Molly O'Neill's Blog, page 3

February Reading Round Up

February has rushed past, and it is time for another monthly reading recap. This month I have read ten books and enjoyed every single one. I truly can’t remember when I had such a great month in books, made especially pleasurable by sending off my new manuscript to my agent early in the month and settling into some truly guilt free reading.

 

Monsters – A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer

This book was recommended by the girls of my favourite podcast, Celebrity Memoir Book Club, and I found it very thought provoking. It talks about the difficulty in separating the art from the artist and how to feel about writers, painters, directors we love who do terrible things. The author focused the first part of the book on the works of Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, a pair of auteur directors and rapists, who have made incredibly meaningful art even as they ruined lives. The author loses her way a bit with a tangent about Nabokov and to my mind doesn’t come up with any comparable examples of monstrous female artists (I would probably have mentioned MZB) which is a shame as the gender of monstrous artists seems very relevant to the discussion. I would also have liked some discussion over artists with physical harm vs problematic views, eg Orson Scott Card’s homophobia set against Polanski’s violent attacks. However, on the whole I enjoyed this book and spent a lot of time thinking about it. 

 

The City Inside by Samit Basu

Excellent Indian sf-dystopia set a few years into the future and focusing on the hyper-online life of Joey, an influencer’s PR advisor/director working in an incredibly divided New Delhi. The set up for this book was excellent and I could have read much more in the same vein but the author made some interesting choices and finished the book earlier than I expected. I was also very surprised to get to the author note at the end of the book and discover he was a man, his writing of Joey felt so authentically female. Overall, a very good read and I will definitely pick up more of his work.

 

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Another highly enjoyable book from Ali Hazelwood, proving that her talents extend beyond the excellent STEM-romances. I liked the characters and worldbuilding but it’s the authors writing style which make these so much fun to read. I flew through this in a day or so and will certainly pick up for a re-read at some point.

 

Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo

Audiobook reread. This was always a childhood favourite of mine and now that Spotify is offering 15 hours of audiobooks in my subscription, I have been exploring some old books I listened to on tape in the car. I can confirm that this absolutely holds up. Derek Jacobi’s narration is incredibly moving and the story is as simple and enchanting as it ever was. Caused me to cry like a baby.

 

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

My second Buehlman read and while it didn’t quite hit the dizzy heights of Between Two Fires it was still a fantastic fantasy book. Within a few days of finishing it I had recommended it to friends, struck up multiple conversations about the worldbuilding and am eagerly awaiting the prequel this winter. This is a classic fantasy journey book where the titular Thief needs to travel to distant lands, running into witches, minotaurs and whales along the way. Buehlman’s fantasy reminds me of Joe Abercrombie’s First Law books in the gritty realism and constant sense of tension and danger but they have a tiny spark of optimism and for me that makes them both more realistic and more enjoyable.

 

Britannia

Re-read. This is a compendium of stories from British history, stretching from Brutus’ escape from Troy to Bannisters four minute mile. I loved this as a kid and love it now for it’s inclusion of half forgotten stories beyond the usual soap opera of kings and queens. I really value the inclusion of workers and scientists and ordinary acts of heroism and it made me want to share their stories so they are not forgotten.

 

Part of Your World

Graphic novel adaption of the Little Mermaid where Ariel didn’t win at the end of the film. Interesting concept and nicely drawn although I felt it lacked real artistic verve – probably because it was so Disneyfied.

 

City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Dense but Brilliant. This is a sort of fantasy Les Miserables, set in the complicated city of Ilmar. It felt realistic even when confronting gods and demons and man-eating centipedes. It follows the simmering revolutionary groops as they plot against the occupying force of the Palleseen. I liked how each group couldn’t see past their own factioneering to do the best thing for their city, it all felt sadly true to life.  This was my first Tchaikovsky and it was not at all how I expected it to be but I enjoyed it a great deal once I got into it and I will definitely be reading the sequel and trying a few more of his books.

 

I who have never known men – Jacqueline Harper

Incredible book! I didn’t know much about this, having added it to my TBR based off a throwaway recommendation but I found it beautiful and haunting. It follows the life of an unnamed girl trapped in a mysterious bunker with 40 other women. At first they have no hope of escape or idea of where they are but as the story develops they come to grapple with what it means to be a community and what lives are worth living. This was somehow both grim and graceful and it really hit me hard.

