I have been on a short fiction kick these days. Worked my way through the following:

The Hunter's Wife, by Anthony Doerr: A well-written, atmospheric piece. The entire story, at one level, reads like an ode to winter at its most exquisite as well as at its harshest – more often that not the two seemingly polar characteristics intertwining and forming one vivid picture of frozen lakes and 'sycamores as white as bones' in Doerr's verse. While I found the overarching storyline to be decent, I enjoyed it more for the poetic and eloquent descriptions, and the visual metaphors. This is probably one of those pieces that you'd want to read more for the way it's written than for what it's about.

Boule de Suif, by Guy de Maupassant: Maupassant's 'The Necklace' is one of my all-time favourite short stories and now I'm inclined to add this one to the list as well. I liked its exploration of the theme of outward show of propriety versus innate integrity; and of how morality and lofty ideals like patriotism are flexible and situational – they hold valid only so long as it's convenient to uphold them, and difficult circumstances can drive one to bend and eschew ethics to suit one's purpose and needs.

There's a strong overtone of irony in the story, and the conventionally accepted correlation between high social status and high degree of nobility of character and vice versa, is turned on its head through the portrayal of the hypocrisy, double standards and dubious morals of a 'socially respectable' band of travellers comprising of aristocrats, traders, ecclesiastics and a self-proclaimed revolutionary, juxtaposed with the generosity and quiet dignity of an 'immoral' prostitute. The predicament of the titular character was for me reminiscent of that of Shen Teh in Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan.

To Build a Fire, by Jack London: Picked this up immediately after 'The Hunter's Wife' and 'Boule de Suif' to keep the streak of winter-themed reads going. I was aware of its status as a classic and much anthologized short story and, after having read it, I can see why it is so. On the surface, it reads like a fairly straightforward adventure story of a solitary traveller with only a dog for company struggling to reach his destination against the odds of nature on a bleak, exceedingly (and alarmingly) freezing cold day. But upon reading deeper into the story, it comes with some good food for thought.

Besides the obvious theme of man versus nature, I interpret it as a cautionary tale serving as a reminder of the fine line between bravery and recklessness. The central character's (arguably) misplaced faith in his ability stemming from arrogance and naivete and leading him to underestimate the gravity of his circumstances and ignore prior warnings, is sort of a throwback to the myth of Icarus flying too close to the sun on waxen wings, but with a stark reversal in the nature of the external circumstances – the peril of the bitter cold takes place of that of the scorching sun.

At the same time, the man's tenacity paints him in an admirable light, and the idea of 'meeting death with dignity' becomes debatable and ambivalent, depending on one's outlook – what would count for a 'dignified' death: dying by giving into one's circumstances and making no attempt to turn the tides; or dying after putting up a fight as best as one is capable of, regardless of how seemingly futile it is? A romanticist would most likely pick the latter, but London seems to be making a cynical (and pragmatic) statement here – no matter how invincible or resourceful we may think of ourselves to be, we, as mortals, have our limitations and there are forces quite beyond our control.

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Started:

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

The Woman in the Window, by A. J. Finn

Finished the Three-Body Problem series with Death's End, by Cixin Liu. Words cannot properly describe how blown away I am by this series. The sheer scope of the story was mind boggling and existentially terrifying. I can never view space/extraterrestrial beings the same.

Halfway through The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn. The story took a while to pick up, but it's getting really interesting now.

Currently reading Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (my first time reading it!)

Currently listening to The Woman in the Window, by AJ Finn

Finished Old Man's War, by John Scalzi. This is a book I see recommended a lot. But I found it absolutely mediocre - a generic sci-fi book with some humor mixed in. It was kind of funny, but nothing to write home about.

Now reading The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn. Halfway through, this is really good so far, better to me than Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train, books in the same genre. Most of all it borrows its concept from Hitchcock's Rear Window, though, and I find it very weird that the narrator does not herself remark on her situation's similarity to that movie. The character is obsessed with old movies, and she does mention Rear Window at one point, but so far does not seem to realize that she is basically living in that movie. I'm sure it probably differs a lot by the end but the setup is almost exactly the same.

The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn

I'm a little disappointed, being ~halfway through. It's like Hitchcock's Rear Window and The Girl on the Train, so I feel like i've seen this before, but I'm still excited by the mystery.

The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn I love a good suspense novel but to be honest this one hasn't been one of my favorites so far.

Finished:

You, by Caroline Kepnes

The Great Gatsby, by F.Scott Fitzgerald

Started:

The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn

Good week for me after a slow week the week before that:

Finished:

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn 6/10 Easy read. Not too bad though didn't have much mystery in it.

