Monthly Archives: October 2023

This is somewhat short to be a “novella” but it seems to be more than a short story.  Bartleby is a copier for Melville’s unnamed 1st person protagonist, an attorney. who works with real estate/Wall Street types. I usually read … Continue reading →

This is a great story for Halloween reading, but I’ve avoided it since Junior High because it’s horror – or that’s its reputation.  And I’ve always been  nervous about horror. Then there are the movie versions which I also avoided … Continue reading →

I read Claire Keegan’s book Small Things Like These (2021) back in July of this year because it was on the Booker International List.  I wondered how a novella could be on that list, but then I read it and … Continue reading →

After giving it a wee bit of thought, I consider this a novella. The Sci-Fi awards people are very specific (but give a 20% leeway) about their categories. Novellas “have a word count between 17,500 and 40,000 words. At 250 words … Continue reading →

 I finished The Bee Sting only because it was on the Booker Prize Short List for 2023 and I’m trying to get them read before November 26, the date the winner is announced. Again, I wasn’t any too happy with … Continue reading →

Here’s book #3 of 6 in my quick run through the Booker Prize Short List (and other lists ?)  for 2023.  This one is about 200 pages in length, so short it could be another novella. The author narrates it … Continue reading →

This is the second book of the Booker Prize Short List I’ve read in my rush to get them read by November 26 Paul Harding is also the author of Tinkers which won the Pulitzer and I read back in … Continue reading →

“Kaleidoscopic, urgent, hilarious, revelatory and like nothing you’ve read before. These are the stories that we never believed could be told, until Jonathan Escoffery told them.”  That’s from Marlon James, another Jamaican writer who was educated at the University of Minnesota and won … Continue reading →

Over the next 6 weeks or so (for as long as it takes or until November 26) I’m going go be reading the Short List of Booker Prize Nominees from which the winner will be chosen on 11/26. I’ve done … Continue reading →

I read this years ago but it’s occurred to me lately that I might enjoy rereading some of my favorites. So then came October and I love reading holiday books from now until the first week in January. I prefer … Continue reading →

Reading The 4th Turning by Neil Howe and his Universal Theory and Ideas I got to wondering about “theories of everything” in general and came upon this older book.  I’m lightly familiar with Ken Wilber’s ideas and yes, I have … Continue reading →

I really wanted to make this book last longer but it’s already almost 1000 pages (or 34 hours of listening) so I had to let it end. The Running Grave by Robert GalbraithRead by Robert Glenister – 34 hours 14mRating; A+ … Continue reading →

This is the same Benjamin Labatut who wrote the utterly amazing “When We Cease To Understand The World” a couple years ago. And now I just lucked into this second book.  https://mybecky.blog/2022/06/19/when-we-cease-to-understand-the-world-by-benjamin-labatut The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut September, 2023 – 368 pp Read … Continue reading →

I definitely got lucky with this nicely humorous book which has a more serious plot line and a heart-warming theme, too.   Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutano 2023 / Read by Eunice Wong  10h 41mRating: B+ / cozy … Continue reading →

Well this book was a disappointment except for the wee bits of action or suspense up until the last 75 pages or so. Then it got quite good. The quality, or what I consider quality, of Banville/Black’s books is, to … Continue reading →

Good book again!  But, and I emphasize this, although it’s the same guy Benjamin Black is quite a different writer from John Banville. Sometimes I think Black gets back into the groove of writing literary novels even though as Black … Continue reading →

Okay – here we go … it’s time for Six Degrees of Separation hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best and followed by many.  🙂   I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (1948)  is Kate’s starter … Continue reading →