 

 Being Seen – Else Sjunneson

A memoir from a deafblind writer on finding her own space in the world and in pop culture. As a memoir I enjoyed and found it very interesting, but I disagreed with some of Sjunneson’s more sweeping statements, and the book got weaker when she delved more into cultural criticism. I think I also struggled because much of what she was saying was very familiar to me as a friend to many disabled people and general bleeding-heart lib. It would be a great first introduction to disability rights however and I did like the author’s writing style and might dip into some of her SF writing.

Book Lovers: Celebrating My Favourite Couples in Literature

It’s almost February 14th, the season of Lurve!

 

As a single pringle I am mainly celebrating Galentines this year but I do still love Love. I enjoy a romcom film but I don’t really read that many romance books. I like my romance as a side plot, a crucial but minor presence in a book. However since it’s the time of year where romantic love takes centre stage I wanted to review a couple of my favourite book couples.

 

The Love Hypothesis: Adam and Olive

Ali Hazelwood is pretty much the only Romance with a capital R writer that I read and enjoy. I love her STEM-romance novels, they feel very realistic and well plotted and I think her best is still The Love Hypothesis. As a dyed in the wool Reyolo fan girl I was on board for some au fanfic and this is so good. I love Olive as a protagonist and really enjoyed her relationship with Adam. I was excited to see these two crazy kids pop up for a cameo in Love Theoretically and will happily devour anything else Ms Hazelwood chooses to put out.

 

Shadowhunters: Jace and Clary

Everyone remembers their first YA love and mine were Jace and Clary from City of Bones. I loved Jace’s snark and swagger but I also loved how Clary matched him so well, just as brave, just as clever and the two of them were so clearly meant to be together even through the many challenges they faced. A lot of these YA Romantasy books don’t stand up now I think the Shadowhunters will be classics for a long time.

 

Enchantment: Ivan and Katerina

Sleeping Beauty but with a heavy amount of realism. What would happen after the prince (a modern day languages professor) kissed the princess (a medieval Russian lady) and how would they defeat the witch (a terrifying Baba Yaga with all the power and fury of the Russian Winter at her fingertips). I love this book and how Ivan and Katerina learn to share in the new worlds they discover and eventually fall for each other.

 

Here Be Dragons: Llewelyn and Joanna

The book that kicked off my lifelong love of all things Welsh: Llewelyn the Great and his marriage to Joanna, the English king’s bastard daughter, was not expected to last but the two of them managed to build a life together and a love so strong that it would keep the English at bay for a few more generations.

 

A Town Like Alice: Jean and Joe

A Town Like Alice is my favourite book and probably a significant reason in deciding to move to Australia! Jean is a British office worker captured by the Japanese in WWII Malaya where she meets Australian PoW Joe. Their story arcs from the tropical Malaysia to cold 1950s London to the simmering Australian Outback. Beautifully written this book breaks my heart every time I read it but I’ll never stop.

January Reading Round Up

New Books for a New Year!

 

Well it’s been a great month for content; I’ve been diving into a re-watch of my all time fave show: The West Wing as well as enjoying the latest season of True Detective and watching a little known show called Breaking Bad. Musically I’m preparing for a couple of big concerts: Taylor Swift and The Magic Flute, so have been alternating Mozart and Midnights all month. Bookwise there have been a couple of gems but also some filler. I’m waiting to find something that grabs me and won’t let go, that shakes me to my core and leaves me laughing and crying. The search continues…

 

Saevus Corax Deals With The Dead

Finishing a book I started in 2023. The first installment in KJ Parker’s newest trilogy did not disappoint, providing all the logistical fantasy I have come to expect from this excellent author. I am increasingly desperate to get hold of a map of Parker’s world. It’s omittance must be a deliberate choice at this point but I really wanted to consult a sea chart and place myself in time and space. Alas I will have to stumble blindly on.

