The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Started: 9/22/23
Finished: 9/29/23
A re-read! I’ve been doing a lot of my re-reading via audiobook lately, and since Stephen Fry narrated this one, it was an easy decision.
Month: September 2023
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne
Started: 9/23/23
Gave up: 9/24/23
Sometimes quirky takes on classic literature work for me, and sometimes they really don’t. This could have been cute – Victor Frankenstein has a scientist sister who can do everything he can do, but they’re a WEIRD family, so when she realizes she can’t find love the usual way, she decides to make her perfect man. Except she reanimates a real person, and then she gaslights him every time he starts to remember his actual family. So not cool. Maybe she realizes what she’s doing is wrong, tells him the truth, and he falls in love with her anyway? Or she lets him go (because what she’s doing is wrong) and her real love turns out to be someone she already knew? I’ll never know.
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Started: 9/18/23
Finished: 9/22/23
Thrillers are my favorite kind of book to listen to, so this worked out, but it was a tad confusing, every character was pretty terrible, and there was basically no way for the reader to figure out who did it. Or maybe that’s just me. Enjoyable, not great.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Started: 9/15/23
Gave up: 9/16/23
I have heard so much good about this book and this series, so I started the audiobook and quit almost immediately. Main character was TOO young/immature, all of the dialogue was too misogynistic, and maybe it gets better, but I don’t want to get through this to find out. Maybe I could deal with it better if I were reading it at my own pace instead of listening. Maybe someday I’ll try again.
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Started: 9/2/23
Finished: 9/15/23
I didn’t realize until just now that the full title of this book is “Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution”. Sounds about right. It’s an alternate history with lots to say about racism and exoticism and conspiracy. Interesting magic stuff, sometimes a bit slow, and while I don’t really want a sequel, I do want to know what happens after.
I read The Poppy War (same author’s first book, maybe?) a few years ago, and I didn’t like it at all. This is much different, much better, and makes it much more likely that I’ll read Yellowface (also acclaimed).
Planetside, Spaceside, and Colonyside by Michael Mammay
Started: 9/1/23
Finished: 9/15/23
A trilogy of well done space military mysteries, likable main characters, really good narrator for the audiobooks. I flew through these and then emailed the author because I thought he did these so well. Dad would have liked them, I think.