Books I Read in January (2013)

Along with trying to post here every Friday, I’m going to start off each month by telling you what books I read and enjoyed the previous month. Note the word enjoyed. Most of the time, I’ll have read more books than those listed, but I don’t see the point of mentioning a book just to say that it didn’t float my boat. Taste is subjective, so I’d rather stick to books I’d recommend.

I won’t give mini-synopses of the books, since you can check them out at your favourite online or brick and mortar bookstore. Clicking on a book’s cover will take you to the Amazon page for the book.

So what did I enjoy last month?

Night – Enjoyed is the wrong word to use for this one. The book is required reading in some schools, but it wasn’t in mine. I’ve had it on my reading list for years and finally got to it. What can I possibly say about this book? The answer is nothing, except to read it, if you haven’t already. I wish places like Amazon would turn off reviews for books like this.

Mass Effect:Retribution – This is the third book in a trilogy. If you haven’t read the first two, you won’t appreciate the third one as much. Mass Effect is a science fiction role-playing game. I’ve had mixed luck with books that are based on game worlds, but this series was pretty good. It’s hard for me to say whether someone who hasn’t played the games would enjoy it. For those who have, Shepard isn’t in the books, but Anderson is.

Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors – I’m not really one for true crime books, because some of them focus on (and sometimes glorify) the criminals. Ann Rule focuses on the victims. She’s a former police officer, and her empathy for the victims, families, and friends comes through loud and clear.

Small Giants – I like to read about people who go against conventional wisdom, or resist juicy opportunities, because they don’t want to violate their principles, or they have a definition of success that’s out of step with what society tells us we should want.

That’s it for January.

Books I Read in January (2013) is a post from: Sarah Ettritch