Ann A’s Comments (group member since Apr 18, 2010)

Ann A’s comments from the Challenge: 50 Books group.

53 - The Whispering Statue - As usual, I added a Nancy Drew to my Dewey's Readathon stack. I wanted to BE Nancy as a child :) My goal is to re-read the original 56. 3*

54 - Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly - Highly entertaining, but not sure why anyone would want to be a chef after reading this! I'm sad I didn't get to see any of Bourdain's TV shows. 4*

55 - Project Hail Mary - Although over my head with the science, the author can tell a good story. 4*

50 - Dear Evan Hansen - Lovely play. Now I need to see a performance! 4*

51 - New Kid - Wonderful. Reminds me why I will keep reading the Newbery winners. 4.5*

52 - Everything I Never Told You - Didn't like this as much as her later effort 'Little Fires Everywhere'. 3*

Tiffany wrote: "13. Murder and the First Lady

A cozy re-read as a reward for finishing a big project yesterday."

Oh my, such interesting books you read, Tiffany! This one went right on my 'to-be-read'. Hope I can find a copy :)

47 - The Pegan Diet: 21 Practical Principles for Reclaiming Your Health in a Nutritionally Confusing World - Dr. Hyman's ideas make sense to me. My one 'beef' with the book (pun intended) is that the cover says "paleo + vegan = pegan", but in the book he encourages you to eat meat! 3.75*

48 - Anxious People - I found the first half ridiculous, liked the second half more (and laughed out loud twice), but overall I just couldn't buy into everything that was going on. 3.25*

49 - The Nature Lover's Quotation Book: An Inspired Collection for Hiking, Camping and the Great Outdoors - Beautiful collection of quotations. I need to continue reading a few each day. They keep me grounded. 5*

43 - Playing with Myself - I am one of those who thinks Randy is an amazing talent. And his book is good! 4*

44 - The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois - This took me so long to read, I'm just ready to move on and not analyze too much. I mostly liked it. 4*

45 - Once There Were Wolves - I loved the nature writing and learning more about wolves. I had some issues with the sub-plots, especially towards the end. 3*

46 - Death of a Green-Eyed Monster - This series has been a guilty pleasure for me for years. But with the passing of M.C. Beaton, I think I'll put Hamish Macbeth to rest now.

There - caught up as of today. I've got some ground to make up to reach my 100-book goal!

39 - Birds of a Feather I liked this second Maisie Dobbs installment better than the first. Guess I'll have to continue :) 4*

40 - When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa - Such a sad, but excellent book. Add the people of Zimbabwe to those for whom I feel heartbroken. 5*

41 - The Woodlanders - Thomas Hardy never disappoints. His sense of atmosphere draws me right in. I don't even care that some of his books have similar plotlines. 4*

42 - The Thursday Murder Club - Maybe a little generous in 4*, but it was fun.

35 - Music Is History - I probably gave this an extra 1/2* because it's Questlove. I felt he was over my head much of the time, but I am going back and listening to a lot of the music he mentions. 4*

36 - Subdivision - Inventive, but left me with a similar sense of discomfort that I get from Murakami. 2*

37 - White Nights - I'm happy to have discovered Ann Cleeves! 4*

38 - The Last September - Well-crafted novel set in the time of the Irish Troubles. 3 1/2*

31 - Me - I'm a sucker for a good bio. 4*

32 - State of Terror - Another I wanted to like more. 3*

33 - Love Literary Style - Fun fluff. 3*

34 - Such a Fun Age - A different twist on race and class. I liked that I had no idea what the main characters would do next. 4*

27 - Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way - Beautiful. 5*

28 - Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion - I need a nostalgic visit with Nancy every now and then. 3*

29 - In Concrete - Ok, the story is weird. But - it's worth reading for the brilliant wordplay throughout which is TRANSLATED into English! 3*

30 - The Sentence - I liked this a lot, but felt Erdrich perhaps tried to take on too much. 4*

23 - Cat's Eye - Gotta love Margaret Atwood. 4*

24 - Void Moon - My jury is still out on Cassie Black. 3*

25 - The Echo Wife - I thought this was very well-crafted and a page-turner. A few things bothered me, but still 4*.

26 - Go to Sleep (I Miss You): Cartoons from the Fog of New Parenthood - I will read anything Lucy Knisley writes/draws. 4*

19 - The Book of Form and Emptiness - THERE'S my 5* read! Loved it.

20 - Intimacies- Also liked this one a lot. 4*

21 - Fair Warning - Another solid one from Connelly. 4*

22 - Matrix - A lot of ToB (Tournament of Books) readers loved this, but it didn't really resonate with me. 3*

15 - Clouds of Witness - Another 3* mystery. By-the-way, 3* still means I liked the book! I suppose I rate a little harshly.

16 - Any Human Heart - I didn't much like Logan Mountstuart, but his story is well-written and interesting. 4*

17 - Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer - Entertaining kids' fare. 3*

18 - Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art - Fascinating. 4*

11 - Anything Is Possible - A bit less than meh. 2*

12 - The Promise - Really good writing, but a little too much family misery for me. Didn't love it. 3*

13 - Oh William! - I may just be a crankypants, but Elizabeth Strout's redundant style of writing irritates me. 2*

14 - Libertie - I wanted to like this more. Although there were sections I loved, I couldn't really sink my teeth into it. 3*

7 - The Racketeer - 4* for Grisham on this one.

8 - Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands - Some essays better than others. 3*

9 - The Trees - I laughed out loud several times despite the gruesome scenes. I suppose I have a soft spot for dark humor. I will also add the book is heartbreaking. 4*

10 - My Name Is Lucy Barton - Meh. 3*

Going to try to catch up here over the next few days:

3 - The Burden of Proof - I read this back in January and can't really remember why I only gave it 3*. I think it had to do with a few too many plot twists.

4 - Several People Are Typing - Clever take on the world of Slack. I didn't 'get' a lot of the slang and had to return the book to the library before I could look it up :) 4*

5 - Cockroaches - Decent mystery/crime novel. 3*

6 - Crossroads - I can't seem to resist Franzen even though he, in turn, enthralls, disgusts, fascinates, and annoys me. 3*

Jhenn wrote: "It's been a few years since I have been able to join in one of these challenges. Here's to spending 2022 traveling to a few new places.

“That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet"

I love that quote! (And I also love Jhumpa Lahiri's writing...)

1 - Sad Cypress
Hercule does it again! 4*

2 - Cloud Cuckoo Land
This took a while to get going, but boy did I love it by the end. 5*

Ruthanne wrote: "Good luck, my friend! I’ll be one of your cheerleaders!
Ruthanne"

Thank, Ruthanne. Good luck to you as well!

It's great you have a nice, lovely stack ready to go for the year! Good luck and happy reading!

I'll go for 100 again because - well, it's just a nice number. I didn't quite make it in 2021 (only 82), but I read several that were very long so I'm ok with that number.

Wishing everyone lots of happy reading this year! I feel sorry for non-readers because it's such a great way to 'get away from it all' :)