After two great books in a row I guess it is likely that there’ll be a downturn. This book starts with a nice idea for a story – but seems to be in a hurry. When I found that the story is related to the Bosnian/Serbian war I was interested, but in the end the little bit of knowledge I got from this book seemed hardly worth the time to read it.

I don’t know anything about the author, but this particular book played out like a thriller/action novel. The writer keeps the pace brisk but in doing that sacrifices a lot of subtlety and nuance. The bad guys are irretrievably bad, the good guys wear clean white hats. Because of this simplistic treatment there were almost no surprises and I found myself laying out the entire plot of the book within a few chapters.

This kind of writing might be fine for a quick read on an airplane going somewhere, but after the last two books I read focused on reflection and carefully thought out prose, this one landed awkwardly.

Next I am reading The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley.

This makes two brilliant books in a row. Like the last book I read, this writer takes the slow, gentle approach and relates events at a comfortable pace. One big difference is that this book is a novel, but in many other ways they felt similar.

This is my first time to read a book by this author, and clearly she has some skills. The story plays out in several different points of view to examine love in some of its different forms, and we find that we care very much about the people involved. In fact, it isn’t until the second half of the book that I found somebody I disliked – and that was played for a sort of comedic episode.

The book takes place in Ireland, and I was struck by how sensitive the characters were to how they were perceived by others, and despite the modern age how much influence the Catholic Church still has on the way of thinking, especially among people in small towns.

One character is slightly autistic, and thanks to this he speaks in a very direct, honest way. I found this refreshing – why can’t more people communicate like this? I spent a lot of time worried that someone would come along and stomp all over his vulnerability, but the author has other plans and it was enjoyable to see it play out.

After finishing the book I found that the author is quite popular these days, and so I guess I can expect to read more from her in the future, which is good news.

Next I am reading The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens.

Every so often I read a book that takes me completely by surprise, and this one was a treat. The book is a memoir of the author growing up in and around the movie business. The focus is on his parents, and how they each had various levels of success in finding their place in the world. They had different goals and different approaches, and all the while the author is growing up and preparing to take up this struggle himself.

First of all, the writing is great. He tells of unhurried moments, and interpreting and imagining intersections and junctures that had influence on their lives. With the ability to look back and forward the relating of these events is sometimes marked with sudden shocks: “we stood in the house that he just purchased that would burn down in two years”. He casually drops information about people’s futures and makes every sentence a possible clue.

There is also a lot of wisdom in what he writes, and introspection. I found myself highlighting many phrases that resonated, much more than most other books. The title of the book is The Golden Hour, but along with all the golden moments there is quite a bit of darkness, making the journey that much more interesting.

One thing (maybe the only thing) that I wasn’t really into was the frequent and detailed analysis of the deal making and business agreements that changed the structure and business of Hollywood. I’m sure for some people it is interesting, but to me it didn’t hold a lot of appeal. I was far more interested in the human moments and how the culture of movies was in flux.

One of my favorite books this year – a thoughtful exploration of the industry’s evolution, but more importantly a great tribute to the author’s parents.

Next I am reading Intermezzo by Sally Rooney.

Billed as a “cozy” murder mystery, this book is that but also just a bit different. The main character is self-centered and bossy and seems to be an unlikable person. Usually we have a white-as-snow main character who sets a contrast with possible suspects. But thanks to this changeup it creates some tension and embarrassing scenes that help pull in the reader.

I enjoyed the tone of the book – light-hearted and quite funny. Sometimes it went a little too heavy on the details of the Cotswolds, where it is mainly set. Of course there is a murder – even cozy murder mysteries need a body – but I did feel it was a little too easy to figure things out. Maybe that is part of a cozy murder mystery, too.

By the end of the book it becomes clear that the author is setting up a series, and later I found out that it is quite a long one. I’m not sure if this kind of book is my cup of tea, as it were, but for the short time I spent with this book I enjoyed the read.

Next I am reading The Golden Hour by Matthew Specktor.

