Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2022/What I've Read in 2022

#1 Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto


This got a little silly but it was fun.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone is reading this year!

#1 Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

(Technically we started in 2021, but we didn't finish until 2022, the only drawback of these awesome books being the kids' bedtime read alouds.)

Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Hazel, Frank, Piper, and Jason meet in New Rome after their separate adventures in the previous two books. And it looks like their groups - Greek and Roman (who usually don't get along) - are getting along in the Roman camp just fine. Until an unplanned and unwanted (but very much forced) attack happens. Percy and his new/old friends flee the camp and head to "the ancient lands" (the real Rome) to look for an artifact that might just bring peace to their warring camps. Because, as the Prophecy of Seven states, both Greeks and Romans will need to fight side by side in order to vanish Gaea and her minions to save the entire world. But only Annabeth, daughter of Athena, can follow the mark which will lead her on a separate quest to find the sacred object. A quest that will lead her straight into the lair of her mother's oldest enemy.

I am totally loving these books. Yes, they're for young adults, but Rick Riordan is so masterful in his craft that he is keeping both my husband and I entertained just as much as our 8-year-old daughters. And while the "old enemy" was not in the least bit surprising for a mythology junkie like myself, the interaction between "her Ladyship" and Annabeth was engaging and well done. And the cliff hanger ending had all four of us scrambling to start the next book!

Deadly Chakram, my daughter loves the Percy Jackson books and still reads them.

My best friend teaches in a boy's high school and they all say the Percy Jackson books are their favorite books they've ever read.

She didn't like the second series as well but still found them enjoyable. Have you read those?

#2 The Husbands by Chandler Baker


I liked The Stepford Wives so I thought this could be a fun concept. The writer did a nice job capturing the frustrations of working women with balancing work, home and child care. However, the solution didn't seem very good. It was pretty obvious what was going on too.

The second series is what we're currently in. Book 4. And I agree that the originals are better. We also have the Trials of Apollo series and the Red Pyramid series standing by for the future.

#3 The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi


This is the second book in this series. This one was okay but the first one was more interesting.

#4 The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah



I was excited to read this book. I've read so many WW2 books for book club, I was looking forward to a book that focused on a different situation. I've liked this writer's earlier works which are more chick-lit (stories about friendships and relationships). This author has tried to tackle more weighty subject matters with a few books. I don't think she's there yet.

1) At Dawn We Slept by Gordon W. Prange tells the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor from both the American and Japanese sides.

2) Flags of Our Fathers by James D. Bradley and Ron Powers the image of six US Marines raising the flag in Mount Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima is perhaps the most famous photograph of the Pacific War. What is not clear is how that moment in history would change the lives of the men in the iconic image. Not all the men in the photo would survive the fighting, but for those lucky enough to return home the experience of those weeks would forever change their lives.

3) The Rommel Papers by Erwin Rommel edited by B. H. Liddell Hart I have been wanting to read this since I read Rommel’s preceding ‘Infantry Attacks’ which detailed his experiences on the Western Front during WWI. Fascinating look into the mind of the legendary Desert Fox as he recounts his experiences. Of course Rommel would not see the end of WWII due to his infamous suicide, but the aftermath of this is provided by the recollections of his son Manfred.

4) Hellfire: The Story of Australia, Japan and the Prisoners of War by Cameron Forbes like with the topic of genocide, I tend to avoid reading up on the experiences of POWs who were captured by the Japanese as it is quite upsetting for me. This though was very absorbing and I didn’t want to put it down. The experiences that these POWs experienced shouldn’t ever be forgotten. It also touches on the debate that Japan has never formally apologised for the atrocities committed and how the remaining few who still survive struggle with the consequences of that

#5 Miseducated by Brandon Fleming


I'm always interested in stories where people manage to overcome challenging circumstances. This man dealt with a lot as a child. Parts of this book were difficult to read. But it was inspiring to see all that he achieved and what helped him to get there.

#2 The Heroes of Olympus - The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

After leaving us with a cliff hanger ending in the last book, we pick up right where we left off. Percy and Annabeth plunge into Tartarus while their friends aboard the Argo II race to meet them at the Doors of Death. The only problem is, to close the doors to prevent more monsters returning to the world from the underworld, the doors must be closed by someone on BOTH sides - the real world and Tartarus.

We get to meet some fun new characters in this one, and revisit some older ones that we didn't get to spend as much time within the original series. The descriptions of Tartarus were pretty awesome. We also find out that one character is gay, to which my 8-year-olds' only comment (pretty much said together) was "I did NOT see that coming!" because kids are awesome. (I have to admit, I saw it coming as soon as he was uncomfortable with the idea of needing to seek out Cupid for advice/help.

Overall, we've all really been enjoying the series and are devouring the next book at the rate of at least 2 chapters a night before we absolutely need to put the kids to bed.

5) Casino Royale by Ian Fleming the debut of James Bond as he embarks on his first assignment since reaching his 00 status. I had read this years ago, but ended up drawn back to rereading it after watching Daniel Craig’s final movie in the role of the iconic super spy. Not my usual read, but I enjoy these for a break from the usually serious books I tend to read.

6) War Diaries of ‘Weary’ Dunlop: Java and the Burma-Thai Railway 1942-1945 by E. E. Dunlop have always wanted to find out more about the Thai-Burma Railway since watching ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ of course that was a movie and the reality of life as a POW was much more brutal. Sir Ernest Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop was an Australian surgeon who was captured by the Japanese during WWII and his published diaries provide unique insight into life inside one of these camps under the brutality of his Japanese captors.

