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May, that I have read every single Stephen King published book. (His next story collection comes out in late May...I have it on hold at the library already!)

I finally read some A-grade (for me at least) books.

The A-List

The Year of Ice by Brian Malloy (RR) A-. I read this back around 2007 or so, and I stumbled upon it at a library book sale I had a coupon for a free book for and picked it up since I remember loving it, but I didn’t remember anything about it. It’s the story of a high school teen trying to come to grips with his mom’s death and homosexuality in 1978 Minneapolis.

After Francesco by Brian Malloy A. So of course after re-reading it, I had to find out if Malloy ever wrote anything else. He had. Including this 2021 sequel to The Year of Ice. The main character is now 28 and dealing with the loss of his partner to AIDS. The rare sequel that’s better, but not the only book sequel I read this month that was better!

The Language of Love and Loss by Bart Yates A-. Speaking of sequels being better…so I started reading this book and was 30 pages into it before figuring out it was a sequel. I went and read the first book, which was good, but this was better as Noah, now 38, returns to his home town to find out his mom has ALS and to tie up some things from the first book. Noah’s ex boyfriend now has a husband too.

The B-List

Leave Myself Behind by Bart Yates B+. So in this, the first book, Noah is a teen and his college professor mom just moved him to a small town in New Hampshire after the death of his father. He falls in love with his next door neighbour as his mom has a nervous breakdown. Tons of trigger warnings here though.

Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx B+ A collection of short stories that take place in Wyoming, including Brokeback Mountain (which I hated the movie but liked the short story here.)

Dolly: My Life And Other Unfinished Business B+ by Dolly Parton. Just found out about this book, and it was enjoyable. I could definitely tell it was her voice.

Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn B. I found this book when I was going through my mom’s stuff in 2021 and kept it (it still has the Hills price tag on it, and it appeared to be an edition from around 1980…older than me.) I don’t think I could name a song by Lynn, and I preferred Dolly’s book. That said, my mom grew up near Loretta Lynn (and we have a distant cousin who is a distant cousin of Lynn’s. I don’t think I could say we’re related though because it’s so distant!) So it was kinda interesting to read about that.

The Door-To-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn B. German translation to English. A book deliverer is joined by a precocious 9 year old girl and they meet characters in this German small town and everyone loves books except the new owner of the book store who wants to fire him.

Hollywood Hustle by Jon Lindstrom B. YES, this is the same Jon Lindstrom who played Ryan Chamberlain from 1992-1995 and 2018-2023 and who still plays Kevin Collins (1993-2003, then since 2012 or 2013) on GH and Port Charles! It feels like he wrote it hoping that someone would make it into a movie that would star him. A middle-aged actor (David Duchovny type) tries to rescue his addict daughter from kidnappers. I’m not that much into thrillers, but this was definitely readable.

Travel Guide to Port Charles by Lucy Coe B-. Well, a fun idea that got old quick, and the 9 million footnotes on every page of characters snarking each other got old quick. Chris and Dan are supposedly responsible, but it feels more like RonC’s style. It was written in 2019 so a lot of it is already moot anyway. Also a bit annoyed is that Felicia had three different names: “Felicia Jones” “Felicia Jones Scorpio” and “Felicia Scorpio”. Umm, she was Felicia Scorpio-Jones from 1998-2001, and she’s been Felicia Scorpio since remarrying Mac.

The C-List:

The History of Danish Dreams by Peter Høeg C. I got this book around 2018 and never read it. I thought it was an actual history of Denmark. Nope. It was…I can’t even tell you the plot because of how meandering it was. No wonder it sat on my bookshelf unread for so long.

The Dark Tower:

And I finished The Dark Tower! Which means I have read EVERY SINGLE BOOK STEPHEN KING HAS PUBLISHED!

Song of Susannah by Stephen King B+: The series got back on track with me. Oh what a meta tangled web we weave.

The Dark Tower by Stephen King B+. Ok, one thing really bothered me (not going into details but Oy…) I think he did stick the landing here, even if fans seem divided on it.

I’m not sure I’ll return to The Dark Tower, but I am glad I read it, outside of being able to say I’m a Stephen King completitionist. It only took 32 years.