 

The List

Picked this up purely based on the delightful purple of the front cover and read in a day. The List tells the story of a young black couple living in London and working their way up the pop culture ladder. The man is named on The List, a spreadsheet full of abusive men in the British media landscape. The book follows the repercussions of this ‘out-ing’ through their lives and those they know. I can’t say I enjoyed reading this book but it was goof. It had a very interesting concept and the characters felt realistic. I struggled to find any of them likeable, which I assume was a deliberate choice by the author, but made it difficult for me to care if the big set piece wedding went off as planned. I do think the author is a talented writer and I will definitely read anything else she publishes.

 

Sisters of the Vast Black

Very good SF novella in which a living ship carries a small convent of nuns between backwater space stations in order to tend to the needs of the colonists. I enjoyed all of the Sisters POVs and particularly liked the reveal of the Mother Superior. I found this book deeply rooted in the evils of capitalism and colonisation which made it feel real even in the vastness of space and science that it explored.

 

Yellow Jessamine

Novella focusing on a young shipping heiress as she navigates a mysterious new disease that has invaded her collapsing city. I found this to be all style and no substance. There was a magnificent concept and setting to play with here but the storyline petered out without providing a satisfactory ending. Perhaps I am jaded having read multiple stories recently about villainous vegetation but this struck me as needing a full restructure of the plot to reveal the true potential of the idea.

 

Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony

Re-read. Here I shall finish my AF audiobook binge with the fifth in the series. Overall this is one of the weaker books and it has that classic shark jumping twist of adding time travel into the mix but there are still some fabulous set pieces: Doodah Day’s buggy ride makes me laugh twenty years after I first read it.

 

Sign Here

I love books set in hell. I have a whole goodreads shelf called “hell” where I list such favourites as Good Omens, Lent, Inside Men, Hellbent and The Gargoyle. I find an unendingly interesting setting that allows for a limitless imagination to play with morals and madness. When I read the blurb for this book I added it to my TBR instantly and eagerly awaited its arrival. Man was I disappointed. This is The Girl on the Train meets The Office. Neither storyline made much sense and the characters actions had no bearing on the plot, eg. we spend chapter after chapter with Mickey, the grumpy teenager, only for her to have no agency in the story. I disliked this both as a thriller and a SF book and would not recommend to anyone familiar with SFF. If you're more a of a thriller person then you might enjoy this twist. 

 

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Finishing the month with the best read! I was charmed by this tale of academic adventure in the far north. As a grumpy STEM lady myself I connected well with Emily and I liked how the love interest/rival Wendell was complicated and flawed. I also enjoyed the importance stories had to the fae, how they were almost a part of the metaphysics. This seemed a very clever way to utilise the readers knowledge and expectation of a fairy story whilst keeping the ideas fresh. I look forward to reading the next Emily Wilde adventure.

24 Books to read in 2024

Like most readers I know I have a TBR (To Be Read) list as long as my arm. Unfortunately like most readers I know I am all too often drawn from my carefully constructed list by the siren song of new releases and shiny covers. So many of the presumably excellent books that make it on to the TBR never transition to the coveted "read" list.

This lingering fate is most often dealt to those books that I add after seeing them on a SFF round up post on REACTOR or i09 but never find in a physical bookshop. I can easily walk into any bookstore in the world and pick up a copy of Fourth Wing (and yet haven't!) but tracking down a copy of Armed In Her Fashion by Kate Heartfield took years of questing. But the prize was well worth it and so in 2024 I am determined to get through at least two of the most recent TBR additions every month. Since I read about 50 books a year this gives me half of my reading time to the list and half to whatever else takes my magpie mind's fancy.

So what to add to the list? There's little rhyme or reason to it but I suspect many will require a bit of sleuthing to track down. That doesn't bother me, it's all part of the fun. Check in with my monthly reading round ups to see how I progress with these and all the other things I've been reading recently.

Fantasy & Science Fiction

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett The Spear Cuts Through Water - Simon Jimenez Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea - Rita Chang-Eppig City of Last Chances - Adrian Tchaikovsky The Road to Roswell - Connie Willis The Darkness Before Them - Matthew Ward The Water Outlaws - SL Huang Heavenly Tyrant - Xiran Jay Zhao Daughter of Calamity - Rosalie M Lin Sign Here - Claudia Lux The Archive Undying - Emma Mieko Candon A Season of Monstrous Conceptions - Lina Rather The Familiar - Leigh Bardugo The Hunger of the Gods - John Gwynne Exadelic - Jon Evans Liberty's Daughter - Naomi Kritzer The Water Outlaws - SL Huang Empire of the Damned - Jay Kristoff

Fiction

The Bandit Queens - Parini Shroff Y/N - Esther Yi Tom Lake - Ann Patchett

Non Fiction

The Middle Kingdoms - Martyn Rady A Paradise Built in Hell - Rebecca Solnit The Eagle and the Lion - Adrian Goldsworthy

December Reading Round Up

So we reached the end of the year: Congratulations all and I hope you had a good one and are feeling rared up for 2024!

I felt like I had a pretty mediocre month in reading but now I look back on it there were a few gems. I read six books in December. This sounds like a lot but two of them were re-reads, one was a novella and one was a non-fiction encyclopedia style book. Still, let's get into it.

Between Two Fires - Christopher Buehlman

Starting the month off strong with one of my favourites of the whole year. Set in France during the Black Death where civilisation is falling apart, a robber knight, and a drunken priest must escort a very strange little girl to Avignon before all Hell literally breaks loose. This bizarre medieval horror-fantasy was a gripping read that had me desperate to know what happens next. Doing truly scary horror is difficult and many authors descend in to gloopy descriptions but Buehlman's voice kept the book menacing without going gross.

What Moves the Dead - T Kingfisher

A novella length adaption of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. Coincedentally I had just finished watching Netflix's adaption of the same book so when I realised the references were the same I was worried that I had spoiled it for myself. I had a second worry when i realised that gothic mushroom were involved (as in Mexican Gothic, another favourite). However I soon realised that Kingfisher knows what she's doing and found myself genuinely scared by the mysterious lake, the limping hares and the sense of impending doom. Great short read.

Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World - Philip Matyszak

Once you have squared your definitions of 'forgotten' and 'world' this was a perfectly pleasant if light runthrough of some of the lesser known tribes and peoples of the Mediterranean and Fertile Crescent from the Stone Age to the 'Dark Age'. I had assumed I was getting a more geographically varied view but it was a fine introduction to the topic. One thing I would have really liked was a timeline, as I couldn't tell who were contemporaries.

Light from Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki

And now we come to the not so fun stuff! I was really looking forward to this book and I didn't like it at all! I found almost every character irritating and the internal rules of the world Aoki had constructed didn't make sense. I don't love dunking on books so I'll leave it there and grumble more to my friends offline.

The Eternity Code and the Opal Deception - both Eoin Colfer

Audio Re-read of the Artemis Fowl series, specifically Book 3 and 4. I never particaularly cared for the Eternity Code installment but I enjoyed it this time and found Elon Musk Jon Spiroa very entertaining villain. Opal Deception is hard as we lose my favourite Commander Root but on the plus side we get Opal's immortal line "You're staring directly at me, that's very bad for my skin." One thing I have noticed on rereading these books is how much they valorise the fairy police, who seem to be a pretty racist internal organisation. I know it's a kids series, and a great one, but it jumps out at me a bit more as an adult.

So that's the month that was! I'll see you at the end of January and wish you a peaceful and happy new year!

December 2023 Reading Round Up

So we reached the end of the year: Congratulations all and I hope you had a good one and are feeling rared up for 2024!

I felt like I had a pretty mediocre month in reading but now I look back on it there were a few gems. I read six books in December. This sounds like a lot but two of them were re-reads, one was a novella and one was a non-fiction encyclopedia style book. Still, let's get into it.

Between Two Fires - Christopher Buehlman
Starting the month off strong with one of my favourites of the whole year. Set in France during the Black Death where civilisation is falling apart, a robber knight, and a drunken priest must escort a very strange little girl to Avignon before all Hell literally breaks loose. This bizarre medieval horror-fantasy was a gripping read that had me desperate to know what happens next. Doing truly scary horror is difficult and many authors descend in to gloopy descriptions but Buehlman's voice kept the book menacing without going gross.

What Moves the Dead - T Kingfisher
A novella length adaption of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. Coincedentally I had just finished watching Netflix's adaption of the same book so when I realised the references were the same I was worried that I had spoiled it for myself. I had a second worry when i realised that gothic mushroom were involved (as in Mexican Gothic, another favourite). However I soon realised that Kingfisher knows what she's doing and found myself genuinely scared by the mysterious lake, the limping hares and the sense of impending doom. Great short read.

Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World - Philip Matyszak
Once you have squared your definitions of 'forgotten' and 'world' this was a perfectly pleasant if light runthrough of some of the lesser known tribes and peoples of the Mediterranean and Fertile Crescent from the Stone Age to the 'Dark Age'. I had assumed I was getting a more geographically varied view but it was a fine introduction to the topic. One thing I would have really liked was a timeline, as I couldn't tell who were contemporaries.

Light from Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki
And now we come to the not so fun stuff! I was really looking forward to this book and I didn't like it at all! I found almost every character irritating and the internal rules of the world Aoki had constructed didn't make sense. I don't love dunking on books so I'll leave it there and grumble more to my friends offline.

The Eternity Code and the Opal Deception - both Eoin Colfer
Audio Re-read of the Artemis Fowl series, specifically Book 3 and 4. I never particaularly cared for the Eternity Code installment but I enjoyed it this time and found Elon Musk Jon Spiroa very entertaining villain. Opal Deception is hard as we lose my favourite Commander Root but on the plus side we get Opal's immortal line "You're staring directly at me, that's very bad for my skin." One thing I have noticed on rereading these books is how much they valorise the fairy police, who seem to be a pretty racist internal organisation. I know it's a kids series, and a great one, but it jumps out at me a bit more as an adult.

So that's the month that was! I'll see you at the end of January and wish you a peaceful and happy new year!

Breakfast Eggs Ranked

If you’ve already read the entirety of human literature then welcome to this: Breakfast Eggs Ranked 

It is two days after Christmas and I have allowed the contents of my fridge to dwindle to the following: 

Half a carton of milk  4 carrots (2 months old)  A glass of rose  A Lush face mask  10 eggs 

I’m not sure how desperate I’d have to be to eat the face mask, or indeed the carrots so it looks like I need to start investigating egg based recipes. Fortunately, these are some of my favourites. 

I love breakfast food, it's my favourite meal to eat out at. It feels urbane and sophisticated to go out for breakfast, as if only the very swishest of women would meet before ten am. The bruncher is probably too busy for lunch and spends her evenings at the opera or discussing Sartre over red wine. That I eat brunch as much as anyone and wouldn’t know Sartre if I trod on him are immaterial. Brunch is fancy. I will brook no argument. 

Obviously, all the best brunch foods involve some form of egg. But which is the true breakfast of champions? What meal separates the men from the boys, the women from the men and the occasional breakfast out from a truly sophisticated brunch? 

Sunny side up - 1/10 

Just the latest in a long string of American crimes against humanity, eggs sunny side up are an aberration. Undercooked and slimy, this is a mistake you only ever make once. 

Omelette – 3/10 

An omelette is barely an acceptable lunch and should not have been allowed to sneak into any brunch menu. Restaurants will try and convince you that it is fresh and customisable; have it your way they say! Add your favourite ingredients!  To which I respond, ‘stop trying to sneak vegetables into my breakfast’. 

English fry up – 5/10 

The true chaotic evil of breakfast, with more grease than you can shake a stick of butter at. While I admire the self-belief and chutzpah it takes to order a fry up at brunch, I prefer my arteries clear of bacon grease and my plate free of fried mushrooms.  

Eggs benedict – 7/10 

The basic bitch of brunch. I love an eggs benny. The only reason this delight scores so low is the potential for messing it up. Too often the hollandaise is microwaved and the ham is cold from the fridge. It’s a sad and desperate time we live in. 

Eggs Atlantic – 8/10 

This is eggs benedict but with the ham swapped out for smoked salmon. It is therefore slightly fancier, slightly more expensive and slightly harder to mess up. For this slight improvement it earns an extra point. 

French toast – 9/10 

AKA eggy bread. This is basically a vehicle for maple syrup and ice cream. There’s a place in Melbourne that serves it with blackberries and candy floss. Obviously it’s delicious but there’s a definite atmosphere of full throttle gluttony about it that means I can only have it once in a while. Maybe just once or twice a week. 

Eggs with smashed avo – 10/10 

Peak millennial and there’s a reason why. My generation might not have houses, emotional stability or hope for the future but by God this breakfast almost makes up for it. Best served with a sprinkle of feta cheese.

Scrambled eggs – 11/10 

The ultimate brunch food. Scrambled eggs on toast is impossible to mess up and displays a sort of free disregard for the opinions of others and a yen for the simple classics in life. But I just spent an hour writing an article about breakfast food so really what do I know.  

 

Honourable mention 

Dippy eggs with soldiers  

Only your mum loves you enough to make eggs with soldiers and it will never taste as good as when you were a child.  

 

 

November Reading Round Up

What have I read this month?

It's been a very busy 30 days of reading for me, less National Novel Writing Month than National Novel Reading - to my agent's chagrin! I moved house in late October, adding thirty minutes to my daily commute and causing my book tally to skyrocket. I never used to be able to read on the train as it was only ten minutes to work and books would inevitably cause me to miss my stop and wind up in the Eastern Suburbs. Now I'm further out I can get properly into a book and resurface in time to get off the train - although there have been some close calls and I did overshoot whilst lost in one particularly enthralling book and wound up at the end of the line!

Here are my November Reads

Dyke - Sabrina Imbler

This had been on my TBR list for three years and turned out to be much smaller than I had realised, maybe 20 pages? Still an enjoyable read, more an extended poem than a book, so I took my time to properly breath in the words.

Saint Death's Daughter - CSE Cooney

The cause of my train calamity! Maybe the best book I've read this year and an instant favourite. Ironically this one was much longer than I expected and I was a little worried it would be a slog. Happily I absolutely flew through it and wished it had been longer! Cooney has a real knack for taking complex worldbuilding and making it seem intuitive and easy to the reader. I absolutely loved the snaking plot twists as well as the wonderful main character - this is a must read for any lover of fantasy.

Fatal Throne - Candace Fleming

Historical fiction from the point of view of Henry VIII's wives. Read on the kindle app whilst working a rainy night shift. Not bad but nothing groundbreaking - I enjoyed the Jane Seymour chapters best. Whiled away the time till the end of the shift.

The Brethren - John Grisham

Legal/Spy thriller set in a southern jail where three corrupt judges plot to scam closeted gay men. Ludicrously plotted but entertaining enough, though it suffered for not having a single likeable character. Interesting to see how much the world has and hasn't change since this was published in the early noughties.

Blue Moon - Lee Child

Easily my least favourite Jack Reacher - while the duelling gangs were bad enough the real villain was the American healthcare system, a problem no one seemed to acknowledge. Reacher really went wild this time, to a length I didn't enjoy. Normally I whiz through these but I only finished grudgingly, and as a completist.

Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

I delayed reading this until I could find a cover with an octopus - for some bizarre reason the Australian copies had rocking horses (only tangentially related to the plot) - and I WANTED THE OCTOPUS. Finally tracked down a regular copy in Melbourne Dymocks. I enjoyed this but I could have done with more Octopus chapters and less humans. I think it needed an extra 50 pages to wrap up properly, the last chapters seemed a little rushed.

Chlorine - Jade Song

Less fantasy and more a grim perspective on coming of age in a high pressure environment. I liked that the lead was a female athlete, incredibly focused on her craft. The prose was excellently disturbing - I wouldn't say it was an enjoyable book but I thought it was very good and will certainly reread.

Assassain's Quest - Robin Hobb

Last of the Assassain's trilogy and ending the first chunk of FitzChivalry's story. Hobb is an incredibly talented writer and I really did feel as if I was on the journey with Fitz. Under different circumstances I might have felt this was an overlong book but as I happened to read it on a seven hour train journey through rural New South Wales it turned out to be the perfect length.

Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

Re-listen of the audiobook I loved as a child. These are still one of my favourite MG series even if as an adult I can pick apart the science. Not sure why I previously rated these as 3 and 4 stars, they're going right back up to 5 and a place on the childhood favourites shelf.

That's everything from me this month - see you in December to find out if I make my 2023 Reading Challenge (6 books to go)!