7) Nuclear Folly: A New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Serhii Plokhy this was the book on the Cuban Missile Crisis that I had been waiting on. Most of what I have has been told from the American perspective, but this delivers new insight into just how close the world came to WWIII as the standoff over Soviet missile installations on Cuba. With recently available KGB records this provides the story of the crisis from the Soviet side as well as the political fallout for Khrushchev

#6 Rules of Civility by Amor Towles


This author did a nice job capturing the feel of this time period. As to the characters, I'm still thinking about them. Not sure about their motivations.

#7 The Year of the End by Anne Theroux


I thought this book was about a woman, looking back at a time of her life via her diary, to try to better understand a very painful experience. The diary entries were trivial - Went to the store. The emotional reflection just wasn't there. Her husband was a famous writer who had many affairs. Then he got mad when she had one. I didn't care about what happened to either of them.

#8 The MIdnight LIbrary by Matt Haig


Love the concept of this book and the universal truths this author explored.

Joan,

Your description of The Midnight Library reminds me of a book I read decades ago. I thoroughly enjoyed it at the time, but I can't vouch for what my opinion of it would be now. Have you ever read Marvin Kaye's, "The Incredible Umbrella"? At the time, it was a standalone book, but (as I found out just now), it is apparently the first what is now a four-part series. I don't want to say too much about it lest I spoil it. I ill say that is solves the mystery mentioned by John Watson (via A. C. Doyle) about the disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore, who stepped back into his house to get his umbrella and was never seen again. I'll just say that that umbrella functioned somewhat similarly to the books in The Midnight Library.

Hmmm... It looks like I now have five new books to add to my "to (re-)read" list. Thanks for the tip.

Joy,
Lynn

p.s., Apparently, "The Midnight Library" is a popular book. I just placed a library hold on the e-book. The library has 14 e-copies, but I am #358 on the waitlist. The estimated wait time is half a year! But even so, I had better luck with it than I had had with The Incredible Umbrella; that book isn't even available electronically -- not even on Amazon.

Lynn, I'm adding "The Incredible Umbrella" to my reading list. Thanks for the suggestion! I love this theme.

Joan

You're very welcome, Joan.

I've always been a softie for anything that even hints, however tangentially, at breaking the fourth wall -- even if, as in these cases, it is a fourth wall once removed, so to speak.

Oh, I just thought of another book series that you might like. The first book in the series is The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde. (No, there is no typo in the author's last name.) This is another book that I haven't read in a while, but I recall it be a humorous playing with literature.

Love more suggestions! Thanks Lynn!

The odd thing is the The Incredible Umbrella Tetralogy which is all four stories came out in 2019 from Wildside Press which does lots of ebooks along with their paper ones. So why isn't in in ebook also.

If you like those kind of stories and haven't read deCamp and Pratt's Incomplete Enchanter stories yet you might like them. Not in ebook apparently.
They wrote a number of stories over a length of time. So you don't want The Incomplete Enchanter, or The Complete Enchanter, or even The Complete Complete Enchanter but you want The Mathematics of Magic which has all plus essays about them from other SF authors.

The main character comes up with a way to use symbolic logic adjusting your logic to the logic of a legend or story so you end up in it. The world of the Norse gods, Spenser's Faerie Queene, Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, the Finnish Kalevala, and the Irish Táin along with Oz and Barsoom.

#3 The Heroes of Olympus - The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan



The conclusion of the Heroes of Olympus series sees our heroes splitting into groups. In one group, the 7 of the Prophecy, the demigods race to Greece, to Athens, to fight the forces of Gaea, to try to prevent her from waking. In the other group, Nico, Reyna, and the satyr, Coach Hedge, must shadow-travel halfway around the world with the Athena Parthanos, in a despite bid to get it to Camp Half-Blood to prevent the Greeks and Romans from going to war with one another - if the strain of the shadow-travel doesn't kill the son of Hades first.

Not a bad book, but the conclusion to all this build-up to the war fell a little flat for me. It was almost too easy in a way. In the first Percy Jackson series, the Battle for Manhattan took up most or all of the final book. This one was mostly just build-up with what felt like too few chapters actually dedicated to the fighting. And the killing of Gaea's forces in Athens was laughably easy. Still, I overall enjoyed the series, even if I am completely partial to the original series.

Hi dcarson,

Yeah. I noticed a few days ago that the tetraology was only available in physical form.

#4 Rebel Robin by A.R. Capetta

Robin Buckley, sophomore at Hawkins High School, has tried all her life to fit in. Now, all she wants to do is stand out in some way. Deciding that she wants to spend the upcoming summer in Europe, she focuses on who to bring with her and how to make the money she requires. But her small circle of friends is more interested in dating and pushing her to date as well. Of course, the twist is, Robin herself hasn't figured out yet that she likes girls instead of boys, but we who have actually watched Stranger Things already know this. The book takes place during Season 1 of the show, but the events are barely footnotes in the overarching story (ie: Will Byers goes missing, is declared dead, returns from the Upside Down but since he's not in Robin's circle, his story is merely background noise to Robin's). It ends, of course, during the Season 3 events, with Robin getting her job at Scoops Ahoy, where we wind up meeting her in the show.

An okay book, nothing overly special or even interestingly insightful. But as far as "spinoff" books that usually wind up being completely awful, I was pleasantly surprised at how decent and how spot on it was to her character.

#9 The Turnout by Megan Abbott


This was a disturbing book. Highly damaged characters. Not a feel good read. I've read other books by this author. Her story about kids involved in competitive gymnastics captured some of the realities of that world. Her book about competitive research scientists was an utter joke. Not having any ballet experience, I don't know if she's done a decent job or not capturing that world. If this is an accurate picture, I'd want nothing to do with it. The reveal towards the end was just creepy.

#5 The Giver by Lois Lowry (Graphic Novel Adaptation)

Jonas lives in a perfect society where Sameness rules. The Elders make all the decisions - from who is assigned to be your spouse, to what "newchild" you are assigned to have (one male, one female per household), to what job you have. No one is unhappy, no one sees colors, no one even has memories of a time before Sameness. Jonas doesn't even realize this until he is selected to be the next Receiver of Memory and learns what it was like, back when people had choices (some bad, some good) and love in their lives.

I've read the Giver numerous times. It's been one of my favorites since I first read it as an 8th grader. This graphic novel adaptation was dead on faithful to the original and the illustrations were gratifyingly on-point with what I always imagined Jonas and his world to look like. (MUCH more so than that pretty awful movie they made where it was all futuristic and sci-fiy.)

I have a box of books I've picked from book recycling shelves here and there. Instead of consuming the box I seem to overflow it. Thus most of them are old or trashy romances. Probably need to read more real books and less fan fics...
This far I have read (along comics):

Catherine Cookson's The Upstart (a Finnish translation)
History setting. A shoemaker has gotten rich building his shoe empire and buys a manor and its staff along. We follow the story of his daughter when the family breaks apart and later how she finds love in a man her father doesn't accept. I felt at places that I am being told rather than shown or I could not quite understand why some characters were having bad blood. As if part of the story happened in the parts not written.

Defiant Love
Historical romance. FMC is assaulted, twice when she runs off for a nunnery to avoid marriage. Is rescued, marries the man and falls in love with him. Her husband is involved in a political plot and they are separated when she lures enemy off his trail. In the climax she runs into a battle scene with a new born baby because her sister has to go there. For her defence, this time, she took some knights along for protection.

Sunneva by Kaari Utrio
I just started this one. Also a historical novel. I seem to pick them up lately. Sunneva is a girl in 14th century Scandinavia, the most beautiful of them all, and plans to marry well. This far she has witnessed a murder, has plotted to kill an unfit suitor, was sent to a nunnery to learn manners, and is now on the run as she accidentally destroyed a valuable book. She is not a very likeable character at the moment, I think, but there might be some character growth coming as she is now facing some hardships. I like the old style this has been written in and it draws a vivid picture of how life was then and there.

I tried a Jude Devereaux book that had a time travelling plot but I don't know if I'll finish that. I read some reviews and its conclusion was a disappointment for some. I keep yelling at the writer about anachronistic pieces of clothing after watching one too many period dressing up video on Youtube.

#10 LIfe after Life by Kate Atkinson


I didn't think I was going to finish this one. The concept was a little tedious. But as the girl finally got older, all the different permutation of her life became more interesting. A very cool concept.

#11 Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena


Typical thriller with silly unlikeable characters. Good read for a trip.

#12 Wish You were Here by Jodie Picoult


It's official - this author drives me nuts! She comes up with some really interesting ideas and then goes way off. I loved parts of this book. I hated parts of this book.

#13 That Summer by Jennifer Weiner


Me Too movement prompts a victim of a rape to search for her rapist. In the process, she befriends his wife. Some interesting parts about women's choices, though one of the characters tended to blame her husband rather than putting effort into her own happiness.

You can tell I was traveling this week!

#6 The Ickabog by JK Rowling

One little lie takes down an entire kingdom.

An okay fic that thankfully avoided the pitfalls of Harry Potter - that is to say, this fic was short and to the point and didn't meander into unnecessary territory over and over again. Very much a political commentary, most of the comparisons did go over my kids' heads. However, in light of what's going on between Russia and Ukraine right now, the parallels were almost uncomfortably close (ie - the Chief Advisor eliminating anyone who dissents). Predictable in a lot of ways, but kind of endearing too.

#7 Death On The Nile by Agatha Christie

Pretty little rich girl is murdered on a boat full of people voyaging up the Nile River. Everyone is a suspect.

I hated it. It was slow and boring and the characters fell into only three categories for me - annoying, forgettable, or downright revolting. I found myself not caring about a single one of them, didn't care about who died (there's more than one murder), and I didn't care about who did the killings or their motives for that matter. (As it turns out, I was mostly right in my guess.) I found the author's style to be just awful - very abrupt and stiff, not one of the characters felt like an actual, real human to me.

#14 The Summer Cottage by Viola Shipman


Definitely a cliche romance, complete with instant boyfriend from the past. Good for a car read.

I finished Sunneva. It ended up being a two-parter. I didn't learn to like the MC. I read the author's note in the end and apparently this was her first published novel. It was visible, now that I think of it. Anyways, interesting peek into medieval times (I misremembered the century).

Another book I grabbed was Marietta by Fabricius (its name in English is something else). Not my type of book as it didn't have any particular interesting plot. We followed young Marietta's years of growth until she marries. This is part of a trilogy. I am not going to read the rest, I don't have those parts and the only mentions I managed to find of the series suggests that it will be of no interest to me.

Now I am reading Ruth Rendell's book The Veiled One (or sometving like that). A detective story. Quite boring. As in the victim is boring, there is one suspect but he is boring too and he is mostly suspect because one officer has fixated on him, the police is boring... So I am expecting a twist in the end. And who is the mysterious woman who was seen with the victim before the murder? Side plot about assassination attempts on the detective's daughter which almost kills the detective himself.

