A Big Ol' Bucket of Useful : November 2020

20 Books I Would Recommend Reading, 5 Books I Wouldn't, and 50 from my Reading List

It's Thanksgiving, we're still having a pandemic, and so many of us are staying at home instead of traveling. Clearly it's time for another books list!

My likes/loves: These are books that entertained me, moved me, taught me things, made me think, inspired me, and that I would heartily recommend. They are not ranked – they are merely in the order in which I read them.

Flesh and Blood – Jonathan Kellerman
Twisted – Jonathan Kellerman
The Beach House – James Patterson and Peter de Jonge
Double Homicide – Faye and Jonathan Kellerman
A Year in the Merde – Stephen Clarke
Naked in Baghdad – Anne Garrels
I'm a Stranger Here Myself – Bill Bryson
How Did They Die? - Norman and Betty Donaldson
Go Tell It on the Mountain – James Baldwin
Therapy – Jonathan Kellerman
A Separate Peace – John Knowles
Of Human Bondage – W. Somerset Maugham
Made in America – Bill Bryson
Beloved – Toni Morrison
Babbitt – Sinclair Lewis
The Optimist's Guide to History – Doris Flexner
O. Henry Festival Stories 1991
The Biggest Loser – The Biggest Loser Experts and Cast
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking – Malcolm Gladwell
After Life – John Edward

My meh/yuck list: Did not find these appealing for any number of reasons – some were boring; some had an interesting subject but did not do it justice; some were flat-out terrible. All simply left me cold in some way. Although I am likely to read multiple books by authors I like (you will see a lot of Dean Koontz, Jonathan Kellerman, Margaret Atwood, Charles deLint and Toni Morrison), I do not excuse those authors when they write a book I didn't like, so they might just show up here, as well.

Strange Highways – Dean Koontz
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower – Stephen King
The Beans of Egypt, Maine – Carolyn Chute
The Camel Club – David Baldacci
Fat Land – Greg Critser

My Reading List: these are books I haven't read yet, so I don't have a reaction for you. However, I could semi-recommend them, based on the reasons they made it onto my list:

They were on one of those “100 Greatest Books” lists;
They are other books written by authors I really enjoy; or
I read a review, and it sounded like something I'd like.

#1 can be a bit hit-or-miss; #2 is almost (but not always) foolproof for me (but maybe not for you), and #3 usually works out pretty well, as it's a combination of the first two. As always, your results may vary, but consider them suggestions. These may tend to come in chunks of stuff by author (apologies).