151. The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne - I mean it was pretty interesting, but it's also a long book about Bayes' Rule so if I hadn't been listening while sanding cabinets, I probably wouldn't have made it through.
153. Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc - Definitely recommended #ownvoices book about what stories we tell about disability.
154. The Nature of Life and Death: Every Body Leaves a Trace by Patricia Wiltshire - Really interesting book about pollen forensics, but unfortunately scattered with her opinions about “kids these days”
155. The Pandora Room by Christopher Golden - Hahaha oh my god, fuck this book. I read it because it’s the sequel to a book I read last year, but it’s just sooo bad. It desperately wants to be Indiana Jones. I would watch the shit out of a SyFy version of this series.
156. Mountains of the mind: A history of a fascination by Robert Macfarlane - Can't go wrong with a book on mountaineering! This was really different take on it, focusing more on how we interpret mountains, whether as things to be conquered, forsaken lands, goddesses.
157. The hunger by Alma Katsu - Absolutely chilling horror novel about the Donner Party, where it adds a haunting/wendigo element, as if they didn’t have enough problems in real life. Extremely well-written and follows the true story very closely.
158. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis - Goddammit Timmy, you’re a wreck! Really fun book for the elementary age range. You might recognize Pastis from his comic strip Pearls Before Swine.
159. Super Chill: a year of living anxiously by Adam Ellis - It’s too short! If you like Adam Ellis’s cartoons online, you’ll like this one. Combination of new and old comics, organized vaguely in a “year in his life” theme.
160. Book Love by Debbie Tung - So, here’s the thing. I think books are gross. With extremely few exceptions, I don’t think there’s any power in “books as an object.” So a collection of comics about how amazing the new book smell is are meh.
161. Not my father's son by Alan Cumming - Good celebrity memoir about growing up in an abusive household. Highly recommend reading this in print rather than the audiobook, as he’s just a good actor so the sections where he mimics his father were pretty awful to listen to, and only mildly easier to read.
162. On Immunity: an inoculation by Eula Biss - Ignore all the anti-vacc’ers who rated this poorly, this is great. I was especially blown away by the connections Biss made between the anti-vaccination crusades and racism. Highly recommended, especially nowadays.
163. The collected schizophrenias by Esme Weijun Wang - I want to own this book! Essay collection about mental illness and soooo good. And way less depressing than you’d expect.
164. My Brother's Husband, Vol 2 by Gengoroh Tagame, Anne Ishii (translator) - Great end to the series, wish there was more. Read it in order.
165. Yesterday by Felicia Yap - It’s a dystopia where some people (Monos) have a single day of memory, and some people have two days worth of memory (Duos), and Duos > Monos. With a murder mystery thrown in.
166. The Deep by Alma Katsu - There’s a genre of fiction that is “closely follows historical event but with a singular sci-fi element thrown in”. In this case, it’s the story of the Titanic, but it’s haunted. Sounds fantastic but I just could not get into it, which is surprising because 1) I love this genre and 2) I had just read and loved another book by the same author. I think it may have been the audiobook narrator, so I’m going to give it a rest for a while then try it again in print.
167. Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey - How do you deal with your sister if she's magical and perfect?
168. In the shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant - Like I said, I discovered I'm a Mira Grant fan. Haunted house with cults? Yes please.
169. Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone by Juli Verwald - Jellyfish are weird, this book is awesome.
170. Biography of Resistance: The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens by Muhammad H Zaman - Once again, not the best year to read this.
171. Harrow County, Vol. 7: Dark Times A'Coming by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook - I hope they come out with an omnibus version of this series. Excellent horror graphic novelling.
172. Goldie Vance #1 by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams - Hooray for Goldie Vance! Funny YA graphic novel mystery series, perfect for the 10-12 year old in your life.
173. The fire never goes out by Noelle Stevenson - Listen, I really like Noelle Stevenson’s books. I just didn’t like this particular one. However, part of that was that the ebook version was horribly put together and made it really hard to read (it didn’t allow for re-sizing the picture, for example, so I had to get close and inspect it.) I don’t know how much my irritation at the formatting affected my review of the book.
174. The Residue Years by Mitchell S Jackson - Pretty groundbreaking book about growing up Black in Portland OR in the 90's. Recommended, but it's awfully sad.
175. Kid Gloves by Lucy Knisley - This introduced the concept of “I want to have a baby because it’s something my body can do and I’m interested in experiencing that concept” to me and Sawyer and I are in negotiations.
176. Little moments of love by Catana Chetwynd - This is so grossly sweet.
177. The last woman in the forest by Diane Les Becquets - Oooh I really liked this book. It's intensely triggering, but the segments that deal with domestic violence and emotional manipulation are so true to life, and sadly resonated with me. This is not a happy book, but it was important for me.
178. Coldbrook by Tim Lebbon - Absolutely nothing like what I was expecting the book to be about. Reads like really well-written SyFy movie (creatures from a parallel universe!)
179. The bridesmaid by Ruth Rendell - Super dark character study. I loved it.
180. Goldie Vance #2 by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams - Goldie Vance! Gawd I wish I had this series as a kid, I would have been obsessed.
181. Wicked Autumn by G. M. Malliet - Kind of a cozy mystery? But not as twee as cozies usually are. I liked it, recommended if that's a genre you're into.
182. Sex in the sea by Marah J. Hardt - No matter how wild your sex life is, there's a sea creature that's done it weirder.
183. Harrow County, Vol. 8: Done Come Back by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook - See commentary on Vol 7 :)
184. Nancy Drew #1 by Kelly Thompson and Jenn St-Onge - I dig this new take on Nancy Drew, but bear in mind I was a huge fan as a kid so I've got a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in it.
185. Becoming a citizen activist: stories, strategies and advice for changing our world by Nick Lucata - Short handbook on how to get political, but which unfortunately mostly boils down to "write letters."
186. What the woods keep by Katya de Becerra - Spooky woods and a haunted past? Yes please.
187. Killer Fashion: Poisonous Petticoats, Strangulating Scarves, and Other Deadly Garments Throughout History by Jennifer Wright - After reading a couple other books by her, I wasn't expecting this to be quite so silly - basically it's very short anecdotes about ways people have died because of their clothing, with Edward Gorey-style artwork and bad poetry to illustrate.
Isadora Duncan was Red
Put on a scarf; popped off her head
Fashion is silly, thought Stein
It may tear your head from your spine
188. Space Exploration—A History in 100 Objects by Sten Odenwald and John Mather - Lots of good pictures and short information about space.
189. Savage appetites: Four true stories of women, crime and obsession by Rachel Monroe - Must-read for true crime fans. It covers four archetypes related to women and crime - the Victim, the Detective, the Attorney and the Killer - looking at the real-world consequences of how violence affects our lives.
190. Playing dead: a journey through the world of death fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood - Fun surprise read! How does one fake their own death? It's a combination of stories about people who have, while following along the author as she tries it herself. I'll be real, reading a book about cutting all ties and fucking off to a tropical island was super cathartic while I was cooped up in quarantine.
191. Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu - Cute story about found families and also werewolves. Can’t go wrong with that!
192. Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory - Gross! Tony Chu is a cibopathic detective, so he can get psychic impressions through what he eats. You can guess where this goes when it comes to murder. Recommended if you’re OK with gross-out horror, I really liked it!
193. I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young and Jean-Francois Beaulieu - Haaaa this is disgusting and great. Read it.
194. Dept. H. #1 by Matt Kindt - I liked this series but the art made some parts hard to follow. For a book about being at the bottom of the ocean, they spent way more time in outer space than I expected. It claims to be a murder mystery, but it’s really sci-fi.
195. We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge - Huh. This was a weird one - about a broken family who is raising a chimpanzee?
196. Spell on wheels by Kate Leth, Megan Levens, Marissa Louise - Fun graphic novel about witches on a road trip.
197. The animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey - Quiet haunted house story and super dark. Trigger warning for domestic violence.
198. The black ascot by Charles Todd - This is like book #852 in this series. Totally fine if you like the series, but you'd want to read them in order.
199. Ten Drugs: How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine by Thomas Hager - Solid pop science book about the history of medicine.
200. Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J Clover - Super academic, but also important in the horror analysis genre. Coined the phrase 'final girl'!
Oof getting through it - only one hundred and sixty-six to go. Read the next edition here.
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