The Cue Card

Hi all. I hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day last Friday. Don’t we all deserve it right about now? My husband gave me these nice flowers and we went out to dinner, so he seemed to be buttering up the host of the Cue Card. I got him a couple cards. Meanwhile we’re still in a deep cold patch here for the foreseeable future. Brrr. I’m looking forward to March. But despite the frigid temps, I’m trying to keep active, so lately I’ve been playing some indoor tennis, doing spin classes, and following exercise routines on YouTube. I also walk the dogs wearing astronaut-kind of layers. What are you doing for your workouts lately?

And for my sanity from the news and baseless tariff threats I started a puzzle, which my husband and I finished last week. It’s a Canadian one — you can see the various places and brands and things that Canada is known for. Of course, puzzles can be wonderfully cathartic, stress-reducing, and addicting. You might pass by a puzzle thinking you’ll do a piece or two but pretty soon you’re there for over an hour and can barely pry yourself away for dinner, lol. We finished this 1000-piece one in under a week. I’m sure we’ll need another one soon.

I also picked up some library loot. I’ve been on the wait lists for these and unfortunately they usually come in all at once, which makes getting to some pretty impossible. But I’ve started The Safekeep and I also want to pick up Mina’s Matchbox. Some of these others I’m going to have put back and maybe get back another time. Intermezzo is a bit long so that might go back on the list. Have you read any of these, or do you plan to?

And now I’ll leave you with a review of what I finished lately.

The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir by Griffin Dunne / Penguin / 400 pages / 2024

3.75 stars. I had a hard time rating this one because I felt the first half was not that noteworthy and sort of immature with jokes and the author’s coming-of-age, but then the later second half was deeper and came on pretty strong. I’m not sure how many people these days know Griffin Dunne, but he was an up-and-coming actor in the 1980s (along with his sister) and was from a pretty well-known family — his father Dominick Dunne was a film producer, then a novelist and later a columnist for Vanity Fair, and his uncle John Dunne and aunt Joan Didion were famous writers.

I remember seeing Griffin Dunne in the movie American Werewolf in London in 1981, which I thought was scary and funny too — a terrific movie, and I liked him in After Hours (1985) too. His younger sister Dominque, who Spielberg told him was a real talent, was in Poltergeist in 1982, and he had a brother Alex who did some writing.

The three of them grew up in Hollywood and due to their parents and their parties knew various film stars around the hood. His mother divorced his father when he about 10, and Griffin was sent to a couple boarding schools for high school, where he was expelled for pot, but he came away with an interest in acting and moved to New York. There he became best friends with Carrie Fisher and was her roommate when she took the role for Star Wars in 1977. Still he struggled for years waiting tables and trying to get his break-through role.

Later in the book, things turn dicey for his family as his mother develops multiple sclerosis; his (closeted) father is fired as a producer and moves to Oregon to get sober; his brother struggles with mental illness; and his sister meets a controlling boyfriend who very tragically would be her demise. It turns pretty sad and moving. But Griffin writes pretty lovingly of his mother and his colorful father; trying to help his brother, and the memories of his beloved sister.

Good grief the family goes through more hell … when his sister’s killer is brought to trial in L.A. in August 1983. The cards are stacked against them with the judge and defense attorney and the fight for justice turns into a travesty. At the same time Griffin is filming the movie Johnny Dangerously with Michael Keaton, which gives him a small outlet. Personally, I don’t remember the trial at the time, but I would’ve been in SoCal getting ready to leave for college then. Hmm.

There’s only a few sprinklings of his aunt Joan Didion in this — I sort of thought there’d be more. But his uncle John Dunne comes off as pretty feisty in this (the two brothers Dominick and John didn’t get a long for many years and only reconciled later). And when the trial was going on, Joan Didion and John Dunne left for Paris, so that apparently their young daughter Quintana wouldn’t be called to testify, which didn’t sit well with Griffin and his family.

The memoir ends in 1990 when Griffin’s daughter with actress Carey Lowell is born. So I don’t know if he plans to write another book of his later life and career. But while this one touches on his family’s story and is in many ways a touching tribute to them, it still seems like Griffin’s story about his growing up years, sex life, and career in acting. There is some name-dropping along the way, but thankfully it’s not too overly done. I don’t often read such Hollywood kinds of memoirs, but I was a bit curious about the writers in their family.

I was also supposed to review Ruth Ware’s 2016 novel The Woman in Cabin 10, which I finished on audio, but I think I will wait till next time (I’m too long-winded already). I finally tried a Ruth Ware! lol. Her novel is coming out as a Netflix movie with Keira Knightley sometime in late 2025. And there’s a book sequel — thanks to Kay at Kay’s Reading Life for alerting us — of The Woman in Suite 11 coming in July. More of the infamous character Lo Blacklock!

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read any of these and if so, what did you think?

Hi bookworms — how is everyone doing? It’s been a busy week here but I’m coming up for air now … after completing a couple things for my part-time jobs I had to get done. It was a really cold week too and the deer were on our road in 30+ herds looking for something to eat. They came running to our bird feeders. The photo shows just a small part of their group. The one deer in front stopped when he saw me taking a picture from the window. We usually let them have a snack or two in such cold weather, though they can drain the bird feeder pretty lickety-split, so eventually we put the feeders in the garage at night when we remember to.

Meanwhile the Super Bowl is on soon. Will you be watching the game, or skipping it? I admit I’m usually a big football fan, but neither of these teams playing is one of my teams, so we’ll be watching at home mostly for the ads, halftime show, and munchies. I hope there’ll be a Clydesdale Bud commercial with a Labrador puppy, lol. That would make me happy. But I think this year it’s going to be a young Clydesdale that’s the star in the ad this time. Watch for it. I still miss the puppy ad though, lol. You can rewatch it here on the link.

My reading has been a bit meandering due to busyness, but I’ll leave you with a couple reviews of what I finished lately. These two books below make a good pairing — and I didn’t even do it on purpose. The first is a novel about a female immigrant from Afghanistan who lives in Berlin and tries to hide her background amid her active night life, while the second is a memoir of a refugee from Vietnam (during the fall of Saigon in 1975) who grew up in Michigan and also describes trying to blend in and hide her background. The immigrant life is tough. Come to think of it, I also read the novel The Leavers in January, which is about immigrants from China in New York, so I guess I’m on a reading theme these days and I didn’t purposefully know I was doing it. I think what draws me to these kinds of tales are the immigrants’ challenges and perseverance, and how the stories about them are often quite moving and well written. They certainly are relevant right now.

Good Girl by Aria Aber / Hogarth / 368 pages / 2025

3.7 stars. Nila, 19, who narrates this novel details a lost year she has going to night clubs in Berlin with friends and where she meets Marlowe, a thirty-six-year-old American writer who once wrote a notable book. Nila is going through some tough times and growing pains — taking drugs with her group, obsessing about Marlowe, and trying to hide her Afghan and poor background. She also misses her mother who died years earlier. Her parents were doctors in Afghanistan who fled a decade or so ago with her and then wound up in public housing in Berlin, graffitied with swastikas, where Nila was raised. They were unable to get good jobs.

Now Nila amid her partying tells those who ask that she’s Greek. She gets involved with Marlowe who’s controlling and at times violent … and much of the narration details their drug-taking and relationship over a year’s time. Nila seems to be trying to find and right herself …. to try for grad school and become a photographer, though she keeps disappointing herself and her father who expects her to be a “good girl.”

You have to read to the end to see if Nila continues on her path of self-destruction or gets on with it to something better. There’s some sharp writing throughout this debut, so although I tired of some of the continual cycle of partying and sex with Marlowe, I was impressed by the writing style and Nila’s impressions and the details of Berlin and pleased it ended a bit more upbeat. The author, first a poet, apparently grew up in Germany and now works as a writing professor at the University of Vermont. She was raised speaking Farsi and German and now writes in her third language, English.

Owner of a Lonely Heart by Beth Nguyen / Scribner / 256 pages / 2023

4 stars. I liked hearing the author narrate the audio of her life as a Vietnam refugee who when she was 8-months-old was taken by her father out of the country with her sister, uncles, and grandmother the day before the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975. Later she was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by her father and stepmother and only came to meet her birth mother who was left or stayed behind in Vietnam until years later when she was 19. Her mother had come to the U.S. when she was 10 and had settled in Boston, yet they didn’t meet until years later.

