Life and Shoes and Stuff: Reading List 2024, Part 2

This was another light reading year, rounding it out with a total of 21 books (including a single entry for a smattering of short stories & microfiction). You can check out Reading List: Part 1 for the books I read in the first half of the year.

My goal for next year is 52, which I have accomplished in previous years. I feel like averaging a book a week is a reasonable objective, and I am nothing if not reasonable. 😊

My friend Katie (author of Once Upon a Pyne) put together a rating system that she uses on Goodreads. I asked her permission to steal it and have implemented it below.

Here is her (and now my) criteria:

⭐: the worst piece of garbage I’ve ever read

⭐⭐: overall bleh book, but some redeeming qualities

⭐⭐⭐: liked it, but wouldn’t read again

⭐⭐⭐⭐: liked it more and would read again

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: amazing and definitely should read again

I've decided to add a + designation, which is basically a half star.

If you want to keep up with what I'm reading on a more updated basis, you can follow me on Goodreads.

The Sandman: Book Two by Neil Gaiman (audiobook and graphic novel) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I literally finished the graphic novel 12/30 and the audiobook 12/31, squeaking it in at the last minute! 😐 I read Sandman: Book One back in 2022 prior to season 1 of the Netflix show being released. I wasn't familiar with the characters as used in this particular universe, so wanted an introduction before diving into the show. Both books have been deeply weird, thought-provoking, dark and occasionally redemptive in what I can only call a very Neil Gaiman-y way, which will make sense if you've read any of his other books. Sandman definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's worth checking out for Gaiman-y people.

Summer by Edith Wharton (audiobook) ⭐⭐⭐+
I don't tend to get affected by books (or movies, for that matter). This one was an exception. For contrast - The Age of Innocence (also by Edith Wharton) made me want to punch the main character, while the ending of Summer made me feel like someone had punched me. It's tragic, frustrating and well written. I would recommend it over Age of Innocence.
Snowflakes by Ruth Ware (audiobook) ⭐⭐
This is a short story that's part of the "Hush Collection," a collection of six stories. It was an interesting concept, but ended up rather cliched.
Do Not Disturb by Frieda McFadden (audiobook) ⭐⭐+
I've read a couple books by McFadden now and they have similar vibes - an interesting story that doesn't quite stick the landing. This whodunnit took a couple good turns, but felt a bit "eh" by the end.
The Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain (Book Club, audiobook) ⭐⭐⭐
I read this before (I think in high school), so it was interesting reading it again as an adult. Mark Twain was clearly a huge fan of Joan of Arc and this definitely felt like a fanboy novel. It's an interesting perspective and story about such a famous historical and religious figure by such a famous author.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Book Club, audiobook) ⭐⭐⭐+
I tried to read the Brothers Karamazov shortly after college and only made it a couple of chapters before giving up, so I was glad it made the book club list. It was very well written, but the amount of melodrama was hugely frustrating. I'm proud to have finished it, but I don't think I'd ever read it again.
Neverwhere: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatization (audiobook) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
When I bought this on Audible, I thought it was the audiobook of Neverwhere. Instead it's an abridged version of the story with an amazing voicecast including James McAvoy, Natalie Dormer, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anthony Head and Sir Christopher Lee. I listened to it first and then listen to the audiobook.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Book Club, audiobook) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I read Neverwhere during our "Neil Gaiman phase" and was excited it made the list. It's a weird and dark book with lots of interesting twists and turns, but ultimately it's actually very hopeful. Something I noticed about the main character (Richard) this time is how courageous he was throughout the story. Richard is just a normal human thrown into a big, scary fantasy world. He continually makes selfless decisions while being genuinely petrified by everything going on around him, making him one of the bravest protagonists I've run across in novels.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling ⭐⭐⭐
I was gifted the first HP book for my birthday (thanks, Katie P-A!). I've seen all the HP movies, but this was the first time I've read any of the books. I can see why people love and are attached to HP, but it didn't grab me. I think there were some fun ideas and if I'd read it as a kid, I know I would have loved it. But right now, at this point in my life, it didn't speak to me like this kind of fantasy should.
How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk by John Van Epp (audiobook) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I noticed there were a lot of similarities in this book to Boundaries, which I read earlier this year. While I didn't agree with everything in it, I appreciated a lot of the perspectives and it definitely provided food for thought. I listened to the audiobook and liked it enough to get a hard copy. My retention is terrible with audiobooks and I wanted to be able to refer back to things. Some takeaways were:
- "The good doesn't always last, but the bad usually gets worse." While that sounds super cynical, it highlights the need to work through issues before committing to someone. Assuming that things will just work out or get better on their own rarely works out. "For the vast majority of married couples...the problems in the courtship became magnified in the marriage."
- "Intimacy equals talk (mutual self-disclosure) plus togetherness (diversified experiences) plus time."
- "Not until after three months do deep seated patterns start to become evident." My similar take has been that you should date through at least two major holidays. 😄 According to Van Epp, "we put our best foot forward until we feel a bit more secure in a new relationship. This is why it is so difficult to be sure what someone is really like in the first three months."
- Two sources of information are "situational and relational domains." Situational = ways a person acts in various situations, and relational = the way a person treats you throughout the course of the relationship, how they make you feel by the things they do and say.
- "True complementarity exists when you find that you become a better person by being with your partner, when time refines the blend of differences in mutual beneficial ways, and when partners become more alike over time." I think becoming a better person because of your relationship is hugely important. If you find that the opposite is happening, that's a giant red flag.
Chaos of the Heart by ChatGPT and Katie Quintero (clearly ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😂)
I read through this at least 3-4 times, so it totally counts for this list. 😄

For those who haven't heard about my ridiculous writing endeavor, this summer/fall I used ChatGPT to write a book called "Chaos of the Heart," a Jurassic Park themed romance novel. It all started because of a White Elephant gift exchange two years ago. Someone accidently included a romance novel as part of their contribution, which caused me to intentionally bring a romance novel the next year. It was werewolf themed and literally the worst book I’ve ever read. The quality of the writing was so, so bad. I cannot undersell it enough. To make it a semi-appropriate offering for our White Elephant, I used sticky notes to censor the spicy parts and included some commentary (“We get it, you like each other!”).

For this year, I decided to be a bit ridiculous and create this absurd AI-generated romance fanfic novel. I was going to just buy another terrible romance novel with a different theme, but didn't want to use another forest of sticky notes...which gave me the idea of writing my own and leaving the sketchy parts blank, which is what I decided to do. It gets PG-13 at best (worst?), but for anything stereotypically romance novel, I left blank sections. I landed on Jurassic Park as a theme because I had a Dr. Ian Malcolm FunkoPop that I included with the gift. I also included a DVD of the original Jurassic Park for good measure, since everyone should own a copy. 😎

I created some pics via ChatGPT too, which I didn't end up using in the book, so I included them below.
Dresden File Short Stories & Microfiction ⭐⭐⭐+
All of these are short stories posted on Jim Butcher's website. They're too short to count as their own items, so I'm including them all as one entry. They were all good, not to mention fun pulls back into Dresden's world, but I don't have a reason to read them again (hence the rating).
- Christmas Eve
- Good People
- Job Placement
- Everything the Light Touches