50 books in 2020!

[Frugal Lizard]

1)  Girl, Woman, Other  by Bernardine Evaristo  2019 Booker Prize, gift from my DD  Edited...and my DS.  He paid for half because DD didn't bring her cash Christmas shopping.
2) The Choice by Nicholas Spark
3) Into the Light - Lionel LeMoine Fitzgerald by Sarah Milroy, Ian A. C. Dejardin and Michael Parke-Taylor - an art book from a retrospective I over Christmas and an artist I didn't know of prior.

[Linea_Norway]

I spent some time today on finding the books on my to-read list in the very slow library app. Luckily they had almost everything. When they have the book locally, I can add it to my app's wishlist and just click order next time. When they don't have it, I can order from another library elsewhere in the country, but not put it on the app's wishlist. But I have updated the list in my bullet point journal and will order some books at the time. Now I ordered a couple for myself and some for DH.

[redhead84]

1) Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
2) Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
3) The Willies by Adam Falkner
4) Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon
5) This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

IP: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (audio) and The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

[jeroly]

1) Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
2) Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
3) The Willies by Adam Falkner
4) Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon
5) This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

IP: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (audio) and The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

@redhead84 , What did you think of “Such a Fun Age?”

[grantmeaname]

Tryna read 104 this year so I've got to do ~8 per month. I've got 8 already but some of these have been easy, and some of the books that I want to read this year are thousand-pagers. So I think I'm on track or close to it.

January
1. A Brief History of Indonesia by Tim Hannigan
2. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
3. On Love by Alain de Botton
4. Fool by Christopher Moore
5. A Silent Voice, Vol.1 by Yoshitoki Oima
6. Cheap by Ellen Ruppel Shell. Highly recommend you steer clear of this one.
7. The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines
8. The Airbnb Story by Leigh Gallagher

Working through Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl now and about to start Zucked by Roger McNamee.

[SlowlyButSurely]

1. The antidote: Happiness for people who can't stand positive thinking by Oliver Burkeman (NF#1).
2. Midnight Riot (aka Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch (F#1)

3. Conscous by Annaka Harris (NF#2)
4. The sum of small things: A theory of the aspirational class by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett (NF#3)
5. Mr Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore by Robin Sloan (F#2)

[QuillScroll]

1. Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High - Kerry Patterson
2. The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin
3. Deep Work - Cal Newport
4. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Angela Duckworth
5. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
6. A Search in secret India - Paul Brunton
7. The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results - Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan

[Luz]

1. The Unwinding of the Miracle by Julie Yip-Williams
2. Elemental: How the Periodic Table Can Now Explain (Nearly) Everything by Tim James
3. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
4. Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini (though I'm not sure I can count this one since it's quite short)

Abandoned:
-Downhill From Here: Retirement Insecurity in the Age of Inequality by Katherine S. Newman (I was hoping for a bit more balance and thoroughness. Anyone have recommendations for a good book on the state of retirement preparedness in the US?)

Currently working on:
-Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents Need to Know to Do It Once and Do It Right by Jamie Glowacki (I'm finding the writing surprisingly entertaining)
-On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks (the length of this one will make up for that of Sea Prayer)

In Queue:
-The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
-Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell

[redhead84]

1) Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
2) Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
3) The Willies by Adam Falkner
4) Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon
5) This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

IP: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (audio) and The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

@redhead84 , What did you think of “Such a Fun Age?”

I enjoyed it. It looks at issues of class, race, privilege, motherhood, struggling with identity, but it is a very easy and readable story.

[Linea_Norway]

1) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
2) The Lie, a memoire of two marriages, catfishing and coming out by William Dameron
3) The Queston of Red by Laksmi Pamuntjak
4) Grønn ungdom hele livet (Green youth my whole life), by Peter Tutein. Only 1/2 read
5) Dubbel zes (Double Six) by Daphne Deckers
6) Ventoux by Bert Wagendorp

Started in:
Swamp under mikroskopet (mushrooms under the microscope) by Jan Nilsson.
I am going to a course on this subject in one and a half week. I think it is smart to have read through the material before the two day course.

[save234]

I set a goal for 40 books this year. This includes audiobooks.

Today I finished "The Great Alone" by Kristin Hannah.
I will start "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed" by Lori Gottlieb tonight.

That Gottlieb book is excellent! Enjoy!

Aghhh I read these two in a row last year and they were both incredible!

