Just finished (re)reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Probably my favorite book, and likewise, probably my favorite author.
Just started Cormack McCarthy’s The Road, which is already spectacularly depressing. If I end up enjoying it (“enjoy” is probably going to be a relative term with that book, lol) then I’ll probably try Blood Meridian next.
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King. A collection of short stories, some of them suck (imo, haha), a few are very good. The non-horror/more realistic ones are my favorites so far.
And then She Vanished by Nick Jones
Here’s the last 3 weeks in my bookish life!
Without Merit by Colleen Hoover
More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez
So Happy For You by Celia Laskey
Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perrotta
The No-Show by Beth O’Leary
In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer
An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fisher
And right now The Club by Ellery Lloyd
The Shadows of London by Nick Jones second book in the Joseph Bridgemen series. The first and second are freebies. For me, the story isn’t good enough to pony up credits for the next two.
Going with the newest release by Steve Berry. The Omega Factor. New character so we’ll see how it pans out. The last few Cotton Malone books have a little too much of the author’s political views for my taste.
Be glad when August and Sept get here. Can’t wait to listen to Sons of Valor ll and the new Oregon files Hellburner. Sigh…
Just finished Marie Yovanovitch’s memoir. Absolutely fantastic.
I’m starting Down Girl by Kate Manne.
To Hell And Back - Niki Lauda’s autobiography
About to start on some old JP Donleavy, “False Information is being given out at Princeton”, hope this one has aged well, not all of his work has.
Recently finished The Species Seekers by Richard Conniff and Bedroom Rapper by Rollie Pemberton.
Just started Universal Harvester by John Darnielle.
Billy Pilgrim came unstuck in time, what a great premise.
Do you have kids? If so, The Road will totally fuck you up.
You should consider Gerard Donovan - Julius Winsome is some fucked up shit.
Best ever, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Read his bio - very fucked up.
Great taste by the way.
I’m closer to being a kid than having any yet, but still a very disturbing read. My father read it right after having his third kid, and was really shaken by it.
Thanks for the recommendations, too! I think I have a copy of Dunces at home, so that might be next on the list.
Highly recommend A Confederacy of Dunces.
The Road fucks you up as a father because it nets out the love for a kid. McCarthy is a beautiful writer. An editor once told me there are three components to a novel - characters, plot, writing. Two out of three makes a good novel.
She also told me, give me a good character and I will follow him/her anywhere.
Check out Jonathan Franzen and Michael Chabon as well.
My Audiobook-ish Life lately:
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Last Seen Alive by Claire Douglas
The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Gramus
Cult Classic by Sloan Crosley
Currently “reading” (listening to): The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf
“5/3/1 forever”.
Besides that… Dostojevsky’s “Anna Karenina”.
Recently finished some poems by Joseph Brodsky. My 50th book of the year.
Just started Columbine by Dave Cullen and Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum by Fatma Aydemir.
I’ve been on a kick of trashy CIA novels, I’m in the middle of Gunmetal Gray too. The best one by far was book 5, Back Blast, thus far - I think it’s a necessity before book 6! Super fun series. Audible has a great narrator for it as well.
I do love me some trashy CIA novels. I totally agree Back Blast is the best book of the Gray Man series that I have read so far.
If you are get in mood for cliche/ trashy navy seal stuff check Sons of Valor and the Tier One series by Brian Andrews and Jeffery Wilson.
Bit meh.
Reading “Unnatural causes” which is the autobiography of one of Britain’s leading criminal pathologists, Richard Shepherd. Really interesting!
Finished two books this week so far in isolation.
Dichotomy of leadership by Jocko and Lief. Really good book, easy to read and action. Obviously if you’re not into that sorta book, steer clear.
Devil House - John Darnielle. Well I thought this was going to be a murder mystery but it turns out it’s this sort of bizzare biographical journey about the families involved in murders, told through different viewpoints by the narrator, who is a fictional true crime author. The author is amazingly descriptive and the book has the alluring yet melancholy feel to it. I couldn’t put it down. Definitely not something I would have read if someone suggested it to me.
Hermann Hesse - Unterm Rad.
I read a good chunk of it today and had a real attention grabbing moment: The title of my training log (and possible tattoo idea, I keep juggling) was used in a dialog within the book! per aspera ad astra
That was pretty cool to discover for some reason. It’s not like Hesse came up with it, I am sure but still 