Books of November 2022
The books from last month were notably mediocre - something that I didn’t notice until the end of the month when, upon review, I saw that every single one had earned 3 stars. What I didn’t realize until I reflected on this month was that, in an attempt to rectify the monotony of last month’s reads, this month I returned to authors, series, and topics I have enjoyed in the past (i.e. gave more than 3 stars), possibly in a subliminal attempt to find more books that I actually would enjoy. As you will see, I had somewhat mixed success with that. However, I did manage to get out of the slight October reading slump (10 books), and get through 17 books this month - a surprising achievement given that this month was only fractionally less hectic than its predecessor.
The Ex - 4 Stars. It was so nice to start out the month with a 4-star book - at last! Somewhat surprisingly, just like the last Alafair Burke book I read, this one was somewhat predictable or formulaic, but still totally fascinating. The characters were appropriately nuanced, and despite the familiar nature and rhythm of the story, I was still left surprised at several points. As I’ve mentioned recently the legal setting of this one may have helped to heighten my opinion, but after some mediocre mysteries, this one was ex-ceptional (see what I did there).
Beautiful Little Fools - 3 Stars. As a lifelong lover of The Great Gatsby, the concept behind this book fascinated me. I haven’t dedicated much time to considering the women in the story, and what may have led them to become the characters that they are. This book, although based on very little from the original, dovetails with it very well as it offers insight into the beliefs and experiences that shaped the women at the heart of the story. It greatly enhanced my appreciation and empathy for them in ways that I believe are still consistent with the reality of their characters in the original work. This book was not quite on par with the literary style that makes The Great Gatsby so outstanding, and the switching perspectives aspect of the book isn’t my favorite, but on the whole and for what it was, I enjoyed this book.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - 3 Stars. Going into this book, I had no idea what I was in for. It seems as though everyone has read it, and although it appears almost universally beloved, that alone always makes me skeptical. Turns out, I had a right to be skeptical because while the book is good, there is very little about it that makes it outstanding or even memorable (beyond the approach to modern issues in a historical context). The writing is good, and the characters are as well-written, but the ending is so predicable and the trajectory so heavily hinted at that I was more than ready to read about what I already knew would occur and move on to something else.
Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look - 3 Stars. I don’t think that when I finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo that I knew I would go straight into a book that was so drastically different, but the juxtaposition was jarring. As I’ve hinted (and also stated explicitly) I’ve totally fallen in love with hockey, and I figured that this book would help me to close some of my knowledge gaps on the subject. While it certainly did that, it also illuminated plenty of other gaps that I didn’t even know I had. So, I have even more to learn now than I understood when I started - and I’m totally okay with that. This book is well-written and also hilarious - and tht’s just counting the jokes that I actually understood because they weren’t referencing some obscure hockey player from 30 years ago.
No Plan B - 3 Stars. The latest installment of the Jack Reacher series, and another book that Lee Child wrote with his brother. This one is just as unremarkable as the last (the one I had to read the entire summary of before I remembered actually reading the book), but somehow the character still endures. I am hopeful that after this latest installment something will happen to shake up the series, or at least that the next book will be a bit more unique and interesting. I’ll keep reading, and return to some of the earlier ones that I’ve missed, but those are only likely to increase my standards for whatever is forthcoming.
Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA - 3 Stars. I had contemplated starting this book for quite a while, but couldn't get myself to pick it up. I’m glad that I did. In some ways, it is very reminiscent of The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists, another book that I loved even more. This one highlights a similar but distinct experience of some of the most important and interesting (but totally unappreciated) work that goes on around the world. Amaryllis Fox shared a powerful overview of her life, what she learned, and the path forward for all of us. Her perspective on peace, hope, and the future offers a valuable perspective on how we may want to consider what lies ahead.
Killers of a Certain Age - 3 Stars. This book, about a group of female assassins who retire and then discover that they have become the next targets, is as interesting as it sounds - maybe more. Although I was plenty intrigued by the plot, I still ended up enjoying this book even more than I expected. However, some parts of the book felt overly expositional, and by the end, my interest had waned somewhat. But it was a unique story that centered on characters (retiring women) who aren’t generally featured as more than capable protagonists, which definitely makes it even more distinctive.
Long Gone - 3 Stars. I’d read other books by Alafair Burke in the last few months, and although they’d felt a bit formulaic and predictable, the writing style, characters, and inclusion of at least one good twist kept me coming back. This book, however, didn’t quite live up to the standard set by the others. Even after I started it, I had a hard time remembering what it was about when I would come back to it. And a few days after I finished it, when I went to record my thoughts, I had to return again to the summary to remind myself what it was about and confirm that I actually had read it (since that’s happened at least one other time lately, I think it may also be attributable to the fact that it has been a long year and all the reading I have been doing for my graduate program, but it does at least somewhat reflect on the storyline of books as well). There were some elements of this book that didn’t quite sit right with me, and although it did have several of the elements that the other Alafair Burke books that I liked, including one good (small) twist, the two major ones were totally obvious and took away from my enjoyment of the conclusion a bit.
Behind the Bench: Inside the Minds of Hockey's Greatest Coaches - 3 Stars. I hadn’t planned to read another hockey book this month, but I ended up starting this one and really enjoying it as well, so I kept going. The concept behind this book, rewatching seminal games with the coaches who won (or in at least one case, lost) them, is fascinating. Hearing about the games, their context, and what they meant for the careers of the coaches involved was such a unique way to learn about each game and just more about hockey in general. Although this book wasn’t quite as funny as the other one I read earlier this month (at first I thought they had the same author since the writing styles were similar and the book was presented from a similar perspective, but they were not), and it is a bit more difficult to listen to a description of a hockey game, rather than getting to watch the actual game itself, but I still enjoyed this exploration of my new(ish) favorite sport.
The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too) - Reread. My first reread of the year, but since I was planning to record a podcast episode on the topic, I figured I should return to the original material as a refresher and to identify anything I wanted to be sure to mention in the episode. It’s a solid book about one of my favorite topics and extremely easy to read - I don’t often finish books in one day (normally it takes about two), but this one I did. Although I feel like I did and do have a good grasp on the content, it is always nice to return to a book you like by an author you love.
Behind Closed Doors - 3 Stars. I’d read The Therapist a few months ago and really enjoyed it as it was one of the few thrillers I read this year that really stood out. Surprised I hadn’t read anything else by B. A. Paris yet, I picked this one up on a whim. Although this book felt structurally similar to that one and was just as well-written, the underlying plot made me uncomfortable as soon as it became clear. The book touches on a lot of difficult subjects, something that I don’t ever shy away from, but the fictionalization of evil in this book wasn’t appreciated, and I didn’t feel like all of the subjects were handled with the appropriate deference. I almost put it down, but the writing, rather than the story saw me through to the end.
The Defense - 3 Stars. This is another book related to one I read earlier this year and enjoyed, Thirteen: The Serial Killer Isn't on Trial. He's on the Jury. Since I didn’t know that book was part of a series at the time that I read it, I took advantage of this opportunity to return to the beginning. I didn’t enjoy this one as much, likely because the title and subject matter were not quite as compelling. I also felt like I was dropped into the middle of the story just as much in this book as I did with the other (which was not much, but a noticeable amount), and there was about the same amount of explanatory exposition in both. I’m not sure if I will continue with the series, but I may in the weeks and months ahead. Whether or not I do probably has more to do with the other books that I read and how good they turn out to be.
Die Trying - 3 Stars. Returning to the beginning of the Reacher series, I picked up book two. It’s a long story about why I’m only coming back to the start now (other than the first book, which I did read first), but suffice it to say, I am. It was fun to see the character so much younger and more naive in some ways, with the roots of later behavior only beginning to be hinted at. There were also some things shared that I don’t remember being mentioned later, so they may have just been judged irrelevant and dropped. Either way, I enjoyed the young manifestation of the character, but the story itself was just okay. While definitely more memorable than several, of the ones in this series I read recently, it still does not particularly stand out.
Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud - 3 Stars. I came across this book and instantly dove in. The title fascinated me and the content of the book did just as much. I was a bit hesitant to embrace the perspective taken by the author though, as someone investigating pseudocide using their purported interest in the topic as a cover for the only half-joking allusions to pursuing it as an escape from her student loan debt. While this was addressed (adequately, I felt) at the end of the book, and everything was summarized well, I was still left feeling a bit disconnected and skeptical about her from the beginning, which cast an unfortunate pallor over the book as a whole.
Eight Hundred Grapes - 4 Stars. I read The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave a while ago and really enjoyed it, so I had put this book by her on my reading list and promptly began to ignore it. Maybe it was the innocuous title (much worse than the other book I read by her), or the mediocre cover (just as bad as the other one I read by her), but as a last resort when I was out and about with nothing else to read (again, another long story), I started it. And, I was sucked in from the very beginning. The characterization, setting, and writing style were all extremely well done. While it wasn’t exactly unpredictable, or even a mystery or thriller (as the last book I read by her was), I still enjoyed it much more than I was expecting. Maybe the surprise contributed to my enjoyment, but generally, skepticism doesn’t have that effect, so who knows. Either way, I have bumped the other books by Laura Dave further up my reading list once again.
The Favor - 3 Stars. I thought I had read another book by Nora Murphy, but upon closer inspection, I do not think that I have. The cover must have just struck me as the kind of book that I would like, so I was inclined to pick it up. Maybe it is because I read Behind Closed Doors so recently, but to me, the books were strongly reminiscent of each other, with spousal abuse being a common theme. This book, however, was missing the additional element that I found so distasteful in Behind Closed Doors, so I appreciated that. While I am glad that books like these are bringing attention to a vitally important topic, that doesn't make them easy to read, and they could never be characterized as “fun.”
The Fourth Man: The Hunt for a KGB Spy at the Top of the CIA and the Rise of Putin's Russia - 3 Stars. This book has been on my reading list a while, so when I finally got around to reading it, I was excited to get started. The title intrigued me, and I was only more intrigued (if a bit disappointed) to realize that the entire book is based on an individual who is unknown and whose very existence is still somewhat in doubt. While the book presents compelling evidence about the Fourth Man (as well as a lot of information that felt somewhat unnecessary), it does not claim to know who that person is. Upon my subsequent research, I realized that this is still the case. This book, as with many others, did a great job at the end summarizing the content, showing its impact, and demonstrating its ongoing significance for the future. But by that point, I was more than a little bored, if glad of the new knowledge I had acquired.
Despite the insane year (or quite possibly because of it), I refrained from decorating for the holidays until just a few days ago (after Thanksgiving). I was shocked to see what felt like everyone (in both the online and offline worlds) embracing the season weeks earlier than normal. Although it is undeniably my favorite time of year (cold, rainy weather excluded), I stuck with my annual routines and am just now fully settling into the holiday spirit.
I learned some things from my reading this month - mostly that returning to familiar ground isn’t always a success, but sometimes it is, and at the very least, it is at least familiar. In my efforts this year to read books I like more, I mostly have just stopped myself from reading the books that I am not enjoying enough (or even dreading returning to). I have struggled more with actually finding and identifying books that I truly will love.
Since this goal was initially inspired by Gretchen Rubin and her point that there are so many good books in the world, why would we want to read bad ones, I was inspired once again by a recent point she made on her podcast that there are so many great books in the world, why would we want to read ones that are just good. That does seem to be where I am struggling - pretty much all the books I read are good or interesting (at least, now if I finish them they are), but I really want to step it up to the next level of reading great books. As with everything else, there is always more growth that can occur and new heights to attain. I am unsure as to how I will make this a reality and whether it will be incorporated into my goals for the coming year, but my related goal has made a difference this year and has at least gotten me to this point.
That is, some books left behind, plenty finished, but just not enough truly great ones.
Until next time,