@scifiJoan: I hope the "car read" was as a passenger and not the driver or .

Isn't that the truth! My husband loves to drive so it's reading time for me.

#15 The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams


This was fun. The chapters alternated between Vivian in 1964 and Violet in 1914. Some parts pushed credibility but it was an entertaining read.

#8 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne

Three men are the sole survivors of a mission to find out what sea monster is sinking ships around the globe. Instead of a monster, they find the world's most advanced submarine and its captain, a man who calls himself "Nemo" (Latin for "No One"). They become his unwilling crew for about a year, all the while alternatively learning about the marine world in ways they never could have imagined and plotting their escape.


Okay, so this was very, very abridged (Illustrated Classics edition) that we read to the girls (in preparation for a Rick Riordan book that ties into it). Still, it made for a fun and exciting read, and the girls were totally into it.

#9 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

A girl finds a stray dog in the new town she's just moved to. The dog helps her make friends.

I want to start off by saying that I love dogs. I really do. But this book was just flat out boring. And the ending was horrible - basically just ended in the middle of a scene. It really could have used an epilogue giving us an overview of how things went on from the summer described in the book. My kids loved it and demanded that I read this one. And then they wanted to watch the movie, which was an embarrassment to filmmaking. I've seen more thrilling/less boring Hallmark movies.

#16 This Tender Land by Willaim Kent Krueger


A beautiful coming of age story. Just as good as the other book I read by the writer.


Deadly Chakrum, I must confess that I really liked the "Because of Winn-Dixie" movie.

If you want to read an unabridged version get the US Naval Institute press edition. It was translated by someone that understands French naval terms and added back in all the parts of Nemos story that being anti British empire the UK translators eliminated. So about 25% longer.

#17 My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel



This was not a feel-good book. I was very frustrated by the narrator's choices but that also provided insight into how such an awful experience would affect someone.

#10 Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan


As per Amazon: Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana's parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family's she's got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP. Ana's freshman year culminates with the class's weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it'll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives.

But wait, there's more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that cold war has been turned up to a full broil, and the freshman are in danger of becoming fish food. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time.

I think we all enjoyed this book although if I would have realized that it would touch of certain more mature subjects (Ana gets her menstrual cycle whilst aboard the ship she and her classmates are to have their trials on), I would have waited another year or so before reading it with my girls. Nothing wrong with it but we haven't had that talk yet because they're still a tad young for it. So there was some editing that my husband and I had to do on the fly. But overall, it was a minor point in the overarching story and we all found it an enjoyable read.

#18 The End of Getting Lost by Robin Kirman


I've read a lot of thrillers. And this book was pretty poor in that respect. I hated the characters and there wasn't any suspense. I just didn't care. I had to force myself to finish it. I do NOT recommend this book..

#19 The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides


For a thriller, this one wasn't very impressive. Lots of red herrings and the twist wasn't overly exciting.

#20 Born With Teeth by Kate Mulgrew

I've been getting into Star Trek: Voyager lately and thought it might be fun to read the 'captain's' biography. She has a very colorful life.

#21 What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster


The summary for this book was deceptive. Most of it didn't occur during the high school integration. The characters were flat. Some of them grew but the foundation wasn't laid out well.

#11 The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Buck the dog is stolen from his home and sold into service in Alaska at the height of the gold rush. There he lives and works with other dogs under the changing leadership of several mushers, all the while becoming more and more wild in spirit.

It's been forever and a day since I last read this one and found it pleasant to revisit the story. Buck is a likable dog and the story is rich with imagery that makes it simple to envision the wilderness Buck finds himself in. My daughters really enjoyed it too. And the best part is that it seems to have warmed my husband up to the idea of possibly one day getting a dog (I've been a dog owner before and would love to get one, he's never had one and has always been resistant to the idea). It won't be anytime soon, but here's to hoping!

#12 Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

10 year old Billy Coleman has a case of puppy love - the kind with wiggly bodies and wagging tails. But not just any kind of dogs - he wants two hunting dogs. Since his family is poor, he devises a way to earn money to buy his hounds and together the hunt all over their little section of the Ozark Mountains.

One of my favorite books, I just read this one a year or two ago and wasn't actually planning to reread it just yet. But my daughters actually begged me to read it once Call of the Wild was done and I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to share it with them. As always, I blubbered and cried my way through the ending, only this time I had an audience to witness it. But that was okay, since they were crying just as much. (Hubby wasn't but he was less impressed with the book than the rest of us.) I just took the 1974 movie out from the library today and hopefully we'll watch it tomorrow or the next day. (The 1974 version is the only good one, I've seen the remakes and they just don't capture the book's spirit in the same way.)

#13 Tales From the Perilous Realm by JRR Tolkien

An assortment of short stories and poems that don't really intersect at all.

I found this one hit and miss. I loved the Roverandom story, for example, but found my attention straying during the poems. I do love The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and a few of the poems felt familiar. I think they may have been included in some of the appendices in TLoTR.

#22 The Parodox Hotel by Rob Hart


I like scifi. I love time travel. This was an interesting premise but not compelling reading. Not sure if I was being lazy, but I had trouble following the details of the plot.

#23 One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle


This was a fun read. I didn't like some aspects of the main character but it was an interesting story.


#24 Dare Me by Meg Abbott


I'm officially done with this author. Some of her previous works have provided interesting insights into the worlds of competitive gymnastics and medical research. Otherwise, the characters are not likeable and treat each other horribly.

#25 Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty


I've read a lot of this writer's work and would not consider it her best one. But it was entertaining. There was enough mystery to engage my attention. And some decent character development.

#14 The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Under the floors and in the walls, a family of tiny little people live in secret, believing that us "human beans" exist solely to serve them via the things they "borrow" from us to make a living for themselves. But they must never be seen. Of course, that means that Arrietty is seen on her very first borrowing...

Cute enough story if not a little sad at the end. I've seen "The Secret Life of Arrietty" and the old "The Littles" TV show from back in the late 80s (I believe it was), so it was nice to see the source material for it.

#15 The Twits by Roald Dahl

Mr. and Mrs. Twit are the two foulest people you'd never want to meet. They are constantly cruel to one another until, at last, they get their comeuppance

My daughter wanted to read to Mom and Dad for a change. She found the book hilarious. We found it gross, tedious, and morbidly unfunny. But we're not 8 years old anymore.

#26 Version Zero by David Yoon


This was an intriguing concept but I never felt like the details were well fleshed out. Many Goodreads reviewers compare it to The Circle or Black Mirror but I felt those were better than this book.

#27 Femlandia by Christina Dalcher


This seemed like an interesting topic. But it didn't come together for me. The characters were flat and unlikeable. It was hard to relate to any of the characters because only extreme viewpoints were represented.

#16 The Indian In The Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

A magic cupboard/key can turn plastic people into real live flesh and blood people.

Read it to my daughters as one of our bedtime stories. They loved it.

#17 DogSong by Gary Paulsen

Inspired by the Eskimo shaman, Oogruk, Russel leaves civilization behind to run a dog sled team into the north.

I was less than impressed with this one. The adventure seemed too short lived and the tie in between Russel's dreams to reality was hokey at best.

#18 Bad Food: Game of Scones by Eric Luper and Joe Whale

Everything in the Belching Walrus Elementary School comes to life when no one is around. One day, the Main Office Supplies decide to take over the Cafeteria and it's up to the food to wage war against the invading tyrants.

My other daughter thought the book was hilarious, and since her sister read The Twits to us, she decided to read to Mom and Dad for a bedtime story. The book was mildly cute at times, but not something I would have read even as a kid.

Just got back from a trip. I broke my arm in a bike accident while on vacation so I'm typing one-handed.
[#28 The Center of Everything by Jaimie Harrison

Very descriptive with not much going on.


#29 Light Years from Home by Mike Chen

Aliens plus family dynamics? An interesting combo.

#30 Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger
Typical thriller

#31 The Other Family by Wendy Corsi Staub
Pretty transparent thriller. Think I'm done with that genre for a while.

#32 The Soulmate Equation by Christine Lauren

I'm embarrassed to include this silly romance but I'm having a tough time recovering from the surgery of getting pins put in my shoulder.

Hi Joan,

I hope your recovery goes more smoothly and swiftly now.

And don't feel embarrassed. If ever there is a time for "silly" reading, it is when one is convalescing. If the book helps to lighten your mood, then it has served its purpose and might even be helping you heal thereby.

Feel better soon,
Lynn

Thanks Lynn! I appreciate the encouragement.

Joan

#33 The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller



The ending of this book was ambiguous. With so much history provided, you'd think you'd have a deeper understanding of the characters, But that never happened, And by the end, I just didn't care.

#34 The Stranger im the Lifeboat by Mitch Allbom


Can't believe I haven't already read this one. Inspiring and thought provoking,. Just what I needed.

#35 The Other Black Woman by Zakiya Dalila Harris

[
Wish I read the Goodreads blurb first. I hoped this book would provide insights into barriers that minorities encounter in the publishing industry., And even focus on the fact that the two black women came from very different background, That would've been an interesting story. Instead the plot was just ridiculous.

#19 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad by Tigh Walker, Felix Ruiz

The ancient spirits are angry about the over mining of Big Thunder Mountain, and the mine owner's daughter teams up with some local "bandits" to make him see that he's putting people's lives in danger.

An okay read, but it felt forced and kinda disjointed for me. Still love the Disney Ride though.


#20 Enchanted Tiki Room by Horacio Domingues and Jon Adams

In the Enchanted Tiki Room, birds can talk and magic can bring all your desires to the surface.

A cute read but nothing special. A little hard to read due to writing in the various birds' various accents. The Disney attraction is way better.


#21 Sylvanas by Christie Golden

A telling of the life, death, and unlife of Sylvanas Windrunner - once the Ranger General of her elven people, killed by Arthas Menethil, raised from death as a banshee, and eventual Warchief of the Horde. It explores how she comes to strike an alliance with Zovaal and why she wants to help him break the cycle of life and death.

Well written in terms of nailing the character voices and I loved the insight into her early life. However, I'm not sympathetic to the character (I've played Horde-side in Warcraft since I started playing in 2006) - she is and will always be an absolute traitor to my people. And the book had some huge, glaring time jumps that I hated - they just felt so WRONG to leave out. I mean, the moment of Sylvanas' death at the hands of Arthas is kind of a huge deal, and we're just sort of stuck with her waking up dead at one point.

#36 Klara and the Sun by Kazua Ishiguro



I had high hopes for this book, having read Never Let Her Go. The potential was there but the themes just weren't developed. Disappointing.

#37 Crossroads by Jonathan Fransen

Very detailed bok about a minister and his family of four kids. Lots if detail. Lots of focus on heavy issues and God. I didn't like the characters and I was cringing at many of their poor choices.

#22 - The Return of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks

Book 2 in the Indian in the Cupboard series. Omri wins a prize for this story "The Plastic Indian" and brings back Little Bear to share the news.

Not a great book but a logical continuation of the series. It gets really weird when Omri becomes part of a teepee when he uses the magic key to send himself back in time to Little Bear's village though.


#23 - The Secret of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks

Book 3 in the series. Picking up directly at the end of Book 2, Omri is still dealing with the fallout of having sent modern weapons back in time with Little Bear and his newly created army of formerly plastic Indians. This time, his friend Patrick goes back in time to the Texas town where his cowboy, Boone, is from. The secret nearly gets blown but is saved at the last second when Patrick returns from time traveling with a tornado hot on his heels.

I know I read all these books as a kid. The sequels are so bad I've completely blocked them from memory. But my daughters are enjoying them!


#24 - Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff

Max Mayfield is forced to accept her new "brother," Billy, when her mother remarries. The trouble is, Billy is abusive and creepy, mostly due to the fact that his father is abusive and creepy. Then she's forced to move from California to the sleepy little town of Hawkins, Indiana, far from her biological father. She meets a group of kids and learns about the monsters stalking Hawkins...

I'm super into Stranger Things, so this was fun. Maybe not as insightful as some of the other books (Suspicious Minds was awesome and Rebel Robin shed some interesting light on the character) but still a fun read. It makes me look forward to rewatching the older seasons again.[b][/b]

#38 Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shriver

People love or hate this book. I thought it was well done. The author isn't against trans people. She's concerned about a current trend where much statically higher numbers of girls are claiming to be trans. She includes interviews with girls and their families, doctors and scientists.

#25 - Tracker by Gary Paulsen

John Borne's life is turned upside down when his grandfather is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He becomes kind of obsessed with the ideas of life and death, and when it comes time to hunt for deer to provide meat for the coming winter, he tracks a doe in the woods instead of taking the shot.

A short read, I found it bland. I loved the images of the woods covered in new snow, the feeling of tacking the deer. But the book tried too hard to be deep - John feels like he can cheat death from getting his grandfather if he can touch the doe and not kill her. In the end, he goes home meatless and nothing has really changed at all. It just didn't come together for me - perhaps if the story had been longer and delved more into if John was going to give up hunting for good or something.

#39 Good Company by Cynthia Daprix Sweeney

After many years of marriage, Flora discovers that her husband had an affair, years ago, and that her best friend knew about it.

I think the writer could've gone a little deeper with the conflicts in this book.

#40 Sister Stardust by Jane Green

The blurb on this book didn't match the story at all. Supposedly it was about the real person Talitha Getty and her lavish lifestyle in the 1960s. Instead the book focused on a fictional character, Claire/Cece, that hung out with her for three weeks. Sometimes it's kinda fun to read about the counterculture happenings of the 60s but this got a bit ridiculous. Cece is an outsider yet invited to go to Marakesk with rock stars? Who immediately become best friends? There's drugs everywhere. Cece almost overdoses but it feels like it was no big deal? Her brother's best friend happens to be rich (while Cece and her brother are not), and comes to Marakesk to bring her home? Cece and Talitha are such great friends, the author keeps telling us but after three weeks, Cece doesn't answer any of Talitha's letters. This is just silly. Don't waste your time on this one.

#26 Six (Stranger Things) by Jody Houser

A look into another gifted girl, Six, at the Hawkins National Laboratory.


#27 The Other Side (Stranger Things) by Jody Houser

What kinds of adventures did Will Byers have in the Upside Down when he was taken?


#28 Science Camp (Stranger Things) by Jody Houser

Dustin heads off to summer Science Camp, where counselors are disappearing. There seems to be a murderer on the loose. Or is there?


#29 Zombie Boys (Stranger Things) by Greg Pak

After returning from the Upside Down, Will uses his drawings as an outlet for the trauma he suffered through. Introduced to a new student at school - an aspiring movie maker at that - Will's drawings become a basis for the horror flick they start to make.



All fun, fast, fluffy reads and a good way to momentarily fill in some time before we get Season 5, whenever that might be.

41 We are not like Them by. Christine Pride and Jo Piano

A long time frendship between a while woman and a black woman is tested when both are involved in a tragic police shooting event.

Very timely topic. Brought up feelings from both Povs. Haven't completely made up my mind on this one.

#42 The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan



This one didn't work for me. Hated all of the characters. There were no chapter breaks and constant changing of POV which made it hard to tell which character was talking.

#43 The Sentence by Louise Erdrich


It took me over a week to finish this book. It did not hold my attention. It rambled - there was the ghost story then the pandemic. I had no feeling as to where it was going. I would've put it down if it hadn't been a selection for my bookclub.

#30 The Mystery of the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

The 4th book in the Indian In the Cupboard series. This one delves into the history of the magic key that brings plastic to life. It was pretty dull and felt almost wholly unnecessary, except as a vessel to set up the time travel of the next book.


#31 The Key to the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks

The 5th and final book of the series. Omri and his father (now in the know about the magic) travel back in time to help Little Bear and his people as the US expansion continues to push them out of their ancestral homelands. The time travel stuff was kinda cool but all the stuff leading up to it was a drag.


#32 Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson

A group of kids are hired by Walt Disney World to be scanned and recorded and turned into DHIs - Disney Interactive Hosts. Basically, holograms that can interact with park guests, show them around, and point out cool facts. However, there's an intentional "glitch" in the software - put there by Imagineer Wayne - that lets these 5 kids "cross over" into the Magic Kingdom when they go to sleep at night. Because Wayne needs them to thwart the "Overtakers" - villains who want to take over the parks.

Really fun idea - who wouldn't want the run of WDW without the crowds, right? What makes to hit such a sweet note is the incredible attention to detail - anyone who's been to the parks can easily picture the rides and attractions mentioned. For me, Disnerd that I am, it's comforting and feels like reading about my home.

#33 Kingdom Keepers II: Disney At Dawn by Ridley Pearson

After having defeated Maleficent in the first book, the DHIs face a new, bigger, threat - Maleficent's boss (so to speak). This one takes us into the Animal Kingdom - from the Maharaja's Jungle Trek, to the Kilimanjaro Safari, to Expedition Everest. The only problem is how much I want to go back to Disney now!

Every Tool's a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It
Adam Savage

A mix of autobiography and maker philosophy. I enjoyed it.


The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes
Zach Dundas

Nice detailed dive into Sherlock Holmes and all that has come from that. Scholarly in ways with footnotes, bibliography and index.
It is amazing how small the writers circle could be. The author of the Raffles stories was Doyle's son-in-law for example and he
organized a cricket team that had J.M Barrie, Wells, Kipling, Wodehouse, Milne, E.W. Hornung, George Cecil Ives on it at various times.

#44 Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

This is a re-read for an upcoming book club. Trevor tells about his upbringing in South Africa during Apartheid. Even though some of the material was traumatic, there were many laugh out loud moments.

#45 Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore


I liked the technique of mixing podcast excerpts with the sister's narrative. It was an intriguing mystery, though the characters were a bit edgy and the ending fell short.

#34 Kingdom Keepers III: Disney In Shadow by Ridley Pearson

The Kingdom Keepers (with two unofficial members) must save their Imagineer friend, Wayne, from the Overtakers, who are running rampant in Epcot Center.


#35 The Giver by Lois Lowry

Jonas, who lives in a "perfect" community where differences don't exist and choices are premade for everyone (what job who have, who you marry, what kids you are assigned to raise), is turning twelve and is to find out what job he is to train for, for his adult life. But instead of being assigned, he is "selected" to become the new Receiver of Memory - the most important job in the entire community. Because, you see, people have no memories of life before "Sameness" - so no memories of things like love, war, joy, sorrow, even things like music and colors. Jonas realizes that his community is not so perfect after all, and wonders what he can do to change that.

One of my favorite books ever. I read this one to my daughters and they fell in love with it too and are currently reading the graphic novel version, which I have also read and is extremely faithful to the source material.


#36 Polar Nights by Jen Calonita and Mari Mancusi

A brand new Frozen adventure! To steal the summary from Amazon:

Anna, Queen of Arendelle, has been tirelessly preparing for the Polar Night’s Celebration that is held every year to welcome the time when the sun doesn’t rise in the Polar Circle. She has been working so hard, her fiancé Kristoff suggests she take a night off to visit her sister Elsa, the Snow Queen. Anna loves the idea. Accompanied by Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf, Anna reunites with Elsa in the Enchanted Forest.

After telling spooky stories around the campfire, Olaf swears that one of the creatures of their tales has come to life! Who else is responsible for the sudden onset of storms and the earlier than normal darkening of the skies? Why else is everyone starting to become so forgetful?

Anna and Elsa join forces to determine what is going on. Together they recall Kristoff’s terrifying tale about a princess who turned into a draugr―an undead creature that steals memories in an effort to make others forget the misdeeds it committed when it was alive. Is it possible that Kristoff inadvertently unearthed memories of a draugr, and thus unleashed the monster upon Arendelle? Anna and Elsa must uncover the real story behind the tale before everyone in Arendelle forgets who they are and is cast into darkness forever….

A delightful read, if not a little predictable for the adults, but my daughters were hanging on every word! And, let's face it, as a Disnerd, I'll devour any new tales I can find.

#46 Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard


I was impressed by the research put into this book. The author did a wonderful job fleshing out these historical people. And she also emphasized historical developments and inventions at the time. How Garfield might have lived had he not been treated. With current surgical practice, massive infection was introduced into his wounds. That's what killed him. Lots of interesting tidbits there.

BTW, Deadly Chakram, I'm a big fan of The Giver too. Excellent book!

Everyone my kids mention the book to says the same thing! "Oh, I love that book!"

#37 Animal Farm by George Orwell

Hey kids! Let's read about communism and why it can never work!

I'd never read this during my school days, but I found it to be well done in terms of how understandable it was for my daughters. They totally got the political implications and had lots of questions once we were finished reading.

#46 The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan


It was nice to have a slightly different WWII perspective. I enjoyed the book, though it was very predictable.

#47 The Measure by Nikki Erlick


I was excited about this premise and actually bought the book. I liked the ideas but for some reason, it just never really hooked me.

#48 A Family Affair by Robyn Carr

After her husband dies in an accident, Anna learns he had secrets.

Not bad for chick lit. This is the author who wrote the books Virgin River is based on.

#49 Small Pleasures by Claire Chambers

Set in the 1950s, Jean has a small, predictable life, working at the local paper and taking care of her mother. Then a story about a woman claiming she gave birth without a husband changes her life.

This book started off very slowly. I figured out the mystery of the virgin birth way before Jean did. I did grow to like Jean and felt for her loneliness. The ending felt like it came out of nowhere. An epilogue would've been nice.

#50 City of Likes by Jenny Mollen

A young mother befriends an Instagram influencer and gets caught up in her world.



#51 Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves

Excellent book presenting evidence of boys/mens issues that society needs to address.

#52 The Maid by Nita Prose



A light mystery. Molly is likeable yet it is a little confusing as to why she's treated as she is, when it is clear she's on the autism spectrum.

#53 100 Years of Lennie and Margo by Marianne Cronin


A terminally ill 17 year old and and 80 year old woman meet in the art room of the hospital and become friends. Not bad, just not compelling reading.

#37 Kingdom Keepers 4 - Power Play by Ridley Pearson

The Overtakers attempt to take over a power plant.

#38 - Kingdom Keepers 5 - Shell Game by Ridley Pearson

The Keepers join a Disney cruise, only to be in more peril than they ever were on land.

Both books were okay but I'm a bigger fan of the parks, so that's the bigger draw for me. The cruise thing just isn't really doing it for me, although I do enjoy cruising.

#39 - Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Kira was born with a twisted leg. After her mother dies, the elders in the community she lives in must decide if they will allow her to stay (and live) or be banished to die alone in the wilderness. But Kira has a special gift - her sewing abilities, and for a community that thrives on memories of the past, she is selected to repair the Ceremonial Robe used each year at the retelling of their history.

Book Two in the Giver Quartet. It's by far the least compelling story but the similarities and differences between Kira's community and the one Jonas inhibits in the first book are striking and allow for the book to still be a good, fulfilling read.

#40 Messenger by Lois Lowry

Matty (formerly known as Matt in the previous book) has successfully escaped the community he and Kira once lived in. He's made a new life for himself in a new place - one that welcomes people fleeing from harsh communities and those with disabilities. Here, everyone has a True Name based on their job/skills - like Miller, or Mentor (the teacher), or Leader. Matty, who loves to travel to other places through Forest, hopes to one day become Messenger. But a darkness is brewing and Forest is becoming violent...and Matty must make one final journey through Forest to both collect Kira and to let the other places know that Village will be closing...

A good, solid read that finally begins to weave together the threads of the first two books, bringing both Kira and Jonas into a universe where they coexist and where the reader can now understand why this is a quartet.

#41 Lucas on The Line by Suyi Davies

Lucas Sinclair is about to enter a place more dangerous than the Upside Down - high school. His student mentor convinces him to go and try out for the basketball team, which Lucas does because, hey, the other guy has the same skin tone as he does. As a result, his relationships with his best friends and girlfriend (still mourning the loss of her abusive stepbrother over that summer to the Mind Flayer) suffer. He abandons his love for Dungeons and Dragons, he is snippy and short with his friends, and he completely loses his girlfriend when she breaks up with him. It's only when his teammates posse up to harm Eddie, the high school stoner/D&D master/weirdo/guy who has flunked so badly he's way older than everyone else that Lucas snaps out of his selfishness and actively goes to help his friends.

I wanted to like this book. I liked Robin's story. I liked Max's story. But this one just felt wrong. The author spends 99% of his time brining up race that it's unpleasant and totally out of character for Lucas, who has brought up his skintone so infrequently on Stranger Things that I can probably count it on one hand. If this had been more central to the character, I would have overlooked it and chalked it up to "yeah, that's how he is," but the Lucas presented on the show simply isn't like that. And then there were other rookie missteps - like constantly calling The Mind Flayer the "Spider Monster." It always pulled me straight out of the story and finishing the tale became an unpleasant chore.

#42 Son by Lois Lowry

The 4th and final installment of The Giver. They called her Water Claire. She was a woman who was found at sea, rescued, and brought to live in a rustic community. She was a blank slate, unable to remember much of her past or why she had left the place where she'd grown up. There, she'd been a Vessel. She'd carried and grown a Product in her body. The Product had been ripped from her body and taken away and she'd been cast aside to work in the Fish Hatchery instead, because the difficulty in Producing had ruined her body. She had vowed to find that Product, knowing only that he was her son, not even knowing for sure what the committee had planned to call him.

This one is divided into 3 books - the first focusing on Claire's life back in the community of her birth. It details her Production, her subsequent dismissal and reassignment, her struggle to connect with Newchild she'd borne. Book 2 details her life after leaving the community behind, her amnesia, and her slow to return memories. It focuses on her extreme efforts to escape the easy life she'd come to know and love, in an effort to reconnect with her son, even making a terrible deal to help her on her quest. Book 3 is less about her - now years later - but more about the son she's found but who still doesn't know who she is. But he must come to believe the impossible and with all haste so that he can face the evil that threatens her life.

After The Giver (which is one of my favorite books ever), this is a clear and close second for me. Part of it is just knowing the desperation Claire feels in wanting to find her son. As a mom, I get it and would also go to the ends of the world for my daughters. Part of it is just the adventure of it. But it's my favorite of the sequels and the story by far blows the other two out of the water.

#54 American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers by Nancy Jo Sales



As the parent of two kids now in their early twenties, this book was horrifying. While I agree with some of her points, there were one or two that I most definitely did not. The author actually cited those sources that had conflicting viewpoints (which I had previously read). Frankly, I thought the other books were better researched on those particular points. Overall, I agree that social media has created some bad situations.

#55 The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn


When Georgina catches her husband in the act of cheating with her mentee, she decides to save her marriage by participating in the swinger lifestyle. A light read. a diversion. Predictable plot. The main character wasn't that likeable and didn't show as much growth as I would've hoped for.

#56 The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles


I'm not sure about this one. I didn't hate it. But I didn't love it either. I was expecting a different type of road trip. I had trouble relating to some of the characters.