M. N. Reading - 2025

[muggle not]

1.  Tooth and Claw - Craig Johnson - 3/5 : Not one of his better books. one of the Longmire Series books but before he was Sheriff. 

takes place in the Arctic and the main plot is an oversized Polar Bear that is a stalker and killer.

 

I am starting to read The Left Hand of Darkness written by the Legendary Ursula K. Le Quin. I am looking forward to reading this book. 

Edited January 24 by muggle not

[muggle not]

2. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Quin - 5/5  - I will re-read this book sometime in the near future as there is much understanding to be gained from Le Quin's writing in the book

 

 

I have this book ( JAMES ) on hold at the library and hope to get it soon, comments from Amazon:

 

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER• NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • KIRKUS PRIZE WINNER

In development as a feature film to be produced by Steven Spielberg •  A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times Book Review, LA Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, TIME, and more.

"Genius"—The Atlantic • "A masterpiece that will help redefine one of the classics of American literature, while also being a major achievement on its own."—Chicago Tribune • "A provocative, enlightening literary work of art."—The Boston Globe • "Everett’s most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful."—The New York Times

When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

 

 

Edited January 30 by muggle not

[muggle not]

1. Tooth and Claw - Craig Johnson - 3/5

2. The left hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Quin - 5/5

3. To Die For - David Baldacci - 4/5

[muggle not]

On 2/2/2025 at 8:46 PM, muggle not said:

1. Tooth and Claw - Craig Johnson - 3/5

2. The left hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Quin - 5/5

3. To Die For - David Baldacci - 4/5

4. All the Colors of the Dark - Chris Whitman - 4.5/5 - excellent book. The last 70 pages or so I could not put the book down and it was probably one of the better endings that I have read for many years.

[France]

On 2/9/2025 at 12:54 AM, muggle not said:

4. All the Colors of the Dark - Chris Whitman - 4.5/5 - excellent book. The last 70 pages or so I could not put the book down and it was probably one of the better endings that I have read for many years.

I agree. It's rare to find a book with a genuinely unputdownable ending, that was ne of them.

[muggle not]

5. James - Percival Everett - 4/5 - A re-telling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim. Good story and writing with some interesting insights. There is one big surprise in the book. However, the ending was not quite as good as i thought it should have been, seems like they "dropped Huckleberry" from the writing.

6. - Onyx - Rebecca Yarrros - 4.5/5 - A continuation of books 1 & 2. I continue to find this Series to be very good reading. Love the interaction by the Dragons. Yarrros though continues to spend way too much writing of sex in the book. I find myself skipping over those lengthy pages.

Edited May 9 by muggle not

[France]

3 hours ago, muggle not said:

. Yarrros though continues to spend way too much writing of sex in the book. I find myself skipping over those lengthy pages.

Me too!

[muggle not]

On 5/9/2025 at 10:05 AM, muggle not said:

5. James - Percival Everett - 4/5 - A re-telling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim. Good story and writing with some interesting insights. There is one big surprise in the book. However, the ending was not quite as good as i thought it should have been, seems like they "dropped Huckleberry" from the writing.

6. - Onyx - Rebecca Yarrros - 4.5/5 - A continuation of books 1 & 2. I continue to find this Series to be very good reading. Love the interaction by the Dragons. Yarrros though continues to spend way too much writing of sex in the book. I find myself skipping over those lengthy pages.

It seems as though I may have underestimated the writing in the book "James" as I see in this Sunday's newspaper that it won the Pullitzer prize for fiction:

 

‘James’ wins the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in fiction - The Washington Post

‘James’ wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction

Percival Everett’s novel was honored at the 2025 awards, along with other books in the categories of fiction, general nonfiction, memoir, poetry, history and biography.

[lunababymoonchild]

Just because the book won a prize doesn’t mean that you are obliged to like it, it simply won a prize. Reading is totally subjective, I have no idea how these prizes are judged but it’s how the book and it’s prose and story make you feel as a reader that’s important not the winning of a prize. And you’re allowed to disagree with those who judged the book prize-worthy, that’s your privilege as a reader 🙂

[muggle not]

7. The Road to Roswell - Connie Willis - 4.5 - Loved the story and most all of the characters Especially Indy and Francie. Teaching an Alien how to converse was fun to read. The book had many funny moments in it. 

[France]

I agree with you, this book is such a pleasure. But then I love nearly all of Connie Willis's books.

[muggle not]

6 hours ago, France said:

I agree with you, this book is such a pleasure. But then I love nearly all of Connie Willis's books.

I will have to read more of her work. She has quite a history in the SF field of writing, a few of her awards:

 

She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009^[6][7] and the Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 28th SFWA Grand Master in 2011.^[8]

[France]

3 hours ago, muggle not said:

I will have to read more of her work. She has quite a history in the SF field of writing, a few of her awards:

 

She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009^[6][7] and the Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 28th SFWA Grand Master in 2011.^[8]

If you haven't read To Say Nothing of the Dog yet you've got a treat in store!

[muggle not]

8.Robert B. Parker's "Buried Secrets" - Christopher Farnsworth - 4/5 - A Jesse Stone series novel. Good story and differentiates good from bad. Book was worth reading to me.

[muggle not]

I am about 16% into "To Say Nothing About the Dog" by Connie Willis and am enjoying it so far. However, I may have to put it on hold as I have Stephen King's latest book, Never Flinch, on hold at the library and it should be available for me soon. I can't turn down the Stephen King book as there are 197 people that are in line for the kindle book.

Edited June 9 by muggle not

[muggle not]

Darn, I had Stephen King's new book "Never Flinch" on hold at the library for over 6 weeks and I was notified yesterday that it was available for me. Rats, when I started to access the book I found out that I had the Audio version on hold instead of the E-book. I had to decline it and start all over again for the e-book. I think that there is about 192  people on hold. and the library currently only has 8 copies. 😞

[France]

So how are you getting on with To Say Nothing of the Dog? I loved that one, particularly the Victorian Miss with all the frills!

[muggle not]

On 6/26/2025 at 11:57 AM, France said:

So how are you getting on with To Say Nothing of the Dog? I loved that one, particularly the Victorian Miss with all the frills!

I put it aside for a week and a half due to some illness I had and then the 21-day library limit ran out. I now have another 21 day available on the book so hopefully I can get back to reading as I was only about 28% into the book.

 

Let me clarify. My illness was not how one usually thinks of illness. I have Wet Macular degeneration which I receive injections for every 3 months (Used to be every month) and my eyes recently have been causing some irritation resulting in less reading.

Edited June 28 by muggle not

[muggle not]

I finally got back to doing a little reading. This is probably, by far, the least reading that I have done in many, many, years.

 

9. To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis - 4.5 / 5- very good read. The era, Victorian, was especially interesting. Towards the end of the book, I had to really concentrate to keep up with all the happenings. Toots and Baine, who would have thought. I really like Connie Willis and am amazed at how she comes up with the stories and the work that must go into her writing.

 

Edited July 13 by muggle not

[lunababymoonchild]

On 6/27/2025 at 1:28 PM, muggle not said:

I put it aside for a week and a half due to some illness I had and then the 21-day library limit ran out. I now have another 21 day available on the book so hopefully I can get back to reading as I was only about 28% into the book.

 

Let me clarify. My illness was not how one usually thinks of illness. I have Wet Macular degeneration which I receive injections for every 3 months (Used to be every month) and my eyes recently have been causing some irritation resulting in less reading.

I’m sorry to hear this. All the best to you, I know what it’s like to have eyesight problems and not be able to read 

[Madeleine]

Oh that's sad to hear, I hope you manage to find something to help with the eye irritation.

[poppy]

Really hope the eye irritation settles soon, Muggle 😘

[muggle not]

I have a Doctor's appt. on July 31 for him to evaluate what needs done and to then schedule the surgery. I will need it done for both eyes. My lower eyelids are turning under and scratching my eyes. My Ophthalmologist has been after me for quite some time to get it done. 

[Madeleine]

Sounds horrible, I've heard of that happening in animals but not with humans.  I hope you get it sorted out soon.

[lunababymoonchild]

9 hours ago, muggle not said:

I have a Doctor's appt. on July 31 for him to evaluate what needs done and to then schedule the surgery. I will need it done for both eyes. My lower eyelids are turning under and scratching my eyes. My Ophthalmologist has been after me for quite some time to get it done. 

I’m sorry to hear this, I hope all goes well