[save234]

1. A Rule Against Murder- Louise Penny
2. Catch and Kill - Ronan Farrow
3. After the Flood (currently reading)- Kassandra Montag

[Tess]

Updating:

1.  A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest Gaines
2.  A Woman of No Importance, Sonia Purnell
3.  Celine, Peter Heller

[FICurious]

1. Map of Days - Ransom Riggs

2. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

[QuillScroll]

1. Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High - Kerry Patterson
2. The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin
3. Deep Work - Cal Newport
4. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Angela Duckworth
5. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
6. A Search in secret India - Paul Brunton (Re-read)
7. The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results - Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan
8. Face to face - Brian Grazer
9. Who am I - Teaching of Sri Ramana Maharishi
10. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho (Re-read)

[Linea_Norway]

1) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
2) The Lie, a memoire of two marriages, catfishing and coming out by William Dameron
3) The Queston of Red by Laksmi Pamuntjak
4) Grønn ungdom hele livet (Green youth my whole life), by Peter Tutein. Only read half.
5) Dubbel zes (Double Six) by Daphne Deckers
6) Ventoux by Bert Wagendorp
7) Svamp under mikroskopet (Mushrooms under the microscope) by Jan Nilsson
8) Vi må snakke om bakterier (We need to talk about bacteria) by Jessica Lönn-Stensrud

[Frugal Lizard]

1)  Girl, Woman, Other  by Bernardine Evaristo  2019 Booker Prize, gift from my DD  Edited...and my DS.  He paid for half because DD didn't bring her cash Christmas shopping.
2) The Choice by Nicholas Spark
3) Into the Light - Lionel LeMoine Fitzgerald by Sarah Milroy, Ian A. C. Dejardin and Michael Parke-Taylor - an art book from a retrospective I over Christmas and an artist I didn't know of prior.

Currently reading Why We Can't Sleep, Women's New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun.  I am loving this book and wish I had people to talk about it with.  I think MMM people would avoid a lot of the issues raised by Calhoun by stepping off spending treadmill

[Linea_Norway]

1)  Girl, Woman, Other  by Bernardine Evaristo  2019 Booker Prize, gift from my DD  Edited...and my DS.  He paid for half because DD didn't bring her cash Christmas shopping.
2) The Choice by Nicholas Spark
3) Into the Light - Lionel LeMoine Fitzgerald by Sarah Milroy, Ian A. C. Dejardin and Michael Parke-Taylor - an art book from a retrospective I over Christmas and an artist I didn't know of prior.

Currently reading Why We Can't Sleep, Women's New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun.  I am loving this book and wish I had people to talk about it with.  I think MMM people would avoid a lot of the issues raised by Calhoun by stepping off spending treadmill

There is a subforum here on MMM where you can discuss books.

I just read the Amazon description of the Sleep book and I agree that we mustachians who dare to be different and not follow the social rules or hair coloring etc, stand a better chance.

[Raenia]

1	Warbreaker	Brandon Sanderson	Own	Reread	1/6/2020	Fiction - Fantasy
2	The Complete Book of Home Organization	Toni Hammersley	Own	Educational	1/7/2020	Nonfiction - Home and Garden
3	Rocannon's World	Ursula LeGuin	Own	TBR List	1/14/2020	Fiction - Science Fiction
4	Trickster's Choice	Tamora Pierce	Library	PopSugar	1/17/2020	Fiction - Fantasy
5	The Broken Universe	Paul Melko	Library	Sequel	1/25/2020	Fiction - Science Fiction

[sui generis]

1.  The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay, finished 01/02/2020 (excellent writing and timely with respect to Indian politics and Hindu nationalism, even though I was a bit disappointed in the predictable ending)

2. Golden Gate Gardening: The Complete Guide to Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area & Coastal California by Pamela Peirce, finished (read it two times through!) 01/10/2020.  I learned so much from this book, but feel I have so much more to learn!  I'd hope there are even better books out there for complete novice gardeners (regardless of geography), but this was a good start and it is super helpful with specific charts, suggestions and helpful tips on what grows best and when to plant in our area.

3. Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebelions by Gloria Steinem, finished 01/11/2020. Took me a while to get around to this.  Depressing that it's still so on point.  Happy to read how intersectional she was/is.  I would not have expected that.

4. Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell, finished 01/13/2020.  Couldn't sleep last night, so this quick read went even quicker than expected.  I probably shouldn't delve too deep into a beach-read like this, but I was fascinated how it revealed so much of the mystery really early on.  That's different!  And, in the opposite problem than usual, I thought the ending helped the book rather than hindering it (see, e.g. #1 on my list). It was slightly unpredictable, which always helps, but still was not my favorite ending.  So middling overall.

5. Meridian, by Alice Walker, finished 01/26/20.  Finally read an Alice Walker book.  Very worthwhile and a good read.  I'll have to get to The Color Purple at some point.

[FireHiker]

Finally charged my Kindle Fire back up - mostly for my cross stitch patterns, but it'll make reading without getting distracted easier as well.

Cool, another cross stitcher here!! I don't get to stitch as much as I would like these days, but it's part of my FIRE goal to get back to all my projects more than a bit here and there. :)

I would like to join the challenge again this year; I finish 107 books last year and my goal this year is 100. I haven't been able to post much lately but hoping to get back here more often soon.

Here is my progress so far for 2020:

1. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
2. This Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (re-read but it's been a LOT of years...)
3. The BFG by Roald Dahl
4. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
5. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
6. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
7. The Girl With Seven Names by Hyeonso Lee

[Splashncash]

1. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (never read it as a kid, felt like I needed to)
2. To the Land of Long Lost Friends by Alexander McCall Smith
3. The Dinner by Herman Koch
4. The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan (I'm a sucker for anything with 'bookshop' in the title)
5. The Book of Dreams by Nina George

6. Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
7. The Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

[redhead84]

1) Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
2) Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
3) The Willies by Adam Falkner
4) Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon
5) This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

6) The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

IP: The Song of Achilles by Medline Miller (audio) - I paused this one as my hold for The Dutch House by Ann Patchett on audio became available, and I couldn't resist the soothing narration of Tom Hanks after a long week.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe. 20% in and finding this truly fascinating and well written. I wish I could have read this book before I spent time in Belfast during a recent trip to Ireland.

[penguintroopers]

1. The Painted House by John Grisham*
2. Expecting Better by Emily Oster*
3. Period Repair Manual by Lara Briden, ND*
4. Scroogenomics by Joel Waldfogel*
5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky*
6. The Art of Waiting by Belle Boggs*
7. Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt*

* Audiobook

[Frugal Lizard]

Thanks @Linea_Norway - I am three quarters through Why we Can't Sleep.  Still enjoying all the statistics and very happy that I live in Canada. Such huge stress from health care issues in the States. 

[jeroly]

1. Severance by Ling Ma

A Chinese immigrant to America tells the story of being one of the few survivors of a mysterious epidemic that zombifies almost all of humanity.  No brain eating, just good writing.

2.  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

A Russian aristocrat is sentenced to life imprisonment in a Moscow Hotel and over the course of thirty some years, his life there unfolds.  Sweet and light, with occasional interesting philosophical observations.

3. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton by Jane Smiley

An Illinois girl marries and moves to the Kansas Territory in 1855.  Long and slow in parts, it does provide an interesting lens into the story of "Bleeding Kansas," a chapter of American history I didn't know much about before.

[dblaace]

   1. The Long Road Back to Boston  by Phillip Fields Ph.D
   2. Fearvana  by Akshay Nanavati
   3. Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person Shonda Rhimes
   4. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
   5. Black Echo by Michael Connelly
   6. Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly

[Anette]

I'm in
1)  The Son by Jo Nesbø
2) Becoming Supernatural by Dr Joe Dispenza ( Audiobook)
3) still finishing " Recovery" by Russell Brand

I am not reading very much with all the things I have to read for my University class...
But I finished
 
4) You are the Placebo  by Dr Joe Dispenza ( audio)
5) Quit like a Millionaire

The later someone on this forum recommended and as it was available for 0,99 on Amazon Kindle I went for it.
I did learn new things in there about closing the gap between the 95% in which the 4% rule is supposed to work fine and the 100% you'd like it to work.
Very good read for people with OMY syndrome :)

[iris lily]

Somewhere along the way, I lost my ability to read an entire book. I can skim one at the bookstore and get the gist of it in 15 minutes. Most of my reading is online content. For fiction entertainment I prefer video on demand.  US book sales are as high as ever, so everyone else is still reading like mad?

Well, everyone is now an author so by the time they sell 7 books to their friends and relatives, that increases sales. Kidding, a bit.

