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Cake day: December 25th, 2023

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  • Mistborn is such an easy and pleasant read! It was an excellent gateway into Sanderson’s books for me.

    I finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and absolutely loved it. There were a couple nitpicky science things I had issues with, but overall I thought it was an amazing read.

    Now I’ve started The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher. It’s a historical fiction about a gay American woman who opens a bookstore in 1920s Paris. Finally getting that Bookception bingo square filled with this one.

    Edit: As I read further, I realized this book, while fiction, is very much about a real person and real events that happened in the 1920s. This book is about Sylvia Beach.



  • I finished Educated by Tara Westover. I really liked this book. It gave me a glimpse into an upbringing that is about as different from mine as I can imagine. If you want to get an idea of what it’s like to grow up in a distrusts-anything-government, survivalist family, I highly recommend.

    Now I’ve started Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I’m still early on but I love how this book started. It instantly gripped me and I can’t wait to see how it goes.




  • I finished the short stories in my copy of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Some of them haven’t aged that well but overall I found most of them enjoyable.

    I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. This book was absolutely amazing. If you want a short, atmospheric fantasy I highly recommend. I think this is a book I’ll return to routinely.

    Now I’m reading Educated by Tara Westover. It’s a memoir about her growing up in a survivalist family in rural Idaho. She was not enrolled in school and didn’t even have a birth certificate for many years. I’m not very far in yet but it is fascinating and very easy to read.



  • I finally finished The Wheel of Time series! I took forever to get through the last book, longer than with any of the slog books, but I’m so happy to be done. I do wish the last book was more satisfying. It just felt very different in tone from the rest, partly I think due to Sanderson running out of source material. But there was still a lot I enjoyed across the whole series, so I don’t regret putting the time into it.

    I finished I Am Legend by Richard Matheson last night. My copy of the book contains a bunch of short stories by the author as well, so now I am reading through those. He is very effective at writing short, impactful horror.





  • I finished The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence (The Red Quern’s War book 3). The character growth across this trilogy really made this book satisfying, though it made the earlier books a bit rough for me. I really wasn’t a fan of the main character’s flaws early on.

    Now I’m on to The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time book 12!). Only just started so no real impressions yet but I’m so excited to see how this series wraps up. It feels like I’m actually getting close to the end of this giant journey!


  • I finished The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence (Red Queen’s War book 2). It’s a fantasy-scifi blend leaning more towards fantasy, in a post-apocalytic setting. I struggled a bit at first but my enjoyment really picked up in the second half. I look forward to seeing how this trilogy will end.

    I just started book 3, The Wheel of Osheim last night. I’m only a chapter in but I’m already finding it very gripping.

    In between, I read Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. This is a crime/thriller book taking place in South Boston in the 1970s. It features a significant event in Bostom’s history from that time period (busing to desegregate the city) and a fictionalized version of the crime boss Whitey Bulger. I found it considerably better than most crime fiction I’ve read and thought the themes were heavy hitting and well done. I will say I wish the author gave a little more explanation of what he pulled from real life events at the end of the book.

    For bingo, I’ve now read 7 books that qualify for at least one tile (I’m not counting multiple books from the same series - which has been the majority of my reading). I don’t think I’ll fill the whole board but I think I can achieve at least a couple bingos by the end.





  • I finished The Heaven And Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. I was worried it wouldn’t stick the landing and it didn’t. A lot of the promises it set up in part 1 seemed to be forgotten. Almost like the author was working on two completely different books and decided to lump them together without editing them to match.

    Now I’m about to start Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time book 11) and I’m super excited. He set so much up in the next book and I’m hoping the payoff is good.


  • Finished Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time book 10). It was enjoyable. Not much happened, but a lot was set up and it sounds like the next book will deliver.

    Before I continue with that series, I’m reading The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. I’m about a third of the way through and so far it’s good. It’s the kind of story that follows it’s characters across many years, which I generally like, but something makes me worried it might not stick the landing and I can’t quite put my finger on it.