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

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

Good luck!

I should read LESS this year and get some other projects done, but I just love reading too much! I'm going for 100 again...

1 - A Natural Woman: A Memoir
I enjoyed this audiobook read by the author. She sang snippets of many of her songs throughout. She's had a pretty fascinating life. 4 1/2*

31 books is very respectable (and a lot more than most people read in a year). If you enjoyed your reading time, that's all that matters! Wishing you many happy reading hours in 2020 :)

Wow! Impressive results. Happy New Year and Happy Reading in 2020.

Surpassed my goal. Yay! Happy New Year to all. Hope you have a marvelous reading year in 2020!

99 - The Glass Palace
Loved it. 5*

100 - Death of a Gentle Lady 3*

101 - The Return of the Soldier 4* (1001 books)

102 - Death of a Witch 3*

96 - Dumb Witness 4*

97 - The Jane Austen Book Club 3*

98 - Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory
Really liked some of the stories, not so much others - probably averages out to 3*

93 - The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared 3*

94 - Death of a Maid 3*

95 - Gitanjali: A Collection of Indian Poems by the Nobel Laureate

90 - The Vegan Starter Kit: Everything You Need to Know About Plant-Based Eating
As it states - a starter kit. I think it dropped half a star when I read it's possible to get all the protein you need from broccoli (it neglected to say how MUCH of it you'd have to eat ;) I have enjoyed the recipes I've tried so far. 3*

91 - Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
Well-researched and extremely disturbing. 5*

92 - Playing for the Ashes
George writes the anti-cozy mystery, but they're so well-done I keep reading her. 4*

86 - The Woman Who Died a Lot
This almost tipped the wacky cleverness scale. 4*

The New York Trilogy, which was published as three separate books (see below), so I'm counting them separately!

87 - City of Glass
88 - Ghosts
89 - The Locked Room
A little too Murakami-esque for me to love this trilogy, but a solid 3*.

82 - Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations
Excellent graphic memoir about interracial families. 5*

83 - The Message in the Hollow Oak
Time to visit Nancy Drew. 3*

84 - Every Brilliant Thing
Hope to see this play performed some day. 4*

85 - The Book of Will
Ditto for this play. 4*

79 - In the Bedroom: Seven Stories
Not what you would think from the title ;) Very well-written stories about tough things that happen to average people. 4 1/2*

80 - Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert's Story
So me. My favorite panel is "perfect date night" - the woman curled up with a book, the man on his computer. Ha ha. 4*

81 - The Little Book of Sloth Philosophy
Cute little book about giving yourself permission to be lazy. Nothing ground-breaking. 3*

76 - The Thirteen Problems
That Miss Marple - thirteen cases solved just like that! 4*

77 - The Septembers of Shiraz
Set in Iran right after the revolution. I won't try to summarize it, but thought it was excellent. 4 1/2*

78 - The Haunting of Hill House
Has a more "dated" feel than a lot of books from the 1950's, but I appreciate how Jackson builds an eerie tale. 4*

73 - A Ballad for Georg Henig (1001 books)
Lovely and sad. 4*

74 - The Italian Teacher 4 1/2*
5* for Rachman's writing. I took 1/2 star off for a few questions about the story.

75 - The Bear and the Nightingale
Well-written, but I'm not enough of a fantasy fan to properly appreciate this. 3*

70 - Lost Children Archive (Tournament of Books)
5* for the impression it made and the amount of time I suspect it will stay with me.

71 - The Black Box
On pace for 4* right up until the last 10% (audiobook). I'd sacrifice a little excitement for more believability. 3 1/2*

72 - The Three Musketeers (1001 books)
Pretty good, but I liked The Count of Monte Cristo more. Milady is quite the villainess. 3 1/2*

67 - The Falcon at the Portal
Subtracted a star for a creepy plot line (not the main plot). 3*

68 - Empire Falls
Richard Russo can tell a story. 4*

69 - Death of a Dreamer
These library audiobooks always seem to be available and they're fun to listen to. 3*

64 - The PreHistory of The Far Side: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit
Just love these. 5*

65 - American Spy
Started off great, but then lost some credibility. 3*

66 - Death of a Bore
It was time for a cozy mystery fix. 3*

61 - Murder in Mesopotamia
Yet another clever plot. How does the woman do it? 4*

62 - The Ape Who Guards the Balance
Amelia Peabody always thoroughly entertains me. 4*

63 - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
It bogged down in a couple of places, but mostly lived up to its title. Excellent audiobook narration. 4*

58 - Consider the Lobster and Other Essays
I think DFW was a genius (and he's FUNNY). I continue to be sad he's no longer with us. 4* (some essays were better than others)

59 - Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
Another author I love and miss. 4*

60 - 1776 4*

55 - Death of a Poison Pen 3*

56 - Daisy Jones & The Six (Tournament of Books)
Loved it. 5*

57 - Book Love
This woman 'gets' me. 4*