Expectation: A supernatural thriller centered around a new Stephen King classic character.
Reality: A crime mystery that goes down several rabbit holes, but it’s an overall rewarding return to form for King.
All in Audiobook
Somebody’s Daughter – Ashley C. Ford
Tracing her earliest memories through post-college, Ford presents a candid view of her life as a lower middle class Black kid in Fort Wayne, a mid-sized city in Indiana that is not economically or racially diverse.
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir
Expectation: A science fiction snooze-fest.
Reality: A surprisingly funny and touching story about second chances and building community.
Early Morning Riser – Katherine Heiny
Expectation: A breezy romantic comedy.
Reality: A surprisingly funny and sentimental story of chosen family that had me questioning some of my own choices in life.
The Anatomy of Desire – L.R. Dorn
Expectation: A mediocre thriller featuring social media influencers.
Reality: A mostly surface-level execution that is strongly aided by the full cast audiobook narration.
Jonny Appleseed – Joshua Whitehead
Expectation: For some reason I thought this was a young adult read.
Reality: This is anything but young adult. It’s a raw and painful story that has a fair amount of hope sprinkled in.
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World – Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Expectation: An intimate portrayal of young love and learning how to grow as individuals and as a couple.
Reality: A bit scattershot from a plot perspective but just as well-written and affecting as the first book.
¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons – John Paul Brammer
Brammer states early and often that he’s not a trained mental health professional, simply a person that stumbled into a career with the ability to help others. “¡Hola Papi!” is clear example that he’s succeeded.
Gay Bar: Why We Went Out – Jeremy Atherton Lin
There are multiple things I took umbrage with in this unfocused, pretentious, and boring historical memoir (is that a thing?) that I gave up at 34 percent read.
No One Goes Alone – Erik Larson
Expectation: A good old fashioned ghost story told in radio serial style.
Reality: An intellectual ghost story that’s heavy on talking and light on action.
The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead
Expectation: Adventure story with a speculative fiction slant.
Reality: At times both horrific and hopeful, the cross-state settings help broaden the view from other, similar stories.
The Comfort Book – Matt Haig
This is probably best suited for individuals that have had their own struggles with depression and are looking for additional suggestions on how to survive and thrive. I appreciate the stigma breaking Haig does here – especially for men – but I think his fiction, which also covers similar themes, is more for me.
The Only Plane in the Sky: The Oral History of 9/11 – Garrett M. Graff
The stories are raw, painful and incredibly difficult. Only a few have happy endings. I had to pause the book several times to collect my thoughts. I cried frequently. That’s a testament to how Graff structured the book, its phenomenal narration, and the fact that it is an oral history.
The Stranger – Albert Camus
Expectation: An overrated classic.
Reality: Not every aspect of the story worked for me, but our collective experience during the pandemic gave new understanding – and perhaps compassion - to Meursault’s personality.
The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt
Expectation: A modern “Great American Novel.”
Reality: A captivating and gorgeously written novel that, at times, asks too much of the reader.
The Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller
Expectation: A heartbreaking and memorable story of forbidden love.
Reality: A well-written but incredibly male-centric romance with laugh out loud dialogue that detract from the novel’s stronger elements.
A Children’s Bible – Lydia Millet
Expectation: A moody, intelligent apocalyptic tale for modern times.
Reality: A mess.
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
Expectation: A high-brow thriller set in the post-apocalyptic Midwest.
Reality: A richly drawn character study that expertly balances multiple, intersecting plots and timelines.
The Book of Accidents – Chuck Wendig
Expectation: An Americana-hued ghost story.
Reality: Heavy on ambition, light on originality. You’ve heard variations of this story before – and by stronger authors.
Great Circle – Maggie Shipstead
Expectation: An historical fiction epic focusing on the early days of aviation.
Reality: Heavy on scope and scale, light on focus. It’s mostly enjoyable but also didn’t need to be 600+ pages.