What I've Been Reading So Far In 2023
Jan-March
============
Uniquely Interesting
And Educational
=============
I'm not really a fan of podcasts. There was one by John Grisham I loved, a few years back... he had book chats with other authors in independent bookstores. Everything else I have tried has been 2 minutes of content in 45 minutes of speaking. Until my daughter had me listen to No Such Thing As Fish. I don't listen as often as I would like, but when I do listen to a podcast, this is the one. It's fast paced, and FULL of fun facts and info. Random, fun, and factual. Seriously - if you have any interest in podcasts, this is the one I recommend checking out.
Anyway, this book is by one of the podcasters from No Such Thing As Fish. And it's fantastic. Each Chapter is a different theme, all of the truth is stranger than fiction variety. It's an incredibly fun, and informative read. And its the reason I ordered 6 copies of a cookbook of Ghost Recipes, even though I'm not generally the least bit interested in ghost stories. Our family has been laughing over the ghost chapter in this book, and I'm giving all the women in our family the cookbook mentioned in it.
Brilliant Beacons is a bit like reading an encyclopedia of Lighthouses. It's an INCREDIBLY THOROUGH history of lighthouses. I found it interesting, but it's... a lot.
Travels With George on the other hand, is much lighter than I expected. It's a travel memoir, Philbrick takes his dog and his wife and follows Washington's travels. It's Nathaniel Philbrick, so of course it was informative, and historical. But as his own travel memoir, it's very different than his other books. It would make a great audio book to listen to on your way to your vacation. :-)
The book of the barn owl is very short, but incredibly informative. We have barn owl boxes in our neighborhood, and I've had the opportunity to hold baby owls from the boxes as they were tagged by the game commission. Again, this is a little more encyclopedia than story - a lot of facts. But the facts are well presented, and it's very short. I think it could be considered a YA book even. I really liked this a lot and look forward to the other books by this author.
========
Memoirs
==========
Memoirs continue to top my list of favorite reads.
For February, I wanted to read a specific book by Martin Luther King, but it wasn't available - so I read Twelve Years A Slave instead. Although this is incredibly difficult subject matter, it is so, so, very well written.. this is one of those books that truly should be required reading in high school. A free black man was kidnapped and sold as a slave. It took him 12 years to regain his freedom, and he recounts his journey.
The Front Porch is about my hometown of Milton Pa. Each chapter in the book covers one year from 1925, to 1941. The author starts with world news, sports news, even books and music of the year. Then he talks about his life that year. For those with any local connection to the very small town of Milton, Pennsylvania, it's an absolutely amazing read. If you aren't interested in Milton, it's still a really good book - but probably not QUITE as interesting. Whenever I read about a song in the book, I'd have Alexa play it while I was reading. Turns out, I really love the music from the 1930s and 40s. That's not really a surprise - a lot of my play list was already Etta James and Frank Sinatra. But now it also has songs like Minnie The Moocher (although my favorite version is modern - done by Brothers Moving) and Is you or Is You Ain't by Louis Jordan.
And while reading this, I decided I want to read some of the best sellers from 100 years ago, each year. For 1923, I've added Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. and Whose Body by Dorothy Sayers to my to read list. I've been meaning to read Sayers for years anyway, so finding her on the list made me very happy. :-)
The second Hercule Poirot book also came out in 1923 (I've read all of that series) and Emily Of New Moon by L.M Montgomery (another series I've already finished) was published in December of 1923.
=================
Weird Recommendation
From My Daughter
=============
I read Lessons in Chemistry, and as is not at all uncommon for "historical fiction" loved by most - I hated it. Seriously. It's one of the worst things I've read in awhile. I know, I know, not the opinion of most. But it's my opinion. If you haven't read it, it's much like a woman from 2023 went back in time to lecture on social issues, with some rape, and a cooking show, thrown in.
Oh - and a talking dog. so I said to my daughter, I hated this book, "the talking dog was the best part." And I'm not a fan of animals being given human characteristics in books.
Her response was basically, "challenge accepted". Shady Hollow by
Juneau Black showed up as the best seller for one of the indie bookstores she follows, and she thought we should read it.
Juneau Black showed up as the best seller for one of the indie bookstores she follows, and she thought we should read it.
It's a murder mystery
And all the characters are animals.
And much to my surprise, I loved it.
Nothing in that description would make me think I'd like it even a little.
And yet, I'm probably going to read the rest of the series. The characters are well written, and fun. The mystery, although predictable, was well done. It was just a good solid, light, read.
=============
Stand By Favorites
==============
Stand By Favorites
==============
I love the Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny. LOVE them. There are quotes from the books on signs and bookmarks around our house. I read the extra books mentioned in the series, research the art mentioned, and contemplate trying to put together a book of Ruth's poetry from the series...
But these two books were HARD for me. Oh, I loved them. The way you love going on vacation to your favorite place with your favorite people. But The Madness of Crowds is about he pandemic, and I still struggle with pandemic themed reading. And A World Of Curiosities was.. a lot. I'm still feeling slightly betrayed by the new characters being introduced out of the blue, even though they have obviously been a part of the community for some time. And then, there was just a LOT in this book.
I'm currently reading Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay - an 1841 novel mentioned in the Madness of Crowds. It's not easy reading, but it IS interesting.
The Paxton Treasure
is a painting central to the theme in World Of Curiosities.
There's a book delving into the meanings of the items. It's $75 on Amazon, I'm going to look for it at our library!
==============
Light & Funny
[But still Murder]
==============
Light & Funny
[But still Murder]
==============
I tend to read a lot of light, cozy mysteries between the heavier novels I tackle. This year I've been catching up on two series - Miss Fortune by Janet Evanovich, and Agatha Raisin by R.W. Green [Formerly by M.C. Beaton]
I have to say, I have really enjoyed the introductions to the latest Agatha Raisin books, perhaps even more than the actual stories. Hearing about the writing process as M.C. Beaton passed the torch to R.W. Green, which she did before her death, has been very interesting!
And the Miss Fortune series is surprisingly good. It's silly and fun and ridiculous.. but the characters are fantastic and fun, and the mysteries are well thought out. Imagine Grandma Mazur from the Stephanie Plum novels had a military background, a best friend who also had a military background, and the two of them befriend a young CIA agent. Fun reads. Also, quick reads.
============
Also Reading
Year Long Reads
===========
And this year I'm reading through the bible chronologically, along with the Bible Recap, which has been REALLY interesting to me. After saying I don't like podcasts, this will be the 3rd podcast I recommend in this post... I still find the podcast format very annoying, but the content of this one has been worth it, most of the time. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment