Presented in reverse chronological order.
2023
March
Fairy Tale
I love everything I’ve ever read by Stephen King. This isn’t my favorite book of his – that would be 11/22/63 – but I still couldn’t put it down. Not to mention that I didn’t even need to go on a vacation to start it. It’s a coming-of-age fantasy story fixated on an aging dog… what can I say, I’m a mark. I missed the characters soon after I finished.
2022
August
Recursion
This is the book I’ve been looking for since I finished Dark Matter. It’s the best thriller I have ever read. The pacing of the story and the twists run alongside you: sometimes you’re one step ahead, sometimes one step behind, but never far away. I felt smart and surprised in equal measure, and I white-knuckled the last half of the book in one sitting on an airplane.
Hold Fast: A Novel (A Thomas Grey Novel, #1)
I made the mistake of slogging through this for five months. It’s the story of an 1820s James Bond and it’s written well but it’s not what I needed. It’s an action movie as a book. I have already forgotten the plot. I do not plan to read the second.
February
The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)
A slow start to what looks like a captivating series. The applications of theory are fun and satisfyingly taken to logical conclusions. It’s not hard sci-fi but it’s enough to make me feel smart. Alone it’s merely above average but I’m spoiled by knowing it’s the foundation of a bigger payoff.
2021
March
Age of Empyre (The Legends of the First Empire, #6)
A fantastic end to one of my favorite fantasy series. It is a heroic achievement of world-building across thousands of years and seemingly as many books. There is a deluge of payoffs and there are enough tied-up threads to make a sweater. Michael J. Sullivan is one of the greats.
January
Kissa by Kissa
A beautiful and durable physical book, the best I have ever held and smelled. The words are precise but not precious. The photos capture the uncanny valley of seeing Japan through Western eyes. I tried to pinch-to-zoom.
Pre-2021
Books were read for many years before this document existed.