Book: All The President's Men

 Book: All The President's Men

Author: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

Pages: 400

This is my 62nd book for the year

This is the story of Watergate as told by two reporters (the authors) who investigated the story and published this book right before Nixon resigned.  It started with the Democratic headquarters being robbed and ended with one of the biggest political scandals in our nation's history.  (until recently)

This was a pretty interesting book.  I read it as part of the Rory Gilmore challenge, but glad I found it.  There are a zillion people in this book and it is hard at times to keep them all straight, but it was interesting to learn about how the Watergate scandal unfolded.  The volume I read had a recent forward from 2020 after the January 6th storming of the capital and how Trump and his presidency mimics Nixons yet still blows it out of the water.

Good book - check it out.

Stars: 3.5

Book: The Women

 Book: The Women

Author: Kristin Hannah

Pages: 480

This is my 61st read for the year

This is the story of Frankie.  She is a young woman who just finished nursing school and is trying to figure out what to do with her life.  Her older brother, Finley, is getting ready to go to Vietnam and her parents are so proud.  Frankie decides to join the Army Corps as an Army nurse to follow her brother.  When she is arrived she is overwhelmed and under prepared.  Each day she is faced with men who are wounded severly and often beyond help.  And when her tour ends and she has to return home, she cannot figure how she can go back to her sheltered life after what she has seen.

This book was just okay.  I know I know - people are in love with Hannah and her stories, but I just cannot get behind this author's style.  I tried, but I think I might need to be done.  First the good - I like that she decided to write about the Vietnam war instead of WWII area, and focused on the women who served as nurses during this war.  Topic was a good choice and I knew very little about it.  AFter that - there is not much I can say.  The characters were awful.  The parents where ridiculous.  Frankie was not likable.  The writing - not great.  And the love story?  Ridiculous.  I mean, she fell in love with two married men.  One she spent about 5 minutes with before she stated that he changed her.  Come on Hannah.  Do better.

Do not recommend.

Stars: 3 (and that was generous)

Book: Vanity Fair

 Book: Vanity Fair

Author: William Thackeray

Pages: 750

This is my 60th read for the year

Here is what Amazon says about Vanity Fair: 

"No one is better equipped in the struggle for wealth and worldly success than the alluring and ruthless Becky Sharp, who defies her impoverished background to clamber up the class ladder. Her sentimental companion Amelia, however, longs only for caddish soldier George. As the two heroines make their way through the tawdry glamour of Regency society, battles—military and domestic—are fought, fortunes made and lost. The one steadfast and honourable figure in this corrupt world is Dobbin with his devotion to Amelia, bringing pathos and depth to Thackeray's gloriously satirical epic of love and social adventure."

I am sure I am the last person on earth to read this book.  I tend to shy away from the hefty classics, but I am doing a Rory Gilmore challenge this year and that girl loved a good classic.  I didn't love or hate this book.  It just....was.  It was long and a bit tedious and meandered its way through a story that never really went anywhere.  

Stars: 3

Book: Deenie

 Book: Deenie

Author: Judy Blume

Pages: 208

This is my 59th read for the year

This is the story of Deenie - a 7th grader whose mother has high hopes for a modeling career for her.  Deenie just wants to be a normal teenager and make the cheerleading squad and hang out with her friends.  When a teacher notices that Deenie seems to have a problem with her spine, Deenie is on a path she never expected.  Forced to wear a large brace for 4 years while her spine straightens, she learns to navigate junior high school with her "specialness" and what that means.

This was a weird book.  Shocking since it is Judy Blume.  I read it for a challenge.  Deenie is a huge whiner.  Yes I know she is 13 years old, but still.  It was over the top.  The mother is terrible.  The older sister, Deenie's friends and her dad are the only good characters in the book.  It is a really short book and it kind of just ends.  Not her best.

Stars: 2.5

Book: Counting The Cost

 Book: Counting The Cost

Author: Jill Duggar

Pages: 288

This is my 58th read for they year

This is Jill's own story about growing up in the Duggar family and part of the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting.  Once she got married and realized that there was a life outside of her family that she wanted to lead, she tried to break ties from her family and the show.  However - this improved to be almost impossible.  The second daughter, 4th born of this enormous family always fell in line.  But now she decided that what was her life as a child is not the life she wanted anymore.  As alligations against her oldest brother got worse and worse and continued to throw her and her family further into the spotlight, Jill tried to make a life of her own.

This was a pretty good book.  I admit I watched this show years ago when it was on TV.  And as the alligations against Josh Duggar mounted, the truth of this family reared its ugly face.  I watched the documentyar "Shiny Happy People" about the Duggars and their religion as well.  Jill spins the story from when she was young and in charge of some of her siblings to when she married and moved to South America for mission trips.  I think Derrick, her husband, is a big part of her getting out of this life she was in and finding her own path.  Good read.

Stars: 4

Book: Out Of Africa

 Book: Out of Africa

Author: Isak Dinesen

Pages: 416

This is my 57th read for the year

This is the story of the author's time in Kenya.  (Isak is her pen name - her real name is Baroness Karen Blixen who was Danish).  She owned a coffee plantation there from 1914 to 1931 and this book covers her tales from the locals, the people who worked for her, and even a visit from the Prince of Wales.  Tales are woven among descriptions of the landscape around her.

This is a pretty good book. I love a good non-fiction and this one spun a good story about the author's time in Kenya.  There were some dry bits, but overall a fascinating tale in the early 20th century about a very capable woman running a plantation.  She saw a young boy shot and killed and the fall out from that.  And then finally the collapse of the cost of coffee where she had to sale the farm.  It was a heartfelt memoir overall and I am glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: The Joy Luck Club

 Book: The Joy Luck Club

Author: Amy Tan

Pages: 352

This is my 56th read of the year

This is the story of 4 women and 4 daughters.  In 1949 the women beginning meeting to talk and coin themselves The Joy Luck Club.  Together their collective tragedies and loss bond them over the years.  And 40 years later, when one of the women has passed away, them come together to share moments from their mother/daughter relationships.

This was an okay book.  IT is more a book of short stories that intertwine a bit rather than one long story.  At times I had a hard time keeping track of who was talking.  I did listen to this book, and that might have been its downfall - I didn't love the narrator.   Whole thing didn't flow well for me but some of the stories were interesting.

Stars: 3

Book: Good Omens

 Book:Good Omens

Author: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Pages: 400

This is my 55th read for the year

This is the story of angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley who have lived on earth since its creation.  Over all the years together they have formed a friendship and a liking to humanity.  Crowley is informed he must deliver the Anitchrist to unsuspecting parents to be raised until it is time for Armageddon.  Aziraphale and Crowley now have 11 years to figure out how to stop Armageddon and the end to their precious humans.  

With the help of a Witch and a Witch Hunter, Aziraphale and Crowley come up with a plan to stop this war.  However the powers that be in Hell and Heaven want the war and will do anything they can to make sure it happens and earth is destroyed.

I love a good Neil Gaiman book.  I don't know how I have missed reading this book.  I did see the TV show (two seasons on Amazon Prime) and it follows the book quite well - at least the first season which is where the book ends.  The book is funny, and clever and a good read overall.  My only critique that lowered it a star was that at times I found it too wordy.  There were large sections of the book that didn't really move the story along that I felt could have been shortened.

Stars: 4

Book: The Devil In The White City

 Book: The Devil In The White City

Author: Erik Larson

Pages: 447

This is my 54th read for the year

This non-fiction story centers around 2 men at the end of the 1800s.  Architect Daniel Burnham who has been tasked with designing the World's Fair in Chicago, and H.H. Holmes who became a notorious serial killer in Chicago while the fair was being built and run.  As Burnham rises to fame for his development of the fair and the people it attracts (notably Buffalo Bill, Susan B Anthony and Thomas Edison) Holmes uses the fair to lure young women to their deaths.  It isn't until after the fair is over that a Sherlock Holmes type detective finally brings Holmes to Justice.

This was a fascinating book.  The blend of these two stories was an interesting take.  I was actually much more drawn to the story of HH Holmes only because I could not believe that a man who ended up killing at least 27 women and children went unnoticed during this time.  The fair was taking so much of the towns resources and energy that this man was able to kill all these people without stirring many questions.  On the other hand, Burnham's fair was not something I new quite a lot about.  I did not realize they basically built a city.  It must have been something to see.

This was the debut of the Ferris wheel (Ferris was from Pittsburgh which is near my hometown), and reading about his designs and first wheel was great.  What this fair lead to: Disney (Walt's father was party of the building of the White City), Oz (Frank Baum and William Denslow visited the fair), Franklin Lloyd Wright visited and was inspired for future designs, and it is where we got Columus Day.  Of course - the Ferris Wheel is now a staple at every carnival.  The end of the book was my favorite where Larson wrapped up the stories of many of the main characters to close out an interesting tale.

Glad I read this one

Stars: 4.5

Book: The God Of Small Things

 Book: The God Of Small Things

Author: Arundhati Roy

Pages: 333

This is my 53rd read for the year

This is the story of twins Estha and Rahel who live in India.  At 7 years old their world is trned upside down with a tragedy concerning their young cousin, Sophie.  At the same time, their mother has also in the midst of a scandal that will change them all forever.

This was an interesting book.  I can see why it won a prize.  It is crafted literature, and as one reviewer said "too brilliant".  The story got lost in the language style she uses for this book.  I had a hard time caring about the characters.  Or keeping up with her constant change in nicknames for different characters.  Overall it is an interesting story that you need to really be in the mood for and can read without distraction.

Stars: 3

Book: Under A White Sky: The Nature Of The Future

 Book: Under A White Sky: The Nature Of The Future

Author: Elizabeth Kolbert

Pages: 272

This is my 52nd read for the year

In this non-fiction novel, the author explores the world we are creating.She interviews biologist, climatologist, engineers and researchers who are all trying to figure out what we are going to do as the globe gets hotter.  The interventions that are being explored are what are our hopes for salvation.

This was a pretty good book.  Unless you have your head in the sand, you are aware of the changes to our earth that are happening with climate change.  What is being done to address is a race against the clock.  As scientist explore ideas, the population of the earth continues to grow and along with it - a lot of problems.  Overall it is an interesting read - maybe a little dry from time to time, but I am glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: Kitchen Confidential

 Book: Kitchen Confidential

Author: Anthony Bourdain

Pages: 312

This is my 51st read for the year

This is Anthony's own story about his start in the restaurant business up until the publishing date of this book in 2000.  Anthony delves deep into the underbelly that is the kitchens in famous and not so famous kitchens.  He talks about who he learned from, and how that shaped him as a chef and a person.  What you read about his culinary world (sex drugs and bad behavior) may or not surprise you.

This was a pretty good book.  I really liked watching Bourdain's "Parts Unknown" on TV and that is how I came to know him.  He died not far from where we were living abroad in 2019, and since there I have continued to look into his culinary career.  This was the first book of his I have read (believe it or not he wrote a few fiction books as well) and I enjoyed it.  What I read about him didn't really surprise me.  He lived rough, loose, and on his own terms.  He is more humble in this book that I would have expected, but I think all people feel a bit "aw shucks" when talking about themselves.  

Overall a good book that will make you hungry for the delicious food he talks about.

Stars: 4

Book: Babel

 Book: Babel

Author: R.F. Kuang

Pages: 560

This is my 50th read of the year

I am going to just plop the Amazon review here for this book to save time

"828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel.

Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide…

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? "

I could not get into this book. I tried - I REALLY tried.  I had read Yellowface by this author and did not like it at all, so I probably went in thinking I wasn't going to like it.  Which isn't fair.  My problem with this book was it seemed to have way too many words to say very little.  It started out pretty good, and I was hopeful, but then it just went downhill.  I know what she was trying to do.  But this has been trope in a lot of recent novels and honestly - soap box in a novel that isn't non-fiction isn't my thing.  I just want to read a story.  And when the story gets lost and the soapbox takes over, I become disinterested.  This is a personal thing.  

Stars: 3

Book: Freaky Friday

 Book: Freaky Friday

Author: Mary Rodgers

Pages: 144

This is my 49th read for the year

This is the story of Annabel.  She is tired of her mother telling her what to do.  She believes that when she is an adult she can do and think as she pleases.  When she wakes up on a Friday morning in her mother's body and her mother in hers, she finds out what it is really like to be not only a mother, but a mother to a child like Annabel.

This book was quite bad.  I borrowed it from the library for a reading challenge and read the original 1972 version.  It is not well written, and the story was a bit odd.  I KNOW this is a children's book.  But it just wasn't good.  There are a ton of Freaky Friday movies, but this was nothing like those.  Not that those movies are terrific, but they were more entertaining than this strange book.

Stars: 2

Book: Starter Villain

 Book: Starter Villain

Author: John Scalzi

Pages: 272

This is my 48th read for the year

This is the story of Charlie. He is a broke substitute school teacher who lives alone with his two cats  His older siblings are pressuring him to sell his dad's house so that they can move on from his death.  One day, Charlie gets a visit and told that his uncle Jake has died and left him his supervillain business.  Charlie is then swept into a life he never imagined fending off enemies of his uncle.  As Jake learns how his uncle Jake had started a war against the other supervillains and now it is Jake's turn to win it.

This was a pretty good book.  I have read one other Scalzi book (Redshirts) and really liked it.  This book is amusing and well written.  Silly, fun and entertaining, I sped through this easy read enjoying each page.  The ending was actually pretty good - even with some surprises I didn't see coming.

Overall a good book I am glad I read.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Mother Daughter Murder Night

 Book: Mother Daughter Murder Night

Author: Nina Simon

Pages: 368

This is the 47th read of the year

This is the story of Lana, Beth and Jack.  Lana - Beth's mother - has recently found out that she has cancer.  A high powered business woman who hasn't had a great relationship with her daughter, finds herself asking for help.  Beth has Lana move in with she and her daughter, Jack, so she can help her manager her chemo.  While Lana is staying wiht Beth and Jack, a man is found dead in the water.  Jack is a suspect because this man was supposed to be on one of her kayak tours.  As the investigation unravles, Lana finds herself deep into trying to solve what happened and to clear her granddaughter.

This is one of those books that I would say is not memorable.  It wasn't incredibly entertaining, and it was just a bit dull.  It wasn't a bad book, but it is going to be one of those books where I won't remember it far into the future beyond just having read it.  You can figure out the murderer pretty quickly, and honestly I really did not feel anything for any of the characters in the end to care that much.

Stars: 3

Book: Leave The World Behind

 Book: Leave The World Behind

Author: Rumaan Alam

Pages: 272

This is my 46th read for the year

Amanda and Clay take their kids on a vacation into a remote part of Long Island.  They are staying in a big, beautiful house with a pool and near the beach to relax and unwind.  A few days into their stay, the owners of the house show up at their door saying something they don't understand is happening in New York City and want to wait it out in their home.  Amanda is very suspicious of the couple, but comes to find that they are the genuine owners.  They never lose power at the house, but they lose cell service and TV access.  There was just a small blip on the phones before it went out that a catastrophic event has happened.  The four try to figure out what is going on and shield the children from any information they receive and discuss if they should stay put or try and go back home.

This book was okay.  I did watch the movie on Netflix and also found that just so/so.  The book was unforgettable, and a bit boring.  It never really went anywhere except around and around.  Nothing big ever really happens - the events that are happening in New York never escalate for our characters, so it really wasn't that interesting of a read.  While I believe the dialogue is excactly what would happen to us if we were in this situation, it didn't make good reading.

Stars: 3

Book: Call Us What We Carry

 Book: Call Us What We Carry

Author: Amanda Gorman

Pages: 240

This is my 45th read for the year

This is a collection of Poems by Amanda Gorman.  This young lady was the youngest poet to speak at a presidential inagural event.  Her poem at Biden's inaguration introduced her to the world and this collection appeared after she spoke.  Poems that span history, identity, and a global pandemic with a closeout of the book with the poem she recited at the inaguration.

This was a pretty good book.  I am not a big poem person, but I read this for a reading challenge.  My mom had gotten me this book when Biden became president and I have not opened it until now.  I am glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: Blockade Billy

 Book: Blockade Billy

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 132

This is my 44th read for the year

This is the story of William Blakeley known as Blockade Billy.  A young man who was discovered working a farm that turns out to be one of the best catchers ever to play the game of baseball.  However - Billy has a secret.  And this secret is what caused his name to be wiped from the history of baseball and for no one to remember who he was.  His time in baseball was short - and for good reason.

I liked this book pretty well.  It is quite short - even at its 132 pages - there is another story in the back - the story of Blockade Billy is about 70 plus pages.  There wasn't much depth to the story - we didn't get much background into why Billy did what he did, but overall, it didn't make a difference.  Some reviewers say the ending was a twist, but to this I say - come on.  This is Stephen King.  Of course people died.

Stars: 4

Book: The Talisman

 Book: The Talisman

Author: Stephen King and Peter Straub

Pages: 784

This is my 43rd read for the year

This is the story of Jack Sawyer.  He and his dying mother have just moved away from everything he knows so she can die in peace.  However, Jack isn't ready to let her go. In order to save his mother, he must cross the United States between his world and a parallel world called the Territories.

In the parallel world - there is a struggle of good and evil and "Twinners" - people who look like the people he knows on earth.  This even includes his mother who, in the parallel world is known as Queen Laura.  As he journeys, he is constantly put to the test and hopes that he can reach his goal before his mother on earth dies.

This was not a great book.  I found it slow and dry.  IT was actually boring and I really struggled to read it each day.  This book is almost 40 years old, and it has not aged well.  I never really got into the story of Jack's travels.  This is a 12 year old boy that crosses the United States.  His mom knows he is doing it and he just lets him go?  What?  It really goes off the rails about 3/4 of the way through the book to the point that I should have just stopped reading.  

I don't know who to blame for this one - King or Straub.  There is a sequel to this book, but I think I will skip it.

Stars: 2

Book: The City of Mirrors

 Book: The City of Mirrors

Author: Justin Cronin

Pages: 624

This is my 42nd read for the year

In the last book of the Passage trilogy, we open with The Twelve being destroyed.  But The Zero still remains.  Amy has left the walled city to hunt for him knowing that until he is destroyed, humans will never be at peace.  Zero waits for Amy - knowing she will come and try to kill him.  But while he waits, he starts to raise an army against her. 

However - 20 years pass and the humans have not seen virals for many years.  They have opened the gates to the walled cities and started to branch out into the country.  Just as they start to breathe, people and animals start to disappear.  The folks who were there when The Twelve were at their peak know what is coming and they are woefully unprepared.

This was a fantastic book.  I have really enjoyed this trilogy.  The writing was fantastic and the story just draws you in.  This story was a back track to when The Zero was human and his life story and how he became who he was.  It kept me page turning late into the night and it was probably my favorite part of this book.  I did have to subtract a half a star because of two reasons.  1) there was a little too much "sweetness" in this book compared to the others.  A few too many things working out and flowery language that didn't really fit.  My assumption is how much Cronin loves these characters and if there was a death of a character he probably felt it personally.  2) The ending - not my favorite.  I LOVED that it went far into the future and kind of wrapped up how the book starts (which is from reading notebooks from the past) but he introduced a few new characters that just through it off for me.

Overall - excellent book and excellent series.  Well worth the read.

Stars: 4.5