved by Toni Morrison 5 ✮

✔ 49. A book connected to the phrase "Here (There) Be Dragons" - Completed 08/11/2024
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

✔ 50. A book that involves aging, or a character in their golden years – Completed 09/17/2024
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie 4 ✮

✔ 51. A book published in 2022 - Completed 06/04/2024
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi 3 ✮

✔ 52. A book with a time-related word in the title - Completed 09/22/2024
Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne 2 ✮

✔ 53. Wild Card – A book with a cover that features a view from above - Completed 09/09/2024
Lock In by John Scalzi 4 ✮

✔ 54. Wild Card – A book that involves a secret society or club - Completed 11/01/2024
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler 5 ✮

New 52-23. A book that features loving LGBTQIA+ relationship - Completed 05/30/2024
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett 3 ✮

Once I had decided on Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands for Week 51 of the 2024 list, I wanted to slot in this book before it. However, the library had a pretty long wait list for it and once I was almost done with the list, there were stilll around a hundred people ahead of me. So, I read the second book first.

Then, the same day that I finished the sequel, I looked back at the Library website to see where I was in line. I was 81st. Which is fine, since there are 81 copies. And then later that same day, I got an email saying that my copy was ready.

Not sure how. Apparently 80 people passed.

Like the second book, I found this to be a fun, humorous, easy read - and I fully intend to continue the series. But still, there isn't that much to it. I just feel like there should be more. Some twists or surprises. Maybe a message. Nope just fun, and that's fine.

This book could easily work for week 13 (Woman in Stem) but I thought that the week 23 prompt might be slightly harder to fill (especially since I do not read many new books).

New 52 - 21. A book with one of the Monopoly tokens on the cover - Completed 05/31/2024
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L Baum 3 ✮

This is a book that I wanted to read for a very long time, we are talking going back to grade school. My local library had hard covers of this series and my sister and I always wanted to check them out and read the whole series, but they were always missing the early books. Then later, after too many of them went missing, they stopped letting these be checked out at all. It's likely the inciting incident that made me decide to just read series out of order.

The real reason I need to read it is that I need to get on to the other books in the series. But Wicked (film version of the musical) comes out later this year, so it was good to see the differences between the book and the most famous of the film adaptations.

I'm actually surprised at how true to the book that film was. There are differences, certainly, but those changes are the ones that almost had to be done to make a film (like streamlining Glinda from two characters into just one and having her show up at the end instead of making Dorothy et al. journey to her).

Still, I didn't enjoy it much. And what's with the normalization of child grooming? Maybe the book should have been about Dorothy rescuing that poor kid. Look I don't care what sort of beef you adults have with each other, but let's free the flying monkeys from their curse and get that boy out of a very concerning situation.

New 52 - 20. A fiction or nonfiction book that is set during 1900 -1951 - Completed 06/02/2024
The Floating Admiral by Agatha Christie and G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers and G.D.H. Cole and Ronald Knox and Freeman Wills Crofts and Clemence Dane and Anthony Berkeley Cox 2 ✮

This is a cool idea for a book, and that was one of the reasons I wanted to read it. But I was almost certain that it couldn't possibly work; this many authors writing one story and trying to pull it in a few different directions.

What I was impressed by were the rules, at the beginning, and the solutions that each author gave, at the end. It is impressive how close to each other they were and I agree that the evidence presented leads to those possible conclusions.... except the actual ending. The author who did write the ending decided to toss the rules out and ignore the facts in favor of a twist.

It does remind me a lot of the Thieves' World series. In that a lot of writers come together to make one work. This helps to expose readers who might be fans of one of the authors to the others. The problem with both is the inconsistency of quality. But ultimately the Thieves World idea works better since the authors only share the world and the characters and not the stories.

Of note: knocking out this book (published 1931) completes my side quest of having read a book from every year 1920 - 2024. Reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the first step toward completing 1900-1919, since most of its many sequels can cover the years I am missing there.

New 52 51. A book published in 2022 - Completed 06/04/2024
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi 3 ✮

What I was thinking, while reading the Emily Wilde books was that Heather Fawcett was the John Scalzi of Fantasy. I am even more convinced of that, now that I have recently read another Scalzi.