Early in this book the author relates a story from her childhood – bitten by a shark, taken to the doctor and then ignored by her family when she continued to feel pain. She tries to tell everyone that there is something seriously wrong, but they brush off her concerns until it is almost too late.

This theme continues through most of the book, with the author identifying various concerns at Facebook and just about everyone around her ignoring or downplaying the issues – because they just can’t be bothered to care.

I enjoyed this book – an insider account of this critical period of Facebook’s evolution – and thanks to the author’s writing skills it stayed entertaining/shocking/weird throughout. The allegations that she makes are well-documented and believable. Of course we are only getting her side to every story, but we also know that the corporate response would (and will be) to deny everything.

This might be a new genre for me – I don’t remember reading a tell-all book before – but it was surprisingly interesting. I hope that the author will be able to succeed in whatever she does next – making an enemy of some of the very powerful people at Facebook/Meta might have far-reaching consequences.

Next I am reading The Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton.

This book was an extremely well-written work that was entertaining, funny, clever, and occasionally nightmarish.

I really enjoyed the writing style of the author. He sometimes wrote in big walls of text but the contents of these were full of pithy sayings and memorable metaphors. The sense of humor of the main character was self-deprecating enough that it appealed to my own humor preferences.

I felt like the twists were easy to see coming most of the time – a little more surprise would have been nicer, but overall it was a pleasure to hear about the main character’s life in America.

However the whole book isn’t quite the same style. The last quarter of the book veered off in a different (and powerful) direction. This part was a bit “out there” for me – and I felt like it was a little over-ambitious. But I’m not the Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Next I am reading Careless People by Sarah Wynn Williams.

The subtitle of this book is “How wealth hacks the world”, and it was because of this that I was attracted to this book. Having done some international travel to various places I was interested to find out how my experiences as a normal traveler might be different from the ultra-wealthy. However the topics covered in this book are a little different, and no less interesting.

The book’s author has a unique background. She tells us early on that she believes that people should be allowed to live wherever they would like – and not be limited to wherever they happen to be born. Her experiences in Geneva led her to this topic, and so we go on a (sort of) global jaunt to find out more about these in-between places. I learned a lot of things I was curious about, and thanks to the author’s excellent writing skills I was able to understand some of the sleight-of-hand tricks that companies employ to move and hide capital. Some of these tricks are by nature intended to be unclear, which speaks to the writer’s skill.

The highlight for me was the chapter of the flagging of ships in international commerce. The author uses the example of one of five ships built by a Russian shipyard in the 1970s, and follows it through the many lives that it had before being unceremoniously broken up on a beach in Pakistan 50 years later.

The writer provides a lot of information – this was a long book – and I sometimes felt like there was more than enough to make her point. A little more concise would make it easier to read through.

Next I am reading The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

My mom thought I might be interested in this book, and since it deals with themes of isolation and nature I can see why it appeared on her radar. Unfortunately I wasn’t very impressed with the writing overall, and the pacing of the story in particular.

First, the good news. While reading this book you get the feeling that the writer not only knows about Alaska but considers it a place where they belong. Especially I enjoyed the descriptions of nature, and the excitement of the family who starts a new life there. There is a real small town vibe to the place when they arrive from Seattle in the 1970s, and there are lots of scenes with odd-ball neighbors pitching in to help each other. The writer gives a balanced picture of life in Alaska, showing the light and dark sides.

The problems I had with the book were with the storyline, which seemed to move very slowly at first. I was happy to let the author take their time and set up the pieces, but towards the middle and end of the book the pace suddenly accelerated. I felt like resolution was being crammed into the book at the last minute.

The characters were often written very simply as being good/bad/nice and not very complex. I also had a problem with the father in the story, who is so one-dimensional that I just couldn’t buy his motivation or struggles.

But the final section of the book is just totally on a different vibe with the rest – like a go-for-broke tear-jerking attempt. I guess I just prefer writing with a little more subtlety.

Next I am reading The Hidden Globe by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian.

I had a hard time with this book at first – it starts off with a young man following the instructions of his family until he finally finds something that calls to him, and then he somehow finds a way to pursue it. What he finds at first is a love for study, and later a love for a woman, and still later a love for his daughter. The book moves slowly through his life as each one of these loves is threatened, and we watch his sort of limp response to these threats.

I felt myself urging him to strive a little more, to put forth a little more effort, but his flaccid character prevents him from taking control of his own life. Communicate with your wife! Set some goals! Take a look around the world! The book had me wondering what the author’s message was – the risks of passivity? The dangers of focusing on study above all else?

While the beginning of the book was frustrating, towards the middle and end I started to appreciate the writing more, and the reflections of the older main character started to feel easier to identify with. Especially the writing surrounding Stoner’s love affair, and his rapid descent into old age.

Throughout the book you just have to root for this character – his heart is in the right place and overall he is a good person – and I’m glad he got a little happiness out of his life. In the end I was just hoping that he would put a little more effort into living.

My next book is still up in the air, but I’m continuing reading about James Bond – I’ve still got a bunch of movies left to re-watch!

This is an unusual book that starts off in a strange way, but pays off with perseverance. With no background information before I started reading, I wasn’t sure about the genre. The first part of the book is quite silly and serves as sort of a mocking of the pervasiveness (and ridiculousness) of social media culture. The jokes kept coming and I was thinking that things were starting to get stale. I almost stopped reading thinking that this just wasn’t for me, but the author was sneakily assembling in the background what would come to the forefront in the second part of the book. I’m really glad that I stuck around. If I have any criticism it is that the two parts of the book could be more balanced.

The format is Part 1 and Part 2, and I honestly really didn’t pay much attention to the Part 1 page (thereby missing the implication that there was a Part 2). While Part 1 focuses on mocking the ridiculousness, Part 2 is a more serious look at what really matters – for all of us. The beauty and the heartbreak in this part of the book was worth the price of admission. I didn’t know that the author is also known for her poetry, and it really does show through in her prose.

So I was (in the end) really satisfied with how the book worked out, and I’d encourage people reading it to stick around for the second part to see how it all ties together. It is hard to explain here without ruining the story for someone, but I can just say it was more that worth your time.

Next I am waiting on a book at the library, so for the time being I’ll be catching up on magazine articles that I’ve been saving.

We have plans for a visit to New York City this summer, and although I have been before (23 years ago!) I thought it would be worth checking out a guide to the historical sites.

Usually when we travel to a new country, we have a strategy to seek out impressive architecture or cultural hotspots along the route of our trip. Even though the Big Apple is in my home country, I’m still treating it like a foreign destination.

Last time I was there was with Brian Haven – we parked his car in New Jersey and took the train into the city, and we chose (somehow) quite a few famous places to check out. Now, reading this book makes me feel like we did a pretty good job picking our spots.

But this will be Kuniko’s first time, so the book was a valuable resource to figure out the places that we’ll get the most out of. The book is comprehensive with a focus on the historical relevance of these places. With the addition of little factoids it made for an interesting read.

Sometimes I felt like the organization of the sites into categories wasn’t intuitive, but that can be helped by just using the search function. Now that I have a big list of things to see, the next step is to sit down and figure out how we can see our top priorities over the two day visit.

With a writing style very similar to Robert B. Parker, this is the closest I can get to enjoying new Spenser stories. There are a lot of similarities because a mystery that works has a specific formula. Crais does more experimentation with the formula but the basics are all here. And I guess that is all I need.

One of the key points I like is the pacing – moving fast and drawing you in. The tension of knowing both the bad guy’s perspective as well as the good guy’s works well here, especially since we learn there is something different about this bad guy.

Unfortunately there were some big tells in the beginning which led me to know the twist early on. That took away some of the fun, but I get it – it must be tough to keep this formula fresh as a writer.

My solution, more Joe Pike. This side character (and occasionally in books as a main character) is intriguing and scary and admirable all at once. He appears in this book occasionally but as usual I was hoping for more.

Next I am reading A History Lover’s Guide to New York City by Alison Fortier.

This book reminded me a lot of some of the Korean TV shows or movies that I’ve seen – and maybe it was written to end up as a visual drama.

I’m not sure I “got” the story here. It seems to be addressing several issues – a woman’s right to control her own body, outdated patriarchal family structures, the preoccupation with how other people perceive you. Some of this is cultural, some psychological, but none of it is really clear. I felt like the character viewpoints switching as they did were distracting rather than revelatory, and it felt like the whole book was sort of built about one particular scene that was in the author’s mind.

The good news was that the story was fairly compact, and it didn’t take long to read the book. It is rare for me to read books about Korean people or culture, so I was glad to get a glimpse at some of the differences between their culture and Japan and the United States.

Overall I thought the writing itself was well done, but the story didn’t quite come off. I will be unsurprised if this ends up as a drama in the next year or two. I’m not sure I’ll watch it, though.

Next I am reading The Big Empty by Robert Crais, one of my favorite private investigator series that reminds me of Spenser.

I enjoyed this travel book – a day by day account of a naturalist’s journey accompanying an expedition to a remote part of Tibet to observe the wildlife there, including a rare opportunity to see wild snow leopards.

This took place back in the 1970s in a completely different time. There are a lot of detailed descriptions of Buddhism (and the various cultures practicing it), a focus on meditation, and a great deal of explanation of Eastern religious thought. In other words, this is not only a physical journey but a metaphysical one, and if you are OK with that you’ll enjoy the book more.

I especially liked the descriptions of the lonely and beautiful places that were (at that time) isolated and less traveled by westerners. Watching out for snow leopards created a tension that built throughout the book, and the resolution of this tension was both unique and ingenious – so I don’t want to spoil anything here.

Sometimes I had trouble with the author’s attitudes – he was kind of a jerk to the locals occasionally. Even though he had recently been through a lot with the death of his wife it felt like his short temper flared up at the oddest times. After spending a long time at the remote location in the spiritual heart of the area contemplating Buddhism and mindfulness, it took less than a week for him to start complaining about his travel companions. From the amount of energy and research he has put into his Buddhist studies and practice I felt like he got remarkably little in return.

Next I am reading The Vegetarian by Han Kang.

This author puts out a book just once every ten years or so, I was excited going into reading this as I thoroughly enjoyed her other books. I wasn’t disappointed with this one – there is a lot to like here.

As usual the writing is excellent – detailed, unhurried, and poetic without feeling too artsy. There is a story here that takes a while to come to life. The way the author brings to life the place and the era (1970s Alexandria, Louisiana) – it takes time to set this up and thankfully it isn’t rushed. The vibes while reading about this brought to mind Steven Spielberg’s style – especially his movies about coming of age. We spend a lot of time with one particular character, a twelve-year old girl, and seeing the world through her sharp but innocent eyes reveals a lot about that time and place.

The location gives the chance to explore (kind of in the background) race relations of the time, and examine how a dynasty crumbles.

My favorite section was Harriet and Hely’s expedition to capture a poisonous snake – I couldn’t believe how scary and real that part felt. It is rare for a book to give me the willies like that – but I read it twice just to see how well it was constructed to freak us out.

It was a fairly long book, and sometimes I was wondering if it was really taking me anywhere. The story presents a mystery in the first chapter and this mystery provides the impetus to many of the events in the book, but finally at the end of the book the resolution of the mystery is not really clear – a blink-and-you-miss-it offhand comment that may or may not provide the resolution we are hoping for.

But part of the message I got from this book is that the world isn’t black and white and sometimes we don’t get the things we want. The author used a clever device with the story of the Antarctic explorer Captain Scott, and how “victory and collapse were sometimes the same thing.”

My only real criticism was that some characters felt extraneous (for example, Allison) and were used more as a way to provide points of view during key moments. Maybe I was missing something with their inclusion.

While I am still reading the book on the making of the James Bond movies, I’ve changed the pace of that reading to go along with watching each movie, so it’ll take quite a long time to finish that book. But for my next active read it is The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen.