Hey, ho, it’s the first post of April, and that means it’s time for the Quarterly Reading Report!
I feel like I had a really slow reading period this year so far. That can be attributed to watching too much hockey, playing too much Grand Theft Auto, and actually doing some writing. The Bruins’ season may or may not be coming to an end soon (an unlikely, white-knuckle victory over Chicago has put them in pretty good shape to make the post season; a victory over Tampa Bay tomorrow night will almost seal the deal, though they could also drop all three of their last regular season games and miss the playoffs again–isn’t this fun stuff what sport is all about?), and I actually haven’t played GTA in about a week, so maybe this reading thing will take off again. Anyway, here’s the list:
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016), Matthew Desmond. Anyone who rolls their eyes at so-called “Welfare Queens” should give this book a read.
Redemption Road (2016), John Hart. Honestly? I don’t even remember this book anymore.
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (2010), Karl Marlantes. Critics really liked it, I was not so enthused, feeling it tried to do too much. And the POV felt much more “head hoppy” than omni.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (2016), J.D. Vance. Speaking of people who should read Evicted. Good book, but shows surprisingly little sympathy for others living in the same kind of situation Vance grew up in.
Men’s Lives (1986), Peter Mathiessen. A chronicle of the men who (barely) made their living fishing the waters of eastern Long Island.
Cold Blooded (2015), Lisa Regan. I beta read this for Lisa a couple years back, and really enjoyed it. Finally got to see it all grown up. Great job, Lisa!
The Waste Lands: The Dark Tower III (1991), Stephen King. After being reminded that there’s a movie version of some kind of this series coming out, I wanted to do some re-reading. Books I and II are missing from my collection, so I grabbed this one. Always good to slip into Mid-World and travel the path of the Beam with the gunslinger and friends.
That’s it. Only seven books since the beginning of the year, and the last one was technically finished after the quarter ended, but I’ll count it anyway. Interestingly, three works of non-fiction, which is a lot in one quarter for me; I usually spread them out much more.
So, what’s been on your reading list?
6 Responses
You lost Books I and II??? Gasp! The Drawing of the Three is my favorite of the Dark Tower series. The Waste Lands probably my second favorite. I liked Blaine and the references to The Stand. 🙂
Thanks for the write-ups. I need to read Lisa's latest, as her other books were great.
Mainly YA books. I also have Whitehead's The Underground Railroad which I need to read.
Lots of interesting books there. I tend to read a lot of genre fiction. I'll have to look and see my Goodreads challenge to see how I'm doing.
Excluding the ms's of my CPs and the books where I opened-my-big-mouth-and-promised-a-review-for-a-free-book, your 7 books beats my 2. The odd one was Entanglement of Fate by Chris Brookes. It's supposed to be a historical mystery, but is more like a soap opera. I didn't like it. But dang-it-all if the soap opera didn't suck me in and I actually finished it (which only happens about 1 of 25 books I start). 7 books is great as far as I'm concerned!
Stacy: Maybe I lost them, and maybe they're in some other when!
Nick: She's quite good, isn't she?
Sheena-kay: I'm reading less YA than I used to, but my first book of the next quarter was a YA!
Donna: I'm now sure how I would describe my reading. It's kind of all over the place.
Lexa: I'm probably the opposite of you, where I don't finish one in twenty-five. I hate not finishing a book (though sometimes I hate finishing it more!).
Thanks, all!