My (MarissaKings) Reading Tally

I've never hit the 75-books-in-a-year mark and probably won't for a very long time, so I'm just trying to keep track of what I read in a year. Spring Semester has just started, so my reading is now going to be restricted to audiobooks that I listen to on my drive to work...oh well!

1. Barrel Fever / Naked by David Sedaris
2. Charles Fort: The Man Who Invented the Supernatural by Jim Steinmeyer
3. Just Kids by Patti Smith
4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
5. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
6. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
7. Philomena by Martin Sixsmith
8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
9. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
10. The Return by Håkan Nesser

11. 1185 Park Avenue: A Memoir by Anne Roiphe
12. The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene
13. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
14. Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell
15. The Round House by Louise Erdrich
16. Atonement by Ian McEwan
17. All Standing: The Remarkable Story of the Jeanie Johnston, The Legendary Irish Famine Ship by Kathryn Miles
18. Alfred and Emily by Doris Lessing
19. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
20. Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell

21. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
22. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
23. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
24. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
25. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
26. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
27. File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents by Lemony Snicket
28. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
29. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
30. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

31. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
32. Last Orders by Graham Swift
33. The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai
34. Night Film by Marisha Pessl
35. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
36. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
37. On Rue Tatin by Susan Loomis
38. Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman
39. Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
40. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

41. The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman
42. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
43. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
44. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
45. The Descendants: a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings
46. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
47. Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff
48. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
49. Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
50. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

51. The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs by Greil Marcus
52. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
53. Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned" by Lena Dunham
54. 101 Two-Letter Words by Stephin Merritt
55. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
56. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
57. Shouldn't You Be In School? by Lemony Snicket
58. Yes Please by Amy Poehler
59. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary Elwes
60. Forgotten Ellis Island: The Extraordinary Story of America's Immigrant Hospital by Lorie Conway

61. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
62. Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson
63. Female Tommies: The Frontline Women of the First World War by Elisabeth Shipton
64. The Quick by Lauren Owen
65. Heap House by Edward Carey
66. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
67. Travels With Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
68. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
69. The Vacationers by Emma Straub
70. Here by Richard McGuire

1. Barrel Fever / Naked by David Sedaris



2. Charles Fort: The Man Who Invented the Supernatural by Jim Steinmeyer



3. Just Kids by Patti Smith



4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins



5. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Welcome! The biography of Charles Fort looks pretty interesting. I'll have to dig it up.

It was alright - I've never read any of Fort's books, but the biography gave a nice summary of each one. He relationships with other writers, mainly Theodore Dreiser, were really interesting to read about.

6. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I'm so behind the times, but I've just finished the Hunger Games trilogy. So glad I finally did!

I'm also interested in the Charles Fort book! I have his three main works in the area of Fortean phenomena, so it'd be interesting to see a little more about how others viewed him, lol.

7. Philomena by Martin Sixsmith

I'm a sucker for reunion stories, and after seeing a trailer for the movie, I thought this would be a feel-good read. I was wrong. The first part detailing how unwed mothers were treated at the convent made me really angry, and the rest of the book made me sad because (spoiler alert) mother and son never meet again. It was an interesting read but very bittersweet.

Just dropped by entirely by accident and have to now add two books to my wish list. I've been wanting to read Philomena since I hear about it, but seeing it here seems like the kind of serendipity which may actually push me into finding a copy of it. The Charles Fort biography also looks very interesting so I'll probably have to check that out too. Overall, I'm definitely liking your reading choices! Good luck with the challenge!

8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I listened to this on audiobook, and I have to say that I absolutely hated both the story and the voice actors. I probably won't bother to see the movie.



9. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Having to deal with multiple flights and layovers on a trip from Florida to Chicago, I thought it would be a nice treat to re-read an old favorite. I never get tired of reading this book.



10. The Return by Håkan Nesser

Another airplane read - a coworker of mine loves Scandinavian thrillers, so I thought I'd give this one a try. It was ok, but I'd like to start at the beginning of the series.

Hi, Marissa!
I *still* haven't read Rebecca, but the movie is one of my all-time favorites. I really need to get round to the book soon!

@Scaifea - oh my goodness, you need to read it ASAP! I saw the movie before I read the book too, and I remember wondering if the book would be able to touch Hitchcock's rendering. It definitely surpasses it - Daphne du Maurier's use of imagery is incredible.

Whelp, that clinches it - I'll buy the next copy I find!

11. 1185 Park Avenue: A Memoir by Anne Roiphe

This was an interesting read. I'm not familiar with any of Anne Roiphe's books and just picked this up on a whim. It took a bit of getting used to her writing style - run-on sentences, lack of punctuation, almost stream of consciousness at times. The book deals with growing up with a father who is basically a misogynistic jerk and a mother who is neurotic and frequently contemplating divorce and/or suicide. Sad but interesting.



12. The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene

Somebody donated this to my library and I snapped it up. I love these squeaky-clean mysteries that are constantly reminding the reader that Nancy is an attractive strawberry blonde.

13. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

I had never read this before, and I needed an audiobook to listen to....over 30 hours later, I'm so glad that I finally "read" it! This is a book that wasn't part of my required high school or college reading, so it just sort of slipped through the cracks. I loved it, although Dora drove me insane.

14. Murder As a Fine Art by David Morrell

This book was hOK. I like historical mysteries, and I'd never heard of London's incredibly brutal Highway Murders before. I thought the dialogue was annoying and pretty childish at times, as were some of the characters....but it was a fast, enjoyable read.



15. The Round House by Louise Erdrich

I couldn't put this book down. At heart, it's a coming of age tale, but it raises issues regarding Native American legal rights and violence against Native American women. I already know that this will be one of my top reads for 2014.



16. Atonement by Ian McEwan

Another audiobook. I'd seen the movie a few years ago and had just never gotten around to reading the book. I thought it was really great, and Part II was my favorite section of the book.

17. All Standing: The True Story of Hunger, Rebellion, and Survival Aboard the Jeanie Johnston by Kathryn Miles

Interesting history of the Irish famine ship the Jeanie Johnston, who had one of the best mortality records of the time. This book also does a nice job of putting the Irish immigrants of the time in a historical context.



18. Alfred and Emily by Doris Lessing

I thought that the synopsis behind this book was interesting - Doris Lessing re-imagined what her parents' lives would have been like had World War I not occurred in part one, and in part two she expounds on the aftermath of what really did happen....but I just didn't really enjoy it.



19. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Holy crap. I loved this book. Yeah, it was a bit drawn-out at times, and sometimes I had trouble keeping characters straight....but I loved the level of detail in this book. I loved the historical mystery aspect and especially all of the visits to libraries and archives.

Oh, I loved The Historian, too! So glad to hear that you enjoyed it!

20. Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell

I really enjoyed this one - the author put so, so much care into researching the Fitzgeralds, the writing of the Great Gatsby, and their influencing events of the 1920s. I loved the inclusion of images of the original archival documents throughout the book.



21. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

This was my next audiobook listen after The Historian. It was ok - a Gothic tale in the style of Jane Eyre with some twists that I didn't see coming. I liked that the author wrapped up almost everything in the last chapter, although a question posed by one of the supporting characters definitely made me want to re-read the book to see what I'd missed.

22. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

This was a nice quick read - it was really elegantly written. I pitied the character Stevens so much by the end.

23. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Somehow, I'd never read Neil Gaiman before. I knew I needed to, but just hadn't gotten around to it. I needed a quick read for my lunch breaks and grabbed this one, and I'm hooked. I enjoyed this book so, so much - it was so imaginative, and I definitely teared up at the end. Getting more Gaiman books tomorrow.

Oh, yay for Gaiman! I love him.

@Scaifea I'm instantly converted!

/

24. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I had to read another Gaiman book ASAP, and I grabbed this from my library's shelf. I really like the way this story was told through an adult remembering his childhood. Gaiman's creatures and other worlds are so imaginative, you can tell he's probably thought of back stories for everything, and it's almost like reading Tolkien.

25. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Continuing on my Gaiman kick, I read this over two lunch breaks at work. I really enjoyed it and thought it was a really great book for kids. It also didn't hurt that the cat in the book reminded me of my cat :)

26. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I finally got around to reading this, and I really enjoyed it. It was pretty dark and had some very disturbing scenes, but I liked how gritty it was. I can't wait to start the next book!

Yeah, they're pretty intense! :)

@drneutron I'm steeling myself to watch the movie...I've heard that the Swedish version is very true to the book.

Yup, it is.and it's pretty graphic in spots.

27. File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents by Lemony Snicket

I can never stay away from Lemony Snicket. I'm really enjoying his All the Wrong Questions series, and this was a nice supplement to that. This book is 13 mini-capers that the young Snicket finds himself involved with in the town Stain'd-by-the-Sea with the solutions filed at the back of the book. Very enjoyable and filled with his usual dry humor ("There's a name for women who walk the streets at night: insomniacs").

28. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson



29. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Yep. I finally get the hype around the Millennium series. I have mixed feelings about another author continuing the series, though.



30. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

This was the final book in my Neil Gaiman binge. I really appreciate how much research must have gone into this book - he must have had to research so many gods and religions to be able to personify so many. However....I just didn't care for the book. I can't really pinpoint why...I just didn't. I'm glad I got through the book, but I'll probably stick with his YA and Juvenile writings.

31. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

I listened to this one as an audiobook, and although I thought the character Sarah and her story as it unraveled were interesting, I couldn't stand the narrator. I really wasn't interested in her story, so once Sarah's story was told, I was just hoping that the book would end.

32. Last Orders by Graham Swift

I really liked the stream of consciousness framework for this book - the different layers of the characters' lives were revealed like an onion.



33. The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai

Wow, did I love this book. It tells the story of a house and its inhabitants starting in 1999, then goes back to tell its story several decades earlier, and then decades earlier. In each time period, questions about the house's history are answered and new ones crop up. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to start over and read it all again.



34. Night Film by Marisha Pessl

I could not put this book down. I loved how dark and suspenseful it was. I'm definitely the type who loves horror films but usually can't stomach watching them, so this book was perfect for me. I loved its twists and turns and at times thought everyone in the room could hear my heart pounding.



35. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

I didn't like this book at all. The relationships between all of the characters really creeped me out, and I just didn't like the story.



36. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

This book was really special. It reminded me of One Hundred Years of Solitude. It was very mysterious and poetic, and I loved the historical backdrop. This is one that I will definitely read again.

37. On Rue Tatin by Susan Loomis

I enjoyed the first half of this book, where the author tells how she fell in love with Normandy, found her dream house, and renovated it with her husband. After that....the book felt kind of pointless, like the author was just trying to write something. She had one chapter about a trip to the dentist for her son, and I kept waiting for there to be a point or a punchline to the story....but there wasn't. She just took her son to the dentist and got sherbert afterwards. The recipes throughout looked really good, so I may just stick to her cookbooks in the future.



38. Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman

I first saw this book on the Early Reviewer list and thought it looked fascinating. I hadn't seen any of the NBC reports on Huguette Clark, so the story was brand new to me. Her life and the life of her parents was fascinating - I'm surprised that W.A. Clark is now unheard of. The last part of the book was really frustrating to read, as I think that Madame Clark's nurse, doctors, lawyer, and accountant were totally unethical. A very, very interesting read.

39. Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

This book was pretty breathtaking. It's mind-boggling to think that someone can withstand so so much physical and emotional pain. I really hope that the upcoming movie does this story justice.



40. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

This was only the second novel by Murakami that I've read (the other one being 1Q84), and I really enjoyed it. It was a very calming read, but very interesting at the same time. I'd read some reviews that complained that the book was very repetitive, but I didn't think so - it centers around a central question that the main character is trying to answer.



41. The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman

This book showed up on a list of read-a-likes for Night Film, and the premise sounded good, so I gave it a try. I really didn't like it. The main character really annoyed me (there is murder, attempted murder, mental illness...and she's thinking about the police investigator's lips? Really?), and I hated the incredibly fake-sounding diary entries. Not my favorite read this year.

42. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I can't believe that I'd never read this book before. Robert Wise's movie The Haunting is one of my favorites, and it was nice to read the book and see how much dialogue was lifted directly from there. The book was creepy and unsettling throughout, and Eleanor's slow transformation was really well written.

>35 MarissaKings: I *love* that one. Love it! And the Wise movie is hands-down the scariest movie I've ever watched.
"Journeys end in lovers meeting." *shudders*

@scaifea The whole book is so creepy! The scene with the hand-holding always made my skin crawl when watching the movie, and it seemed so much more unsettling in the book.

Stop! You're giving me the willies! Ha!

@scaifea ;)



43. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

I wanted to like this. I really did. I'd read that it's a classic, one of the best ghost stories ever written. But I just....couldn't. Maybe I was too distracted reading it (fall semester just started), but I couldn't get into it. The governess drove me crazy, and all of the things that were left unsaid just irritated me. Maybe I'll read it again some day and appreciate it....but not today.



44. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I hadn't read this in a while, so I popped the audiobook into my car. I really didn't enjoy this as much as I did when I first read it. I can read Lord of the Rings over and over, but I don't think that I have the same attachment to this book.

I felt the exact same way about The Turn of the Screw. Ha!

@scaifea good! I'm glad it's not just me. I felt kind of stupid after reading it and not liking it....but then I didn't care. I just didn't like it.

45. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

I finally read the book after seeing the movie many times. I really liked this one (although I definitely read it in my head in George Clooney's voice).

46. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

I loved this one so much. This wasn't scary but was creepy through and through. Merricat is a great character and I loved her use of sympathetic magic. I'll definitely be re-reading this one and am on the lookout for a first-edition copy (the cover art is fantastic).

47. Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff

I listened to the audiobook version of this, and it was so, so interesting. The author (a journalist) returned to his hometown of Detroit to document what was happening there - this was about the time that the incredibly shady mayor Kilpatrick was being investigated. This was a very eye-opening and personal account of the city that I recommend to anyone with an interest in contemporary history.



48. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

I rounded up my Shirley Jackson phase with this one. Honestly, I didn't enjoy many of these. Regardless, Shirley Jackson is incredible at creating tension and anxiety in her stories (that's probably why I didn't like a lot of them, since I was feeling anxious along with the characters). Most of them also deal with being outsiders in closed communities, something that apparently Jackson dealt with in real life.

49. Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

This book was definitely...different. Granted, a book about a serial killer in modern-day Detroit who incorporates taxidermy and art into his killing was bound to be unlike a lot of other books, but this was still different. I liked going through the points of view of all of the different characters and adding everything up, and the ending was definitely out there.



50. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Susannah Cahalan

This book was terrifying. The author starts by describing her (relatively) minor symptoms - forgetting things, being paranoid about bedbugs, being overly emotional - and builds up to accounts of her worse symptoms (since she couldn't really remember any of it) of drastic personality changes, paranoia, and seizures. It turns out that she had a weird form of encephalitis where her body essentially started attacking her brain. One of the scariest parts of the story to me was how her regular doctor chalked her behavior up to alcohol withdrawal, which, even after all of the tests and treatments that she went through, he still believed was the case.

51. The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs by Greil Marcus

Have you ever tried listening to music with a friend, and the friend goes on and on and on the entire time about the hidden meanings behind the songs and their influences on other musical groups, and you want to tell them to shut up so you can just listen to the music? That's kind of what this book was like. I appreciate the extensive research that the author has done here, and there are some really interesting back stories behind some of the songs, but at the end of the day, I'd like to just listen to Buddy Holly and appreciate the music for what I like about it.

52. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Wow, Lauren Beukes writes some dark stuff. The premise of this book sounds weird - a time-traveling serial killer stalks his victims through different decades in Chicago - but it works. I got hooked on the story, but I definitely had to skip some of the more graphic passages. I can't remember the last time that a book made me feel queasy.



53. Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned" by Lena Dunham

I like Lena Dunham a lot, and this was a great quick read full of bizarre anecdotes and solid life advice.



54. 101 Two-Letter Words by Stephin Merritt

I love Stephin Merritt's music and couldn't wait to get ahold of this book. He wrote a short four-lined poem for each of the 101 two-letter words allowed in Scrabble, and artist Roz Chast created illustrations for each one. It's fantastic.

55. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

I read this book after hearing my coworkers rave about it for the last 2 years. To be honest....I really hated it when I started. I made myself finish it so that I wouldn't have to get any grief from my coworkers. I'm glad I finished it as it definitely grew on me. It's not one of my favorite reads, but it was ok.



56. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman

Another coworker of mine is really into historic graphic novels. I'd never read a graphic novel, and she told me to start with this one. I can't believe how much I loved it - the illustrations were perfect, and the entire story would have felt completely different had it been told through a regular text medium.

57. Shouldn't You Be In School? by Lemony Snicket

I'm really enjoying this series. This book got a bit darker and more serious than the previous two, which I thought was great. There are also starting to be more crossovers with the Series of Unfortunate Events - some familiar characters popped up and some foreshadowing of events. I'm already looking forward to book #4.

58. Yes Please by Amy Poehler

I loved this book. I think Amy Poehler is hilarious, and her memoir was the perfect balance of comedy and legit life advice. The behind-the-scenes stuff on Upright Citizens Brigade, SNL, and Parks and Recreation was also really interesting.

>50 MarissaKings: I can't wait to get my hands on that one - I love her!

@scaifea - it's so good! So much wisdom! My favorite nugget is: "Depending on your career is like eating cake for breakfast and wondering why you start crying an hour later."

59. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

This book is absolute magic. Like most children of the 80s and 90s, I've seen The Princess Bride enough times to pretty much be able to recite all of the dialogue from start to finish. Reading Cary Elwes' (and the majority of the main cast who also shared their memories) recollections of the making of the movie from start to finish was really, really lovely. I'm ordering the audiobook version because I want to hear the whole story again in Cary Elwes' voice.



60. Forgotten Ellis Island: The Extraordinary Story of America's Immigrant Hospital by Lorie Conway

This book provided a really good overview of the hospital at Ellis Island. The text is good in describing the history, but the heart of the book is the incredible photographs and documents used to illustrate the timeline.



61. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman

This is a really amazing and moving story. I'm still surprised at how well it was captured as a graphic novel.

>53 MarissaKings: Oooh, I'm so excited to get my hands on the Princess Bride book! I'm hoping to get it for Christmas...

@scaifea I hope you get it! Just make sure that you have the movie on hand because you'll want to watch it ten times in a row during and after the book...

62. Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson

I love Bill Bryson's writing. I think his sense of humor is hilarious, and I love the adventures he takes himself on. This book, like the cover warned, did have me snorting out loud with laughter in public, but I'm pretty ok with that. His description of his journey around the UK really, really made me miss it, and his description of Oxford was spot on.

63. Female Tommies: The Frontline Women of the First World War by Elisabeth Shipton

This was a really fascinating read. I had no idea the extent to which women had a role in World War I, whether it was from serving as nurses and doctors, performing auxiliary duties, or even fighting in armies. The author did a really good job of setting the context of the Suffragette movement and explaining the seemingly dozens of different nursing groups formed during the course of the war. My only complaint is that I would have liked to learn about the role of women in Central countries (ie. Germany, Austria-Hungary, etc.) as this book only looks at the Allies.



64. The Quick by Lauren Owen

I listened to this on audiobook as a suggestion from a coworker. Apparently the true subject matter of this book is supposed to be a kind of surprise that you don't discover until you're about a fifth of the way into the book, so I won't give away any spoilers here, but overall I didn't really care for it. I could have done without so many character backstories and side plots, and I just tuned it out at a lot of points. Apparently there is a sequel in the works, but I'm just not interested.

65. Heap House by Edward Carey

I think I first heard about this book on NPR's website, and I asked my library to purchase it. I absolutely loved it. It was described in a quote as being a mix between Dickens and Lemony Snicket, and it did not fail to disappoint. It takes place in an alternate 1875-ish London and is about an odd family that lives among the Heaps - vast mountains of discarded items and refuse from the city. Each family member is assigned a birth object when they are born, and the main character Clod Iremonger can hear the objects whispering. This is the first of a trilogy, and I can't wait for the next one!

66. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

This book was really hyped up to me by family and friends, and this is one instance where the book lived up to it. The story was poetic and amazing, and I really enjoyed it. I can see why this is a classic.

67. Travels With Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

I haven't read much of Steinbeck, but I really enjoyed this account of his road trip with his dog. He made very striking observations about the lives he encountered and about travel in general, and I had to stop more than once to write down a quote that stuck with me.



68. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

I'm now convinced that the only way to 'read' anything by David Sedaris is to listen to him read it. Hearing the voices and accents that he does has made me cry with laughter (his impression of his brother Paul is my favorite). This book of essays and stories wasn't as good as some of his others that I've read, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

69. The Vacationers by Emma Straub

I loved this book. The premise is simple - a family and friends vacation at Mallorca for two weeks, and everyone arrives with their own emotional baggage - but the way the stories intertwine and the characters interact was really great. I can't wait to read more by the same author.



70. Here by Richard McGuire

This graphic novel is gorgeous. The book is presented from one viewpoint which from 1907 until sometime shortly after 2015 is the corner of a living room. It juxtaposes the different activities that happened within the house within its decades of habitation as well as what the site was like hundreds and thousands of years ago and projects what it will look like in the future. The illustration is really, really beautiful and the premise is so amazing.