OscarWilde87's reading log 2022

Hi there and welcome to my 2022 thread!
This is my ninth year on CR. Thanks for having me!

I'm a teacher of English and mathematics at a German high school. I tend to read more fiction than non-fiction, but I generally enjoy both. My reading is all over the board and I'm interested in a wide range of topics. You'll probably find me reading classics as well as popular fiction. Last year was really not the greatest in terms of reading and engaging on librarything, but I hope it'll be better this year. Cannot really be worse though.

My reading goals for this year will be the same as always:
1. Read a book with more than 1,000 pages. This is an all-time favorite annual goal.
2. Read at least 7,500 pages. Why 7,500? The goal here is to read at least 25 books with an average page count of 300.

Happy New (reading) Year!

This post will serve as my reading summary and provide some stats about my overall reading.

Reducing the TBR pile: This year's challenge (to be updated)


Currently reading:


__________________________
Finished in 2022
#1: Sycamore Row by John Grisham ()
#2: Der Buchspazierer by Carsten Henn ()
#3: My Life by Bill Clinton ()
#4: The Reckoning by John Grisham ()
#5: The Sicilian by Mario Puzo ()
#6: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah ()
#7: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig ()
#8: Omertà by Mario Puzo ()
#9: The Pearl by John Steinbeck ()
#10: Becoming by Michelle Obama ()
#11: The Last Don by Mario Puzo ()
#12: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl ()
#13: Fall of Giants by Ken Follett ()
#14: Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci ()
#15: A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci ()
#16: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens ()
#17: The Dead by James Joyce ()
#18: The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort ()

__________________________
2022
Books read: 18
Pages read: 7,873

2021
Books read: 17
Pages read: 6,189

2020
Books read: 18
Pages read: 9,191

2019
Books read: 20
Pages read: 12,414

2018
Books read: 17
Pages read: 9,373

2017
Books read: 18
Pages read: 6,403

2016
Books read: 28
Pages read: 10,426

2015
Books read: 20
Pages read: 8,280

2014
Books read: 27
Pages read: 7,164

2013
Books read: 26
Pages read: 11,618

#1: Sycamore Row by John Grisham
(642 pages)

Grisham's Sycamore Row comes along with a setting that has been explored a lot before, both in novels and in movies. A rich white man in rural Mississippi, Seth Hubbard, has cancer and his doctor tells him that he does not have much time left. Deciding to go on his own terms he commits suicide and hangs himself. The day before, he changed his will, however, cut out his children and grand-children and specifically lays down that Jake Brigance, the lawyer whom he has chosen as the lawyer for his estate, will have to fight for Seth's last wishes as Seth's children are greedy, only want his money and have not cared about him at all when he was still alive. There is another twist: 90 per cent of his money go to his black housekeeper, Lettie Lang. Since the reasons for this unusual decision are unclear and a lot of money is involved a fight for the estate ensues. It is not just Seth's children against the housekeeper, it is also a fight of white against black set in the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi in the late 1980s. Will Jake Brigance be able to enforce the will?

Sycamore Row is the second novel in the Jake Brigance series and I liked the first one so I decided to give this one a go as well. Overall, it was an enjoyable and quick read, despite it having 642 pages. A few things bugged me, though, so that my rating is only 3.5 stars. For example, the solution to the legal fight is somewhat simple and I did not really like it. What I did like a lot, though, are the side characters Harry Rex Vonner, Lucien Wilbanks and Judge Reuben Atlee. If you like legal fiction, you will probably like this novel.

Good to see your thread up and running.Happy reading in 2022.

>1 OscarWilde87: Welcome back! I'm curious about your goal to read a book with over 1,000 pages every year. What are some examples that you've read in the past? Are you going to join the Anniversaries group read?

>5 labfs39: When's the Anniversaries group read starting, Lisa? I'm quite tempted, although I've started the year with 2 books around the 600 page mark so I need a bit of relief from doorstoppers for a while.

