I am currently reading -- re-reading (after nearly five decades) -- a 12th book, Emily Wilson's translation of "The Iliad" for another book club. But this club is only tackling two book/chapters per month, so it will take a year to finish.
Of note, Clare highly recommends "The Frozen River," which will be my first of at least 20 books I resolve to read in 2025.
So here's my review of 2024 books, in reverse chronological order: some solid recommendations, and one warning: please God, save yourself, do not read "Day of the Oprichnik."
The Salzburg Executioner by L.A. Fatzinger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Full disclosure: I know the author. Fuller disclosure: I'm proud to know the author after reading this book. Leigh is a former tech company executive, and he poses important questions about the impact of technology and social media. These are familiar questions, but this book poses them in a unique way. This is a thought-provoking story, told with pacing and detail. It's a modern novel about lessons of history applied to the future.
It's Not About You: A Brief Guide to a Meaningful Life by Tom Rath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a quick read (and currently free on Kindle Unlimited/Amazon Prime), but I did not find it particularly ground-breaking. Not that that's bad. It's all earnest, good advice, which you can glean from the title. Perhaps I was hoping for magical insight... but that's just me. And it's not about me.
Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I wanted to like this book more than I did. I enjoyed listening to it, at the start, for the most part, until I tired of the author telling me how smart, perceptive and brave she is, was, and always has been. I have no doubt she is, was, and always has been the smartest person in the room, but this is not a "love story" so much as it is an "I told you so" story. The author is truly insightful, yet I would have enjoyed this book more if it had shown more empathy for all the lesser mortals in her colorful life. Still, this is a worthy effort -- and maybe I'm more than a little jealous of the author's career. Consider this at least 3.5 stars.
James by Percival Everett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was, alas, the last book read by the ill-fated Mother Cabrini Health Foundation book club. We never met to discuss this, so I never got the chance to tell my former co-workers how much I've valued discovering writers like Percival Everett, all because of them. "Wait, you mean 'American Fiction' is based on a book?!?" Broadening my horizons, seeing things from a different point of view, feeling empathy for people who aren't just like me... these are things great literature promises but rarely delivers. This book turns Mark Twain inside out. Yes, THAT Mark Twain... the writer whose story Ernest Hemingway once claimed was the source of all modern American literature. Ha.
The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this right after I read Viola Davis' "Finding Me," which I absolutely loved. So this was bound to suffer by comparison. Still, I liked reading about a life so different from my own. So different. Radically different. Sometimes unbelievably so. So... 4 stars... through no fault of RuPaul's storytelling skills, just a bit of a lack of my ability to suspend disbelief.
Finding Me by Viola Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a terrific book. I was surprised. It was required reading by my book club. By the time I finished it, I was awe-struck. You should, like me, pick up this book with no preconceived notions about the actress, her life, or her ability to tell a story. It's nice to be delightfully surprised as a grown up. Just wow.
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read this as part of a book club early this year... and, writing this review in December, I had utterly no recollection of reading this book. Hence the 3 stars. Once I looked it up, I realized I may have blocked it from memory, having been triggered by reading about all the behind-the-scenes drama of a harried waitstaff in a busy restaurant. I'm a very nervous diner. (The main character works as a waitress). I also remember feeling the story's resolution was too tidy, like a Hallmark drama. Which I also find triggering.
The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
My wife -- a journalist -- really liked this book. It is a very journalistic read. Heartfelt, sincere, and earnest. Just like my wife. And it takes place (so to speak) in what I've come to discover is a favorite city: London. So I can't possibly give this less than 4 stars. Besides, it's a vivid account of a well-loved life.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was charmed by this novella. I enjoyed (and very much appreciated) the imaginative storytelling. I am, sadly, not the target audience for this book. As an older man fading into invisibility, the books it's presumed I will enjoy tend to be long, world-weary, and realistic. This book is sweet, sparsely frightening, and absurdly poetic. Which is more like real life, after all. (PS - Read before the allegations surfaced against the author.)
Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk's Twitter by Zoë Schiffer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this as soon as it came out, and it did not disappoint. This is a very detailed, and chilling, account of the rise and fall of Twitter, which at one time was my favorite social media platform. I ultimately liked this better than Kara Swisher's account, published later in the year, because there was more meat here.
Day of the Oprichnik: A Novel by Vladimir Sorokin
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Well, I finally read a book I disliked more than "Pride and Prejudice."
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I actually read this book in 2023 but am posting this review now because that is how willful my life has become. I gave this 4 stars immediately after reading, so I surely enjoyed the insight into a writer's life. I remember, though, being less enthused about all the behind-the-scenes of the real? satirical? obsolete? world of book publishing.