The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon 2/10. Here is a talking mark ". That is one more talking mark than this book had. I don't know how it got published. It was a confusing mess at times.

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard: 4/10. Maybe I was too tired but just could not enjoy this. Started a bit confusing too.

Kingdom of the Wicked by Derek Landy: (audiobook) 8/10

Currently Reading:

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn

The Maleficent Seven by Derek Landy (audiobook)

Finished The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn. It was very good! A thriller sort of thing in the vein of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and also similar in setup to Hitchcock's Rear Window. You see a lot of this kind of book around now, and most of them are mediocre but I liked this one a lot.

Now reading The Overstory, by Richard Powers. So far it's great! He's been sort of hit and miss for me lately, but this new one is so far very compelling. It's all about the trees.

I started and am over halfway through Unfamiliar Fishes, by Sarah Vowell. Like everything Vowell writes, it's easy to read, and the subject (Hawaiian history) is interesting. It doesn't have quite the same charm as Assassination Vacation, which I read a couple weeks ago (and think is a better entry point for Vowell's writing), but it's good.

Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi and The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn I just got off hold from my library, and there's still a queue so I can't really put them off. I've dipped into each, but I haven't quite been hooked yet. Perhaps when I'm fully finished with Vowell.

I also have The Girl with All the Gifts, by M.R. Carey on deck. I read and finished The Boy on the Bridge blind last week, based on the Reddit book club thing, and enjoyed it. It ought to be interesting reading the supposedly stronger first book after the latter. Given that I'm already sortof hooked on the world in these, Girl might come before Woman and Children.

Finished: The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov and I still don't really know how to feel about it. On one hand, it was fascinating and pretty entertaining. I loved the weirdness of it. On the other hand, I'm still trying to sort out the point of the plot. I know it's supposed to be a satire on Soviet life and the art scene, as well as religion in general and its perception in society, but there were just a few things that I didn't see the point to.

Started: The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn for a little bookclub my friends and I started. I'm excited for this bookclub, so I'm keeping an open mind to this book, especially since it's not something I would normally pick up. I will say it's been entertaining so far!

I just finished A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara

Great book, but it's so depressing that it was difficult to get through. It's literary fiction, but I suppose I would call it a bit of a tragedy. The main character Jude had an extremely difficult childhood. This book follows Jude and his three best friends from college on and how Judes' past affects his life and relationships.

Currently reading The Immortalists, by Chloe Benjamin to be followed by The Woman in the Window, by A. J. Finn

Finished: The Woman in the Window, by A.J Finn which I was reading for my book club. I don't think it was very good at all, but it was entertaining enough to keep reading. I think it was a solid book to read at the beach or on vacation but nothing to get excited about.

Started: Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders and I'm pretty excited. I'm a big Saunders fan so I'm interested to see how weird his first novel gets.

I finished Circe, by Madeline Miller. Not my normal read but I enjoyed the story greatly. Also, how is Circe pronounced? My initial pronunciation was "sir-see" but after looking at the Greek pronunciation online many are saying "kir-kee" (which I think fits better with the character). I've also heard people pronounce it as "serse". Any opinions?

I began The Woman In the Window, by AJ Finn. It's moving along quickly. I hope to be wrapped up in a huge twist by the end of it.

finished The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski and Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer. I enjoyed both immensely, they were each engaging.

Currently on The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn, which is alright. It's a little slow I think, even though it's not very long. Interesting though, a murder-mystery from the point of an agoraphobic.

Next is A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.. I picked up a ton of books in the Audible sale a few weeks ago and really need to actually listen to them...

Finished The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn. Underwhelming. Although the book kept me turning the pages, I was left feeling meh and apathetic towards much of the things that went down in the story. Some of the twists and turns were predictable and some that were not-so-predictable didn't really do much for me when they were revealed. It felt like almost all of the intended 'jaw dropping' and 'game changing' revelations were hastily shoehorned into the last few chapters, while the rest of the book read like a meandering exposition with a chock-full of art-house movie references and some unnecessary plot points. Also, I found the writing style/narrative voice unremarkable and occasionally off-putting, with some rather awkward choices of phrasing here and there like 'I unpasted my eyelids' (to refer to the act of opening eyes after a night's alcohol-plus-drug induced sleep) and 'They dance down my throat' (to refer to the act of swallowing pills). I'm all for clever and figurative expression in writing, but instances such as the aforementioned come off as contrived – as if the author was trying too hard to be eloquent and the result ended up being ironically ineloquent.

Started The City of Brass, by S.A. Chakraborti after noticing that it's the subreddit's selection for this month's book club. First time participating in one of these. Here's hoping that I'll be able to stick to the schedule and pitch in during the discussions.

Resumed Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari after a month-long break.

Finished:

I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara I enjoyed this overall, but it did not blow me away like I was hoping for. Folks who like true crime will like it (and probably have already read it).

The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde This is the final in a young adult series by one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed them, but it did not have the magic his other books have for me, and I was not happy that things ended on a cliffhanger.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn This was nicely paced, but I have many complaints. Chief among them: How do you write a book about a PSYCHOLOGIST and not even LOOK UP WHAT A PSYCHOLOGIST DOES??? It's fucking ridiculous how many times the author conflates various forms of mental health providers. In particular, the author does not know the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist (you definitely did not do a residency and you're definitely not prescribing meds in NYC), has the main character actively endorsing bad therapy practices, and has her take on really serious liability by counseling folks via the internet. In the author interview at the end of my copy, the author specifically states that they did not research (claiming they did not have to because they have bipolar disorder... which is not AT ALL the mental illness attributed to the main character). IT SHOWS, DUDE. I was holding out hope that there was another twist and the protagonist was actually not a psychologist at all, but alas...

The Vegetarian by Han Kang This is a weird book. Other people have written better than I can about how weird this book is, but it's really unusual. I would say I appreciated it, but I didn't necessarily "like" it and probably did not understand it.

Started:
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Still chugging on:
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

Finished: Men without Women, by Haruki Murakami, loved it. I've only read Murakami once before (Norwegian Wood), and didn't like it that much. This series of short stories is really approachable and I'd recommend it to a Murakami newbie.

Started: The Woman in the Window, by A.J Finn. I only started this today but I've managed to read 50 pages on my commute. I expect I'll chew through it pretty quickly, as I always do with books like this.

The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn

Comparable to Gone Girl and Girl on the Train. I like the writing style of the author. Short chapters. The protagonist is a hot mess (that's really why I would lump it more with Girl on the Train than Gone Girl). I find her likeable though bc Anna Fox is not as pathetic of a drunk as Rachel from GotT.

Anna Fox is an agoraphobe and does not want to leave her house. She likes to drink and take her pills. She has a hot dude living downstairs. And she creeps on her neighbors. She's also a child psychologist. And there is a bit of the unreliable narrator thing going on. We're getting snippets of how she went from a married women to someone living alone, separated from her child and husband. Finding it very approachable, fun so far. I'm about 30% of the way through.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn. I'm on the fence on this one mostly because I am annoyed by the main character. Makes me remember my annoyance with the main character in the Girl on the Train.

Just finished the audiobook of Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah. I went in not knowing much about his story or apartheid and it completely blew me away. Noah is also an awesome narrator and speaks multiple languages, really amazing to listen to.

Currently reading: The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn, it has been a while since I read a fast paced thriller so this is a good change of pace.

Just finished The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn now finishing Educated, by Tara Westover both excellent

finished The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn. It was fine, a decent mystery from the point of an agoraphobic. It wasn't my cup of tea at first, but it caught some steam and I didn't guess all of the twists.

starting Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West by Timothy Egan to get me in a western mood for my trip next week.

Just finished: The Child Finder, by Rene Denfeld and The Woman In The Window, by A.J. Finn Would highly recommend both. Quick reads too (~6-7 hours each).

Finished reading The Woman In The Window, by A.J. Finn

Last night I finished The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn. It was a page turner for me, I really enjoyed it.

And I started to read Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn.

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn

Ooooo twisty :)

Going to be a movie with Amy Adams and Gary Oldman, two favorites of mine.

Finished:

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn

Started:

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Just finished Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams which I enjoyed. Was really funny. But it turns out my copy had like a 50 page Afterward about the making of the movie, so the book suddenly ended when I thought I was only 70% done. That was really jarring and I still feel unsatisfied by the ending, but I wonder how much of that is the fault of the Afterward or the novel. I feel like even if I had known I was at the end, the ending seems to come out of nowhere and wraps up in like 2 pages. You can't take a book like this too seriously though; I'll definitely continue with the series.

Half way through The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton and feel like I still haven't gotten to "the good part". I haven't picked it up in a few days now and I might not again, unless someone can tell me that the second half is worth it. "Sphere" was a page turner for me so I wanted to read more of his work.

Just finished The Woman in the Window by A. J. Flynn. It was okay. The prose was kind of boring and amateurish, it took 150 pages for the mystery to start, and some of the twists were obvious. But it was okay.

And lastly I'm half way through an autobiography called Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz who was a high ranking member of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the 60s and 70s. It's incredibly interesting (and depressing, and enraging) to me as someone who grew up in the cult until my early teens, and still has some family inside.