These books are fun and often humorous, and that's what they set out to be. They are written to appeal to a general readership, and are light reading. But they don't really break any new ground.

While I didn't rank either authors very highly this year, I'll certainly continue to read them whenever I just want something fun.

New 52 30. A book related to mythology – Completed 06/12/2024
Fairy Tale by Stephen King 2 ✮

Really not impressed by this one. It's not really King's genre, but I'd still have thought he could pull it off. It's a book concept that has been done a lot, but again I would have thought that King could bring something new.

But this didn't even feel like a King book. It certainly has elements of King's author voice, but it felt like it was written by a brand new author not one with 50 years of experience. There are just so many writing mistakes (which could have been caught by an editor).

That plus all of the odd references to 80's pop culture - coming from a protagonist who is supposed to be 18 in 2014. If someone told me it was actually written by Owen King, that would make far more sense. Or perhaps, there is a meta level where Stephen King wanted it to feel like it had been written by a first time author. I mean, a lot of these issues are discussed by King in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. So, why would he be making them now.

New 52 35. 2 books related to flora and fauna - Book 1 - Completed 06/14/2024
MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood 4 ✮

It probably says something about me that I decided to continue this series, despite not liking the first book. It also should say something that I opted to read them in the order 1, 3, 2. But I'm glad I did because I enjoyed this book much more than the first and also because this is the sequel to book 1 (it is also a sequel to book 2, but they don't connect that much together.) So, I will end up reading book 2 as a prequel.

I knew I wanted to still read this because I like Margaret Atwood as a writer. Even if I'm not a fan of the story, I still enjoy the words. This book was better if only because it didn't go into detail on how the world came into being. The less detail there is, the less obvious it will be that the writer doesn't understand the subject matter (biology and especially genetics). This book is much more about what happens to the people in the world than how that world came to be.

New 52 14. A book with fewer than 5000 ratings on Goodreads - Completed 06/20/2024
Isis Orb by Piers Anthony 3 ✮

While reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I was reminded a lot of the Xanth books. Then, Stephen King name dropped that series in Fairy Tale. So, I thought it was about time to read another, newer, Xanth book - if for no other reason than nostalgia.

I ended up reading Isis Orb because it was the only Xanth novel, that I had not read, that was available as an audiobook from my local library. But it is much farther into the series than I have read - so it's the third time this year that I have read books out of series order.

As far as Xanth books go, this one was pretty bog standard. Protagonist goes on a quest, makes friends along the way, friends also have issues to resolve that the quest can help rectify. Its the basic premise of the Oz books, but for Adults (well, maybe adolescents and/or adults who still have adolescent humor.) I do wish that Piers Anthony was looking to break new ground with the series, but if you go in expecting a book that will remind you of the popular era of these novels - this will definitely do that.

What I did find surprising was that this qualified for the Week 14 prompt. But then I looked back at the books that Piers has written recently and there is a clear trend where fewer and fewer people read these books each year. Hell, I fell off after book 26 - and there are 47!

Starting at book 20, there are fewer and fewer readers until you get to book 47, which has double digits for ratings on this site. I'm only the 458th person to read Isis Orb.

New 52 48. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2021 or 2022 -Completed 06/25/2024
Beloved by Toni Morrison 5 ✮

It should come as a surprise to nobody who has read this book that I would give it full marks. I had heard that it was a great read, from other members of this group who share similar likes to myself. So, I came in with big expectations.

And it exceeded them.

It might even be the best read of the year. The writing is amazing. The storytelling is amazing. The subject matter is very interesting to me. I really want to read more by Toni Morrison, but since I have been on a run of good books, I should probably look for something a bit less guaranteed.

New 52 32. A book where the main character is a female detective/private eye/police officer - Completed 06/29/2024
Airframe by Michael Crichton 4 ✮

Michael Crichton is another author which I'd like to say that I have read more books from. So, I specifically went looking for more of his books. (Especially after the very solid The Great Train Robbery) Airframe was listed very high on a couple different best books by Michael Crichton and was supposedly relevant to the recent Boeing issues - so I thought I'd go with that one.

I was quite impressed and agree that it is rather poignant right now, although there are many aspects that are very 90's. A fair number of the Chricton books that I have read fit the detective fiction genre - but then bend that by having the investigator not be a policeman or private detective. In this case, the investigator works for the airplane manufacturer.

