Challenge: 50 Books discussion

Failed to read 50 books last year. I'll try again! Right now I'm enjoying The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery and hoping to plan an outing to the Chicago Shedd Aquarium soon.

"Unattainable"?? pfft! You can do it! :)

Tiffany wrote: ""Unattainable"?? pfft! You can do it! :)"

Thanks for the encouragement - I'm definitely going to try

1. The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness was a truly fabulous book that opened a whole world to me. Octopuses are fabulous creatures: smart, playful, funny.
2. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder . Snyder is a historian and writes from the perspective that we can learn from the past if we choose to. He tells us not only what to watch out for but how we can work against it. I would like to give this book to everybody I know.
3. Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit This book was originally published during the W years, which seem (sadly) trivial now. Almost all of what she wrote then is still relevant now -- just more urgent. She has an amazing ability, like Naomi Klein, to be positive in spite of her subject matter.
4. Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon Took a break from the gloom and doom to read a light mystery set in Venice.
5. The Trainable Cat: A Practical Guide to Making Life Happier for You and Your Cat by John Bradshaw and Sarah Ellis. Who knew? You CAN train your cat. I learned a lot about the psychology of cats and have put many of Sarah's tips into practice. Once you have a better understanding of how they think and why they act as they do, it makes sense to train cats the way that Sarah describes

6. Stitch, Fabric & Thread
and
7. The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes: Personalize Your Craft with Organic Colors from Acorns, Blackberries, Coffee, and Other Everyday Ingredients
were both really helpful in my hobby of dyeing and stitching textiles.
8. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng 4 stars. good read
9. When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by one of the founders of Black Lives Matter, Patrisse Khan-Cullors. Full of empathy and love, this is not the diatribe that many would expect. A truly amazing woman. (Did you know that the founders of BLM are women?)
10. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss A book club read. Either I wasn't paying attention or it was actually difficult to follow who the narrator/subject was as the book went back and forth in time
11. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier Considering that Rebecca is one of my favorite books, a book that I've read many times; it's rather surprising (to me!) that I've never read this book before. It's just as wonderful as Rebecca, so I'll be looking for more du Maurier to read -- perhaps re-reading The House on the Strand, which is the first book of hers that I read.
12. Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon This might be my favorite Outlander book (at least so far.) I truly could not put it down.
13. Extraordinary People (aka Dry Bones) by Peter May Fun read -- I'll be reading more of the Enzo Files.

14. Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman
meh. I loved most of the book, but I felt the end was tacked on and provided no satisfaction to me at all.

15. The Late Show by Michael Connelly Good old reliable Michael Connelly. Enjoyed this book with this new main character.

16. How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond by Cesar Millan Still researching dogs to find the type I want, and reading about how to raise it once I have one. Plus I have a crush on Cesar.

17. The Doggie in the Window: How One Beloved Dog Opened My Eyes to the Complicated Story Behind Man's Best Friend by Rory Kress
I've heard of puppy mills. I've been vaguely aware of them and while researching dogs knew that I didn't want to get a puppy from a puppy mill. This book, though, really opened my eyes. Kress did a great job investigating puppy mills and the USDA, which helps keep them in business. Did you know that? The USDA is responsible for the health and welfare of breeding dogs and their puppies. However, they do not actually oversee the breeders that they're supposed to regulate. I was appalled at what I learned when reading this book.

Do not ever get a dog from a pet shop. They are puppy mill dogs. And realize that any dog you get from a shelter may be the product of a puppy mill and may not be healthy. Be prepared to work very hard to rehabilitate the dog to make it into a good, healthy companion.

18. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward Wow -- just wow

19. Bad Moon Rising by Morgan Hunt A great fun read.

20. How to Raise Your New Puppy in a Cat Family: The Complete Guide to a Happy Pet-Filled Home by Jackie Sonnenberg This book is full of inaccuracies and poorly written. I was able to glean a few bits of helpful information, but I wouldn't rely on this book alone if I wanted to get a puppy for my cats.

