50 Books in 2021!

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

1. Will to Survive by Eric Walters
2. Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey
3. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
4. Attack on Titan Volume I by Hajime Isayama
5. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
6. The Secret by C. Baxter Kruger
7. The Magic Bicycle by John Bibee
8. Peace Talks by Jim Butcher
9. Genesis by Brendan Reichs

[Raenia]

1	Gardening When it Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times	Steve Solomon	Library	TBR List	01/05/2021	Nonfiction - Home and Garden
2	Media Gothic: A Stroll Through State Street's Dark History	Laurie Hull, Matt Lake	Own	Other	1/8/2021	Nonfiction - History/Biography
3	Pretties	Scott Westerfield	Library	Sequel	1/16/2021	Fiction - Young Adult
4	Specials	Scott Westerfield	Library	Sequel	1/17/2021	Fiction - Young Adult
5	Extras	Scott Westerfield	Library	Sequel	1/18/2021	Fiction - Young Adult

6	Living the Good Life: How to Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled World	Helen Nearing, Scott Nearing	Library	TBR List	1/21/2021	Nonfiction - Self-help
7	Stronghold	Melanie Rawn	Own	Reread	1/27/2021	Fiction - Fantasy
8	Rebecca	Daphne du Maurier	Library	TBR List	1/29/2021	General Fiction

Nonfiction: 3/25
TBR List: 3/25
Philosophy: 0/5

[cangelosibrown]

1. Sapiens by Yuval Harari   -- ★★★★, very interesting.
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ★★★★½. Absolutely delightful book, just exactly what I (and I'm guessing everyone) needs right now.
3. The Stranger by Albert Camus -- ★★★★ Such a bizarre book. A horribly unlikable narrator, but not in any of the usual ways. Really makes you think.
4. Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. ★★★★½. So so sad. It's rare you see historical fiction with quite so much punch. I've now read all of her novels, and that makes me sad too.
5. The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell.  ★½. Really did not enjoy this. I don't recall ever being so baffled at how well reviewed and awarded a book is. Interesting enough story that I finished it, I can't say anything else good about it. Hated is probably too strong a word, but not by much.
6. Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen. ★★★★. One of my guilty pleasures is reading books I loved as a child. The Hatchet series is as enjoyable now as they were to me at age 11.

7. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. ★★★★. I've heard it described as a meta-novel, and that's not a bad description. A reader's fever dream is probably a better one. In one sense, absolutely terrific. In other senses, it's so (intentionally) maddening and so (intentionally) difficult to get into, that I have to only give it 4 stars.
8. Scorecasting by  Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim. ★★★. Supposed to be a Freakonomics about sports statistics. It's fine, perhaps if I'd read it when it came out 9 years ago it would have felt more groundbreaking, but so much here is common knowledge now.

[cerat0n1a]

1. You are your own gym - Mark Lauren
2. A Cheesemonger's History of the British Isles - Ned Palmer
3. Possum Living - Dolly Freed
4. The Agroforestry Handbook - Ben Raskin & Simone Osborn
5. Heroes - Stephen Fry
6. Tree Crops - J Russell Smith
7. The Overstory - Richard Powers
8. Underland: A deep time journey - Robert MacFarlane

[Frugal Lizard]

1.   Absolute Friends, John le Carre
2.   Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Helen Simonson  book club book,  I laughed out loud at points it was so funny to me.

On tap - Indians on Vacation

[redhead84]

My goal is to add format and rating this year so I'll update twice per month. Here's my mid-January update.

January:
1) The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi (audio) ★★★½
2) The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes (kindle) ★★½
3) Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano (kindle) ★★★★
4) Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow (kindle/audio) ★★★★½

5) The Bright Lands by John Fram  (kindle/audio) ★★★
6) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - reread (audio - read by the cast of the NPR podcast Planet Money) ★★★★
7) One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London (kindle) - ★★★½
8) You Have a Match by Emma Lord (audio) ★★½

[Serendip]

1) Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez
2) In Praise of Paths: Walking Through Time and Nature, Torbjorn Ekelund
3) A Mind at Home with Itself, Byron Katie
4) Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion, Jia Tolentino
5) Heida: A Shepherd At the Edge of the World,  Steinen Sigurðardóttir
6) Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake
7) The Stoic Challenge: A Philosophers Guide to Becoming Tougher Calmer and More Resilient, William B. Irving

recently finished
8) The Push (fiction), Ashley Audrain--this book seemed to be getting lots of attention. it's gripping for sure, a story of mothering/family/darkness..I was glad when I was finished :)

9) Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May--poetic, easy-to-read, fitting for this time of forced collective hibernation

10) Relax, Dammit!: A User's Guide to the Age of Anxiety, Timothy Caulfield--a walk through a 'normal' day by the author who works in health policy as he contemplates issues of common knowledge/assumption which may be based on misinformation

[cerat0n1a]

6) Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake

The book I've just finished (Underland), has a chapter where the author (Robert McFarlane) spends a couple of days with Merlin Sheldrake, so I'll definitely be adding this to my list.

[Linea_Norway]

The Mind-Gut connection by Emeran Mayer.

[nessness]

The Mind-Gut connection by Emeran Mayer.

Did you like it? I just read the description and it sounds really interesting.

[StarBright]

1. On Writing by Stephen King
2. Red at the Bone by Jaqueline Woodson (I will need to reread the end of this one again. I was getting sleepy as I finished and I think I need to soak in more of the beautiful writing.)
3. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
4. House of Trelawney by Hannah Rothschild

5. Race and Reunion by David W. Blight (a book about how the US handled Reconstruction and how that narrative still effects things today. A bit dense but very glad I read it)
6. The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger

[nessness]

I highly doubt I'll make it to 50, unless I count children's books, but I'd like to join anyway for the motivation and book recs, if no one minds. :)

1. A Promised Land by Barack Obama - highly recommend, even if you don't align closely with him politically. An interesting look into his life and presidency (through 2011 - there's a volume 2 coming out at some point)

2. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi - highly recommend.

3. Nothing is Wrong and Here is Why by Alexandra Petri - recommend. It's a collection of satirical essays, the majority of which are about Trump-era politics. Some are just okay, but others are brilliant.

4. The Me, Me, Me Epidemic: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World by Amy McCready. Recommend. I picked this one after seeing it here, and liked it - a lot of good, practical advice.

[okisok]

@cangelosibrown -- We were just talking about the Hatchet series with our middle teenager this weekend! He, SO, and I have read them and had a long discussion about them.

@Zhiantara -- I'm reading Quiet and it's so fascinating. The history of 'extroversion is better' really hooked me.

@change_seeker -- We are reading Farmer Boy aloud with our youngest. My SO is enjoying it more than she is, but we're all liking it.

11. The Dark Heart--translation from the Swedish, true crime about a murdered millionaire
12. Daphne--woman with rare disease that causes her to collapse under strong emotions
13. How to Tell a Tornado--collections of poetry and essays from A Prairie Home Companion
14. Johannes Cabal, The Necromancer -- hilariously dark steampunk ala Jasper Fforde, #1 in the series
15. Johannes Cabal, The Detective -- #2 in the series
16. Johannes Cabal, The Fear Institute -- #3 in the series
17. Christina Olson, Her Life Beyond the Canvas -- biography of the subject of some of Andrew Wyeth's paintings. Great companion to A Piece of the World, which is a fictional account of Christina Olson that I read last year.

Currently reading--
Johannes Cabal #4
Still on hold with Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook. The Johannes Cabal books are pulling on me too hard to deal with actual war and death.
Stopped reading Me Me Me as I loaned it to SO, since they're his kids and he'll have to lead any big changes.
Quiet, as mentioned by many other posters. Loving it, and wanting to go slow so that I can really enjoy it.
About 10 pages into The Splendid and the Vile, about Churchill's first year of WWII. Too much WWII happening in my TBR pile right now, so will probably finish Miss Graham's, then tackle the non-fiction.

[Linea_Norway]

The Mind-Gut connection by Emeran Mayer.

Did you like it? I just read the description and it sounds really interesting.

Yes. It explains in which way and how well your gut and brain are connected, all from scratch, relatively easy to follow for a normal person. It also describes what is wrong with our current world and the way we produce many foods. Lots of new sciencic reasearch is described in this book with a good proof or heavy suspician that sicknesses like depression, Alzheimer and Parkinson could be connected to a bad gut connection. People with IBS and similar deceases could be more prone to this. Scary for me with IBS and a history of easily being stressed.

At the end of the book is a whole chapter and a two page summary of how we ideally should be eating and living for overal health. It makes me realize I am eating way too much animal fat in the form of cheeses, creams and yoghurts, although yoghurt is fermented and therefore good you.

Although the book read easily enough, I didn't read it as fast as an interesting novel. I often did other things than reading in between and was easily distracted. I read it in my own language.

[nessness]

The Mind-Gut connection by Emeran Mayer.

Did you like it? I just read the description and it sounds really interesting.

Yes. It explains in which way and how well your gut and brain are connected, all from scratch, relatively easy to follow for a normal person. It also describes what is wrong with our current world and the way we produce many foods. Lots of new sciencic reasearch is described in this book with a good proof or heavy suspician that sicknesses like depression, Alzheimer and Parkinson could be connected to a bad gut connection. People with IBS and similar deceases could be more prone to this. Scary for me with IBS and a history of easily being stressed.

At the end of the book is a whole chapter and a two page summary of how we ideally should be eating and living for overal health. It makes me realize I am eating way too much animal fat in the form of cheeses, creams and yoghurts, although yoghurt is fermented and therefore good you.

Although the book read easily enough, I didn't read it as fast as an interesting novel. I often did other things than reading in between and was easily distracted. I read it in my own language.

Thanks! I put it on hold at the library.

[sui generis]

1. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck (Jan 2).
2. A Promised Land, by Barack Obama (Jan 5) (audio).
3. King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild (Jan 17).
4. Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire (Jan 18).
5. Plain Bad Heroines, by Emily M. Danforth (Jan 21) (audio).
6. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, by Jia Tolentino (Jan 29).
7. The Guest List, by Lucy Foley (Jan 29) (audio).

8. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle (Feb 2).  I've learned I should be more careful re-reading books from childhood.

[Zhiantara]

1. The House of Islam: a global history, Ed Husain. Really good overview of the history, basic tenets, strengths and problems of Islam, written by a devout believer.
2. Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking, Susan Cain. I read this whenever I need reminding that introversion is not a personal failing. Soooo good.

3. No Friend but the Mountains, Behrouz Boochani. The experiences of an asylum seeker detained on Manus Island. Hard to put down because it is excellent, hard to pick up again because it is not a feel-good read.

[Splashncash]

8. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle (Feb 2).  I've learned I should be more careful re-reading books from childhood.

So funny to see this.  My middle schooler is reading this in school and he is not a fan.  I said why?  He says, it seems like it is really old, has old fashioned writing, and the grammar is weird.  This from a kid who keeps saying 'me and him' and uses incorrect verb tenses...

I'm getting the sense you didn't enjoy it this time?   

[sui generis]

8. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle (Feb 2).  I've learned I should be more careful re-reading books from childhood.

So funny to see this.  My middle schooler is reading this in school and he is not a fan.  I said why?  He says, it seems like it is really old, has old fashioned writing, and the grammar is weird.  This from a kid who keeps saying 'me and him' and uses incorrect verb tenses...

I'm getting the sense you didn't enjoy it this time?   

Yeah, unfortunately not so much. I wasn't bothered by the grammar ;) but found it a bit heavy handed on some of the themes. I guess I prefer a little more subtlety in my old age than when I was 9, which... Makes sense, I think!

[Raenia]

1	Gardening When it Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times	Steve Solomon	Library	TBR List	01/05/2021	Nonfiction - Home and Garden
2	Media Gothic: A Stroll Through State Street's Dark History	Laurie Hull, Matt Lake	Own	Other	1/8/2021	Nonfiction - History/Biography
3	Pretties	Scott Westerfield	Library	Sequel	1/16/2021	Fiction - Young Adult
4	Specials	Scott Westerfield	Library	Sequel	1/17/2021	Fiction - Young Adult
5	Extras	Scott Westerfield	Library	Sequel	1/18/2021	Fiction - Young Adult
6	Living the Good Life: How to Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled World	Helen Nearing, Scott Nearing	Library	TBR List	1/21/2021	Nonfiction - Self-help
7	Stronghold	Melanie Rawn	Own	Reread	1/27/2021	Fiction - Fantasy
8	Rebecca	Daphne du Maurier	Library	TBR List	1/29/2021	General Fiction

9	The Black Company	Glen Cook	Library	TBR List	2/1/2021	Fiction - Fantasy
10	Shadows Linger	Glen Cook	Library	Sequel	2/3/2021	Fiction - Fantasy
11	From Our Home to Yours: Comfort Food to Give and Share	Joyce Goldstein	Own	Other	2/5/2021	Nonfiction - Home and Garden
12	The White Rose	Glen Cook	Library	Sequel	2/6/2021	Fiction - Fantasy

Nonfiction: 4/25
TBR List: 4/25
Philosophy: 0/5

[maisymouser]

JANUARY:
1) The Idle Beekeeper (Bill Anderson)- complete
2) Talking to Strangers (Malcolm Gladwell)- complete
3) How to Be an Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi)- complete

FEBRUARY:
4) If It Bleeds (Steven King)- complete
5) The Hazel Wood (Melissa Albert)- TBD
6) Either Influenza (Dr. Jeremy Brown) or Pandemic 1918 (Catharine Arnold)- TBD (will see if it gets a little 'too real' to actually finish one of these...)

[markbike528CBX]

FEBRUARY:
4) If It Bleeds (Steven King)- complete
5) The Hazel Wood (Melissa Albert)- TBD
6) Either Influenza (Dr. Jeremy Brown) or Pandemic 1918 (Catharine Arnold)- TBD (will see if it gets a little 'too real' to actually finish one of these...)

Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It
Book by Gina Kolata. A great read. As you say might be a little too "real".
Instant hypochondriac-  The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story by Richard Preston

[Splashncash]

1. Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini (I started this before Christmas...)
2. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
3. The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss
4. House of Dreams: The Life of L. M. Montgomery by Liz Rosenberg
5. The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
6. The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
7. The Late Bloomer's Club by Louise Miller

8. The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson
9. The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein
10. Front Desk by Kelly Yang

[use2betrix]

I just started a new job this year with a 2.5 hr round trip commute, 5 days a week (and I work 10 hr days). Sucks, but my wife’s corolla gets 40 mpg and I’ve been enjoying knocking out all these audiobooks. I did just sign a lease for a new home today, 20 minutes from work. I’ll still have the commute for 6 weeks, knocking out as many books as I can!

1. Wherever You Go, There you Are - Jon Kabat-Zinn
2. Digital Minimalism - Cal Newport (3rd book by him, very good author)
3. The Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert
4. Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff, and It’s All Small Stuff - Richard Carlson
5. Talk Like TED - Carmine Gallo
6. Steal the Show - Michael Port
7. Ikigai - Hector Garcia, Francesc Miralles
8. As a Man Thinketh - James Allen
9. Do You Talk Funny? - David Nihill

In Progress:
10. Siddhartha - Herman Hesse

Next:
11. The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

[use2betrix]

Here we go:

1. Sapiens by Yuval Harari   -- 4/5, very interesting.
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 4.5/5. Absolutely delightful book, just exactly what I (and I'm guessing everyone) needs right now.

