Another year, another book list, here we go! 

My Book List for 2023:

1. Lifespan: Why We Age - and Why We Don't Have To by David Sinclair, PhD
It took me ages to finally finish this book, but finishing it at the start of the new year seems apt! It contains tons of research, shared accessibly, about why we age - and the up-and-coming science that means we might not have to. He goes into the ethical and moral debates around stalling/stopping human aging, and I found the whole thing fascinating. I have hope for some of these scientific advances in my lifetime - and in the meantime, it's a pretty big incentive to eat better, move more, and take better care of myself in general! 

2. Beauty by Robin McKinley
I thoroughly enjoyed this new spin on the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast. It was very well-written and and a joy to read.

3. ZED by Joanna Kavenna (2022 Advent Calendar TEOTWRC Book)
The End of the World Reading Club put out an Advent Calendar for Christmas and, of course, I had to get it! Each day leading up to Christmas I got to open a gift - sometimes they were food/candy, sometimes they were book-related, and other times they were apocalypse survival stuff! And on Christmas Day there was a hard cover book as the final present! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about a supposedly utopian future where smart technology lives in everything from your refrigerator to your front door, and constantly runs "lifechain" predictions about what you (and everyone else) will do next. The story follows the CEO of Beetle, the tech supergiant running everything; his right-hand man; a policewoman who works alongside sentient droids; and an editor of the still free press, as they navigate this world. Things start going awry with an unknown human quantity called "Zed." I would love to read more books based in this world! 

4. Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano
This is the second in a series, I read the first one last year. The first book gripped me immediately and I found to be very fun if campy/cheesy. This one...just had too much camp/cheese for me. The characters began to be exceedingly unrealistic while also very predictable. The tension/problems were just annoying more than anything - I hate when main characters just continually create problems for themselves out of sheer stupidity. I think there are more in this series but I won't be checking them out. 

5. The Pharmacist by Rachelle Atalla (December 2022 TEOTWRC Book)
With all the chaos of moving, it took me until the end of January to finish this book! It also took me some time to get into it as it had one really annoying quality - no quotation marks when people are speaking!! I sincerely hope this is not a new trend in publishing as I found it incredibly frustrating. It took me much longer to read than normal as I had to go back and re-read to figure out who was speaking out loud and when. Anyway, other than that, it was a good read. The story takes place in a bunker after a nuclear event. The main character, Wolfe, is one of the pharmacists, and we follow her boring routine until it starts to get shaken up. The leader, ND, is growing increasingly erratic and asks her to do increasingly terrible things. It was a good story, just bring back quotation marks, please! 

6. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
I adored this book, and Zevin's writing style is incredible. It is warm and inviting, like listening to a friend talk, but, like, a really super smart friend - I had to look up the definition of a word about every 5 pages or so. And yet, it didn't come off as pretentious. The story follows Sam and Sadie throughout their lives, weaving together past and present, with delicious foreshadowing throughout. So, so, good; and now I'm off to read everything else by this same author! 

7. The Last Storm by Tim Lebbon (January 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
This is not a book I would have chosen to read on my own...and I admit I had to push through to get to the end. It advertises itself as apocalyptic horror, and maybe that just isn't my jam! The setting is the USA after severe climate change has turned most of the country into a desert. As everyone struggles to survive, one person with a gift for bringing rain tries to use her talent to help, with disastrous consequences. I think I struggled because the characters felt very one-dimensional and the world-building left something to be desired - "Hotbloods" were mentioned without ever fleshing out was those were, the lore around why this particular family could make rain was never really explored, it all just felt a bit empty for me. Then it got a bit too gory for me at the end! 

8. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
There's been a bit of controversy about this book as it deals with a sensitive subject and probably should come with a content/trigger warning about domestic violence. That said, I felt the characters were well-written and I was compelled by the story - it didn't take me very long to read. It's not exactly groundbreaking literature but it was (mostly) enjoyable. 

9. The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
AJ Fikry owns a bookstore on an island off the East Coast, and we follow throughout the ups and downs of his life. I enjoyed this one, and it was a very easy read. I didn't love as much as the other book I've read by this author, but it was still worth a read!

10. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It came highly recommended by a few friends as a good beach read and it was that, I suppose. For most of the novel, I found myself very annoyed. The characters were just a little too perfectly imperfect, and the main female, Poppy, was very much a manic-pixie-dream-girl. It felt like reading every so bad it's good Rom-Com cliche and it turns out, I love watching those, but don't so much love reading them. I could have made a drinking game out of how many times the characters "died laughing," "deteriorated into laughter," literally fell on the floor snort-laughing at jokes between them that just...weren't that funny. Like, we get it, you two think you are the most entertaining people on the planet. Idk, I guess I'd just rather watch that in a 3 minutes montage than read it over 30 pages. Towards the end, I warmed up to them a bit, but then I was just frustrated at the overall cliched plot of two best friends who desperately love each other but won't say it because what if we ruin the friendship but by not saying it they are ruining their own lives and the lives of everyone they date. It just, ugh. Say what you mean, people! We recently watched a movie (Your Place or Mine) that had this cliche at the center, too, and I found it more frustrating/depressingly sad than endearing. So, I guess, overall, I'd give this one a pass if I had it to do again. I prefer my rom-com's on the big screen!

11. The It Girl by Ruth Ware
I've read most of Ruth Ware's other books and she is a reliable source for a decent thriller. This story focused on Hannah Jones and tells her story in two parts - Before and After. The incident which divides before and after is the murder of her college roommate and best friend. The story is set in Oxford, England, and I have to admit that distracted me a bit as it was very clear that an American author was writing from a British perspective. But overall the characters were interesting and the story moved at a nice pace. I knew a twist was coming but couldn't quite figure out what it was until it happened so that was fun. 

12. Lovely Girls by Margot Hunt
I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller about a mother and daughter who move to a new town for a fresh start and instead find themselves embroiled in drama with a clique of mean girls and their meaner mothers. It gave me some flashbacks to high school - I would not want to return to those days! It also brought up some interesting philosophical questions about how to raise children - and whether it is better to risk your child being a bully or being bullied. 

13. SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient by Jane McGonigal
I first read this book way back in...hmm, I don't know 2015/2106, somewhere in there. It was when Joel was looking at gamification for his master's degree. In it, author Jane McGonigal lays out how you can take a gameful approach to life - and how this can improve your physical health, mental health, and so much more. She lays out both the scientific research and the practical applications of it. Throughout the book, there are quests that you can do to achieve the effects she talks about! It is well worth a read every decade or so. I'm back to having a secret identity, working with my allies, identifying bad guys, and using power-ups to give me a boost. 
Example: Joel and I have been trying to motivate ourselves to go on a daily walk around the castle. So, I gave myself a quest to complete each day, which can only be done on a walk. Every day I aim to 1. Pet a dog and 2. See a baby. So as we walk around the castle I try to find dogs that want some pets, and spot the cute babies that are almost always out for a stroll! It's been a really fun way to motivate myself to get out there and move, and petting a dog and seeing a cute baby are always good for a boost of happiness. 

14. The Book of Lost and Found  by Lucy Foley
I started this book ages ago then the library yanked back my copy and I had to go back on the holds list to finish it. The long wait in between made the story feel disjointed to me - no fault of the author, though! It follows the story of Kate Darling as she tries to learn who she is, who her mother was, and who her grandmother was - her grandmother gave up her mother for adoption at birth, and so her history is shrouded in mystery. It was decent enough, an intriguing story and okay characters - but it used one trope that I despise - lying to someone to supposedly "protect" them. The grandmother, Alice, fell pregnant as a young single woman in a time when that was not acceptable - the father of the baby offered to marry her and raise the child together even though she told him it wasn't his child - she refused, she wanted him to be free to go off and have an art career. He did become a famous and successful artist, but he never truly loved again and always longed for Alice, just as she always loved and longed for him. I suppose it is meant to come off as some tragic lovers lost ill-fated romance but it's not - if she hadn't been such a selfish lying brat and just married him (like he and she both freaking wanted to!) they could have lived happily ever after. Once that was revealed I finished the book but I no longer enjoyed it - I had no sympathy for Alice and found Tom's story to be heartbreaking - no amount of commercial capitalistic success makes up for a life lived without love. The author tried to make Alice come off as all noble and heroic when she was really just a selfish brat. Just, bleh. 

15. The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C. Sherriff  (February 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
For the first time in the reading club the book this month was a classic, first published in 1939. The book starts with an academic introduction from a society a thousand years in our future - the Hopkins Manuscript has been discovered and is an intriguing slice of long-lost history. The story itself is a  first-hand account of Edgar Hopkins' life from the moment he learns of impending doom - the moon is coming to crash on the earth - to the moments just before his death. He is a pompous, arrogant, little man, and yet I found him utterly charming. The writing flowed well and the storytelling was captivating - keeping me interested in small things even as larger fates loomed all around them. The premise was scientifically flawed, but I didn't much care about that as it was really an exploration of various aspects of humanity in the wake of disaster. I loved it. 

16. The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose
This is one of those books that made me wonder "How in the heck did this get published?!?" It was so bad. So bad that I should have stopped reading it but I couldn't because it was a train wreck I couldn't turn away from. The story itself was okay, if predictable. The husband is having an affair, his mistress gets murdered, he gets framed for it, his wife, a defense attorney, defends him in court. Meh. But the writing was so, so bad. The characters did things that made no sense. There were parts that just clearly needed an editor. Example 1: This grown man, Adam, got drunk one night. He woke up the next morning in his pajamas, rather than the clothes he had been wearing the night before. He simply assumed that his mother (a 70+ year old woman) changed him and put him to bed and he thought it was a bit silly and rolled his eyes. Excuse me, what?! That's not silly it's a hugely weird boundary violation. Also not really possible for a 70-year-old woman to physically change a fully grown passed out drunk man. Just, so weird. Example 2: Adam calls someone hoping to get a ride to her house because it would save him the couple of miles walking there. She doesn't answer so he walks instead. The book clearly states the distance is two miles and then also clearly states that it took him over 3 hours to walk it. What?!? He was walking through neighborhoods, not woods (even then 3 hours to walk 2 miles would be a stretch.) It just made. no. sense. 
Anyway, TLDR: Don't read this one!

17. Magpie by Elizabeth Day
I can't remember why this book ended up on my "to read" list but I'm glad it did! It had a twist I did not see coming and I really loved it. I don't want to say too much about it for fear of giving away the plot - suffice it to say I recommend it!

18. The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
I think a friend on IG recommended this one. Again, it had a twist I did not see coming. Struggling writer Jacob Bonner is languishing in his career after a promising first novel was followed up by a lackluster second, and a non-existent third. He finds work as a writing professor in a MFA program, and a student comes to him with the most amazing idea for a book - a plot that is destined to be a best-seller. When that student dies, Jacob writes the book himself, and then crazy things start happening!

19. Severance by Ling Ma
This was a past TEOTWRC book before I joined and I wish I could have had the full experience of it. As is, I very much enjoyed the story and devoured it in two days. First-generation American Candace comes to terms with her career and life as the world falls to bits around her. The apocalypse was slow and devastating and a fascinating commentary on the drudgery and routine of modern life. I loved it. 

20. Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
This one came to me in a stack of books that someone was giving away on Facebook marketplace. I took it on holiday with me as the title seemed apt. It was a heartfelt look at someone in the throes of addiction and the struggle of recovery - yet it wasn't nearly as dark and dreary as that description made it sound. The main character was at once loveable and irritating. I enjoyed it and plan to pick up more books by this author!

21. Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
This was an interesting thriller told in the retrospective - a young woman who was kidnapped and held against her will for over a year is now telling her story to a therapist. I kind of liked that it didn't create as much anxiety as you know she eventually gets safe, but there was still plenty of tension/mystery around who the kidnapper was and why this happened to her. 

22. The New Wilderness by Diane Cook (March 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
I couldn't really tell if this book was post-apocalypse or mid-apocalypse, but I liked it. Beatrice and her daughter Agnes lived in the City, where everyone lived, but it was making Agnes sick. The only way for her to survive was go somewhere else - so they joined an experiment in the Wilderness. There, they learn to live as primitive nomadic humans, shedding their old way of life and growing stronger even with all the new dangers around them. The book follows their story for years, with mystery surrounding them as to what is going on back in the "real world" and what exactly the agenda of the Rangers might be. It gave a lot of food for thought about how we interact with and are affected by our environment. I enjoyed it!

23. The Last Woman in the World by Inga Simpson (April 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
Rachel lives on her own in Australia, near a river and the woods, far enough from civilization to be alone, but not so far that she can't get what she needs when she needs it. She almost never leaves her home, instead, a woman from the grocery store brings her monthly deliveries. But this month she is late, and Rachel is running low on supplies.  Then, in the middle of the night, a frantic knock on the door from a young woman with her infant, who is very ill. This story hit all the right notes for me in an apocalyptic tale - relationships weaved from tragedy, a decent explanation for what exactly is happening in the world, and beautifully descriptive language throughout. I really enjoyed it and I hope this one gets made into a movie!

24. A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
I loved a good mystery/thriller and this was one of the better ones I've read recently. Chloe Davis grew up in a small town in Alabama that was rocked when 6 teenage girls went missing. Her world was rocked when it turned out her father had killed them. Twenty years later she is grown up and working as a youth psychologist, trying to keep her own demons at bay. When girls around her start disappearing again she has to wonder if it is connected to the ones that went before. There were twists and turns and I really enjoyed it! 

25. The Break by Katie Sise
In this novel we get the story told from two different perspectives and two different time periods. Normally, I would find that a bit confusing or jarring, but it was done really well here. I liked both main characters and it was fun to see how the story changed as each character revealed their point of view. 

26. The Forcing by Paul E. Hardisty (May 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
This book was set as a survivor of an apocalypse looking back and writing his memoir, which made some things a bit anti-climactic as you knew he survived. But it was still very interesting. The apocalypse was an ever-worsening climate emergency - one disaster after another that got so bad that Canada agreed to merge with the USA, and then a new fascist government took control. This government was made up of youth who blamed the older generations for the mess they were in - so everyone above a certain age is forced out of their homes and into labor camps. The story follows "Teacher" one of those adults, and how he survives to get out and live a different way. It was a good story, though a bit hard to follow at times, and perhaps an all too realistic picture of what could be coming our way. The author is a climate scientist which makes the realism of it all that more frightening!

27. Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes 
This is the sequel to Rachel's Holiday, set 20 years after the ending of the first book. Rachel and Luke, who were together again at the end of the first novel, are now divorced, and we follow Rachel's journey of recovery and self-discovery in the wake of that tragedy. I enjoyed it, and am toying with reading all Keyes' other novels about the Walsh family - though there are so many of them and they are so long I'm not sure I want to get fully immersed in that universe, haha. Too many other books to read!

28. The Measure by Nikki Erlick
This book was all over my Instagram and Facebook feed with recommendations from friends and after a long wait at the library, I was so excited to read it. And it lived up to the hype! The premise is fascinating - one day, everyone around the world (aged 22 and older) wakes up to find a box with their name on it, and a saying etched in the lid "The measure of your life lies within." It quickly becomes clear that the piece of string inside tells you how many years you have left to live. Would you open it? Would you live your life differently knowing you had a long string or a short string? This novel follows eight characters as they explore exactly those questions and more. I was a bit thrown off by the number of characters at first, finding it a smidge hard to follow, but the author ties them together so beautifully at the end that you are grateful they were all included. This novel tackles big philosophical questions about life and will make you think about how you are living yours. My favorite book of the year so far! 

29. Metronome by Tom Watson (June 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
I enjoyed this story about two people, Aina and Whitney who are imprisoned in an unusual way - they have been banished to an island where they must take a pill every 8 hours exactly in order to survive. They are to serve 12 years here, for a crime that gradually gets revealed as the book goes on, but when the day of their parole arrives, the Warden is nowhere to be found. What has happened to the outside world? Has Whitney been hiding things from his exploratory runs years ago? And where did that sheep come from? Aina starts to question everything as the world that was once so mundane and predictable unravels around her.

30. Poster Girl by Veronica Roth
This one came recommended by another member of The End of the World Reading Club, and the author also wrote the Divergent series (which I've never read, but saw the movies.) I devoured this story about a dystopian future in which technology has become so all-pervasive it is implanted into people's brains at birth. This digital oversight tracked everything you did and rewarded or punished you accordingly. There was a good mystery at the heart of the story and a wonderfully depicted potential future that I found fascinating!

31. The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
I really enjoyed this thriller about a married couple and the lengths they will go to for each other. Gabe and Pippa have a seemingly picture-perfect life, living against the backdrop of a picture-perfect view from their sea front home. When Gabe fails to stop a suicide one day, their lives begin to unravel and long-held secrets are revealed. 

32. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
This story is one of the most magical and mesmerizing I have read in a long time. I don't want to give any of the story away so I won't share much about the premise, but it's part love story, part adventure, part exploration of the meaning of life. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it! I would love to see this one made into a movie. 

33. Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
I'm a huge fan of Jodi Picoult (bar one of her books I had to stop reading last year) and this one is no exception. She co-wrote it with an author I am unfamiliar with, but if I didn't know that I wouldn't have guessed, the characters are beautifully written and the story weaves seamlessly back and forth between two perspectives. There is a murder mystery and trial at the heart of the story, but I don't want to give anything else away!

34. HappyHead by Josh Silver (July 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
This is definitely a YA novel and one I wouldn't have picked up if it weren't for the book club. Fair warning I wish I had received - it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger! Supposedly a sequel is coming out sometime next year. It explores a dystopian-ish future in which 17-year-olds are sent to HappyHead for psychological treatment to become happy, successful young adults. But do the leaders really have their best interests at heart? The lead character was compelling enough, but other characters fell flat and overall the story lacked depth - but that might have just been the lack of closure for me. Now that I've read it I would indeed read the sequel. 

35. Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
Jodi hits another out of the park for me with this one, which is also the first book I've read that is set during the pandemic. The main character goes on vacation right at the start of the pandemic and ends up stuck in the Galapagos Islands when the world shuts down. It is a great exploration of what really means the most to us when our normal way of life isn't possible anymore. 

36. She's Not There by Joy Fielding
A young child goes missing in Mexico, and 15 years later someone shows up claiming she might be her. The story is told from the mother's point of view and I found it very compelling with a good mystery at the heart. 

37. The Only One Left by Riley Sager
I've enjoyed all of the thrillers I've read by this author and this one is no exception. Between feeling under the weather and an intriguing story I finished this one In just two days. I didn't see the ending coming which I always enjoy!

38. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Holy cow is this an emotional roller coaster of a book. I never watched the show that made Jennette famous, but I heard so many good things about this book I wanted to read it. It is a fascinating memoir that explores both her mother's abuse and Jennette's love for her. The title is stark and startling but it grabs your attention and it never stops once you turn the first page.

39. It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover
This is a sequel to It Ends With Us which I read earlier this year. Apparently, the author didn't plan to write a sequel but her audience begged enough that she gave in! I'm glad she did because I enjoyed this story and it was nice to see the characters continue to grow and reach a happy ending.

40. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
I really enjoyed this murder mystery set at an elite New Hampshire boarding school. The main character, Bodie Kane, returns to her alma mater in her 40's as a guest teacher, and begins to unravel a murder that happened her senior year. She didn't want to dig into it - someone had been convicted for the murder - but the more she learns the more she thinks they have the wrong man. This story was beautifully written and explored the shortcomings and faults of the US justice system as well. 

41. The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead
This book should come with a trigger warning for violence and sexual violence but if you can handle that it was a fascinating read. It had some weird commonalities with the previous book (a main character is a podcaster, a high school relationship is rekindled) but this one explored a much darker world and raised questions about what it means to be a woman in our society. I devoured it and would happily have read more. 

42. The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
This book came highly recommended from someone I follow on IG (the same one who recommended The Measure) and so far their book recommendations don't miss! This story was told in four sections and follows a sort of slow apocalypse - the effects of climate change on the US, in particular Florida with rising seawater and eroding coastline. We follow one character throughout the changes in her life and her family as the world as we know ends. It was heart breaking and heart warming and a study in how humans will need to adapt to our changing environment.

43. In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
This was the author's first thriller and I found it very well written. It is again a similar format to some I've read recently - a college reunion, one from a close friend group was murdered when they were in school - questions continue to arise about who really did it. The story alternated timelines from when they were in school to the present day, and did it very well. I was continuously intrigued by the story and read it fairly quickly. 

44. The Last by Hanna Jameson (August 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
Due to the Royal Mail losing my first August box, I didn't get this one until the end of September! But it was worth the wait. The premise was fantastic - nuclear war has broken out and the main character was lucky enough to be in an isolated Swiss hotel when it did. Now he and the others have to figure out how to survive, and when a dead body turns up, they have a mystery to solve as well! The style of writing was journalistic as Jon, who was an historian, chronicled the days after the disaster. The mystery wasn't as compelling as I would have liked, but overall I enjoyed it and would love to read a follow-up in this setting.

45. The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Told through alternating timelines between the late 1790's and today, I very much enjoyed the intrigue and mystery in this one. When Caroline finds a small old vial while "mudlarking" on the River Thames, it sparks discoveries about the past and her own future. The alternating timelines were woven together well and I found myself always wanting to read more. 

46. The Last Good Man by Thomas McMullan (September 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
This story follows the main character, Duncan Peck, as he flees life in the dangerous city for life in the country that might be just as dangerous in a different way. We are never told what caused the apparent societal collapse, but it's clear things are different now - supplies are running low and people are creating new ways of being in community and delivering justice. Unfortunately it's mostly mob justice. This one had quite a bit of violence which wasn't really to my taste, and it's not one I would have read if it weren't for the book club. 

47. The Hunting Wives by May Cobb
I'm not sure why this book ended up on my "to-read" list but it was a decent enough thriller. Nothing exciting or ground breaking but it kept me entertained!

48. Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
I think this book came recommended in a "books to read for Autumn" type list and boy was it a great book for this time of year. It was atmospheric and heartfelt and I absolutely adored it. It takes place on an island just off Seattle and follows the lives of the people who have built their lives there. The island is almost an extra personality in the story. It has magic and intrigue and a murder mystery and I highly recommend it! 

49. The Last Dog on Earth by Adrian J. Walker (March 2021 TEOTWRC Book)
The book club is slowly re-releasing previous boxes and my hope is that I will be able to collect all of the ones that came out before I joined in July 2022. So I snapped this one up as soon as it was available! It was a hard one for me to get into - half of the book is written from the human perspective and half from a dog's perspective and I found the dog bits very hard to read at first (that is one foul-mouthed dog!) But in the end the story was compelling and it was a wonderful exploration of what it means to be human, especially in the midst of chaos and crisis. 

50. My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
This book felt like reading a predictable rom-com, but much more enjoyable than the rom-com I tried earlier this year! The protagonist was an American in the UK, which I identify it, and I found this to be an easy, heartwarming read.

51. Extinction (October 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
I have to admit, this is another one I would not have read without the book club spurring me on. It was overly descriptive and dragged on, especially in the middle. I had a hard time caring about the plot - which followed Ben, a ranger tasked with watching over the last bear in existence. Most of humanity has migrated to living in colonies on the moon, but he's left here, watching over the bear. I just, meh, at that point, move on dude. I'm sure it was supposed to be a commentary on something but I didn't get hooked!

52. Know My Name by Chanel Miller
I love a good memoir, and this one is beautifully written. The author is the "Emily Doe" from the Stanford SA case that made the news for years. The writing is so compelling I had a hard time putting it down. Her descriptions of how she felt throughout the years the trial dragged on, the way the justice system did and didn't work for her, it is searing and heartbreaking. I highly recommend this as a "must-read."

53. The Drift by CJ Tudor (November 2023 TEOTWRC Book)
I think this might be might favourite book club book yet! The story was fast-paced and chilling (literally, there's a lot of snow!) There were a lot of characters to keep track of but I was drawn into each of them. The surrounding apocalypse and dystopian world was fascinating and pretty well described for once (so many books are so vague about it!) I loved this one and plan to read everything else by this author!

54. All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
This thriller follows a mother who becomes severely sleep-deprived after her toddler son is kidnapped. She's barely slept for a year, and as she continues to do everything she possibly can to find her son, everything starts to warp around her as sleep deprivation makes it hard to trust her own reality. I enjoyed this one!

55. The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J. Walker
I was not a huge fan of the first book I read by this author (also end of the world themed, came through my end of the world reading club) but I liked his style enough that I wanted to check this one out. I am glad I did! I enjoyed this one far more. The end of the world comes and Ed manages to survive with his family - wife, Beth and two small children. Then, in the midst of rescue, they get separated - Ed is still in Scotland, while the family is in Cornwall, awaiting ships to a new life in a country less affected. He and some friends travel on a strict deadline, and the devastation in the country means they can't drive - they have to run. It was a great scenario to put characters in, strangely believable, and I would definitely recommend this one. 

 

Stopped Reading List:

1. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
I was excited to read this book for several reasons - 1. I've read a couple of other of Bryson's books (way back when I was in high school!) and I remember enjoying them. 2. Many of the Brits that I meet, upon learning I am from Iowa, mention Bryson to me as one of their favorite authors (he is also from Des Moines!) and 3. This book was specifically recommended in my American expat in the UK group as a good one to read about differences between life in the US and the UK. 

I did not like this book. So much so that 21% of the way through (thanks Kindle for that exact number) I decided that I could not read it anymore. This book was first published in 1995 and it has not aged well - I don't think it would be published as-is today. I found Bryson's writing style horribly pretentious - he clearly thinks he is hilarious, loves ridiculously long sentences, and if he has a chance to use a pompous rarely-used word in place of a normal one he will take it. All of that made it annoying to read, but I would have powered through for the few moments of genuine humor and insight into the life of an American living in the UK. 

What made me stop reading was an extended paragraph about how he enjoyed watching other people eat dinner, particularly fat people. He went on to describe a family that was dining near him in horribly grotesque and judgemental ways, including referring to a boy as a "disgusting fat pig." I'm pretty sure my mouth dropped open at these descriptions. It was mean and rude and over the top and I am just astonished that this got published. I'm not sure I will read any of Bryson's work going forward as I can only see him now as a judgemental a**hole and I don't want to support someone like that. 

I give this book absolutely zero stars (maybe even negative ones!) and do not recommend!!