***** = Must read.
**** = Really good.
*** = Worth reading.
** = A waste of time, but one or two good moments.
* = Not worth your time.
-0 = Less Than Zero: a book so bad that you actually lose several IQ points from the reading experience.
1. Bust by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr ** This came within an hour and 8 minutes of being my last book of 2025 (anxiety, insomnia). If it'd been a better book, it would've made it. But alas, despite my love for Hard Case Crime, this wasn't the book for me. Too much cruelty. Too much misogyny. (It's the kind of book where a "girl" gets slapped around a bit.) Not to mention gaping wounds of plot holes, vacillating characters, and highly unlikely situations. I got this from the library in the Supermax omnibus of three novels, but I don't think I have it in me to read the other two. Time will tell...and so will I.
2. The Warlord by Mike Grell, Omnibus Volume 1 *** Lots of flaws--art out of proportion, story errors and plot holes, stupid magic dwarves...but hey, it's Mike Grell, and I have always been fond of him. 12/31/25 to 1/4/26
3. Flesh by David Szalay * This was a Booker Prize winner? Don't waste your time on it. 12/14/26 to 12/16/26
4. A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne *** A tiny (l x w) book that, thus a quick read, but enough to make me want more Sterne. 1/17/26 to 1/19/26
5. Alice in Bibleland books by Alice Joyce Davidson (28 volumes) 12/25/25 to 1/20/26
6. Blueprints: How Mathematics Shapes Creativity by Marcus du Sautoy *** and sometimes + *. 1/4/26 to 2/2/26
7. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad ***** A devestating book. 2/3/26 to 2/4/26
8. Saint Bernadette Soubirous and Our Lady of Lourdes by Sophie Maraval-Hutin 2/6/26
9. Bernadette: Our Lady's Little Servant by Hertha Pauli 10/25/25 to 2/7/26
10. Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgård 2/19/26
11. Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie by Anne Martinetti, Guillaume Lebeau, & Alexandre Franc **** A charming graphic biography.
12. Where Do We Go From Hersay.edited by Isaac Asimov ** Not a very good anthology, I'm sorry to say For one thing, none of the stories were very exciting. The idea was to collect stories that displayed different scientific ideas and then follow-up on the stories with brief commentary and suggested readings. Unfortunately the stories Asimov chose (including one that he wrote) were pretty static plot-wise. Not recommended reading.
13. The Story of Fatima for Children edited by Majora 2/11/26 to 2/15/26
14. I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay by Isaac Asimov and Harlan Ellison *** Not the best book I've ever read, for sure, but it was kind of compelling. 2/12/26 to 2/16/26
15. More Tales of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov
This is the second collection of Black Widowers stories. I'm surprised at how well Asimov makes this work. After all, every story's plot is the same: a bunch of guys sit around a table eating dinner and then talk. You wouldn't think you could get much mileage out of that...but he does. I'm glad that Internet Archive had this one, since the book versions are a bit pricey. 2/16/26 to 2/22/26
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