Originally I planned to write up monthly summaries of books I’d read. I’d also planned to read more. Well, time had different plans soooo now I’m grouping them by season / quarter. And since summer is almost over that one will be coming soon BUT let’s go back and remember Spring. We all want to remember Spring, right? Rain falls, flowers bloom, the temperature (here in the Northeast) is beautiful…for two weeks then it’s extreme heat. But let’s remember those two weeks and the four books I read over the three months that make up “Spring.” It seems I dabbled in many genres back in Spring 2024 and one book I totally forgot I read.
Yeah, this one I totally forgot I read. I mean, I knew I had read it just the when of the situation was lost on me. So The Gray Man (yes, this is the book the Netflix movie with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans is based on) very much fits nicely in the thriller genre. Badass main protagonist who goes on a killing spree seeking to eliminate those who are after him. One man army, Jack Reacher type character who takes a few more hits and survives. It was fine. Even with those details in thrillers that I feel are overkill, if that’s your thing, this book is for you. (Also see Orphan X that I read in the season before this)
Coming into Headspace I thought I was going to get a sci-fi YA version of Hunger Games. I got the Hunger Game vibes definitely, but wowza…was not expecting the violence to be so…violent. It’s a fun invasion, may the best human win to survive competition romp that keeps you invested in the characters after the story. I also got a chance to interview J.D. Edwin on the Writer Syndrome podcast. We had great conversation about writing, check it out.
Doing my part to catch up on oldies but goodies, I finally got to Salem’s Lot. A classic vampire story told in that classic Stephen King way. Not much else to say other than I very much enjoyed it. The Shining is next on the list, as it stares me down from my bookshelf.
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin
Rounding out the Spring reading list was another classic sci-fi by Ursula K. Le Guin. Written in the late 60’s I can see why this book was important. Amazing world building and the approach to gender neutral themes by having the story told by two characters both in first person (took me half the novel to figure out this was happening) had an impact. To be honest, it got a little slow and boring for me but I think that might have more to do with the writing style and time it was written. I mean, Dune is pretty boring in the middle and that was written a few years earlier. The writing style was very prose heavy, almost literary fiction, and reminded me of Lois McMaster Bujold, but where her pacing is a bit more swift. I still recommend if only to read an important sci-fi novel (it’s actual part of a series) from an important author of the time.