The only thing that didn't work for me, in this book, was everything to do with the news. It's an accurate depiction of that format, but it just wasn't fun to read. And to have the climax of the book take place in that setting made it very cringe.

New 52 43. A book set in a small town or rural area - Completed 07/02/2024
A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie 3 ✮

I grabbed this book mostly because I needed one at the time, didn't have time to look for many options, and it was available. I had a fair number of books on hold, but all of which had stubbornly refused to be there when I needed them.

The idea behind this one is good, but I don't think it was quite pulled off. I was able to correctly deduce who had done it, but not the why. Then after Dame Agatha spent quite a few pages explaining it all, I still don't know why. 'It just seemed the right time to kill somebody' doesn't seem like enough of a reason to me. In many instances, other options were readily available and killing somebody had no assurance of resolving the issue.

So, I guess they were killing people and in this manner because: it makes a good story.

I'm going to need you to get all the way off my back.

New 52 3. A book with 22 or more letters in the title - Completed 07/06/2024
Bluebeard, The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian 1916-1988 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 4 ✮

Another great book by one of my favorite authors. I don't think I'd put it quite as high as his best work, but it might well be in the top 10. Then again, always good to see someone stick it to the 'fine art' community.

It's a funny coincidence that this book, which I was reading at the same time as Fairy Tale, also features a shed with a secret locked inside. Except this time, the protagonist knows how to keep it locked!! Five locks is just about right. Somehow, nobody accidentally finds their way inside.

New 52 25. A book less than 220 pages OR more than 440 pages - Completed 07/15/2024
The Tommyknockers by Stephen King 3 ✮

Another one of the books that I was supposed to read for this year's 52 challenge, but it got dropped because I was kind of afraid of how bad its reputation is.

And it really doesn't deserve all the hate. It's not one of King's best and it probably should be one of the last King books you read, but at the same time, it isn't his worst either. To me, it reads like an inferior version of his Needful Things. He had a good idea, he wrote it, it didn't really work, he tried it again, it was one of his best.

So why don't people like it? Well, he doesn't really give us an interesting main character to root for AND the main plot isn't that engaging either. To add to that, he is continually introducing new characters and new subplots, only to kill them off. The latter bit, I think could work well (and actually did work well a few times), but due to reader lack of interest, they just feel like padding.

New 52 19. A book that involves alternate reality, alternate worlds, or alternate history - Completed 07/19/2024
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde 2 ✮

Sometimes I find my own reading decisions odd. This is a series that I have never really enjoyed, but still seem to come back to. I think it's a good example of a cool idea for a series, that is never quite executed right and I just want to find one that is.

For much of this reading, I was leaning between a 3 star or a 4 star rating. There are a lot of nods to story telling and the writing process as well as common tropes in fiction. It's never really funny, but is certainly easy to read and entertaining.

My issues lie in that it uses such a predictable and trite plot (despite calling those out) and then the author flat out gives up and throws not one but two deus ex machina to close it up.

And yet, I am fairly certain that I will read the fourth book, if not just to see the conclusion to the series' overarching storyline.

New 52 9. 3 books set on three different continents - Book 2 - Completed 07/25/2024
You Like It Darker by Stephen King 4 ✮

Definitely a good read, though certainly not as strong as Night Shift. Some of the stories went a bit long (or started out very slow), but totally worth the effort for the payoff.

New 52 34. A book with an academic setting or with a teacher that plays an important role - Completed 07/31/2024
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 4 ✮

Really liked this one. Especially the ending. But I do think it was missing something that keeps it out of the 5 star range. I'm reminded of how well Arthur C. Clarke can hook the reader in by dropping hints of what is coming or building tension.

This was a fun book that I enjoyed reading where things happened. There are even a few places in the book where I could have put it down, not ever finished it, and never even noticed. I kept thinking 'the book is done, everything has happened, why are there over a hundred pages left?'

New 52 26. 2 books with the same word in the title - Book 1 - Completed 08/01/2024
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

I knew that I would like this book. Ursula K. Le Guin has never failed to impress me. So, I already had it and two of its sequels written into the list. Now, I'm looking for places to slot in the other three.

