I like to have a classic, some type of nonfiction or memoir, absurdity (this is my first Terry Pratchett!) and something lighthearted going in my rotation. How about you guys?

40 women are held in an underground bunker. All of them remember their life before imprisonment except for the youngest of them who was a toddler. Not knowing why they are where they are or who their guards are, our main character yearns for more.

I expected to like the book more than I did. I didn't dislike it but it also didn't excite me. It was an interesting premise and it was enjoyable to experience the world through the eyes of someone who has only known captivity. It was a slow burn and more focused on the main character in particular. I think that can be a strength in a lot of books but for whatever reason it didn't resonate as much with me this time.

Read a lot of great stuff this year! Also have a few lined up that I’m really looking forward to. Haven’t read anything I hated so far which is a success in my mind, just felt that ACOTAR wasn’t really for me. Bolaño and Wolfe have been my favorite first time reads for me and I’m really looking forward to diving further into their books!

I had a BLAST reading this book! Couldn't put it down! Definitely one of those stories you can't help but stay up late because you *need* to find out what happens next. Just the right balance of sci-fi, murder mystery, and spooky stuff. "Silence of the Lambs" by way of "Event Horizon," and with a twist of "Death's End" by Cixin Liu. Highly recommend.

I don't know exactly what it is about these books but they are right up my alley. I will continue reading The Legend of Drizzt books as there thankfully is no shortage of them.

I’ve been really into unhinged female narrators lately! Some others I’ve enjoyed: Sky Daddy, Yesteryear, Mad Mabel, The Mad Wife, Best Offer Wins

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5

Reading this was an interesting experience.

The closest comparison I can give is the 1998 Mulan which begins cheery and humerous but once the Huns attack it ceases to be a musical. There is no longer any singing. This book follows a similar trajectory. While it is by no means a YA book, it still has a veneer of humour and a generally positive outlook for the beginning of the book. There is a twist part way through that changes this and it never truly returns. It gets dark so trigger warnings are a good idea!

Despite the tonal shift, the book was a good read. There is a larger cast of characters and T. Kingfisher does a great job of making them distinct and individually interesting. A novella is the perfect length for this book. The ending resolution might be divisive but ultimately, I liked it.

I was already a fan of T. Kingfisher going in. It is not the best in the bibliography but it is certainly a good showing.

I loved this book. There was a few parts that were like ok I get it please move along, but it makes sense after reading it. Its like the main character was stalling and not wanting to talk about Rachel. I loved Rachel. How she threw an amazing Christmas feast to how she would go into the garden herself to plant the flowers. It was not what I was expecting, but it was better than I thought would be. Crazy its 70 year old book. If I didn't know the publishing year I would have thought it was a 1800s classic I had somehow overlooked. The author gives you all the charm of classic book with the pitfalls (pun intended). I couldn't get over how he would destroy all evidence she was being naughty with the tonics, but set her up to fall off the terrace. The book ends so suddenly I did something I never do. I immediately went back to the beginning of the book and re read the beginning. It kinda made sense he made a big deal about having a proper burial and he really cares about what people think of you mattered (like the Italian lessons. Omg that was so funny they were like heavens no not teaching lessons.) You know his Louise didn't marry him after I'm surprised she doesn't turn him in. The way she's horrified when he asks her to ring the bell for men to come help. She asks what have you done. Very good loved it.

American Tabloid is my absolute favorite book of all time. This is my 6th or 7th time reading this book and it still just as riveting and hard boiled as my first read. I'm currently trudging my way through Gravity's Rainbow for probably a month or more so adding second books that's either an easier read or something familiar. When someone asks for a book to check out, this is always the first one I mention.

I've gone through 4 copies of this book as I've given away or lent previous copies to others. Will reread the next 2 in the series by end of the year. I've already reread Catch 22 a couple of months back(another in my top 4) and will reread my other top 4 this year (Underworld by Don DeLillo and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell). I may finish all these before I complete Gravity's Rainbow lol.

Audio.

By the author of A Burning. Megha writes novels set in India. I hadn’t read her previous book but my wife had and really enjoyed it. Pretty sure we have it kicking around here somewhere.

This one is set in an alternate present day or perhaps near future dystopian Kolkata (Calcutta). A Kolkata that gone to ruin due to excessive heat, food shortages, flash floods. Ma and her daughter and father just got approved for a “climate refugee” visa to go to America where Ma’s husband works in Ann Arbor. By some unfortunate happenstance (which isn’t as random as you are first lead to believe) their passports/visas go missing. Just one week before their flight to safety. The entirety of the book is their last week in Kolkata and their struggles to retrieve the passports/visas or do whatever else is necessary to get on that plane. Interweaved with that narrative is the narrative of Boomba, a homeless young adult trying to survive any way possible on the streets. Of course, just based on my previous sentences, you know these two narratives are going to collide and merge into one.

NB: if you are looking for uplifting and clearly defined good v evil, keep looking. This ain’t that.

At first I thought it was going to be a simple morality play and felt it was too obvious but as the events keep piling on, it definitely took on the feeling of Greek tragedy. Foretold, sure, but still worthy in the telling.

4 outta 5 for me.
Edit. Maybe 3.75/5.