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Wolf at the Table by Adam Rapp (A)

Stephen King recommended this one, and he was right on the money (I don’t always agree with his recommendations). A family saga spanning from the 1950s to 2010ish when the only son is a serial killer/pedophile, unknown to the rest of his family. (Rapp is actor Anthony’s brother by the way!)

Room to Dream by David Lynch & Kristine McKenna (A)

McKenna takes a traditional biographical narrative of Lynch’s life and career, and Lynch comments with his own meandering memories. Being the huge Lynch fan that I am, I loved it.

Another First Chance by Robbie Couch (A-)

Couch continues to impress me with his queer YA novels. This one is about a teen grieving for his best friend who is blackmailed into a weird summer camp doing experimentations.

High and Low: How I Hiked Away from Depression Across Scotland by Keith Foskett (A-). Keith Foskett writes of how his hike through Scotland on the Cape Wrath Trail and West Highland Trail and how he began to realise that he suffered from depression. I related a lot to this one.

The B-List

The Only Light Left Burning by Erik. J. Brown (B+) Possibly unnecessary sequel to All That’s Left In The World, which was a queer YA dystopian future. Once again the two protagonists must make their way through a post-apocalyptic (virus) southeastern US on foot trying to outwit the bad guys who are out to ensure that no one LGBTQ+ or BIPOC survives in the new world. Not quite as good as the first, but still enjoyable.

Becoming Ted by Matt Cain B+ After his husband leaves him, Ted decides to follow his lifelong dream of being a drag queen. A fun Britcom.

Pack Light: A Journey to Find Myself by Shilletha Curtis (B+) Curtis writes of her experiences as a Black queer woman on the Applachian Trail in 2021.

HHhH by Laurent Binet (B+) A tale of a writer trying to write a historical novel about the Czech and Slovakian plan to assassinate one of Hitler’s closest allies.

Four Squares by Bobby Finger B+ This one felt British, but it was US. Just a similar stile to Matt Cain. This is about an senior coping with the loss of his boyfriend years later with flashbacks of how the two originally fell in love in the 1990s.

Camino Ghosts by John Grisham (B) It feels Grisham is losing his touch. There was somewhat of a story in there, but…so hard to be found, and he’s just collecting the money these days. It’s been pretty obvious his last few books, but it was better than The Exchange. The last woman who was born on there, descendent of the slaves who escaped there when the ship crashed during a storm, tries to prove she is of the island to stop development. Mercer, from the other two Camino books, decides to write the book about the legal battle. This could have been great, but Grisham is just going through the motions. It makes me sad.

Miss Subways by David Duchovny (B-). I probably would have liked this one better if I was more familiar with the Irish legend that inspired it. A New York woman has weird adventures. I usually like his books, but this was the least good I’ve read by him, but again, wasn’t familiar with myths that inspired it.

The C-List:

The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road by Finn Murphy (C) I was hoping for some good road trip tails and life about a semi-truck driver, but Murphy is a mover, and it was more about the clients than anything on the road. It just wasn’t very interesting.