I'm already in the middle of a lot of other series, but these are pretty quick reads. It is directed at a Young Adult audience, and I appreciate that. It leaves me wanting more. I wish I could go grab the extended edition of the book. In a lot of ways, its a relief to be reading a light, fast paced book after so many new Stephen King doorstops. But I also think I would have enjoyed this even more had I read them as a teen.

And that brings me to the cover. The one I had was a generic fantasy looking cover. The one I posted above is the original cover from 1968. I think this cover would have grabbed my attention and drug me in. This isn't a standard fantasy by any means. At a time where everyone was doing Lord of the Rings knock offs - this stands apart.

But what really makes it is the protagonist/antagonist dynamic. I won't spoil that for you, but this is something that Pixar has been doing really well. Think about who the normal antagonist in films/books are and what sort of antagonists you actually encounter in everyday life.

This is a coming of age story meant to show young adults how to overcome adversity, So, why not have the antagonist be someone you will actually struggle against. Not some evil banker or billionaire oil tycoon that wants to steal your grandma's land.

No, this is a more realistic fantasy tale.

New 52 29. A book set on or near a body of water - Completed 08/03/2024
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

Making quick work of these. This one I liked even better than the first. There's a key important lesson at the heart of each of these that reminds me of the great Theodore Geisel. Still, something holds them back from that 5 star read. I think there are 5 stars in this series, but perhaps, as was the case for the Hainish Cycle, they aren't the first ones published.

And it's always been my theory that this is due to Le Guin needing to establish herself as a writer to be able to do whatever she wants. The early books were good, and broke new ground, but were still held to the requirement of what would get published at the time. Once she was well enough known to be able to publish on her name alone, then she could write whatever she wanted and that's when things got truly great.

New 52 15. A book without a person on the cover - Completed 08/08/2024
The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin 4 ✮

I enjoyed the first book. The Three-Body Problem accomplished everything it set out to do, but it had its flaws. I was expecting this one to be better than the first. Maybe because the world had already been set-up and maybe because that was the consensus of the reviewers I've seen.

It's about the same. There are very good parts and some parts I don't think as highly of. It set out to be a Chinese novel written in the same style as the classic sci-fi authors like Robert A. Heinlein or Arthur C. Clarke and it does that. But it also has the flaws of those authors (in the case of this novel, I'm talking about Heinlein's flaws.)

Female characters are two dimensional objects that the protagonist has to acquire or earn or whatever. The protagonist is the world's messiah who has the right way and will succeed while the other big characters are false messiahs with a wrong way that will fail. And everyone has to explain it all to you in big monologues that no one can possibly interrupt.

Worth reading: yes. Best sci-fi ever: eh.

New 52 49. A book connected to the phrase "Here (There) Be Dragons" - Completed 08/11/2024
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

I was rather eager to get back to this series, and maybe that hurt my other read a bit. So, maybe I won't be reading much else until I finish them. Like the previous two books, this one is really solid, and just falls short of full marks. Also like the other ones, the cover art for the version I had is terrible. So instead, I am linking a 70's era cover. Maybe that cover was released to promote a made for TV movie, but it is giving strong cheap TV movie vibes.

These books are going to end up bumping a few other books that were in my plan. As they are fantasy, I've decided to make them bump Fantasy books, so Streams of Silver is now cut from the list. I could have easily put it in for week 1 (protagonist has a name that starts with A) or week 33 (next book in a series) but as dragons featured quite heavily in this volume, this seems like the best fit.

New 52 31. A book published at least 10 years ago - Completed 08/13/2024
Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

This book is even better than the first 3 in the series, as I had suspected. While the other books did link together well, this one pulls them all together much more tightly - featuring all of the main characters from the previous books. It's great to not only revisit them, but to see them as adults.

What's more, this book touches on bigger themes than the others had dared, since those were targeted at a YA audience and this one is clearly intended for adults. What I'm curious about, is how the last two books fit in. This does seem like it could have been a fine end to the series, but I also don't mind having more.

I decided to put this one into the week 31 slot as the book that had been there, The Green Mile, was easy to move to a week where I didn't have a book picked out. Week 31 is essentially a wild card slot, for me anyway, as most of the books I read are old. I'm pretty sure that anything published in the last 10 years is still considered a 'new release'.

New 52 2. A book connected to a book you read in 2021 - Completed 07/06/2024
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie 2 ✮

What can I say about this book. It feels so much like I read a book that I already read that at one point, I had to stop and question whether or not I had read this one and, if so, when. At this point, I'm getting pretty far into the Poirot series. I was thinking that I had moved beyond the earlier novels, where they were finding what worked and what didn't and into the better middle novels, but then it seemed to regress.

It reminds me a lot of Murder on the Links, which I gave a poor rating too earlier this year. Hastings is back and as dumb as ever. But this time, Poirot is constantly throwing barbs about how dim and gullible he is and those are hilarious.

I'll give Dame Christie some points for this one. I did figure it out, but not all of it. What she is doing here well is to have most if not all of the characters have a secret they are hiding which makes them a bit suspicious. I didn't figure out every one of those. But there are also some plot points that I have literally seen before, from this author. Since this is an earlier novel, its probably unfair to blame this for anything repeated later. But I just can't help but feel that this is more of the same and nothing very interesting.

Perhaps had it been my first read of the author, I would look at this more favorably. But alas.

I keep going back and forth on whether or not to give this a 3 star rating or a 2 star rating. It's right on the line. What's pushing it toward 2 stars is some glaring plot holes, some mistakes that Poirot makes - just to help the plot along. Some odd decisions of other main characters - just to make the plot work. But maybe most of all: the depiction of coke addicts.

It's dated, is what I'm going to say. Yes, addiction is a problem. But different addictions come with different problems. I don't have any real experience with cocaine addiction, but I get the impression that neither does Dame Agatha.

New 52 27. 2 books with the same word in the title - Book 2 - Completed 08/18/2024
Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮

Like book 4, this book continues to develop the world and lore of Earthsea. These make the original books even better. It also continues the more adult oriented story telling.

At least two of these stories could have easily been additional books in the series. Le Guin could have padded them out slightly to full novel length. But I certainly respect her decision not to do so. She certainly knows better than I how long a tale should be.

Still, if I were a producer making a film series or TV series for these, I would make those stories full length with equal focus to the first 4 volumes.

Only one Earthsea book to go, and this time there is actually a wait list at the library. I might also read The Wind's Twelve Quarters to get the last few short stories.

There is an edition of the Earthsea books that include everything. I kind of wish I had found a copy of that and read the stories in internal series chronological order (or maybe author's order). But there's always the next read through for that.

28. A book that won an award from Powell's list of book awards - Completed 08/26/2024
Babel by R.F. Kuang 1 ✮

It's interesting, to me, how quickly I turned on this book. When it started, I was quite enjoying the read. The writing is quite good and it's a good world with an interesting magic system. I was also praising the pacing. Its neither too slow nor too fast and there are big events that happen throughout.

But my first issue was with the characters. They make terrible decisions, for the sole reason of furthering the plot. And they never learn from the bad decisions, instead the book treats it all as justified. The villains are very two dimensional, again for a specific reason. This is what would be needed to push the characters in the direction that the plot needs them to go.

After about half, I had a hard time making myself read this book. But I did want to be finished. Yet the farther I went the harder it was to push through. I really should have sat it down and read something else for a while.

The ending is the reason the plot is so forced. It's what the author was building toward and there was only one path that could lead there. One would think, from my previous 5 star reads that this would be just my type of ending. But it needs to be the natural conclusion from the events of the book and I just can't buy into it here. It's not a solution to anything.

The book seems to want to sell us on a message, and it's a message that most people would agree to without even having read the book. But this text does nothing to help bring the reader to that conclusion. It's so heavy handed, I almost start to side with the villains.

What the author seems to have missed, in our history, is how exactly people have made so many strides away from our racist past. And sure, it's not over yet. We have a ways to go. But there is a right way to move forward and a wrong way and this book isn't helping at all.

The read this reminds me most of is Stand on Zanzibar. But where that is heavy handed with its ideals of the rightness of racism and sexism, this is heavy handed with its message of their wrongs. Neither is worth the paper it was printed on.

New 52 33. The next book in a series – Completed 08/28/2024
The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin 4 ✮


A great pallet cleanser. I wasn't sure how well it would work to read a Fantasy novel right after another Fantasy novel, but I think it really showed the difference between a well written book in the genre and a poor one. This is peak Le Guin. The book doesn't even have a plot, its just us hanging out with interesting characters in a well crafted world and enjoying the time spent.

Some authors manage to get better and better as they refine their craft. At this point in her career, Le Guin can toss out all the rules of writing and just do what she wants because she has mastered the craft to that level.

I didn't have a slot for The Other Wind, and could have put it into a few places. But I chose to put it at week 33 because I was reluctant to bump certain books. That does mean that I have put off Look to Windward and The Halfling's Gem, yet again. The issue with those remains getting ahold of a copy.

New 52 16. A book related to Earth Day - Completed 09/03/2024
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood 3 ✮

This, the second book in the series, had a lot of the same flaws as the first. I really didn't care about the world that Atwood had built here. It reads more like a future vision of someone who is writing in the 1980's (or earlier) than a book published this century.

But it does have a few good things going for it. I especially liked the sermons and the hymns which ended out chapters. Those really fit the themes of the book well and makes it a must listen audiobook.

I definitely read the books in the wrong order. One could probably read them 2, 1, 3 but the best order is 1, 2, 3 as the third is a sequel to both the second and the first. But it could be a hard sell to convince anyone to push through the first two to get to the third. My verdict is that this is a series for Margaret Atwood completionists. Otherwise, stick to her better outings.

New 52 45. A book related to a game - Completed 09/06/2024
The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore 2 ✮

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I haven't had any good luck with books from an established IP. It's a bit like video games based on movies.

It doesn't help at all that the world that Salvatore is writing in is derivative of every Fantasy series that came before (especially Middle Earth). But like a lot of fan fiction, the characters are too amazingly awesome at everything to be believable or worth rooting for.

The one thing I will give this book is that the fight scenes are quite good/enjoyable. Its more an issue that you have to suffer through the tired plot and poor characterization, as well as the bits of encyclopedia style info dumps to set the scenes to get to those.

Maybe we could make an epic cut with just the fight scenes wholly out of context. Maybe toss in the fight scenes from the next two books in the series to make it novel length and call it good.

New 52 53. Wild Card – A book with a cover that features a view from above - Completed 09/09/2024
Lock In by John Scalzi 4 ✮

Now this is the Scalzi that I know and love. I'm starting to develop a hypothesis that the best Scalzi books get sequels. Overall, the book reminded me of Isaac Asimov's robot series. These are police procedurals in a futuristic (but not too far future) setting which have the underlying message of discrimination without seeming overly preachy due to the issue not being one we actually have in our time.

So, where the discrimination of robots in Asimov's books are an analog to the black/white dynamic of that book's time, the issue here is the discrimination (due mostly to lack of consideration) that disabled persons face in the present day.

The world, ideas, and characters are all amazing. The only flaw I'd give the book is that the story is still a pretty by the book police procedural.

My favorite aspect of the book is that nowhere is it established what gender the main character is, and it actually doesn't matter. There are two audiobooks, one narrated by a woman and one by a man. I opted for the one read by a woman, so I tend to think of the MC as female. But the best part is, it doesn't actually matter, at all, to the plot. It's never mentioned because it has no importance. Not sure what their hair color is either, though I'd guess light brown.

Bonus Ruond! The audiobook version that I had of Lock In included the novella from the same series. - Completed 09/09/2024

Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome by John Scalzi 5 ✮

The whole way through Lock In, I was leaning toward 5 stars. It really is an amazing book, which managed to get a lot right about the Covid pandemic, 6 years early. Its fortunate that he didn't refer to the condition as Lock Down instead of Lock In...

But the one thing that I found a flaw with that book, the plot, is not an issue here. Unlocked is a (fictional) documentary about a disease which did not happen (yet). And it really makes me wonder why a book, if well written enough, needs a plot.

New 52 7. A book related to psychology, neuroscience or the mind - Completed 09/11/2024
Head On by John Scalzi 3 ✮

Originally, I had Lock In slotted for this week. But after quite enjoying it, and decided to continue on to the sequel. I found that that book worked well in the week 53 slot, so that allowed the sequel to go here.

I wasn't as impressed with this one as the first. It's a sequel. It hits a lot of the same beats, but with less originality and an even weaker plot. One of my bigger annoyances is when there is an obvious clue sitting right in the open and the characters refuse to acknowledge it. We'll call that ignoring the cat in the room.

But it was fun. So, it gets the middle grade.

New 52 40. A book related to one of the 22 Tarot Major Arcana cards - The Fool - Completed 09/13/2024
Fool by Christopher Moore 5 ✮

My brother-in-law had suggested Christopher Moore to me, claiming that he was very funny. But he gave me a copy of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal and that one didn't impress me much.

But this book did. Given, I am a bit lenient on comedies (that make me laugh) but this one does do an exceptional job of weaving a good tale within the existing framework of The Bard'sKing Lear.

The humor is definitely not for everybody, and it is exactly the sort of thing that my brother-in-law would find funny. But it also pleased me considerably.

It's a bit like if A Song of Ice and Fire was done entirely from the perspective of Tyrion - and had an ending.

New 52 41. A book with a theme of food or drink - Completed 09/15/2024
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 4 ✮

Originally, I had Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife here, as it has a theme of food. But when I had a little trouble getting a copy from the library, I switched that to Gatsby - using a theme of drink.

This is a very well written book, and I certainly get why it is used to teach literature. It's not too long and does an excellent job of showing us what the scene was like, in the roaring twenties.

But its missing something to get it to the five stars that it is often cited as. This should seem an interesting choice, since I just gave 5 stars to Fool, but these two books set out to do two very different things.

New 52 17. A book from NPR's Book Concierge - Completed 09/16/2024
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman 5 ✮

I think that Neil Gaiman might just be better at writing books for the young than adults. Though, I think the bigger issue is that with the latter books he is trying to break convention and bring out new or unexpected plots, while with the former he sticks to the established plot structures.

What makes this book great is the writing. I was just enjoying the words as we went along. The nostalgia is nice as well. But what kicks it up to 5 star is the way he portrays an abusive family situation. The protagonist uses books to escape the reality of his family life. Similarly, I gave Sourcery by Terry Pratchett full marks for so well showing what happens to a child raised by a narcissist.

I had two books slotted in for this week, so currently Dark Matter does not have a home. It will have to either find a new slot on this list or be used for this topic in 2025.

New 52 50. A book that involves aging, or a character in their golden years – Completed 09/17/2024
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie 4 ✮

This one I quite enjoyed. I didn't get it right mostly because I was waiting for more clues. The person was definitely on my radar. I did correctly spot the false lead. But it was the love story that had me most interested. I wish that was developed more.

New 52 6. A book with an image of a source of light on the cover - Completed 09/20/2024
Holly by Stephen King 4 ✮

I quite enjoyed this one. It makes me positive about reading more of the newer Stephen King books. It's not a horror, but rather a thriller about a Private Investigator. Best news is: its the 6th book in the series.

So again, I read them out of order. But this was recommended by my sister-in-law and she also read them out of order. I figure I'll start with one that is likely the best one and that will give me incentive to read the rest in the series. All together, this is almost as long as The Dark Tower.

Warning: if a prompt gets voted in to the effect of 'A book about Food' or 'A book with a theme around food', I am adding this one to the List.

New 52 52. A book with a time-related word in the title - Completed 09/22/2024
Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne 2 ✮

So, I figured as long as I have had a long run of great books, I would go ahead and read a book that I was unlikely to enjoy. Surprisingly, I didn't dislike this as much as I was expecting it. It definitely has the Jules Verne flaw of being more about how something is accomplished than telling the story. And it is definitely a product of its time. But there are some great adventure scenes that would translate well into a film. I may have really liked this, had I read it when I was much younger and didn't know so much about actual facts.

Bonus Read A play, screenplay, or book of poetry - Completed 09/21/2024
King Lear by The Bard 4 ✮

I figured, that after completing Fool and quite enjoying it, it might be the right time to read the story it was based on. This play is quite good, as should be a surprise to no one, and is likely a big influence on A Song of Ice and Fire, but I definitely preferred Christopher Moore's version. It's not just because it was humorous, but more because we get actual explanations of why the characters act the way they do.

The format of a play doesn't really lend itself to character development - unless a character wants to stand and soliloquy to nobody.

The final push I needed to go ahead and read a Shakespearean tragedy was the Fall Team Read-a-thon, where this was one of the prompts (that I couldn't complete with a book that I already intended to read.)