Glad to see you back.

>6 AlisonY: January 1 :) It is a year long read-along. :)

>8 AnnieMod: Is there a thread for the group read, Annie?

>9 AlisonY: https://www.librarything.com/topic/337722

>10 ELiz_M: Thanks - I missed that somewhere along the way.

Good to see your thread show up, O. >3 OscarWilde87: I gave up Grisham ages ago, but was entertained by your review.

>11 AlisonY: you should join...we're only on week 2 of 52. :)

Thanks for all your kind and welcoming words!

>5 labfs39: I'm probably not going to join the Anniversaries group for the simple reason of not being to handle catching up on threads and replying as much as I'd like to in this group. I will take a look at it nevertheless. I am intrigued.
Probably still one of the best (if not the best) book with a 1000+ pages was Stephen King's The Stand for me. I also loved Auster's 4 3 2 1 although I'm not certain that it has a thousand pages. I remember it being quite the tome, though.

>12 dchaikin: I simply love court thrillers and Grisham's books are very fast reads and get me to reading when nothing else goes. They are a sort of remedy for my reading slumps, I guess.

#2: Der Buchspazierer by Carsten Henn
(224 pages)

This little book tells the story of Carl Kollhoff, a passionate bookseller nearing the end of his working life. The book store he works for has been taken over by the owner's daughter who wants to modernize the shop and does not really agree with Kollhoff's way of selling books or share his love for books. Kollhoff provides a special service for his customers of bringing them new books to their doorstep free of charge. Kollhoff likes his evening walks when he gets to see his customers and have a little chat with them. His customers, too, like Kollhoff and his service and there is a special bond between them and their favorite bookseller. One day, Schascha, a young girl joins Kollhoff, who enjoys being alone, and accompanies him on his daily walks. Soon Kollhoff enjoys the girl's presence and actually looks forward to taking the walks with her. However, things take a turn for the worse in his life when Schascha suddenly does not appear anymore and Kollhoff is fired from the bookstore. What happened to Schascha? What will Kollhoff do now? What will his customers do now?

Henn's novel is a testament to book lovers and tells a very emotional and heart-warming story that makes you turn the little more than 200 pages quickly. It explores how books and literature can change people and their lives as well as shape their characters. The book makes an excellent point in calling for more empathy and reconsidering certain values that seem to have become lost or overlooked nowadays. A highly recommendable book with only one minor flaw: I was sad that it ended and that it was not longer. I would have liked to follow Kollhoff and the other characters a little more. 4 stars.



PS: Unfortunately the book is not available in an English translation, so you have to know German to be able to read it.

>14 OscarWilde87: aw, I was all excited until I got to the postscript. Sounds like a book I would enjoy.

>14 OscarWilde87: That sounds great! I hope they translate it to english

>14 OscarWilde87: This sounds delightful, but I worry my German is not up to the task.

>15 labfs39: >16 nancyewhite: >17 shadrach_anki: It is really unfortunate that it hasn't been translated to English yet. I'm not even sure it will, I'm afraid.

>14 OscarWilde87: Wonderful review, but sadly I would also need a translation to English.

Hello Oscar! I hope all is well with you. I'm so sporadic on the boards. I've given you a star and hope to come back and make some comments.

I listened to the audio for The Last Don when it first came out and really enjoyed it. In fact, I was quite a fan of the tv mini-series that featured Jason Gedrick and Danny Aiello. Have you seen it?

I have not read any other of Puzo's works. I look forward to your thoughts.

>20 brodiew2: Hi! Same here, I guess, as you can see from how long it took me to actually reply.
I haven't gotten around to the other Puzo's yet but I will post short reviews as soon as I do.
I haven't seen the miniseries, though. I might wanna check it out after reading The Last Don since you can obviously recommend it. Thanks for putting it on my radar!

#3: My Life by Bill Clinton
(1,012 pages)

In the epilogue to his autobiography My Life Bill Clinton states that he "wrote this book to tell [his] story, and to tell the story of America in the last half of the twentieth century". And this is exactly what he did. On about 1,000 pages Clinton describes events in his life starting from his childhood in Arkansas and ending with him leaving the White House after his second term as President. While there are many personal anecdotes in there, the book is mainly about his political life, politics and policies.

I picked up this book because I wanted to get a more detailed view on Clinton's presidency, especially his achievements for prosperity as well as NAFTA. Plus, I wanted to read his point of view on more personal matters such as Whitewater and his affair with Monica Lewinsky. As can be expected from an autobiography the reader probably gets a somewhat biased view on those issues. Generally, Clinton does not omit to remind us of his achievements in politics and he provides a slightly tamped-down perspective on the Lewinsky affair and the impeachment process.

Finishing the book took me roughly one and a half years, although I have to say that I read most of it in a period of three months. At over 1,000 pages the autobiography is certainly daunting. However, I still found it quite readable. Depending on your interests, you will find certain passages less interesting than others and the book is obviously not a page-turner. At certain moments I found insights or questions that stuck with me for a while and, apart from the aspects that I wanted to read about, made the book more interesting to me. It is especially when Clinton reflects his behavior or that of others or the status quo of the world and where it is going when I was most interested. 3.5 stars for a daunting endeavor.

Well of course I'm desperate to know what his portrayal of the Lewinsky affair was!

>23 AlisonY: He admitted that he made a personal mistake and that it was immoral, but there was still no clear answer on the definition of "sexual relations", which was heavily debated in the media and by the independent counsel investigating the affair back then. I could understand Clinton's arguments, but I still strongly felt he was painting the nicest picture of himself that he possibly could. This might be expected, though. I somewhat agree with his stance that the whole affair was a personal matter rather than a political one and should be treated as such as it does not really say anything about his presidential qualities but rather his personal ones (although a President should probably be a role model, but the ones without fault should cast the first stone, right?). Certainly it is not really fair to broaden the Whitewater investigation to this affair only to be able to find grounds for impeachment that could not be found in the Whitewater investigation.

>24 OscarWilde87: Interesting review and further comments on the Clinton autobiography. Thanks! I don't know if you're familiar with the political/cultural journalist and commentator Renata Adler, who was writing in the New Yorker, among other places, during the time period from Watergate through Whitewater. Her essay collection Canaries in the Mine Shaft contains a couple of very well researched and scathing pieces about Ken Starr's underhanded methods during the Whitewater investigation. Lewinsky was evidently browbeaten furiously. According to Adler, Starr even demanded she wear a wire to try to incriminate Clinton, but, despite the pressure Lewinsky was put under, she refused.

I would love to know what Clinton has to say about his "tough on crime" stance that, according to Michelle Alexander in her book, The New Jim Crow, helped entrench the mass incarceration of African Americans started under Ronald Reagan.

>24 OscarWilde87: Yeah, it's a funny one. Clinton has plenty of company in the presidential sleaze-ball hall of fame, but the timing of this affair (with Starr's dogged determination for impeachment) was particularly unfortunate for him. Perhaps we also expected more from Clinton at the time as he had a Mr Nice Guy image (well, certainly in Northern Ireland he did, where he was very popular because of his involvement in the peace process). Would anyone have batted an eyelid if someone had come out with a Trump-stained dress?

>25 rocketjk: I had not been familiar with the essay collection, so thanks for putting it on my radar. That Ken Starr investigation certainly was an odd example of "independent" counsel. The fact(?) that Lewinsky was supposed to wear a wire was also in the book.
I do remember Clinton being proud of his record fighting crime in the US and improving the situation drastically, but I don't remember the specifics. I found the following article in the NY Times, though, in case you are interested. In hindsight Clinton admitted to having made mistakes.
Here's the link to the article: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/us/politics/bill-clinton-concedes-his-crime-l...