21. The Years That Followed by Catherine Dunne My husband bought this book for me and it's been sitting around waiting for the right time. It was actually compelling and I enjoyed it.

22. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson Five stars Erik Larson is an amazing researcher and writer. His histories read like novels and this is no exception. I knew little about the Lusitania except that it was a passenger ship sunk by the Germans. There is so much more to the story (and new research is revealing even more about the truth of the story.) I recommend this to anyone who likes a good story, well told -- whether fact or fiction

23. The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon The Outlander books are so much fun. I conquered this between Kindle and Audible (I prefer to use Kobo, but in this case made an exception to take advantage of the Audible option.)

24. After Nightfall by A.J. Banner

25. Plan B by Jonathan Tropper

26. All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld I don't know if I've read any other books by Australian writers, but if this is any indication, I'll have to search for more. My daughter recommended this and it was a big hit with me. Five stars

27. The Address by Fiona Davis

28. The Blackhouse by Peter May This is a re-read because I plan to follow with the other books in this series. (Haven't yet, but I will!)

29. The Killing Lessons by Saul Black The author is actually one of my favorites: Glen Duncan. Although I appreciate that the detective in this series is a woman, the crimes against the victims are so horrible that I'm not sure I'll read any more of these (although I did read the follow-up, which is:)

30. LoveMurder by Saul Black (I love the pseudonym of Saul Black! Reminds me of Better Call Saul's Saul Goodman -- which is based on his phrase "It's all good, man.")

31. The Vegetarian by Han Kang A strange novel that I'm still mulling over.

32. A Long Way from Verona by Jane Gardam I've read a number of Jane Gardam's books and generally enjoy them. This one was short and I read the whole thing on a flight home from England. I can't say I enjoyed this one as much as, say, Old Filth, but I will read more of her books.

33. The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer I was looking for something to read on vacation and based on the recent movie based on another her books, The Wife, I grabbed this out of my (ENORMOUS) to-be-read pile and brought it along. I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to reading more of Meg Wolitzer's work.

34. The Overstory by Richard Powers FIVE STARS are not enough. This book is beautifully written and heartbreaking. You will never see a tree the same way again.

35. Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons I read this for a book club. It was okay, but not something I would have sought out otherwise.

36. Fox 8 by George Saunders I read this not long after finishing The Overstory. I swear, if I read one more sad story about nature I will cry until I am completely wrung out.

37. The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon

38. The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

39. The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea I took this out of the library and before I could finish it, it disappeared from my Kindle. So I got the Audible version and listened to it read by the author. To hear the author's voice makes the experience so much more rewarding. Every inflection was exactly as he wished us to read it. Fabulous. As was the story

I read 39 books in 2018 -- short of the goal, but not too bad. As usual, I read a lot of fiction, including mysteries (or police procedurals.)

I read several books about nature: The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness, which was very fascinating. The Overstory and Fox 8 which were both heartbreaking.

We got two kittens in 2017 and that has changed my life in relation to animals. I had a cat years ago and we always had dogs when I was growing up. When we got our two little rescues I realized how little I actually knew about cats. I'm also yearning for a dog (I'm working on my husband) and so I wanted to learn more about dogs as well. I read a book about raising dogs and a book about introducing a dog to your cats. And I read The Doggie in the Window: How One Beloved Dog Opened My Eyes to the Complicated Story Behind Man's Best Friend, which opened my eyes to puppy mills in America and how our government is complicit in the abuse of millions of dogs. This has turned me into a bit of an activist on animal welfare. Look what two tiny two-pound kittens have wrought.

And considering our current political milieu I read On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder, followed quickly by Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit, who documents the sorry state of affairs and is still able to leave me feeling hopeful.

I wish that in 2019 that my hope is not misplaced. I hope for happier times. I hope to read more books (which is actually the same thing as happier times, at least for me)