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I read a lot of non-memorable stuff this month it seems, so this is a highlight list from what I remember.

The A-List

Isaac’s Song (A) and Don’t Cry For Me (A-) by Daniel Black. I read Isaac’s Song, the second book first, without knowing there was a first. It’s about a Black gay man dealing with aftermath of reading letters his homophobic father had written to him before his death (Don’t Cry for Me is the letters). Powerful story that I loved.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (A-) Not quite as good as The Handmaid’s Tale, but a worthy sequel that I couldn’t put down.

The B-List:

The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (B+). Tyler is now an author of interest (despite having attended Duke :P) that I’m going to be reading more of. This story is about a man, a reluctant tour guide book writer who recently split with his wife after his teen son was killed in a fast food restaurant shooting and has to learn to live again with the help of a quirky (Geena Davis in the movie) dog trainer. My copy is actually the 1980s, and I sorta appreciate the nostalgia.

The Wishsong of Shanarra by Terry Brooks B: I liked the plot of the last edition of the original trilogy, but I liked the characters from Elfstones (the second) much better. The Last Druid has a mission for another descendent of the Elven-Human family, but her brother finds out it could be a failed mission. Again, I’m not a huge huge fantasy person, but I’m kinda partial to Brooks.

The C-List:

Kiss Carlo by Adriana Trigiani C+. Another miss from this hit or miss author…that I can’t even remember the basic plot of now! I really wish I hadn’t loved Big Stone Gap so much. I feel that my mom would want me to read all of Trigiani's books for her, and I only have a few left, but…hopefully the ones I have left are more hits.

What Is Wrong With You? By Paul Rudnick C+ SUCH AN APT TITLE. This would have been a much better limited series starring Nicole Kidman! (Granted Rudnick is a better scriptwriter than novel writer). I loved his Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style novel so much that I keep hoping that any of his other novels will live up to it, and his new one unfortunately did not. A bunch of characters convene at a tech billionaire’s Maine Island wedding, but it’s mostly about their backstories and outside the main character (not the billionaire, but a 60 something old gay man grieving after his partner’s death), none of the other characters are remotely likeable.

Re-reads. I reread a few books for reasons, plus the monthly Stephen King re-read.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I enjoyed this a lot more than when I read it in 2008.

1984 by George Orwell: My first read was for a college class, and I appreciated it more as a full adult than I did in 2002 when I was forced to read it. I still like Animal Farm more shhh…should re-read that one (I read it in 2012 or 2013 I think…I was in Madrid.)

Brave New World. I read this one my first time in Spain in 2003, and I loved it then, but with the other two so fresh in my mind, it didn’t live up to my memory.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King. I went ahead and re-read this one with The Shining fresh in my mind, and it’s still a good read. I remembered more of the film than I did the book.

I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan. I read a lot of Lois Duncan in middle and high school, and I was curious to see if they held up. The book I found had gone through a 2010 “update” to include technology and stuff, but it somehow made it seem more dated than if it had been the original 1970s, and it really made me not to want to re-read any. See the film instead unless you have a copy of the original text.