Monday, January 2, 2023

december: 33, 34, 35 & 36

we are the light, by matthew quick (a book of the month club pick, which i found really interesting, and told in a way that allowed the story to spill out bit by bit in a way that was really intriguing.  it's an epistolary novel told in letters from a man whose wife died in a mass shooting.  so it's not light, but the character arcs are lovely and the story is really interesting.  i recommend it, but it is not winning my favorite book of the year.)

rogues: true stories of grifters, killers, rebels and crooks, by patrick radden keefe (i listened to this audiobook, which is a collection of long form magazine articles that were, almost across the board, fascinating.  if you like good narrative nonfiction, i'd highly recommend it!  the audiobook is well-narrated, too.)

where the world ends, by geraldine mccaughrean (this is another printz award winner, based on a true story of a group of teens who end up marooned on a skellig [new vocab word for me!] off the coast of ireland.  there's a great dramatic tension in the novel when they will get rescued and why they haven't gotten rescued yet that i found really compelling, and to find out (after finishing it) more details about the true story it was based on was a great touch.  this book didn't make a HUGE impact on me, what it was worth reading.)

haven, by emma donoghue (guys, how did i pick a second book IN A ROW about people who are stuck on a skellig WHEN THIS WAS NOT EVEN A WORD I KNEW BEFORE MID-DECEMBER.  but i did, guys, i did, and two in a row was too much.  this book is fine and i'm glad i read it, and the stories of building a religious haven on a skellig were really interesting, but if you're going to read one skellig book, make it where the world ends.  sorry, emma donoghue.)

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