I LOVED Sapiens!  Do you have the next book Homo Deus on your TBR for this year?  I'm hoping to get to it in Feb.

I have a (admittedly not very strict) one book per author per year rule, to prevent me from going too far down rabbit holes. I really enjoyed Sapiens, but the quick summary of Home Deus doesn't sound quite as appealing to me. I'm sure I'll still read it in 2022 though.

Is there anything preventing you from going down that rabbit hole by similar authors? I read Sapiens, and it’s sent me straight down the following Rabbit Hole lol:

Homo Deus - Yuval Noah Harari (same author so it’d obviously break your rule)
Origin Story - David Christian
A Little History of Economics - Niall Kishtainy
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
The Body - Bill Bryson
The Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert


Certain parts of each of those books led me to become more interested in certain topics which continued my reading of the other books. They were all fantastic. I could probably listen (audiobooks on commutes) to all of them again and still be interested. A ton to unpack in each book.

[Serendip]

6) Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake

The book I've just finished (Underland), has a chapter where the author (Robert McFarlane) spends a couple of days with Merlin Sheldrake, so I'll definitely be adding this to my list.

It's a good read--I listened to Underland as an audiobook but might revisit it..I really enjoy Robert McFarlane. His book The Old Ways is also very interesting!

[sui generis]

Next:
11. The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

Oh man, good luck. I tried to listen to that book like a decade ago, narrated by the author, I believe, and I think I bailed 20 minutes in.  It was the narration.  1 of only 2 books I've abandoned in basically my entire adulthood.

[maisymouser]

FEBRUARY:
4) If It Bleeds (Steven King)- complete
5) The Hazel Wood (Melissa Albert)- TBD
6) Either Influenza (Dr. Jeremy Brown) or Pandemic 1918 (Catharine Arnold)- TBD (will see if it gets a little 'too real' to actually finish one of these...)

Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It
Book by Gina Kolata. A great read. As you say might be a little too "real".
Instant hypochondriac-  The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story by Richard Preston

Thank you for the Gina Kolata recommendation! I am pretty iffy on whether or not I want to read a book on this topic for obvious reasons, but my goal is to try a selection of books on influenza and see if one grabs me. It seems pretty pertinent and important; I want to better educate myself on how the influenza pandemic was handled and compare/contrast.

I HAVE read The Hot Zone, and it was one of the most horrifying books I've ever read. Eek.

Thanks for posting y'all, I am finding a LOT of books to add to my "For Later" shelf. Between having a toddler and being a slow reader, it'll take me years to work through this list, but I am glad to know I have a wide selection of books at my ready!

Also, it is interesting to see books of choice for Mustachians. Not to generalize but it seems that forum members tend to prefer nonfiction and self-improvement over the general population...?

[use2betrix]

Next:
11. The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

Oh man, good luck. I tried to listen to that book like a decade ago, narrated by the author, I believe, and I think I bailed 20 minutes in.  It was the narration.  1 of only 2 books I've abandoned in basically my entire adulthood.

Lol that’s hilarious you mention that! I also recall trying to listen to it about a dozen years ago and also couldn’t muster through much at all due to the narration.

I never listened to audiobooks back then (that was probably the first I tried, and maybe why I didn’t try again for nearly a decade).

Now - as a seasoned audiobook listener, I’m going to try and give it another shot lol. I’ve gritted my teeth through some pretty bad narrations. I’ll follow up here in the next week or so if I’m able to make it through..

[cerat0n1a]

It's a good read--I listened to Underland as an audiobook but might revisit it..I really enjoy Robert McFarlane. His book The Old Ways is also very interesting!

Yes, I very much enjoyed The Old Ways a few months ago. Not just because of the writing but because I often run two of the footpaths he describes near the start of the book, as he lives quite nearby. It's nice to compare his lyrical descriptions with my own view of it being just a very wet and muddy route through some fairly uninteresting trees and farmers' fields that I use to get from my village to the next village along. Easy to forget that it's a route with thousands of years of history and just how much interest one can find in the plants and wildlife. I've walked or run along several of the other paths in the book too, but they're rather more scenic and better known.

[Serendip]

@cerat0n1a --that's fantastic. I love how a literary/historical view can colour virtually ANYTHING as more special than we would notice  with our naked eye :)

1) Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez
2) In Praise of Paths: Walking Through Time and Nature, Torbjorn Ekelund
3) A Mind at Home with Itself, Byron Katie
4) Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion, Jia Tolentino
5) Heida: A Shepherd At the Edge of the World,  Steinen Sigurðardóttir
6) Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake
7) The Stoic Challenge: A Philosophers Guide to Becoming Tougher Calmer and More Resilient, William B. Irving
8) The Push (fiction), Ashley Audrain
9) Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May
10) Relax, Dammit!: A User's Guide to the Age of Anxiety, Timothy Caulfield

recently finished (or about to)
11) Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Duckworth--I seem to be on a motivation-writing kick with some of my recent reads but this one was great. She goes into the research being conducted on grit as a function of success.

12) Nothing To See Here (fiction), Kevin Wilson--Loved this strange but entertaining book. The story is about a 'nanny' who is looking after some kids who spontaneously erupt into flames. Very odd, clever, funny.

13) Oliver Twist (fiction/audiobook), Charles Dickens--Am enjoying listening to this story as I go for long walks..The horror of Oliver's early life halts any self-pity I'm feeling about not being able to go to dinner parties these days :)

[zinnie]

I’m in! 50 is a pretty ambitious goal for me but I just FIREd, so if
I ever have the time it’s now 😉

1. The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee—this was great! He’s a good storyteller and made the science really interesting.

2. And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie
3. Little Comfort, Edwin Hill

4. Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari--good until the end when he goes on a strange science-is-scary kick and contradicts a lot of what he had said previously. I don't know if this was an editor recommending he cover more emerging topics but he seemed really out of his depth on happiness and genetic engineering. The rest I enjoyed but I was a little suspicious of which parts were generally accepted in the field and which were his assertions so I spent a lot of time looking stuff up. (Wish it had been better referenced, but I know it's supposed to be a more mass market title!)
5. Intimations, Zadie Smith. Loved it.

I really need to pick up the pace if I'm going to hit 50, I'm realizing! In awe at some of your lists already :)

[use2betrix]

recently finished (or about to)
11) Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Duckworth--I seem to be on a motivation-writing kick with some of my recent reads but this one was great. She goes into the research being conducted on grit as a function of success.

Read (listened to that) 2-3 years ago. One that I’ll never forget. A fantastic book that really resounds to me (I’ve built an incredibly successful career largely because of my work ethic as I’m really not that book-smart at all)

I should give it another listen.

[cangelosibrown]

Here we go:

1. Sapiens by Yuval Harari   -- 4/5, very interesting.
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 4.5/5. Absolutely delightful book, just exactly what I (and I'm guessing everyone) needs right now.

I LOVED Sapiens!  Do you have the next book Homo Deus on your TBR for this year?  I'm hoping to get to it in Feb.

I have a (admittedly not very strict) one book per author per year rule, to prevent me from going too far down rabbit holes. I really enjoyed Sapiens, but the quick summary of Home Deus doesn't sound quite as appealing to me. I'm sure I'll still read it in 2022 though.

Is there anything preventing you from going down that rabbit hole by similar authors? I read Sapiens, and it’s sent me straight down the following Rabbit Hole lol:

Homo Deus - Yuval Noah Harari (same author so it’d obviously break your rule)
Origin Story - David Christian
A Little History of Economics - Niall Kishtainy
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
The Body - Bill Bryson
The Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert


Certain parts of each of those books led me to become more interested in certain topics which continued my reading of the other books. They were all fantastic. I could probably listen (audiobooks on commutes) to all of them again and still be interested. A ton to unpack in each book.

Now this is exactly how reading should work! This is the reason my goodreads list never gets shorter, no matter how many books I read from it.

[kpd905]

1. Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey (1/5)
2. We are Legion (Bobiverse #1) by Dennis Taylor (1/13)
3. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (1/17)
4. For We are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor (1/20)
5. All These Worlds (Bobiverse #3) by Dennis Taylor (1/23)
6. Personal by Lee Child (1/27)
7. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (1/30)
8. Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline (2/3)
9. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (2/10)

[Linea_Norway]

The left hand of darkness by Ursula le Guin

[cangelosibrown]

1. Sapiens by Yuval Harari   -- ★★★★, very interesting.
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ★★★★½. Absolutely delightful book, just exactly what I (and I'm guessing everyone) needs right now.
3. The Stranger by Albert Camus -- ★★★★ Such a bizarre book. A horribly unlikable narrator, but not in any of the usual ways. Really makes you think.
4. Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. ★★★★½. So so sad. It's rare you see historical fiction with quite so much punch. I've now read all of her novels, and that makes me sad too.
5. The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell.  ★½. Really did not enjoy this. I don't recall ever being so baffled at how well reviewed and awarded a book is. Interesting enough story that I finished it, I can't say anything else good about it. Hated is probably too strong a word, but not by much.
6. Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen. ★★★★. One of my guilty pleasures is reading books I loved as a child. The Hatchet series is as enjoyable now as they were to me at age 11.
7. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. ★★★★. I've heard it described as a meta-novel, and that's not a bad description. A reader's fever dream is probably a better one. In one sense, absolutely terrific. In other senses, it's so (intentionally) maddening and so (intentionally) difficult to get into, that I have to only give it 4 stars.
8. Scorecasting by  Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim. ★★★. Supposed to be a Freakonomics about sports statistics. It's fine, perhaps if I'd read it when it came out 9 years ago it would have felt more groundbreaking, but so much here is common knowledge now.

9. Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker ★★★★★. I think we all know the world is better than it used to be, but it's hard to comprehend the scale of just how much better. If everyone in the world read this, it would be better still.
10. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. ★★★★★.  Ishiguro is my favorite author. As with everything of his I've read, it's impossible to say anything at all about this without it being a spoiler.  Probably not as good as The Remains of the Day, but it might be.

[okisok]

Next:
11. The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

Oh man, good luck. I tried to listen to that book like a decade ago, narrated by the author, I believe, and I think I bailed 20 minutes in.  It was the narration.  1 of only 2 books I've abandoned in basically my entire adulthood.

Lol that’s hilarious you mention that! I also recall trying to listen to it about a dozen years ago and also couldn’t muster through much at all due to the narration.

I never listened to audiobooks back then (that was probably the first I tried, and maybe why I didn’t try again for nearly a decade).

Now - as a seasoned audiobook listener, I’m going to try and give it another shot lol. I’ve gritted my teeth through some pretty bad narrations. I’ll follow up here in the next week or so if I’m able to make it through..

That reminds me--I quit listening to one of his books years ago because of the narration! I suddenly remembered listening to it in the car, thinking he was trying to suck me into a cult by hypnotizing me, and ejecting the CD.

18. The Brothers Cabal- #4 in the series

19. Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook--enjoyable, but shouldn't have let weeks lapse between reading the first half and the second half. It does get pretty gritty in the middle, but it all comes (mostly) right in the end.

20. Shelter Mountain- #2 in the Virgin River series. About a small town in Northern California where all the men are strong, the women are good looking, and the children convenient plot devices. But a cozy read.

Still reading Quiet, The Splendid and the Vile, if you count them gathering dust on my nightstand because I'm sucked into steampunk fiction. Started the Fall of the House of Cabal, #5.

Have the new Sarah J. Maas book in her Court series on pre-order, hoping it will be delivered on the 16th. Really enjoyed the other four in the series and am excited to get a new one.

[StarBright]

1. Sapiens by Yuval Harari   -- ★★★★, very interesting.
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ★★★★½. Absolutely delightful book, just exactly what I (and I'm guessing everyone) needs right now.
3. The Stranger by Albert Camus -- ★★★★ Such a bizarre book. A horribly unlikable narrator, but not in any of the usual ways. Really makes you think.
4. Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. ★★★★½. So so sad. It's rare you see historical fiction with quite so much punch. I've now read all of her novels, and that makes me sad too.
5. The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell.  ★½. Really did not enjoy this. I don't recall ever being so baffled at how well reviewed and awarded a book is. Interesting enough story that I finished it, I can't say anything else good about it. Hated is probably too strong a word, but not by much.
6. Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen. ★★★★. One of my guilty pleasures is reading books I loved as a child. The Hatchet series is as enjoyable now as they were to me at age 11.
7. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. ★★★★. I've heard it described as a meta-novel, and that's not a bad description. A reader's fever dream is probably a better one. In one sense, absolutely terrific. In other senses, it's so (intentionally) maddening and so (intentionally) difficult to get into, that I have to only give it 4 stars.
8. Scorecasting by  Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim. ★★★. Supposed to be a Freakonomics about sports statistics. It's fine, perhaps if I'd read it when it came out 9 years ago it would have felt more groundbreaking, but so much here is common knowledge now.

9. Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker ★★★★★. I think we all know the world is better than it used to be, but it's hard to comprehend the scale of just how much better. If everyone in the world read this, it would be better still.
10. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. ★★★★★.  Ishiguro is my favorite author. As with everything of his I've read, it's impossible to say anything at all about this without it being a spoiler.  Probably not as good as The Remains of the Day, but it might be.

I love your reading list! :) Never Let Me Go was my favorite book the year that I read it (four or five years ago now).

Just based on what you are reading, I want to ask, have you ever read any of the Marilyn Robinson Gilead books? Her books are nothing like Ishiguro's, but they have a similar quality of being perfectly themselves. I always link the two authors in my mind.

[cangelosibrown]

1. Sapiens by Yuval Harari   -- ★★★★, very interesting.
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ★★★★½. Absolutely delightful book, just exactly what I (and I'm guessing everyone) needs right now.
3. The Stranger by Albert Camus -- ★★★★ Such a bizarre book. A horribly unlikable narrator, but not in any of the usual ways. Really makes you think.
4. Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. ★★★★½. So so sad. It's rare you see historical fiction with quite so much punch. I've now read all of her novels, and that makes me sad too.
5. The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell.  ★½. Really did not enjoy this. I don't recall ever being so baffled at how well reviewed and awarded a book is. Interesting enough story that I finished it, I can't say anything else good about it. Hated is probably too strong a word, but not by much.
6. Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen. ★★★★. One of my guilty pleasures is reading books I loved as a child. The Hatchet series is as enjoyable now as they were to me at age 11.
7. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. ★★★★. I've heard it described as a meta-novel, and that's not a bad description. A reader's fever dream is probably a better one. In one sense, absolutely terrific. In other senses, it's so (intentionally) maddening and so (intentionally) difficult to get into, that I have to only give it 4 stars.
8. Scorecasting by  Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim. ★★★. Supposed to be a Freakonomics about sports statistics. It's fine, perhaps if I'd read it when it came out 9 years ago it would have felt more groundbreaking, but so much here is common knowledge now.

9. Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker ★★★★★. I think we all know the world is better than it used to be, but it's hard to comprehend the scale of just how much better. If everyone in the world read this, it would be better still.
10. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. ★★★★★.  Ishiguro is my favorite author. As with everything of his I've read, it's impossible to say anything at all about this without it being a spoiler.  Probably not as good as The Remains of the Day, but it might be.

I love your reading list! :) Never Let Me Go was my favorite book the year that I read it (four or five years ago now).

Just based on what you are reading, I want to ask, have you ever read any of the Marilyn Robinson Gilead books? Her books are nothing like Ishiguro's, but they have a similar quality of being perfectly themselves. I always link the two authors in my mind.

I haven't! I just put the first one on hold at the library, thanks for the tip!

I really like the description of Ishiguro's books being "perfectly themselves," I was just looking at some of the negative reviews of Never Let Me Go on goodreads, and they all seem to be people complaining that they wanted it to be a different book. It's not always the book you want it to be, but it's always the book that it is.

[sui generis]

1. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck (Jan 2).
2. A Promised Land, by Barack Obama (Jan 5) (audio).
3. King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild (Jan 17).
4. Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire (Jan 18).
5. Plain Bad Heroines, by Emily M. Danforth (Jan 21) (audio).
6. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, by Jia Tolentino (Jan 29).
7. The Guest List, by Lucy Foley (Jan 29) (audio).
8. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle (Feb 2).

9. The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?, by Michael J. Sandel (Feb 10) (audio).  I've long been an avid audio book listener and yet only in the last 6 months or so have I experienced such a slew of poorly narrated books.  And discovered how heavily it impacts my perception of the book itself.  Although this book had other problems, too, such as the author beating you over the head with a concept till you wanted to scream and, next thing you know, asserting something as fact in one sentence and then moving on.  A shame, since I very much share the concerns raised and my interest in the topic is a big part of what drove me to FIRE, as well.

[Zikoris]

This is the first year I've ever tracked what books I read, so I have no idea what sort of a goal I would even set, though it would probably be somewhere in that ballpark of 300. Here's what I've been reading so far this year, with some commentary on my top picks:

1. Stolen Songbird - Danielle Jensen
2. Hidden Huntress - Danielle Jensen
3. Warrior Witch - Danielle Jensen
I really liked this trilogy about an opera singer who gets kidnapped by trolls. One of my favourite series ever.

4. The Lost Sisterhood - Anne Fortier
5. Once Upon Another Time - Jill Myles
6. Phoenix Unbound - Grace Draven
7. Dragon Unleashed - Grace Draven
8. The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune
9. The Mermaid's Knight - Jill Myles

10. Princess of Wands - John Ringo
11. Queen of Wands - John Ringo
Another two particular favourites - this series is about a deeply religious housewife who fights supernatural monsters. Lots of interesting religious discussion between epic battles.

12. Across the Green Grass Fields - Seanan McGuire

13. The Last Victim - Karen Robards
14. The Last Kiss Goodbye - Karen Robards
15. Her Last Whisper - Karen Robards
16. The Last Time I Saw Her - Karen Robards
A great series about a psychiatrist who hunts down serial killers, another one of my all-time favourites.

17. Foundryside - Robert Bennett
18. Shorefall - Robert Bennett
19. Winterkeep - Kirstin Cashore

20. Wicked Ugly Bad - Cassandra Gannon
21. Beast in Shining Armor - Cassandra Gannon
22. The Kingpin of Camelot - Cassandra Gannon
23. Best Knight Ever - Cassandra Gannon
A hilarious series of fairytale retellings.

24. Veil of Night - Linda Howard
Wasn't that remarkable of a murder mystery, but the premise of a horrible bridezilla getting stabbed to death with kebab skewers was pretty funny

25. Mexican Gothic - Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
26. Girls of Paper and Fire - Natasha Ngan
27. Girls of Storm and Shadow - Natasha Ngan
28. The Blacksmith Queen - G.A. Aiken
29. The Princess Knight - G.A. Aiken

30. From Blood and Ash - Jennifer Armentrout
31. Kingdom of Flesh and Fire - Jennifer Armentrout
A very dark fantasy series with vampires, werewolves, and god knows what else battling it out. The main characters are amazing.

32. Dark Shores - Danielle Jensen
33. Dark Skies - Danielle Jensen
34. The Eyes of Tamburah - Maria Snyder

35. Kingdom of the Wicked - Kerri Maniscalco
A very dark medieval fantasy series set in Italy, with witches and demons and a whole lot of gruesome murders.

36. Radiance - Grace Draven
37. Alanna: the First Adventure - Tamora Pierce
38. Blackout - Candace Owens
39. Bitterburn - Ann Aguirre

40. Rules of Redemption - T.A. White
41. Age of Deception - T.A. White
42. Threshold on Annihilation - T.A. White
I don't normally like sci-fi, but this series is really good - it focuses more on politics and epic alien worlds versus space battles.

[use2betrix]

1. Sapiens by Yuval Harari   -- ★★★★, very interesting.
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ★★★★½. Absolutely delightful book, just exactly what I (and I'm guessing everyone) needs right now.
3. The Stranger by Albert Camus -- ★★★★ Such a bizarre book. A horribly unlikable narrator, but not in any of the usual ways. Really makes you think.
4. Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. ★★★★½. So so sad. It's rare you see historical fiction with quite so much punch. I've now read all of her novels, and that makes me sad too.
5. The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell.  ★½. Really did not enjoy this. I don't recall ever being so baffled at how well reviewed and awarded a book is. Interesting enough story that I finished it, I can't say anything else good about it. Hated is probably too strong a word, but not by much.
6. Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen. ★★★★. One of my guilty pleasures is reading books I loved as a child. The Hatchet series is as enjoyable now as they were to me at age 11.

7. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. ★★★★. I've heard it described as a meta-novel, and that's not a bad description. A reader's fever dream is probably a better one. In one sense, absolutely terrific. In other senses, it's so (intentionally) maddening and so (intentionally) difficult to get into, that I have to only give it 4 stars.
8. Scorecasting by  Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim. ★★★. Supposed to be a Freakonomics about sports statistics. It's fine, perhaps if I'd read it when it came out 9 years ago it would have felt more groundbreaking, but so much here is common knowledge now.

I listened to hatchet last year. Loved that book. Narrating was really rough but the story was still great.

Never did Brians’s Winter. May have to!

Edit - jk, just got Brian’s Winter, will follow up!

[nessness]

I highly doubt I'll make it to 50, unless I count children's books, but I'd like to join anyway for the motivation and book recs, if no one minds. :)

1. A Promised Land by Barack Obama - highly recommend, even if you don't align closely with him politically. An interesting look into his life and presidency (through 2011 - there's a volume 2 coming out at some point)

2. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi - highly recommend.

3. Nothing is Wrong and Here is Why by Alexandra Petri - recommend. It's a collection of satirical essays, the majority of which are about Trump-era politics. Some are just okay, but others are brilliant.

4. The Me, Me, Me Epidemic: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World by Amy McCready. Recommend. I picked this one after seeing it here, and liked it - a lot of good, practical advice.

5. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. YA historical fiction about WWII.
6. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Non-fiction about being black in America.

These were both excellent, but both really heavy. I could use a lighter book next, but next up on my holds list is a book about climate change (All We Can Save). Supposedly it's an "inspiring and uplifting" book about climate change, which sounds like an oxymoron to me, but I guess I'll see. :)

Th

[use2betrix]

I just started a new job this year with a 2.5 hr round trip commute, 5 days a week (and I work 10 hr days). Sucks, but my wife’s corolla gets 40 mpg and I’ve been enjoying knocking out all these audiobooks. I did just sign a lease for a new home today, 20 minutes from work. I’ll still have the commute for 6 weeks, knocking out as many books as I can!

1. Wherever You Go, There you Are - Jon Kabat-Zinn
2. Digital Minimalism - Cal Newport (3rd book by him, very good author)
3. The Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert
4. Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff, and It’s All Small Stuff - Richard Carlson
5. Talk Like TED - Carmine Gallo
6. Steal the Show - Michael Port
7. Ikigai - Hector Garcia, Francesc Miralles
8. As a Man Thinketh - James Allen
9. Do You Talk Funny? - David Nihill
10. Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
11. The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

Finished 10 & 11. @sui generis - I was able to get through the power of now. I think my threshold for bad narration has significantly grown the last decade lol.

Siddhartha was a great story with bad narration. Each sentence sounded like an preview/intro of a 90’s movie.

Next up:
12. The Alchemist - Paulo Cohelo
13. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind - Shunryu Suzuki
14. Brian’s Winter - Gary Paulson

[Splashncash]

1. Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini (I started this before Christmas...)
2. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
3. The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss
4. House of Dreams: The Life of L. M. Montgomery by Liz Rosenberg
5. The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
6. The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
7. The Late Bloomer's Club by Louise Miller
8. The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson
9. The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein
10. Front Desk by Kelly Yang

11. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

[Need2Save]

1. Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard
2. A Crown of Swords (Book 7 of WOT), by Robert Jordan
3. The Beantown Girls, Jane Healey (Book Club Selection)

Newly finished since last update:
4. Old Man By the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
5. Red to the Bone, by Jacqueline Woodson
6. The Still Water Girls, by Minka Kent
7. The Shadow Box, by Luanne Rice
8. The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead

Currently:
9. Carnegie's Maid, Marie Benedict

[Linea_Norway]

Recursion by Blake Crouch.

[dblaace]

   1. The Tumor: A Non-Legal Thriller - by John Grisham
   2. True Places - by Sonja Yoerg
   3. The Poet - Michael Connelly
   4. The Blessing Way - Tony Hillerman
   5. Nomadland - Jessica Bruder
   6. n of 1 - Glenn Sabin
   7. Old Age: A Beginner's Guide - Michael Kinsley
   8. The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan
   9. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
   10. Everyday Serenity - David Kundtz(on going)

[Travis]

1. The Game of Foxes - Ladislas Farago