#12Booksof2024

Hard to believe we‘re already up to November with our list—so fun sorting through everything I read and picking favorites. Hard too, but this month was an easy one. Loved this story about a midwife in late 18th c. Maine. Once I started I found it impossible to put down. Setting and characters—with plenty of people to love and/or hate—were fantastic. A great high stakes story that keeps you engaged from page one.

@Andrew65

Took my mom to Barnes & Noble to get her some books for her birthday…and came home with a few for myself. 😬 Surprising absolutely no one I might add…. Tagged book has been in my radar for awhile. Mom recommended Orbital and I‘ve seen a lot about Butter here and other places so I decided to give it a go.

#12Booksof2024

My favorite book in October was City of Bones, a wonderfully inventive and intriguing fantasy from Martha Wells (of Murderbot fame). One of her earlier works it nonetheless displays all the things I like her books for—great characters, snappy dialog, exceptional world building and a story that always entertains and surprises. Reading this makes me want to revisit more of her backlist.

@Andrew65

Starting a new Kosuke Kindaichi murder mystery tonight… Yokomizo‘s plots are always complex, always interesting and the atmosphere is always creepy with a healthy dose of tension and danger. I‘m anticipating another great story.

I find, as was the case throughout this excellent short story collection, that horror is often the most horrific, compelling, and impactful when it is firmly grounded in how the mundane, how the seemingly ordinary parts of life are often the scariest. From a late night drive in dense fog & life in a village surrounded (seemingly) by dog kennels, to a house on a murky pond, the horror in this books simply oozes across the pages. A good read.

#12Booksof2024

My favorite book in September was the first in a new series by the author of The Expanse. Corey (two friends writing under a pseudonym) excels at world building and in this series has created a terrifying & yet fascinating world where humans are not okay and there is a real possibility (probability?) they won‘t survive what is happening. A thrilling & engaging read with high stakes.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2024

Favorite book in August was one that‘s made its way onto almost all (if not all) the end of year “best books” lists for 2024. I raced through this one and was surprised by how much I liked it. Really well constructed thriller with good writing, interesting & compelling characters, and a tangled bundle of secrets. Definitely an entertaining read.

@Andrew65

The family is still asleep so it‘s just me, a cup of coffee, and a short story collection from South Korea to start my 2025 reading.

🌅📖☕️

Book 221 and done in 2024. This one was every bit as fun as the first book and I definitely look forward to continuing the series. A cast of fun, quirky—and occasionally absolutely ridiculous—characters keep things lively as they navigate rivalries, adventure, and danger all the while one of them is carrying around mummified faerie remains…better not to ask…This one was really entertaining.

#Two4Tuesday

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2025 is filled with all sorts of reading fun!

1. I usually set a goal, well within my reach so I don‘t stress about achieving it, for the number of books I want to read. So, 150 for 2025.

2. Off the top of my head, I‘d have to say I‘m really looking forward to V.E. Schwab‘s new book (tagged)—I‘ve loved everything she‘s written with one exception so I‘m ready to dive into another one.

@TheSpineView

#12Booksof2024

July-this is the last short story collection to make my “favorite of the month” list. What I really enjoyed about this loosely interconnected group of stories is that they focused on older characters, the retirement set, & the trials/tribulations of a group of friends, & individuals, dealing with everything that comes with aging—the ups/downs, the gossip, the indignity, the appreciation for life. Very entertaining.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2024

Once again, it was a short story collection that stood out in June. Leckie is a big thinker and a phenomenal writer—everything she writes is weird and compelling and wonderful. I get most of it but not all of it and that‘s okay. Reading her writing expands my understanding the of the world/universe we live in—and where we might find ourselves in the future—and that makes for an excellent reading experience.

@Andrew65

Starting what will probably be my last book of the year tonight. Loved the first one and am hoping the sequel is just as good if not better.🤞

#12Booksof2024

My favorite in May was The Hunter. French is a marvelous writer and this second story featuring retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper is every bit as good as the first if not better. French knows how to write setting and character and the way she teases out secrets and the way in which the threads that bind and entangle are prized apart always satisfy. French is an automatic buy for me and this one didn‘t disappoint.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2024

My favorite book in April was another short story collection—apparently this was the year I got really into short stories. 🤷‍♀️ Anyway, this was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me. Loved every single story and anticipate rereading this one in the future. (Also one of my favorite covers of the year.)

@Andrew65

The danger is palpable in this middle grade adventure about a pair of friends who are racing against an evil organization to uncover the last library—and untold riches—on Earth. This is a fun adventure with just enough edge to it to keep young readers engaged—there are some cool menacing mechanical dogs—but it also has a a subtly delivered message about the importance of books, how information equals power, & fighting for what is right.

#12Booksof2024

My favorite book in March was another one from South Korea. The titular story in this outstanding collection is about a serial killer in the early stages of Alzheimer‘s who also believes his daughter is dating a serial killer. Wild premise but the author pulls it off beautifully and the story is one of the best I read this year. I really enjoyed all the other stories in the collection too. Excellent read.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2024

My favorite book in February was Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 which tells the story of a woman‘s struggle in the face of unrelenting misogyny—at work and at home. Fantastic translation of a powerful, compelling story that was a bestseller in South Korea before becoming a worldwide sensation.

I also really enjoyed The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2024

My favorite book in January was Dan Santat‘s graphic novel memoir about a trip he took to Europe in middle school. It‘s a wonderful story about all sorts of “firsts,” including first love, as well as the joys, embarrassments, fun, and adventure that comes with being a teenager. A delightful read beginning to end.

@Andrew65

Middle grade adventure today… a hunt for the last library on Earth? Sounds fun to me!

Hazel is the thirteenth child in a family of little means. Her godfather, the Dreaded End, is a god who, after neglecting her for many years, trains her as a healer. Hazel has a rare gift as well—she can see when someone is going to die & can‘t be cured. Court intrigue, a wastrel of a prince (who maybe wants to be something more), a jealous godfather, & a mysterious disease make for an entertaining YA fairy tale retelling.

Going with a fairy tale retelling tonight…

I feel like I‘m going to have to read these stories again to fully “get” them—that being said, this is a great collection of stories, the longest of which is almost a novella, that are all odd & varying degrees of unsettling. They are all very well constructed and the writing is excellent. So too is the translation which is phenomenal. I imagine this is a book that evokes strong love/hate it reactions. I found it really interesting.

Tonight‘s reading…

#Two4Tuesday.

1. Sneaking in a few minutes of reading every morning before the day gets too busy.

2. One of the best traits of the main character, a famous detective named Kosuke Kindaichi, is his quiet persistence. He comes off as unassuming and, perhaps, not altogether present but he always solves the case.

@TheSpineView

This one finds Cork O‘Conner traveling to Arizona after his new wife gets a frantic call from her son. What they find are secrets & lies, a porous border where trouble between drug cartels, vigilante border patrol groups & those trying to keep a low profile as they help undocumented immigrants is brewing, & a past that Cork‘s wife would have preferred to forget about. Solid, although not my fav in the series, story & a good read.

Managed to go a week or two without reading a Cork O‘Conner book. I‘m almost caught up on the series so trying to take my time with the last few…

The latest book by Gu, author of The Old Woman with the Knife, translated into English is a story about four families who move into a government sponsored communal living building. What should be an idyllic home in the countryside becomes something else as each of the young couples struggle, in different ways, to acclimate to their new home & new lives. A quiet book about relationships, how they are maintained & sometimes fracture. A good read.

Easily one of my favorite books of the year & while I loved this story about myth becoming history becoming life I suspect it will be a love it or hate it book for many readers. Kang weaves together tales of a gifted storyteller, warring gods, & a historian in mourning in a story about grief, love, how the past informs the present & the future & how the future likewise informs the past. A thought-provoking read on the power of narrative. Loved it.

There is no better feeling than sitting down with a new book, reading the first chapter and knowing with absolute certainty that the book is going to work for you. All of which is to say, I just started this one and am really enjoying it.

Every bit as good as expected. Val believes her family is cursed—no one ever has any luck with love, something particularly devastating for someone who loves Valentine‘s Day…until she doesn‘t. Is she really fated to never find true love? She wonders & it‘s a question that comes into sharper focus when she meets a pair of cute lion dancers. Family secrets, friendship, falling into love (maybe?!?) combine in a wonderful story. An entertaining read.

Yang‘s stories never disappoint so I‘m anticipating a good read. 🤞

I took my time reading this one. A few pages here & there because it is massive. And, truthfully after the first book, The Wizard of Oz, things get weird. I mean really, really, “what the heck is going on in this story” weird. But…BUT Skottie Young‘s art is perfect for this kind of weirdness & Jean-Francois Beaulieu‘s colors are, as always phenomenal. It‘s a visually stunning comic even when the story leaves you scratching your head. A fun read.