Her memoir is clear, raw, and sincere describing what it was like growing up as an immigrant minority in a White Midwestern city and trying to understand her identity and their family dynamics, which wasn’t really talked about at the time with her often bad-tempered father. Much of it too talks about motherhood … trying to get know her own mother who she’s only visited a handful of times and is not close to and what happened in Vietnam when her mother stayed behind — along with being a mother herself to two young boys.

Part of the book feels like a memoir looking back on her life and school years in Michigan and other parts feel like essays about her perceptions as an immigrant in the U.S. and about motherhood. She wrote the book during the pandemic, which adds another dimension to it. Towards the end there’s a chapter about changing her Vietnamese name from Bich to Beth, which she does since it would cause less fuss and questions. Overall I was moved by the author’s story and perspective and liked her sensibilities.

I had forgotten I had read and liked the author’s 2015 novel Pioneer Girl and reviewed it on the blog. That’s when she was going by Bich Minh Nguyen, so I might not have realized this memoir was by the same author when I picked it up. She is a Guggenheim Fellow recipient, has an MFA from U of Michigan, and now teaches creative writing at the University of Wisconsin. I will look for what she writes next.

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read books like these and if so, what did you think? Enjoy your week.

Hi all. We are so saddened and sorry to see all the tragedy unfolding this past week in L.A. County, which is horrific and mind-blowing. Truly epic and awful. My brother evacuated from Pasadena on Tuesday night and thankfully he and his place are okay but so many others just a couple miles away are not. The wind that hit on Tuesday night was scary – hurricane-force winds and there was no way to control or do anything but run for your lives if you were in the line of fire. So much devastation has been left and I fear the number of dead will rise. I don’t know how it all started if it was from power lines, or a spark, or arson, but tragically it all got out of hand very quickly.

We have been staying in Orange County about an hour south of what’s going on in L.A. and were alarmed by the high winds. You can see the smoke from the L.A. fires in this sunset picture (above) I took last night. Let’s just hope the winds will stop so the firefighters can get this under control. It’s been a daunting event and I’m thinking of all those affected. I hope that Jinjer at the blog The Intrepid Angeleno is all right and others who blog from Southern California are too. It’s like a war zone around the L.A. area. For some much-needed levity, I will add this photo of the dogs, which my husband took around Christmas, to keep hope alive.

Now today we are headed back home on our long road trip north — sort of with a heavy heart — but thankful for the holiday times we’ve had here and seeing my dad and brother, who are both okay. I hope you all are well and I will leave you with a couple reviews of books that I finished at the end of 2024.

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice / ECW / 224 pages / 2018

3.6 stars. When power and communication go out in an indigenous community in northern Ontario, the band’s council tries to figure out what is happening and how to provide heat and food during the long harsh winter for as long as they can. The story follows Evan Whitesky and his family who does his best to help others in the community, which finds out there’s been a collapse in the cities down south.

Then a white straggler arrives from the south who they don’t know whether to trust and supplies start to run low. You have to wait till the end to see how the reckoning plays out. But the perspective of such a power communication outage on an indigenous community — that seems a bit better adapted to band together and survive off the land — makes the story a bit more interesting, and you root for Evan and his wife Nicole and their small hamlet to get by.

I sort of promised myself post-election that I wouldn’t read apocalyptic societal collapse kinds of novels, but I had been curious about this Canadian novel beforehand and it pulled me in. It’s a bit of a quietly told story full of a cold, snowed in landscape, which looms large in it. The ending is a bit open and not fully drawn, so it was a ripe for a sequel, which came out this past October. I will get to it.

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham / 688 pages / 1915

4+ stars. I read the first 50 percent of this novel as an ebook in October and set it down then picked it up again and read the last 50 percent in December. This classic is a coming-of-age kind of tale about British protagonist Philip Carey and his early life history that seemed a bit like David Copperfield in how he faces many ups and downs from adolescence to adulthood and different places, people, and adversities. Philip is certainly tested along the way.

He’s an orphan (after his parent die early) with a clubfoot who’s raised by his loveless uncle, the Vicar, and aunt. He is very self-conscious about his clubfoot and walking with a limp and it seems to affect much of his life. Philip sets off to find his calling in life which takes many stops and starts along the way from trying for the priesthood, then as an accountant, then as an artist in Paris, then back to England and training to be a doctor and then running out of money and working in a shop and becoming a clothes designer for a while.