[Frugal Lizard]

1)  Girl, Woman, Other  by Bernardine Evaristo 
2) The Choice by Nicholas Spark
3) Into the Light - Lionel LeMoine Fitzgerald by Sarah Milroy, Ian A. C. Dejardin and Michael Parke-Taylor
4) Why We Can't Sleep, Women's New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun - Really enjoyed it because it explained the reasons behind a lot of the angst that I had a few years ago.  Surprisingly I now find myself somewhat passed it.  Getting a handle on my financial health through MMM and doing the mental work I have been doing lately as well as just being a little bit older with older kids who are doing really well as young adults has lifted a lot of my stress.  As well as having Canadian health care.   But an interesting read.  Just not as eye opening as I thought it would be.

[Linea_Norway]

January:
1) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (started in December)
2) The Lie, a memoire of two marriages, catfishing and coming out by William Dameron
3) The Queston of Red by Laksmi Pamuntjak
4) Grønn ungdom hele livet (Green youth my whole life), by Peter Tutein. Only read half.
5) Dubbel zes (Double Six) by Daphne Deckers
6) Ventoux by Bert Wagendorp
7) Svamp under mikroskopet (Mushrooms under the microscope) by Jan Nilsson
8) Vi må snakke om bakterier (We need to talk about bacteria) by Jessica Lönn-Stensrud
9) Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Currently reading:
Resten av dagen (The Remains of the day) by Kazuo Ishiguro

[sui generis]

1.  The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay, finished 01/02/2020. Excellent writing and timely with respect to Indian politics and Hindu nationalism, even though I was a bit disappointed in the predictable ending.

2. Golden Gate Gardening: The Complete Guide to Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area & Coastal California by Pamela Peirce, finished (read it two times through!) 01/10/2020.  I learned so much from this book, but feel I have so much more to learn!  I'd hope there are even better books out there for complete novice gardeners (regardless of geography), but this was a good start and it is super helpful with specific charts, suggestions and helpful tips on what grows best and when to plant in our area.

3. Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebelions by Gloria Steinem, finished 01/11/2020. Took me a while to get around to this.  Depressing that it's still so on point.  Happy to read how intersectional she was/is.  I would not have expected that.

4. Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell, finished 01/13/2020.  Couldn't sleep last night, so this quick read went even quicker than expected.  I probably shouldn't delve too deep into a beach-read like this, but I was fascinated how it revealed so much of the mystery really early on.  That's different!  And, in the opposite problem than usual, I thought the ending helped the book rather than hindering it (see, e.g. #1 on my list). It was slightly unpredictable, which always helps, but still was not my favorite ending.  So middling overall.

5. Meridian, by Alice Walker, finished 01/26/2020.  Finally read an Alice Walker book.  Very worthwhile and a good read.  I'll have to get to The Color Purple at some point.

6. Dawn, by Octavia Butler, finished 01/29/2020. Wow, why did it take me so long to get around to reading this?  Or even hearing of it?  I've tried to dig into SF genre a number of times over the years and enjoyed my forays and many of the famous books. So how did I miss this?  It's amazing and I loved it and the rest of the trilogy is already on hold. 

[jeroly]

1. Severance by Ling Ma

A Chinese immigrant to America tells the story of being one of the few survivors of a mysterious epidemic that zombifies almost all of humanity.  No brain eating, just good writing.
[edit: link to cover photo removed]

2.  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

A Russian aristocrat is sentenced to life imprisonment in a Moscow Hotel and over the course of thirty some years, his life there unfolds.  Sweet and light, with occasional interesting philosophical observations.
[edit: link to cover photo removed]

3. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton by Jane Smiley

An Illinois girl marries and moves to the Kansas Territory in 1855.  Long and slow in parts, it does provide an interesting lens into the story of "Bleeding Kansas," a chapter of American history I didn't know much about before.
[edit: link to cover photo removed]

4. Quit like a Millionaire by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung

A pretty great life story / intro to FIRE by a couple who FIREd at 31.  With the caveat that, IMNSHO, they miss the boat on the problems with yield chasing (they recommend high dividend, REITs, and preferred shares as a separate component of a FIRE portfolio to create a “yield shield”), it’s filled with good information.

[edit: link to cover photo removed as for some reason it was super-sized]

[FICurious]

1. Map of Days - Ransom Riggs
2. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

3. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

[SlowlyButSurely]

1. The antidote: Happiness for people who can't stand positive thinking by Oliver Burkeman (NF#1).
2. Midnight Riot (aka Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch (F#1)
3. Conscious by Annaka Harris (NF#2)
4. The sum of small things: A theory of the aspirational class by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett (NF#3)
5. Mr Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore by Robin Sloan (F#2)

6. Mindful eating by Jan Chozen Bays (NF#4)

[Serendip]

1) Born A Crime, Trevor Noah (audiobook)
2) The Moth Presents Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying the Impossible
3) The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides (bookclub)
4) Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection, Brian Grazer
5) The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere, Pico Iyer
6) Self-Knowledge, The School of Life (Alain de Botton) :
7) Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment, Robert Wright (re-read as I felt there was a lot to capture my first time through)
8) A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
9) How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy: Jenny Odell

ongoing
10) Textiles of the Banjara: Cloth and Culture of a Wandering Tribe, Charllotte Kwon & Tim McLaughlin
11) These Truths: A History of the Unites States, Jill Lepore  *doorstopper, will take a long while to work through but great writing so far
12) Underland: A Deep Time Journey, Robert Macfarlane

[Luz]

1. The Unwinding of the Miracle by Julie Yip-Williams
2. Elemental: How the Periodic Table Can Now Explain (Nearly) Everything by Tim James
3. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
4. Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini (though I'm not sure I can count this one since it's quite short)
5. On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks (the length of this one makes up for that of Sea Prayer)
  *So many footnotes, but I pushed through! Would anyone recommend his other books?

Currently working on:
-The Devil's Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea
-Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents Need to Know to Do It Once and Do It Right by Jamie Glowacki

In Queue:
-Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell
-The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner

[Splashncash]

1. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (never read it as a kid, felt like I needed to)
2. To the Land of Long Lost Friends by Alexander McCall Smith
3. The Dinner by Herman Koch
4. The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan (I'm a sucker for anything with 'bookshop' in the title)
5. The Book of Dreams by Nina George
6. Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
7. The Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

8. Beartown by Fredrik Backman.  O.M.G.

[sui generis]

1.  The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay, finished 01/02/2020. Excellent writing and timely with respect to Indian politics and Hindu nationalism, even though I was a bit disappointed in the predictable ending.

2. Golden Gate Gardening: The Complete Guide to Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area & Coastal California by Pamela Peirce, finished (read it two times through!) 01/10/2020.  I learned so much from this book, but feel I have so much more to learn!  I'd hope there are even better books out there for complete novice gardeners (regardless of geography), but this was a good start and it is super helpful with specific charts, suggestions and helpful tips on what grows best and when to plant in our area.

3. Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebelions by Gloria Steinem, finished 01/11/2020. Took me a while to get around to this.  Depressing that it's still so on point.  Happy to read how intersectional she was/is.  I would not have expected that.

4. Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell, finished 01/13/2020.  Couldn't sleep last night, so this quick read went even quicker than expected.  I probably shouldn't delve too deep into a beach-read like this, but I was fascinated how it revealed so much of the mystery really early on.  That's different!  And, in the opposite problem than usual, I thought the ending helped the book rather than hindering it (see, e.g. #1 on my list). It was slightly unpredictable, which always helps, but still was not my favorite ending.  So middling overall.

5. Meridian, by Alice Walker, finished 01/26/2020.  Finally read an Alice Walker book.  Very worthwhile and a good read.  I'll have to get to The Color Purple at some point.

6. Dawn, by Octavia Butler, finished 01/29/2020. Wow, why did it take me so long to get around to reading this?  Or even hearing of it?  I've tried to dig into SF genre a number of times over the years and enjoyed my forays and many of the famous books. So how did I miss this?  It's amazing and I loved it and the rest of the trilogy is already on hold.

7. Women & Power: A Manifesto, by Mary Beard, finished 01/31/2020.  Based off of a couple of speeches she gave, it doesn't feel like a book per se (and is only about 100 pages).  I enjoyed it and learned from it, but I didn't realize its origins when I began so my expectations were a bit off, and it ended up feeling underdeveloped to me.  Nevertheless, I liked what I was seeing and have added more Beard to my to-read list.

