I got back into reading at the end of 2021 and it has been really fun. Once again, books are a big part of my life. Historical fiction, literary fiction, science fiction, etc., etc. Interested in politics, feminism, climate change, TV, movies, birding, biking, music, forest preserves, art museums, travel. UC Davis law grad, now in Chicago suburbs.
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Success! Brian Plunkett has read 17 of 16 books.
An engrossing work of autobiographical fiction about the relationship between an actress daughter and her larger-than-life father—the astonishingly assured debut …
2014: A great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For generations, people speculate about its message, but no …
From sci-fi visionary and acclaimed author Annalee Newitz comes Automatic Noodle, a cozy near-future novella …
This was good - a real breath of fresh air. And it made me hungry, too. Thanks to Dan Sinker for recommending it--> https://dansinker.com/posts/2025-09-15-good-things/
From sci-fi visionary and acclaimed author Annalee Newitz comes Automatic Noodle, a cozy near-future novella about a crew of abandoned …
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a …
A girl's friendship with an older neighbor stands at the center of this multifaceted meditation …
A complete joy to read, and surprisingly fast too. Smith's exhilarating writing, with lots of wordplay, artistic observations, and literary references, keeps my brain on its toes. The Brexit pall hanging over the story hits hard right now, with the anti-immigrant crackdown happening in the U.S. I'm very much looking forward to continuing with the rest of the quartet. Great audiobook narration by Melody Grove.
Very good historical fiction. Interesting to have it revolve around a real event - the 1984 bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the Tory conference - but then have it focus less on the event itself and more on the pre-event thoughts and activities of three characters: Dan (a member of the IRA), Moose (disappointed but hopeful deputy general manager at the hotel), and Freya (Moose's teenage daughter). Well-written, insightful, and often funny.
Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team of …
4.5 Stars. A great, well-written thriller with a fiery protagonist. The wolves were fascinating, and I really enjoyed the Scottish setting. Excellent audiobook narration by Saskia Maarleveld.
Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team of biologists tasked with reintroducing fourteen …
A little uneven (it could have used more editing, especially toward the end), but overall I thought it was very good. The writing sparkled throughout most of the book. There was a chapter about 1/3 of the way through that switched to the father's perspective - his thoughts about being a parent, his job working with other immigrants at a chicken facility in Indiana, etc. - and it was quite moving. The book was also surprisingly funny, despite addressing some rather serious topics, like addiction/recovery and how to have a meaningful life (and death).
