Part VI really feels like the home stretch. I was getting a rhythm where I knew how much reading I could push into a day, and what that translated to for number of pages. I was starting to be more insistent that I work on 'my project' and taking every possible moment to listen to audiobooks or read an extra page of my ebook.
Two things really increased my reading. First, audiobooks - usually listened to around double speed (depending on the narrator). I had some major house projects going on so a couple books are mentally tied to the rhythm of pulling out blackberry vines. Second, ebooks with the OverDrive app have an option to list how many pages are in each chapter. I found this helped me with the lack of physicality in an ebook. A subtle aspect of reading fiction in print is that you can physically sense the story arc as you progress through the book. A cliffhanger when you are clearly just a few pages from the end is much more stressful than a cliffhanger when you're in the middle of the book. The 'countdown' of pages helped give context to the fiction I read, and also gave me hope while I plowed through some sloggy-but-good books (I'm looking at you, People's History of the United States).
Anyway, here's the next batch, which takes us to November 22nd.
The List, Part F: Books 251-300
251. Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau - Aww bebe gays.
252. Check Please! Vol 2 by Ngozi Ukazu - Check Please! So fun! Read the first (see earlier comments), then read this sequel
253. Disappointment River: Finding and losing the Northwest Passage by Brian Castner - Adventure memoir about canoeing the Mackenzie River. It’s cold and miserable but some decent travel writing.
254. The broken hours by Jacqueline Baker - H.P. Lovecraft fan fiction.
255. Bury me deep by Megan Abbott - Ooh I didn’t like this book, but it was really good in a “these people are a mess” sort of way.
256. The word detective by John Simpson - Fun book for word lovers, written by the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. I really liked this book, but then I read Word by Word (see #280) which knocked this one off my favorites list. Sorry John!
257. An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere by Mikita Brottman - Fascinating but depressing story of the unsolved death of Rey Rivera. Was it murder or suicide?
258. The dark side of the road by Simon Green - LOCKED ROOM COUNTRY HOUSE MURDER MYSTERY….WITH ALIENS!
259. The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty - A culinary history memoir by a gay Black historian and chef? I absolutely recommend you tuck into this book. The audiobook read by the author is especially recommended.
260. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know about People by Susan M Weinschenk - Basic guide to user experience and design, told in small quick bites. Decently interesting introduction, but too sparse to be helpful if you’re doing this “for real”
261. How to Be Successful without Hurting Men's Feelings: Non-threatening Leadership Strategies for Women by Sarah Cooper - lolololol
263. Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia - This is an odd and precious book. It's a haunted coming of age story about facing your demons. The blurb refers to it as 'genre-bending' which is true, but don't go in expecting 'weird fiction'. I'm having a hard time saying "it's like X" because Kate Racculia really makes the story her own - and that makes it a story worth reading.
264. Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz - I first read this book when I was, like, 11 years old. At the time, my mind was blown. I've always meant to go back and read the full series (either the library didn't have it at the time, or it hadn't been written yet). Turns out, you kind of need to be 11 to love the books, but you can like them at any age.
265. See what I have done by Sarah Schmidt - Stephen King once said, "I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud." Sarah Schmidt just skipped to the gross-out. It's a pretty boring, depressing plot - which makes me sputter because this is about Lizzie Borden, how are you boring?! - but it's all "she ladled out the tepid, rancid soup" and "he tucked into the grey meat" and it makes me wonder how Lizzie ever axed anyone, she was probably laid up with intestinal parasites her entire life.
266. Lovecraft unbound by Ellen Datlow (ed.) - Short story collection of Lovecraft-inspired stories, almost tentacle free. As always, Datlow puts together a great anthology.
267. The hidden things by Jamie Mason - This book was nothing like I expected, but if you like the genre of “bad things happen to rotten people” with a dose of art crime, you’ll like this one.
268. The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard - Sherlock Holmes IN SPACE!
269. The great influenza: the story of the deadliest pandemic in history by John M Barry - A little too History of Great White Men for my taste, but I did really appreciate the section that talked about how the Great Influenza disproportionately affected indigenous folks. Horrible parallels with COVID-19.
270. The book of eels by Patrik Svensson - Eels are weird and fascinating. The gone fishin’ interludes, not so much. I get what he was trying to do, but it didn’t land for me.
271. N is for Noose by Sue Grafton - Oh, actually I liked this one.
272. Kill Creek by Scott Thomas - Four iconic horror authors are invited to spend the night in a haunted house on Halloween. Terror ensues. Totally written as a love letter to different genres of horror.
273. Lock every door by Riley Sager - There’s a TV show that got cancelled early called 666 Park Avenue. It’s a ridiculous storyline if you think about it, but if you just embrace it and enjoy it anyway, it’s a great show. This book gave me similar vibes.
274. Earth Almanac: A Year of Witnessing the Wild from the Call of the Loon to the Journey of the Gray Whale by Ted Williams - I really loved this book. It was gentle and inspiring and homey. Basically, exactly what I needed when I was cooped up in quarantine.
275. Flow: the cultural story of menstruation by Elissa Stein - I do love a cultural history, but this book veers into GRRL POWER, power of menstruation! territory. I just feel if you are discussing the cultural history of menstruation and never once mention the experience of trans folks, you are missing a pretty critical piece of the history.
276. Squirrel seeks chipmunk by David Sedaris - Almost certainly not the right book to introduce me to David Sedaris.
277. Thornhill by Pam Smy - Two parallel stories, one in art, one in prose, about the ghost haunting the house next door.
278. City of windows by Robert Pobi - ACAB. Pretty good sci-fi novel (in the sense that supercops are science fiction)
279. The cutting room by Louise Welsh - This book is gross, I liked it a lot. Basic premise is an antique salesman is clearing out an estate when he finds pornographic photos that seem to depict a woman being murdered during a sex act. And it gets weirder and worse.
280. Word by word: the secret life of dictionaries by Kory Stamper - Oooh I loved this one! Kory Stamper writes a love letter to language, without being a racist pedant. Super funny and I learned a ton.
281. The mosquito: A human history of our deadliest predator by Timothy C. Winegard - Super interesting! Super long! I mostly listened to this while I was settling down for bed, so read into that what you will.
282. Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco - This book was soooo 70s the book might have been bound in polyester. But I really liked it! The movie is worth watching too.
283. Do no harm: Stories of life, death and brain surgery by Henry Marsh - I…did not like this book. Marsh is kind of a jerk? I wouldn’t be happy if he were my doctor.
284. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld - Required reading for my library class, but pretty decent! You can also tell we're super into quarantine because I finished this on my birthday HA
285. Tunnel of bones by Victoria Schwab - Book two in a kids series. Pretty fun – if I were 10, I’d be absolutely in love with it.
286. Laura Dean keeps breaking up with me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connel - Mariko Tamaki how are you always awesome?! I love this book because it explores complicated lesbian relationships, and I think it’s super important that that representation exists. But also the story is great, mildly funny, and the art is gorgeous.
287. On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden - I’m not sure how to describe this one, but I really recommend savoring it.
288. Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier - For a book set in a carnival, there…aren’t enough clowns?
289. Hammers on Bone (Persons Non Grata #1) by Cassandra Khaw - HP Lovecraft noir novella. You'll either love it, or that genre will not appeal to you at all. I loved it.
290. The Whisper Man by Alex North - Pretty generic serial killer thriller, but I’m still creeped out by the ending so recommended for its staying power.
292. Safely Endangered Comics by Chris McCoy - These were pretty funny and surprisingly dark. I technically read it twice, once by myself and once when I made Sawyer read it with me.
293. Behind You: One-Shot Horror Stories by Brian Coldrick - Oooh! Shivery and spooky. I’d own this art.
294. Chew Vol 2: International Flavor by John Layman and Rob Guillory - Yeah, I’ll finish the series. It’s definitely gross-out horror but it’s funny and kind of unique.
295. The devil and the deep: Horror stories of the sea by Ellen Datlow (ed.) - Short story collection of ocean-related horror stories. Datlow always does a solid job putting together an anthology.
296. Twisted: the tangled history of Black hair culture by Emma Dabiri - Also published as Don’t Touch My Hair, which is unfortunate because that is the same title as Phoebe Robinson’s great essay collection. Anyway, HIGHLY recommend this book, and the audiobook read by the author is really well done too.
297. Saga Vol. 1 (issues 1-6) by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples - I adore this series.
298. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix - What if IKEA was haunted? I've always had a suspicion.
299. Fraud in the Lab: The high stakes of scientific research by Nicolas Chevassus-au-Louis - Pretty academic but super important if you're anywhere involved in the research process.
300. Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) by Carol Travris - SO important today.
So close to the end! Next one is here.
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