[Linea_Norway]

January:
1) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (started in December)
2) The Lie, a memoire of two marriages, catfishing and coming out by William Dameron
3) The Queston of Red by Laksmi Pamuntjak
4) Grønn ungdom hele livet (Green youth my whole life), by Peter Tutein. Only read half.
5) Dubbel zes (Double Six) by Daphne Deckers
6) Ventoux by Bert Wagendorp
7) Svamp under mikroskopet (Mushrooms under the microscope) by Jan Nilsson
8) Vi må snakke om bakterier (We need to talk about bacteria) by Jessica Lönn-Stensrud
9) Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
10) Resten av dagen (The Remains of the day) by Kazuo Ishiguro

Started on the train because my next book was too thick to bring along:
Kijkvoer & Leesgenot (Dutch poetry in a special vers form called Olleke Bolleke) by Michèl de Jong and Drs. P.

Next up:
The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.

[ahptex]

Joining in again this year and off to a slow start:

(1) The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemison

[cerat0n1a]

Nevertheless, I liked what I was seeing and have added more Beard to my to-read list.

She is a pretty well known tv presenter in the UK. I often see her around town (Cambridge). Her book SPQR (a history of Ancient Rome) has been a non-fiction bestseller for quite some time.

[redhead84]

1) Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
2) Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
3) The Willies by Adam Falkner
4) Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon
5) This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
6) The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
7) The Dutch House by Ann Patchett - I recommend the audio version - Tom Hanks was an excellent narrator!
8) Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

[Splashncash]

8. Beartown by Fredrik Backman.  O.M.G.

LOVED IT!!!  although, to be honest, I pretty much enjoyed everything Fredrik Backman has written.
You know there's now a follow up "Us Against You" that you need to read next, yes?  Its a second, full length gripping story about what happens next to the same characters in Beartown.

Yes, I immediately googled "Us Against You" because I had heard there was a follow-up but that was back when I tried reading "Beartown" the first time (made it only ~30 or 40 pages in).  So glad I went back to it.  I listened to the audio book this time and that made the difference.  The narrator was amazing!  Her voice was just the kind of voice I want reading aloud to me.

I agree, I do like all of his work but to differing degrees.  Loved "Ove" and "The Deal of a Lifetime", really liked "Every Morning...", enjoyed "Britt-Marie..."

Now the only one I haven't finished is the "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry".  I'll see if I can locate it in audio, maybe it will have the same great narrator.  I didn't realize this one had a different name in Sweden: "My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises".

Finally, looks like he published one last year that I missed: "Things My Son Needs to Know About the World".  Have you read that one, SWWAL?

[jeroly]

1. Severance by Ling Ma

A Chinese immigrant to America tells the story of being one of the few survivors of a mysterious epidemic that zombifies almost all of humanity.  No brain eating, just good writing.
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2.  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

A Russian aristocrat is sentenced to life imprisonment in a Moscow Hotel and over the course of thirty some years, his life there unfolds.  Sweet and light, with occasional interesting philosophical observations.
[edit: link to cover photo removed]

3. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton by Jane Smiley

An Illinois girl marries and moves to the Kansas Territory in 1855.  Long and slow in parts, it does provide an interesting lens into the story of "Bleeding Kansas," a chapter of American history I didn't know much about before.
[edit: link to cover photo removed]

4. Quit like a Millionaire by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung

A pretty great life story / intro to FIRE by a couple who FIREd at 31.  With the caveat that, IMNSHO, they miss the boat on the problems with yield chasing (they recommend high dividend, REITs, and preferred shares as a separate component of a FIRE portfolio to create a “yield shield”), it’s filled with good information.
[edit: link to cover photo removed]

5. Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Focused on eighties high schoolers at a southern performing arts school, this book has some surprising twists that I'll save the spoilers on. Well written.


[edit: reduced image size]

[grantmeaname]

If you want to make the images smaller you can do it right inside the img tag with "width" or "height".

Try "img width=75" inside the opening brackets.

Then the only problem is that Tapatalk is dumb and bad and ignores your input.

[jeroly]

If you want to make the images smaller you can do it right inside the img tag with "width" or "height".

Try "img width=75" inside the opening brackets.

Then the only problem is that Tapatalk is dumb and bad and ignores your input.

Thanks! edited original post.

[Splashncash]

Nope, but now I know to go look for it.  My local library is better than many, but the librarian has to be pushed to purchase books outside her wheel house.  I'll alert two local friends who also love Backman and together we can request it be purchased.

Strength in numbers - good idea!

[ahptex]

(1) The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemison


(2) Faithful Place by Tana French

[qbird]

1) Where Do I Begin by Elvis Duran
2) Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
3) The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell