Books I've Read This Year
The Illustrated Man
by Ray Bradbury
This book of sci-fi/fantasy short stories reads like a series of Black Mirror episodes if Black Mirror was about rockets, Martians, atom bombs, and children wishing their parents dead.
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Feb 2023
Endurance
by Alfred Lansing
Shackleton and his men are tough as hell. Nature is terrifying and can dispose of us whenever it so chooses.
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Feb 2023
Peril at End House
by Agatha Christie
The best mysteries are the ones where every suspect has a secret to hide. The ending need not be unpredictable if it is otherwise well executed and satisfactory.
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Feb 2023
The Library Book
by Susan Orlean
Libraries are some of the best things in this world. Fires are some of the most devastating. Combine the two and you get heartbreak.
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Feb 2023
The Big Four
by Agatha Christie
This Poirot novel is much different than the others I have read (more Hitchcockian thriller than cozy mystery). Poirot as a character is so enjoyable that I still enjoyed the read, it’s just not what I want from an Agatha Christie novel.
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Feb 2023
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
by Gabrielle Zevin
A spectacular work of fiction about the creative process, friendship, love, and the messiness of life. I highly recommend it.
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Jan 2023
After the Funeral
by Agatha Christie
I found this mystery immediately predictable. Maybe I’ve read too much Christie by this point. I think the problem with this one is that all of the necessary pieces to solve the crime are laid out within the first quarter of the book.
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Jan 2023
The Body in the Library
by Agatha Christie
Miss Marple doesn’t get the same kind of love Poirot does, but I enjoyed this book more than a few Poirots. Granted, I probably would have enjoyed it more if you swapped out Marple for Poirot.
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Jan 2023
The River of Doubt
by Candice Millard
This brilliant book is less about Teddy and more about his expedition and using that expedition as a vehicle to inform the reader about the Amazon. Great book.
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Jan 2023
The Mystery of the Blue Train
by Agatha Christie
This novel is based on a short story of Christie’s. Having unknowingly read that short story previously, this book was spoiled for me.
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