Challenge: 50 Books discussion

Starting the new year right!

1. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

Good luck on your reading for 2021! :)

Tiffany wrote: "Good luck on your reading for 2021! :)"

Thanks, Tiffany. Good luck to you as well!

First of all, let me say that I didn't finish Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI until January 23, but I wanted to start my 2021 page.

2. The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom This is the history of a house, a family, and a city. The city is New Orleans; more specifically, East New Orleans, which is a poor neighborhood that was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina and never recovered.

3. Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye This is a YA LGBTQ book about a shy mixed-race boy who seems to have everything: a nice house, a good school, great friends, loving parents. Yet, he's afraid of coming out and losing it all. At the beginning of the book I thought it was unrealistically perfect, but the author did a great job showing how stressful it is to be a closeted gay kid, in even the 'best' of situations.

4. Learn Spanish Curse Words and Vulgar Expressions by Patrick Jackson I'm learning Spanish, a goal formed last year during lockdown. I wanted to learn more than I was in my online classes and textbooks. This was a bit more than I bargained for. It's really tough to hear these words and expressions one after another (after another) particularly since many of the worst ones are aimed at women.

5. Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler I loved this book about middle-aged Rebecca and her odd family. Anne Tyler takes fairly mundane people and situations and really gets into it.

6.Dressed for Death by Donna Leon A Guido Brunetti police procedural that Donna Leon does so well. I like to throw these (police procedurals, such as Ian Rankin's Rebus, Tana French's female detectives, and Michael Connelly's Bosch) in here and there during the year because they're fun.

7. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante I had a hard time getting into this. The relationship between the two girls is so odd and at least borderline abusive, that it was off-putting. However, about a third into the book the tenor changed (as did Lenu) and I enjoyed the rest of it. I even got the next book in the trilogy.

8. Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks It's amazing to me that some people think actors can do only one thing. Yes, they are artistic and they can also sing, write music, and write books. This is a collection of short stories by Tom Hanks and it was thoroughly entertaining.

9. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich Louise Erdrich is a wonder. I really admired the way that she handled the main character's disparate lives/thoughts.

10. The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife Part of my new interest in birds. Here in Chicago, the West Nile virus pretty much wiped out the crows and I'm probably the only (or at least one of the few) who miss them. Ravens and crows are from the same family and they are wicked-smart birds. Skaife covers the history of the birds at the tower, other events at the tower, and his own personal history. Really interesting.

11. The Understudy by David Nicholls

12. A Promised Land by Barack Obama This was such a pleasure. I read the book along with listening to the Audible version. It's so reassuring to hear Barack Obama's voice and his reasonableness. I'm glad I read this because he explained why and how he had to make some decisions that weren't exactly popular with...well, probably anybody at some point. I was one of those progressives who was disappointed by the small scope of the ACA, etc. But now I understand how he got where he did and the obstacles he had to overcome (including, of course, a party that was determined to make him a one-term president and prevent him from accomplishing anything in his agenda. Can't wait for the next enormous tome.

13. Void Moon by Michael Connelly I'm a huge fan of Connelly and couldn't believe it when I came across this book, squirreled away in a box, from 2000 that I hadn't read! Well, maybe that was for the best. I spotted one big problem right at the beginning and there were a couple more as the book went on. I don't know if he ever wrote another Cassie Black book, but I didn't miss anything if there were. (Sorry, Michael, I still love you)

14. The Guest List by Lucy Foley Well, that was fun! Thoroughly enjoyable suspense.

It's June and I'm a bit behind schedule if I want to read 50 books this year. I mean, one of the books was ENORMOUS but still...

I read a really interesting essay by Rebecca Solnit recently about how the last four years have messed with our ability to process time. (Okay, I'm really not getting across the importance of what she wrote, but you can find it on the Guardian web site.) Last year, lockdown, fear, anxiety, and depression left me barely able to read *anything.* This year is a bit better. I'm happy to be vaccinated and finally start venturing out into the world. I'm going to make that 50 book goal!

Naomi V wrote: "Last year, lockdown, fear, anxiety, and depression left me barely able to read *anything.* This year is a bit better. I'm happy to be vaccinated and finally start venturing out into the world. I'm going to make that 50 book goal!"

Yay! Yay for vaccinated, yay for feeling better, yay for beginning to return to normal, yay for reading! I'm glad you're feeling somewhat better; it definitely seems like it's a (long) process, doesn't it?

Yay! Yay for vaccinated, yay for feeling better, yay for beginning to return to normal, yay for reading! I'm glad you're feeling somewhat better; it definitely seems like it's a (long) process, doesn't it?"

How are you doing, Tiffany?

Naomi V wrote: "How are you doing, Tiffany?"

Thanks for asking. I'm vaccinated, so yay. I believe in the science, so I feel safe going out. And I've had plenty of time to read! But being at home has let some other issues/anxieties/stresses resurface, the ones that come up when I'm at home, unemployed, for too long. All kinds of games that my head plays, not just about being unemployed, but all sorts of other worries and anxieties and fidgeting (for instance, the last five days, I haven't been able to stand wearing my glasses. Like, I seriously want to break them. I go through these phases, and I think it happens most often when there's not something else to distract me, or when there are other things going on inside my head. My old hard drive also died last May, so I had to get a new one, and the new one seems SO loud to me...which I think is partially related to being on edge about everything else.). My mom and I have always been close, but one day during the pandemic, I just snapped and started telling her a bunch of the stuff going on in my head, a lot of which I've tried not to tell her before (I didn't want her to think there was something wrong with me), and she was really receptive and listened, so I've continued talking to her when I get really on edge, so that's been helpful.

*sigh* I try to take it one day at a time -- just survive today, and try to make it to tomorrow -- but sometimes it's even minute-by-minute: just breathe right now, and try to calm myself and not freak out for this minute. Okay, I made it through that minute; now let's try to make it through the current minute.

I even downloaded a meditation app, and I'm really good about being calm and breathing when I have the app going (more or less; there have been a couple of times that I still couldn't calm down), but as soon as the lesson ends and I try to continue breathing on my own and being calm, all the anxieties and icky feelings and desire to scream come back. So... it's a process.

Sorry -- probably way more than you wanted to know!

15. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya Listening to this on Audible really added to the experience. I loved this story of a young boy and his connection with Ultima, who had special powers. 5 stars

16. Want by Lynn Steger Strong

17. Salvage the Bones byt Jesmyn Ward Jesmyn Ward is a master at telling grim stories so beautifully that you can't stop reading them. In this book, a poor black family prepares as well as it can for Katrina to hit. 4 1/2 stars

18. A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life by Ayelet Waldman Ayelet Waldman's experience is anecdotal, but she cites medical and scientific research into LSD and other psychedelics that has been going on for years, in spite of the federal government maing it nearly impossible for such research to be conducted. Pain relief, behavior and mood modification...All the positive outcomes from microdosing...I want them!

19. The Less Dead by Denise Mina

20. The Pearl by John Steinbeck A re-read for a 2021 reading challenge.

21. Under the Skin by Michel Faber This has to be one of the weirdest stories I've ever read. I couldn't put it down and when I was finished, I was stunned for awhile. 3 stars

22. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart I read this because it won the Booker Prize last year and I love Scotland, so thought it would be worth reading. It was, unfortunately, a slog for me. I am not adverse to reading dark stories, but this one seemed relentless and I felt that it could have ben shorter.

23. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

24. The Way the World Ends by Jess Walter This is a very short Kindle/Audible original that I listened to. Jess Walter is one of my favorite writers, whose written several of my favorite novels. This story was informative about climate without being preachy. 4 stars

25. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Another classic that got by me when I was in school that I'm finally catching up on. I loved her tales of growing up in Chicago in a latino family and her struggles to become and independent person and a writer. 4 stars

26. Afterlife by Julia Alvarez A thoughtful story of sisterhood, what constituStephen Kingtes a family, how helping others can improve your own life, grief, and grieving. I listened to the audiobook and loved the reader. 4 1/2 stars

27. The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich I have loved Louise Erdrich's books, but this one didn't work as well for me as her more recent work. 3 1/2 stars

28. Later by Stephen King I also listened to this as an audiobook and thought the reader did a great job of portraying an adult relating a tale from his youth. It's a great ghost story. 4 stars

29. No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson I'm a great fan of Erik Larson and immediately listened to this when it became available. I believe this is his first work of fiction, or maybe the first fiction published. Set around 1900 or so, in a deserted mansion on an uninhabited island; it's the perfect setting for the ghost story told here. I enjoyed this immensely. 4 stars

30. On Animals by Susan Orlean A collection of Orlean's essays about...you guessed it: animals! I was deeply disturbed by the donkeys sent to Afghanistan by the Army, but not surprised that they gave no consideration whatsoever to the safety and health of the poor animals. Most of the other stories were uplifting and sweet. 3 1/2 stars

31. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

32. Bewilderment by Richard Powers I loved this book so much. The precocious son who has a patient, loving, wise dad and their shared pain in the loss of their mother/wife, while mourning the slow death of our planet. I found their relationship very moving and the young son's brave acts in the face of such hardship very heartening.


Now we get to the part of the year where new releases are coming out and the ones I have on hold at the library are available very quickly one after the other.

33. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich A much more satisfying read for me than The Beet Queen and a book that includes the early days of the current COVID pandemic. It's amazing how the small details from little more than a year ago are lost until you are reminded of them. This book also includes a ghost (not my usual pattern of reading, but in this ridiculously horrible year, it makes a lot of sense,) but it's also about Native American identity, marriage, and friendship. 5 stars

34. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles A hero's journey, but there's more than one hero here and a really despicable villain. 5 stars

35. These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett Is it my imagination, or were more collections of essays published this year than most? Or is it just that they were published by authors I would normally read? Is it because publishers didn't want to release their big novels during the shut down? I don't know, but I love Ann Patchett's essays. She is obviously a very outgoing, loving, warm person and that comes across in these stories of her life.

36. Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

37. 1984 by George Orwell Every time I read this book, it has something to say to me about our current political and cultural situations. The odd thing is that I'm sure people who think differently than me (as in, totally opposite) also believe that this book is speaking to them. Very strange! (But, of course, I know that my interpretation is the "correct" one.)