I won the third book of this series in a Goodreads giveaway but don‘t remember the first and haven‘t read the second. 😬 So starting a reread before reading the second and third books.

First (of three) books done. Love this movie and, it goes without saying, the Lego is super fun. I think it might be time to go watch the movie again…

I‘m an outlier on this one…I didn‘t love it. It‘s okay historical fiction but I was hoping for something less predictable/formulaic. It‘s a pick because it IS very readable & it‘s an important story to tell—something which the author & the characters themselves also tell us. I did enjoy the chapters set in Vietnam, the friendship between the three nurses was believable & one of the strongest aspects of the book. The men were terrible, the plot ok.

Solid first book launching the Mike Bowditch series. Set in Maine, Bowditch works as a game warden. One morning he gets a call that he‘s father‘s been arrested, accused of killing two people. Bowditch doesn‘t believe it for a minute and sets out, even when faced with the unrelenting criticism of people he knows, to prove his father‘s innocence. Secrets & lies & the past collide in this well-written mystery. I‘ll continue with the series.

Mom recommended it so of course I have to read it.

I won this graphic novel adaptation of a comic first published on Webtoons on Goodreads—getting a finished copy was a nice surprise. I loved the moody, atmospheric art in this story about a paranormal investigator, seen as a skull floating above a suit, & the entities he chases from the battlefields of WWI to the depths of the oceans. An engaging mix of horror, mystery, & adventure which leaves you wanting to know more about Oscar & this world.

Next up…

#Two4Tuesday

1. No one favorite tradition but I do really enjoy the whole family being home and spending time together.

2. Looking forward to the tagged book. I love everything Pulley writes and I‘m expecting this one to be another great book. 🤞

@TheSpineView

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, Eig‘s book is a real accomplishment—eminently readable, it offers a compelling, unvarnished look at Martin Luther King Jr‘s life. Much of it will be familiar, much of it is heartbreaking—particularly when you read about the lengths to which both ordinary people & the government went to thwart King & the march for civil rights—and much of it reveals all the complexities of being human. A great read.

Excellent. King is always entertaining but this one is well-paced, full of mystery, populated with great characters, & has a doozy of an evil duo at the center of it all. I loved that evil has no age limit in this book, that it‘s octogenarians who have a lot to answer for. I also appreciate that what often makes King‘s books scary is how banal evil can be, how it can lurk just around the corner, maybe even in the next room…shivers. A great read.

Octogenarians hiding a “shocking…secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home?!?” Needless to say, the premise is intriguing and 100 pages in, I can tell you that these octogenarians? They are not good people. 🤣🔪🏡

This award winning mystery from Japan has far less to with the crime that is the catalyst for the story than it does with the politics of policing. Interdepartmental rivalries take center stage leading policemen to spend most of the book undermining each other. The pace is slow & much of the focus is on the police relationship with reporters. If you want an exciting murder mystery, this isn‘t it but it is a fascinating look at policing in Japan.

#Two4Tuesday

1. This is a difficult question. The one I go back to, and listened to all the time when I was young, is Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2. A recent favorite is Epik High‘s ANTIHERO.

2. I‘m currently reading Six Four (a winner of the best Japanese Crime Fiction of the Year Award) by Hideo Yokohama and have to say In The Cold, Cold Night by the White Stripes. Moody and atmospheric…

@TheSpineView

This debut about a witch who loses her shadow—and with it her magic—takes a little while to get going but once it does, it‘s a really enjoyable read. Part adventure, part mystery, and all magic and mayhem, Dimova has created a fascinating world with an intriguing magic system, and complex characters. The plot will leave you guessing about who, what, why until the very end. Inspired by Slavic folklore, this is a fun winter read.

Woke up way too early but it‘s all good because it means quiet time with a book and a hot cup of tea.

🌌📖🫖

Stories in this collection ranged from just a page to maybe 8 at the longest. Most fell in the 3-5 range & read as vignettes, glimpses into longer, more complex stories. Gautier is an assured writer who knows how to paint a scene & create memorable characters in just a few lines. Themes of identity, racism, hypocrisy, the indignities of aging, displacement, feminism, & family run through the stories. A mixed bag but overall a good collection.

Barnes & Noble opened a new store in a historic building (former bank) in Wicker Park. Needless to say, I had to check it out. Gorgeous space and it was really crowded. Apparently I‘m not the only one who loves bookstores! 😂 Picked up the tagged book and two others and I imagine it won‘t be long before I go back.