I’ve once again fallen behind in my documenting of my book reading. And as a result, I have repurchased books I’ve already read. Darn my memory.

For this catchup, if I’ve read enough to have liked or loved the book, I’m adding links to the bookshop.org site where you can get them. Bookshop.org allows you to purchase books online on behalf of your favorite local bookshop (mine is Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia).

Completed:

• The Thursday Murder Club: a Novel by Richard Osman [ebook]
  • A fine murder mystery with retired protagonists. Worth a read, and there are more books in the series if you take a hankerin’.
• The Violinist’s Thumb by Sam Kean
  • Only read recently, and it goes on my favorite non-fiction list. A hilarious tour through the story of DNA and the people who introduced us to it. Absolutely fascinating facts on every page– constantly changed my perception of what humans are. Cannot recommend enough.
• The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel [ebook]
  • Really engaging true story of a man with an obsession from stealing art right out of museums. Very engaging page turner.
• Red Rising (Book 1) by Pierce Brown [ebook]
  • Ok science fiction. I struggled to Suspend my Disbelief and accept the world building. But if you like the Hunger Games genre of young people battling each other for survival in artficial circumstances, you’ll dig this.
• The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann [ebook]
  • Riveting true story of a 1740’s doomed voyage. A view into a very different world that I am not at all disappointed to have left behind.
• It Ends with Us: A Novel by Colleen Hoover [ebook]
  • Meh.
• Cursed: Alex Verus, Book 2 by Benedict Jacka [audiobook]
  • These are okay magic/urban fantasy books. I might have stopped listening/reading, but these were what I had loaded up on my phone for a long car trip.

Actively In Progress:

• The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition by Andrew Hunt, David Thomas
• Code Complete 2nd Edition by Steve McConnnell
  • These two I’m reading to up my programmers game, trying to become more than a intermediate hobby coder.
• Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England’s Kings and Queens by David Mitchell
  • I know little of English history, but this book by British Comedian David Mitchel (Peep Show), tells a hilarious tale of the monarchy’s eccentricities. Super enjoyable, makes a topic I was lukewarm about at best and draws me in hook, line and sinker.
• The Bee Sting: A Novel by Paul Murray
  • A coworker described it as the best book he’s ever read. He’s not wrong. Absolutely masterful writing, engaging story, juggling time and points of view with ease.
• Casket Case by Lauren Evans
  • Rom-Com that I picked up at Little Shop of Stories as a Blind Date with a Book (book wrapped in paper to hide what it was). The only info was the excerpted line: “‘Thank you for calling Death,’ a perky voice announces through the car speakers.”
• Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara

Stalled In Progress:

• The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne by Jonathan Stroud [ebook, audiobook]
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear [ebook]
• A History of the Bible: The Book and Its Faiths/The Story of the World’s Most Influential Book by John Barton [ebook, audiobook]
• God: An Anatomy by Francesca Stavrakopaulou [ebook] – rec by Data vs. Dogma podcast
• Marriage in the Bible: What Do the Texts Say? by Jennifer Bird – was a guest on Data Vs. Dogma podcast
• How to Avoid Climate Disaster by Bill Gates

On Deck

• Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules by Steve McConnell
• Crucial Conversations by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, Emily Gregory [eBook, Audio book]
• The Accidental Alchemist: An Accidental Alchemist Mystery by Gigi Pandian [eBook]
• The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (EW March 2025 Book Club)
• Now is Not The Time to Panic [eBook]
• Congratulations, the Best is Over!: Essays [Paper, Audiobook] – Stacey recommended
• Boo by Neil Smith [Audiobook, paper] – Grove strongly recommended
• Demon Copperhead: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver [audiobook]
• The New Testament by Bart D. Ehrman (ebook)
• Ideaflow: The Only Business Metric that Matters by Jeremy Utley, Perry Klebahn [audiobook] rec by coworker
• Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin – book of the month selection from Nowhere Book Shop.
• Executive Presence by Syvlia Ann Hewlett
• The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick
• The Five Disfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
• Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Matt Parker
• Buckaroo Banzai: Against the World Crime League et al., by E.M. Rauch
• The Madwoman and the Roomba by Sandra Tsing Loh
• All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
• Even Greater Mistakes by Charlie Jane Anders
• Broken (in the Best Possible Way) by Jenny Lawson
• Our Biggest Experiment by Alice Bell
• Ada and the Engine by Lauren Gunderson
• Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller by Oliver Darkshire

Abandoned

• The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King [audiobook]
• More Than This by Patrick Ness [audiobook]