And there’s also pale-faced Mildred, you won’t forget her. The saga of Philip meeting Mildred, a waitress at a cafe, and falling for her goes on endlessly. Mildred takes advantage of poor Philip and his cash a number of times but still he’s obsessed with his love for her. (But she not so much.) Oh the sorry choices he makes. He can’t seem to shake his life of her, but eventually things happen to propel him. It seems Philip has to hit rock bottom to eventually be able to rise again.

It’s a long tale that felt like quicksand at some points and I was swimming around in it for a long while. Still I needed to see it through — and to know what becomes of Philip and his journey to solvency and hopeful redemption. Along the way, Philip’s thoughts about the human condition from religion to work, art, and love make it a worthwhile exploration, which you go through with him. Though a bit exhausted by the novel, I was elated to have finished, and the ending seems a bit happy in outlook.

At the end Philip is only 30 years old — what a long journey to that point. You sort of wonder if a sequel was ever considered, but I guess not. Apparently the tale is autobiographical to the author Somerset Maugham’s life — who was raised by his uncle and aunt and trained later as a doctor. He had a stammer instead of a clubfoot that surely affected his life.

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read these and if so, what did you think? Stay well everyone!

Hi all. Happy New Year. It seems crazy to be into 2025. It has a futuristic ring to it, eh? I finished out 2024 with three novels that I’ll review next time, but they included Somerset Maugham’s epic classic Of Human Bondage from 1915, which I had started in October as part of Ti’s read-along at Book Chatter. I read half of the book then, which is give-or-take 684 pages, then set it down and picked it up again in December and read the rest of it. Ha, that’s one way to do a big read. More on that novel next post, but now it’s time to wrap up my thoughts about my 2024 reading. Perhaps this comic strip by Mark Parisi says something about it — I had to laugh when I saw it. Did you ever finish all your summer reads?

I completed 61 books this year, which is more or less my usual. I’m a pretty ponderous reader, often I read or listen to parts of books twice before moving on — I like getting the full scoop out of it. I’ll finish a book and then check out the beginning again and sometimes keep going, lol. And often I take a bit of a breather between books, so I’m not the quickest. The good news is according to the stats my female to male author ratio was more equally distributed this year as was my print reads to audio listens, though my number of diversity reads and my nonfiction needs work. Still I enjoyed so many good books.

I had a very hard time picking my 12 Top favorites of the year. I decided they had to be both appealing and strongly written and put together. I still think my Honorable Mentions could be on the list too. This year debut novels were particular strong and three made my list. So without out further adieu below is my list of favorite fiction (in no particular order) and nonfiction (of which I only read 9, so they all made the list, lol.) Let me know what you think.

Stats: 61 books completed & reviewed
Fiction — 52
Nonfiction — 9
Female authors — 33
Male authors — 28
White authors — 49
Non-White authors — 12
Print books — 30
Audiobooks — 31
American authors — 37
British authors — 5
Canadian authors — 4
Irish authors — 4
Welsh authors — 1

French authors — 1
Australian authors — 1
Israeli authors — 1
Chinese authors — 1
Korean authors — 1
Japanese authors — 1
Malaysian authors — 1
India authors — 1
Norwegian authors — 1

Favorite Novels:

(1) Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (2024) – Strout delivers again with her charm of characters in Cosby, Maine. Writer Lucy Barton meets Olive Kitteridge, and Bob Burgess figures prominently.
(2) James by Percival Everett (2024) – One of the most talked about novels of the year and the National Book Award winner lives up to the hype. My first Everett novel but surely not my last.
(3) Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (2023) – A chilling dystopian tale that won the Booker Prize in 2023 and swept me away on audio.
(4) Western Lane by Chetna Maroo (2023) – A debut novel about a young squash player and her internal family drama that caught me up in its telling.
(5) In Memoriam by Alice Winn (2024) – An epic World War I tale that put me on the battlefield and included a captivating love story.
(6) My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2012) – I was pleased to get to this modern classic about two childhood friends in 1950s Italy in a read-along discussion with Tina at Turn the Page.
(7) Long Island by Colm Toibin (2024) – The sequel to Brooklyn proved maybe Tony wasn’t the lifelong partner for Eilis. Perhaps more sequels will follow.
(8) The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng (2023) – An atmospheric tale in which author Somerset Maugham comes to visit a couple in Penang, Malaysia and a murder trial unfolds kept me intrigued.
(9) River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure (2024) – A debut coming-of-age tale set in Shanghai, China that had me rooting for mixed-race teenage Alva.
(10) Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips (2023) – A well told story (winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize) that’s dark in its Civil War horrors and light with the refuge of an asylum that helps a girl and her mute mother.
(11) Pearly Everlasting by Tammy Armstrong (2024) – A new favorite Canadian author casts a spell with her lyrical writing about a girl growing up in a New Brunswick logging camp with a bear cub.
(12) Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash (2023) – An enjoyable read about two families that mix when a girl is sent abroad to the U.S. during the bombing of London in WWII.

Honorable Mention Novels

* The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring (2023) – a wonderful debut
* The Coast Road by Alan Murrin (2024) – another great debut
Absolution by Alice McDermott (2023) – a masterful writer
The Guest by Emma Cline (2023) – love her gritty tales

Favorite Nonfiction

(1) Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (1959) – This amazing survival tale never seems to lessen for me.
(2) Running With Sherman by Christopher McDougall (2019) – A wonderful account of an abused donkey that gets a second chance at life.
(3) I’ve Tried Being Nice (Essays) by Ann Leary (2024) – Much of this is funny and endearing about the author’s family life, her sobriety, and life as writer. The audio is entertainingly read by the author.
(4) Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl (2019) – A good intro into the beginnings of the author’s family life and awakenings of her joy of nature.
(5) The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides (2024) – A pretty extensive account of Captain Cook’s last fateful voyage that kept me tuned in to figuring out what led to his demise.
(6) The Last Days of Hitler by Hugh Trevor-Roper (1947) – A chilling look at the Fuhrer and his evil regime and the final days in a Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
(7) My Friend Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar (2023) – A moving memoir of a classmate and friend of Anne’s in Amsterdam whose path crosses again with her later while at Bergen-Belsen. A glimpse into their friendship and story.
(8) Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie (2024) – An inspiring and heroic look at the author’s life and thoughts after he was almost killed in 2022.
(9) Sonny Boy by Al Pacino (2024) – The lowdown from Al about his life and iconic theater and movie roles with a glimpse into his personal relationships.

Debut Novels

In Memoriam by Alice Winn (2024)
River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure (2024)
The Coast Road by Alan Murrin (2024)
Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Ash-Spence (2023)
Western Lane by Chetna Maroo (2023)
Women’s Hotel by Daniel Lavery (2024)

Classics:

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham (1915)
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster (1912)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (1876)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1885)

Apocalyptic tales:

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice (2018)
I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger (2024)
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (2023)

Translated Lit:

Brightly Shining by Ingvild H. Rishoi (2024)
Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerin Perrin (2021)
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2012)
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa (2023)

Biographies & Memoirs:

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie (2024)
Sonny Boy by Al Pacino (2024)

Historical Fiction:

The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bohjalian (2025)
The Women by Kristen Hannah (2024)
A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama (2012)
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng (2023)
James by Percival Everett (2024)
Women’s Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery (2024)
Clear by Carys Davies (2024)
The General and Julia by Jon Clinch (2024)
Absolution by Alice McDermott (2023)
Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips (2023)
In Memoriam by Alice Winn (2024)

Coming of Age tales:

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham (1915)
Pearly Everlasting by Tammy Armstrong (2024)
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2012)
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa (2023)
City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim (2024)
True Grit by Charles Portis (1968)
The Guest by Emma Cline (2023)
River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure (2024)

Favorite Audios:

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout narrated by Kimberly Farr
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch narrated by Gerry O’Brien
The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring narrated by Patrica Shade
True Grit by Charles Portis narrated by Donna Tartt
The Women by Kristen Hannah narrated by Julia Whalen
Long Island by Colm Toibin narrated by Jessie Buckley

Crime /Mystery /or Intrigue

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2024)
Twist by Colum McCann (2025)
Entitlement by Rumaan Alam (2024)
The Lost Americans by Christopher Bollen (2023)
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (2021)

Domestic family /or partner stories

Western Lane by Chetna Maroo (2023)
Going Home by Tom Lamont (2024)
Sandwich by Catherine Newman (2024)
Sweet Vidalia by Lisa Sandlin (2024)
A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda (2024)
Long Island by Colm Toibin
Leaving by Roxana Robinson (2024)
The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring
Welcome Home, Stranger by Kate Christensen (2023)
The Caretaker by Ron Rash (2023)
You Are Here by David Nicholls (2024)
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood (2024)
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (2023)
Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash (2023)

Time Travel / or Magical elements

Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979)
King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis (2024)
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino (2024)

Short Stories

Table for Two by Amor Towles (2024)

That’s all for now. What about you — what did you think about any of these?



Hi all, I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or holiday and end of year to all. It’s been a good year of reading, and I’m thankful to the blogging community and those who stopped by here during the year. You make it fun and worthwhile to discuss books, reading, and all things to watch and listen to. I love the tips I get about what to pick up or take in and to hear about all what you’re reading and doing. Many of you have become such good buddies and regulars here and I thank you for your visits and kind words. 

On Christmas, we will have a small group of four coming together (along with two lively Labradors) to enjoy the holiday with. See the tree we’ve managed to put up on the fly, though we’re still working on the lights’ missing plug. It’s been nice to be in California this holiday season to visit some with my brother and Dad and be with my adorable husband and also to enjoy things near the beach.

We have thawed out since coming south and plan to return back north in mid-January. In a week or so, I’ll be posting my January Preview and later my Book Favorites of 2024 list, so stay tuned. Until then wishing you all a very happy and peaceful holiday. And may you receive several new books to read. Cheers! —Susan from the Cue Card

Hi all, I hope you are well. We are staying near the beach and there have been some gorgeous sunsets. We have been enjoying family get-togethers with my Dad and brother (and hopefully soon with my niece and nephew-in-law too). We’ve done a bit of shopping, bike riding, reading, football watching, and of course dog walks. We still have to put up the tree! That’s what happens when you travel you do things on the fly. But we are gearing for the holiday and plan to see the boat parade here this week, which is always fun and colorful, and maybe take in a movie. I hope you are able to enjoy the holidays with friends and family.

Have you decided what your first book of 2025 will be? Okay, let’s hear what it is. I haven’t decided mine yet, but I plan to over the weekend. I think first reads of the year should be a bit special, so I will look for something. Isn’t it fun that soon we will have a clean slate and new year for reading. Perhaps many of us will have new reading challenges, or changes to our reading that we want to try. I sort of want to boost my nonfiction next year but don’t I always say that? And I’d like to have a few books always going at once instead of just one print and one audio at a time. I need to open it up a bit more. But first, I want to finish at least two more books by the end of the year and then turn my thoughts to next year. How about you?

And now I’ll leave you with a review of what I finished lately. 

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie / Random House / 224 pages / 2024

Much of this memoir seems brave. Not only for Rushdie’s stands past and current against terror and fatwas, but also for the health recovery he details and his openness on talking about things that are personal, the changes he faces, and his thoughts going forward. It’s a memoir that’s a bit here and there and I preferred some parts more than others, but still it gave an encompassing picture of the tumultuous life-altering event he and his family endured due to the brutal assassination attempt on his life in 2022 when he was horrifically stabbed at a public event numerous times.

The chapters on all his health recovery and rehab post-attack are daunting and tense, but I preferred the other chapters more about his thoughts about the world, where his life and work are, and how his loving family and wife poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths came to be his stalwarts. His personal life after several marriages seems to have settled with Eliza who appears to be his rock since their marriage in 2021. And he molds much of the memoir into a story about love conquering evil, which is pleasing. The book’s other part is his trying to understand what happened and why.

One segment goes into an imaginary interview Rushdie has with his assailant, which I thought was worth while … as well as his thoughts about religion. It seems frustrating trying to reason with people who don’t have much reason behind their acts to others, or who do things for incredibly absurd or incorrect assumptions. Rushdie has long been a beacon of freedom of thought, expression, and religion and that still burns brightly here. 

I listened to the audio version read by the author, which was insightful to hear him read it.

That’s all for now. What about you — have you read this one and what did you think?  Have a great week.