>26 AlisonY: You certainly have a point here, although there had been rumors about Clinton affairs before.
I would also think that with Trump everyone would have shrugged it off and thought that it was just a matter of time. Which also says a lot, actually.

#4: The Reckoning by John Grisham
(500 pages)

The Reckoning is set in fictional Ford County in the 1940s and relates the story of Pete Banning, a farmer and former soldier who right at the beginning murders the local preacher Dexter Bell. There is no doubt about the case, Pete Banning is arrested, freely admits the murder and awaits trial. It is obvious that he will be sentenced to death, but even then he does not reveal his motive for killing Dexter Bell. As he was well-respected in town, the people wonder just as much as Pete's children why he shot the preacher.

The novel is divided into three parts, the first of which relates the murder and the trial. The second part provides background on Pete's life as a soldier fighting in the Philippines in World War II. The third part gets back to the trial and its motive. The question right from the beginning is why Pete Banning murdered Dexter Bell and it is only answered at the end of the novel.

At first I found the structure of the novel odd as I wondered what else could possibly be told on the remaining 300 or so pages once the trial was over. The background story is very well told and I enjoyed reading the second part of the novel a lot. While the revelation of Banning's motive at the end is not too surprising given what we learn about him and his family before, I liked the novel overall. 3.5 stars.

#5: The Sicilian by Mario Puzo
(410 pages)

The second installment in Mario Puzo's Godfather series is titled The Sicilian. The novel is set in Sicily, Italy, where we follow the exploits of the bandit Turi Guiliano, a deliberate misspelling of the real Salvatore Giuliano, an Italian bandit who lived in the first half of the 20th century. It is connected to the first part of the Godfather series through Michael Corleone, son of the Godfather Don Vito Corleone. Michael plans his return to America from his exile in Sicily and he is to help escape Turi Guiliano to America.

The story begins when Turi and his friend Aspanu Pisciotta are stopped by the Italian police while smuggling food. One thing leads to another and Turi is shot by a police officer whom he kills in return. When the police try to arrest Turi in his home later on, he flees to the mountains with Aspanu to become a bandit and swears to help the poor people of Sicily, becoming an Italian version of Robin Hood. Guiliano soon rises to power and his group of bandits becomes ever larger, stealing from the rich, giving to the poor and always keeping a little for themselves. This draws the ire of mafia boss Don Croce Malo who first tries to team up with Guiliano, but changes his plan when Turi refuses his offer.

I liked the novel for its storyline as well as its characters, some of whom are based on real life characters. The different events in Turi Guiliano's life made for an interesting read that kept me wanting to learn about his fate. 4 stars.

#6: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
(288 pages)

Born a Crime offers a window into Trevor Noah's early life from his birth to his teenage years. It is both autobiographical as well as educational in parts. The title refers to the fact that Noah's mother was a black South African and his father was a white man of Swiss nationality. Interracial sexual relations were not allowed in apartheid South Africa, which makes Noah's birth a crime and put both him and his mother at risk. Still, his mother kept him and somehow made life work and ends meet. As readers we learn about the different struggles Noah and his mother have gone through, how they survived poverty, how Noah faced the usual issues of growing up like dating, education and getting a job, and how his mother survived her new husband, who actually shot her.

Noah's stories are at times funny, at times sad, but they are always very illuminating and show what growing up in South Africa in the eighties and nineties meant. I found it quite interesting to see that the book offers a different point of view to what Americans or Europeans are usually accustomed to. One example I find quite striking is that if you ask Americans or Europeans about the worst event in history they are quite likely to mention the holocaust. From a South African perspective, so Noah, apartheid would be the first answer that comes to mind and Hitler would be considered a terrible man, but not to the extent as in America and Europe since that part of history is simply not focused on in South African education. Noah says that this does not mean that South Africans have no idea about Hitler and the holocaust, but that living under apartheid or having the memory of apartheid still fresh on their minds, this is the single worst thing to them. Noah tells the story that he knew a black dancer in South Africa that went by the name Hitler and that Hitler was even quite a common name in South Africa. When that dancer entered the stage of a show in front of a Jewish crowd, and his black friends urged him on by shouting 'Go, Hitler!', they were actually wondering why they were kicked out of the place and why the Jewish people were so deeply offended, attributing their anger rather to the offensive dancing style than to their shouts.

On the whole, Trevor Noah's book is both entertaining as well as educational. 4 stars.

#7: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
(288 pages)

Matt Haig's The Midnight Library explores a central question of life: What if it were possible to revisit all the decisions you regret in retrospect and simply change them and see to what extent your life would go a different way? The novel's protagonist Nora is depressive, has a lot of regrets and contemplates committing suicide. When an old friend rings her doorbell and tells her that her cat has just died in the street, this pushes Nora over the edge and right at midnight she overdoses on her depression medication. That is when she enters the eponymous Midnight Library, an in-between place where you are neither dead nor alive. The Midnight Library contains an infinite number of alternative lives you might have lived if you had only changed a minor part of your life. It lets you explore the what-ifs in every which way but eventually you will have to come to a decision on what life you want to live or whether you want to live at all. Nora revisits all of her biggest regrets in order to find out what her life could have looked like had she decided differently in the past. What life will she eventually lead? Does she want to continue living? Read the novel to find out.

There are many books that you read to find out what will happen at the end. The Midnight Library is not one of those books. Rather, you read this novel for the journey, not for the destination. Without revealing too much, the ending can be guessed at pretty much from the beginning. With this novel, the story until then is what is important. It is about the 'how?' and not so much about the 'what?'. And it is well worth staying on for the trip as you might find yourself asking the same questions Nora asks herself, might start thinking about your own regrets and quite possibly will come out with a cathartic feeling at the end. I really enjoyed reading this novel for the train of thought it set in motion. It is both sad and uplifting at times. In the end I found it to be very life-affirming and I am very happy I read it. 4 stars.

>31 OscarWilde87: Interesting review, for a book I had not heard about. I just finished The Promise by Damon Galgut, and I can see similarities.

>32 OscarWilde87: You make the book sound more interesting than I was expecting. Not sure I'll look for the book, but I'm tempted.

>33 raton-liseur: I will have to check out The Promise sometime then. As for The Midnight Library, I really enjoyed the book. Maybe I read too much into it, but it struck a chord.

#8: Omertà by Mario Puzo
(410 pages)

Mario Puzo's Omertà is the third installment in his Godfather-series. The novel's main story is set in New York City while the backstory is set in Sicily. Raymonde Aprile, a New York Don, retires from his active business to live the rest of his life enjoying his family and the wealth and influence he has attained over the years. However, he is assassinated by a hit squad hired by another Don who has set his eyes on the banks Don Aprile still controls. 49% of the Don's banks go to his three children and the controlling majority of 51% go to Astorre Viola, whom the Don adopted when Astorre was still a child. The Don's last wish was for Astorre never to sell the banks and Astorre does exactly that. In the process he is hunted by a conglomerate gathered around the last remaining New York Don that wants to use the banks for laundering drug money and establishing a bigger cartel. Another party involved is Kurt Cilke, an FBI agent, who tries to bring down the New York mafia for good. A story of intrigue and double crossing unfolds. At the same time, the reader learns about Astorre Viola's background and how he came to be adopted by Don Raymonde Aprile. Viola is trained in Sicily for the task to succeed Don Aprile, learning what it takes to be the head of his own cosca, that is his own clan.

I have to say that I really enjoyed Omertà and even liked it better than the two previous novels in the series. The parts that reveal the background and training of Astorre Viola are fascinating to read and make the overall story so much richer. The main plot with the fight about dominance in the New York mafia was gripping and made me turn the pages in a breeze. Omertà was published post-humously and criticized by some as Puzo's worst work. Personally, I have to disagree, but then again my reading is often influenced by my current surroundings, my mood and how a particular story clicks with me at a particular point in my life. When I read the novel I was looking for an entertaining story that helped me escape the huge amount of work I recently had and Omertà managed not to do just that, but also to positively surprise me. 5 stars for a highly enjoyable read.

#9: The Pearl by John Steinbeck
(115 pages)

The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a parable about how sudden wealth can change people's lives. Protagonist Kino lives in a village near La Paz, Mexico, and the name of the village seems to describe the setting of the novella perfectly at the beginning. The atmosphere is quiet and peaceful, the villagers go about their daily work, none of them are rich and they dream about finding a big pearl in an oyster that will change their lot in life forever. The peace and quiet is first interrupted when a scorpion stings Kino's son Coyotito and Kino and his wife Juana set out to see the doctor in town so that their son will not have to die. The doctor, however, does not want to see such poor people and deems it beneath him. Juana then applies a seaweed poultice to the sting which will actually heal it eventually. However, the desperate parents do not know that at this point in the story. Kino sets out to dive for pearls in order to be able to pay for a doctor and save his son's life and he actually comes across the biggest pearl he has ever seen. Word of the lucky find spreads quickly. When the doctor learns about the pearl, he visits Kino and Juana to treat their child, claiming that he had not been in in the morning they came looking for him, but came immediately after he heard that their son was stung by a scorpion. The doctor sees that Coyotito will survive because of the poultice but treats him anyway so that he can portray himself as the savior. As soon as Kino finds the pearl it starts changing his life. It is not just the doctor who is after the riches but also fellow villagers who try to steal Kino's pearl. When Kino tries to sell the pearl in town, the pearl dealers have already heard about the size of the pearl and agreed on what they would offer Kino, which is obviously not enough. Offended by the offers of the pearl dealers, Kino keeps the pearl and wants to try to sell it in a bigger city. On the way there he and his family are followed and attacked again. Eventually, they return to their village their lives completely changed. I will leave out the specifics here so as not to spoil your reading.

Steinbeck's story was inspired by a folktale he had heard about the pearl divers of Mexico. It covers the timeless themes of poor vs. rich and good vs. evil and explores the impact of sudden wealth on a person and the people around them. I loved the novella for its writing style and the incidents Steinbeck chose to tell this story. 5 stars.

Two great reviews of two five star reads in a row!

>36 OscarWilde87: Ooh, I've not even heard of that Steinbeck novel before, but you sell it well. Great review.

>38 AlisonY: Be careful, though. I love Steinbeck's writing and that might have influenced my review.

#10: Becoming by Michelle Obama
(426 pages)

Michelle Obama is probably one of the most graceful and dignified first ladies of the United States. Her book Becoming only goes to confirm this. In three chapters, "Becoming Me", "Becoming Us" and "Becoming More", Obama traces her way from being born in Chicago's South Side to becoming the First Lady of the United States with all the stages of 'becoming' in between. The readers learn how she met Barack Obama, how she fell in love with him, how they had children and how they tried to balance family life and Barack Obama's political career. We also get an insight to life on the campagin trail, life in Washington, D.C., and life in the White House. This book is more than just about politics, though, especially because Michelle Obama is more than 'just' Barack Obama's wife. First and foremost it is about family and important values. It is about people and making a change for the better.

Obama's writing is easy to follow and manages not to bore you with too many details. It is always spiced up by little personal anecdotes which make the book highly readable. Meeting Queen Elizabeth II. is only one of many examples that show the wit and the grace of Michelle Obama. I really enjoyed reading this book. 4.5 stars.

#11: The Last Don by Mario Puzo
(482 pages)

Mario Puzo's 1996 novel connects the world of the American mafia on the east coast to the gambling and movie world of the west coast. The eponymous last Don, Don Domenico Clericuzio, is the last remaining head of a big mafia family in America and wants his children to live a life free from illegal action. He sets his sons up with legal businesses and careers, but the hunger for power and the willingness to commit a crime cannot completely be subdued in the family. Don Domenico's grandson Dante also causes a lot of trouble as he enjoys killing. In Las Vegas we meet Pippi De Lena and his children Claudia and Cross. Pippi De Lena is Don Domenico's cousin and the family 'hammer', that is the hitman for the family. The Don has installed him as his Bruglione in the west who is in control of a Las Vegas casino that makes a fortune for both the Clericuzio family and De Lena. When his son Cross takes over, he only takes over the casino and refuses to kill someone for the mafia family. The Don's grandson Dante eventually kills Pippi De Lena because he wants to be the family 'hammer', which makes Cross plot revenge. Also involved in all this is the Los Angeles movie business where Claudia, Pippi De Lena's daughter, tries to make a living for herself as a writer. As you can see, there is a lot happening in The Last Don, but the different plot lines are deeply interwoven and constantly converge.

The Last Don is an entertaining read, but I found the number of characters a bit confusing at the beginning as it was hard to keep track who is who and what motives the different characters seem to have. However, once I got into the novel a bit further it was easy to follow and I enjoyed reading it. 3.5 stars for a good read.

#12: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
(376 pages)

This book by Dave Grohl is a real gem. The Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer is really what the title proclaims, a storyteller. Grohl relates his life from birth until roughly 2020. We see him growing up, learning to play the drums, making his way through the US in search of a musical career and finally striking it big when he joins Nirvana and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is released. We also learn about his life after Nirvana and how he tries to process Kurt Cobain's death. And then there is the family man Dave Grohl, dad of three daughters.

The Storyteller is as much about Grohl's musical life as it is about his personal life. He relates many anecdotes that are often quite funny, sometimes probably only in retrospect, though. Dave Grohl succeeds to tell his story superbly. Let us hope there is so much more story to come and tell. 5 stars.

>42 OscarWilde87: Your review lead me to do a little Google diving. I had no idea that Foo Fighters was originally just Grohl. Despite living in Seattle from 2000 on, I never heard them live. Pretty incredible history.

>42 OscarWilde87: Oh that sounds like a great memoir - noting it.

I wonder what will become of the Foos now without Taylor Hawkins. I see they're playing some tribute gigs, but I wonder will they keep properly going without him. I believe Grohl and he were close friends. I must admit it won't feel the same without seeing him grinning with all teeth whilst playing like a maniac.

>43 labfs39: It's indeed an incredible story. And reading Dave Grohl tell it was fantastic. I've only seen the Foos live once and they were amazing. Such a great show!

>44 AlisonY: They were really close, yes. Grohl writes so in his book. He describes hearing Hawkins on the drums as if it was musical love at first sight. It's very sad that he has passed.

#13: Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
(922 pages)

Ken Follett's Fall of Giants is the first installment in his Century Trilogy. This historical novel spans from 1911 to 1924 and covers the events leading up to the First World War, the war itself as well as part of its aftermath. In order to do so, it is set in multiple places, but mainly in Wales and the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Rather than relating the historical events directly the reader gets to experience historical events through the eyes of fictional characters whose paths sometimes cross and who also sometimes interact with actual historical figures whose words and actions are largely fictionalized. The main characters are as different as they could be, including a coal miner in Wales, an affluent British Earl, German nobility, Russian factory workers and a political adviser to the President of the United States.

I enjoyed reading this novel a lot as it mixes actual historical events with fictional personal fates. Thereby Follett lets the readers see the events through the eyes of the people affected by them while at the same time crafting tales of personal intrigue, betrayal, friendship and love. To my mind, the set of characters is well chosen and they each get their own interesting story. I especially liked how they interact sometimes and influence their lives, sometimes even without really realizing it. I would recommend Fall of Giants to readers who like historical fiction and the influence of global events on personal lives on a much smaller scale. You have to be aware that this is quite a tome, though. I will definitely continue with the next book in the series. 4 stars.

#14: Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci
(533 pages)

In Long Road to Mercy David Baldacci introduces FBI special agent Atlee Pine who works in a remote office in Arizona. Pine's twin sister Mercy was abducted from their home when they were children, which led to their parents' divorce. On top of that, Pine's father killed himself on her birthday and she has not talked to her mother in ages. Her family background is probably one of the main reasons Pine became an FBI agent.

When a mule is killed and a person goes missing in the Grand Canyon, Special Agent Atlee Pine starts to investigate, but is soon called off the case by her superiors. The circumstances being rather ominous Pine continues to investigate anyway and slowly unravels a plot that is tied to the Russians and North Koreans and reaches deep into the United States government. With so much at stake and unsure whom to trust, Pine has to work on her own to solve a case that impacts the future of the United States.

While I enjoyed reading Long Road to Mercy and also liked the characters of Atlee Pine and her secretary Carol Blum I found certain plot twists somewhat far-fetched and unrealistic at times. Usually, I can deal with that as fiction should have a little leeway when it comes to crafting a good story. The degree to which suspension of disbelief was required with this novel was a bit high sometimes, though, so for me it is only 3.5 stars for an otherwise very thrilling novel. I will go on to read the second installment in the series.

#15: A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci
(588 pages)

David Baldacci's A Minute to Midnight continues the series centered around Atlee Pine, an FBI agent working in a remote office in Arizona whose twin sister Mercy was abducted when she was only six years old.

Atlee Pine is given a temporary leave of absence from her job at the FBI after she captures a child molester and uses excessive force and almost beats him to pulp. She then decides that she has to deal with her past and revisit her childhood home in Georgia to try and solve her twin sister Mercy's abduction. While there Pine gets involved in the investigation of several murders that haunt the town and that might be connected to her past. Will she be able to catch the serial killer? Will she make some headway in finding out the truth about that fateful night her sister was abducted?

I enjoyed the second installment in Baldacci's Atlee Pine series more than the first one as the story was more gripping and the main character was developed further. It certainly got me hooked to the series. 4 stars for this novel.

#16: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
(95 pages)

This is actually a re-read of an all-time classic. Basically a must read for Christmas.

>50 OscarWilde87: I've still not read this... maybe 2023 is the year.

#17: The Dead by James Joyce
(43 pages)

The final short story in the collection Dubliners, "The Dead" is for the most part set in the house of the three Morkan sisters, who are visited by a number of Dubliners for their annual Christmas party. Among the guests are Gabriel Conroy and his wife Gretta. The story centers around the party and Gabriel as the protagonist as it dissects different parts of Dublin society. It is a very pensive story, but to my mind it is a perfect Christmas read or end of the year read as it contemplates life and change. A five-star story that I simply love.

#18: The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort
(519 pages)

Jordan Belfort is a self-made man. Starting out with almost nothing and selling ice cream to pay for tuition, he soon realizes his knack for the stock market and gaming the system. Under his leadership, his brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont becomes both famous and notorious. Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street, exploits the system to make a fortune every day. His lifestyle is equally fast and reckless. Starting with drugs to get some relief from his back pain, he enters a downward spiral that makes him become an addict whose life merely consists of taking drugs and spending money as soon as he entered his thirties. The Wolf of Wall Street relates the events in his life from his own perspective and in a very vivid way.

I liked the book for the tale it tells and how it is told. At points it made me want to vomit and I wanted to put the book away entirely, but I found myself unable to quit. Eventually, though, the narrative is exciting, even it is - luckily - far removed from what I expect life to be like. 4 stars.