Posted on

2025 Reading List

Welcome to a new year of reading!

I read 28 novels and 26 graphic novels last year. Not bad! This year, I’m putting recent acquisitions and reads at the top. That does not mean READING order, just PILE order. As of 12.31.25, I’ve read 36 novels and the Courtney series of GNs.

King Sorrow, Joe Hill. EXCELLENT read. It’s a cross between Dark Tower and Fairy Tale by Joe’s dad. :) Good stuff. Not quite finished (1/3) but leaving on 2025.

Enshittification, Cory Doctorow. His book that breaks down the total destruction of the internet and how corporations have managed to do this. It covers Meta, Amazon, Twitter, and pretty much everything else that we’ve watched turn to SHIT. Everyone should read this book.

Blood, Bones & Butter, Gabrielle Hamilton. Byline “The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef”, which was why I bought it. A very good read! I saw a LOT of myself in her – not the work parts, but the interaction with people parts.

The Book of Salt, Monique Truong. You might remember her from Bitter In the Mouth that I read last year. This is her first novel and it is NOTHING like I was expecting! This is a story of a man who travels the world as a cook in the late 19th and early 20th century. It is a pretty good read, but I liked Bitter more.

The Sweetest Fruits, Monique Truong. She fascinates me.

The Secret Life of Groceries, Benjamin Lorr. Byline “The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket”. I watched a documentary about groceries recently, so this caught my eye. Very interesting so far. He did a TON of research for this book! He rode with truckers, worked in stores, talked to execs. It’s well done.

Gifted from the Kiss My Acid Goodbye guy:
Prison Break, Jason Goldman. While I truly do like JG, and the KMAG product does help with VSG GERD, he has a background in coaching, so he tends to be a little on the rah-rah side. Not my bag. This book is all about not being a victim (he uses prisoner) and taking charge of your shit (he uses self leadership). Nick and I are “self leaders” from way back, so all I do is nod at the obvious (TO ME) and do a lot of skimming. I can see how this sort of coaching would be helpful for LOTS of people — just not me in particular. It’s a conversational style, easy read. If you have GERD, you should look into kissmyacidgoodbye.com. You’re welcome.

Ollie’s Hurl September 2025

Find Me, André Aciman. This is the guy that wrote Call Me By Your Name, which was made into a movie that I did not see. I might get that book, too, though, because this book is quite good! It’s set in Italy but the main character is American. The characters are well written and the dialog is good, too. I’ve just started this one.

A Bright Ray of Darkness, Ethan Hawke (yes, THAT guy, who is also a writer!). This was an odd book, but a pretty good read. It’s about an actor and all his angst. Worth a shot if you come across it.

Dream Girl, Laura Lippman.
The Golden Gate, Amy Chua.

Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus. I’d seen comments that this book was terrible, as compared to the limited series on AppleTV and I’d have to agree. Every single character in the book is unlikeable. She also gives the dog full character status, as in: the dog is given the ability to reason like a human and has running commentary. Skip the book and watch the limited series with Brie Larson and Lewis Pullman (yes Bill Pullman’s look alike son).

Attainable Sustainable Pantry, Kris Bordessa. EXCELLENT cookbook for assembling your pantry and canning foods. The canning section is SO well done! It’s all vetted for proper canning info. I love it!

When the Moon Hits Your Eye, John Scalzi. I had to start this as soon as I got it. It’s an absurd notion, housed as if it really happens and people have to deal with it. It’s got plenty of Scalzi humour and I’m liking it, despite its silly premise. In mid-read.

Never Flinch, Stephen King. This was a surprise from Amazon, we’d pre-ordered! I started it immediately after I finished Bazaar of Bad Dreams. It is another Holly book – he just can’t quit her!! This novel was good – not great. I do fervently wish the next book is called Two For Flinching, however.
Continue reading “2025 Reading List”

Posted on

Illness = Reading

I’ve not been sick, really sick, in a long time. This allergy cum bronchitis thing has really kicked my ass. The good news is that I’m pretty much over it! Yay! Yesterday was a bad day, but it’s my own damn fault for not eating right and smoking on Friday night. The smoking has got to go. Bleh. Oh, and let’s not forget the Vile Organ, which has been causing trouble for a month now. That was bugging me yesterday as well.

The good part of being sick is that I definitely got caught up on my reading. I read Marie Antoinette: The Journey, Life with My Sister Madonna, Never Break the Chain, On Writing, Morality (a King short story), One Second After and I read The Gunslinger yesterday. I also read several comics, including Road Rage (by Steve King and Joe Hill) and Last Blood. I’m a slow reader, but so is Steve King, so I figure I’m in good company. :)

Of this selection, the one book that really wrecked me is One Second After by William R. Forstchen. It’s a disaster scenario book about what could happen if the United States is hit by an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) and everything from the power grid to autos is knocked out. While I do think this book really should be required reading for everyone in this tech dependent world, I gotta say, it’s one of the most disturbing books I’ve read in a long time. Perhaps because it’s set in NC or perhaps because of the sheer plausibility of it, I don’t know, but this book scared the SHIT out of me. It really upset me. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days after. I have read plenty of disaster books, but the detailed account of a society that completely falls and becomes cannibalistic within 65 days is so very disturbing. I’d still recommend it, but just be prepared to face some horrific scenes.[I’ll never read this again. I banned it from my house. It is truly heartbreaking and it’ll make you wanna become a crazy prepper. You’ve been warned. -A]

I love biographies and rock and roll biographies in particular. Never Break the Chain by Cath Carroll is the tale of Fleetwood Mac during the Rumours period and covers the other incarnations of the band as well. Good read. Life With My Sister Madonna by Christopher Ciccone. It’s a good read, pretty much what you’d expect. I think he talks a bit much about Madonna, as opposed to himself, but it’s an insight into the rather selfish, narcissistic nature of Madonna. No big surprise there.

On Writing by Stephen King is the nonfiction tome that was written before and during the time he was hit by a van in 1999. It is part memoir and part instruction manual for the craft of writing. I’ve always loved this book and find it to be very inspirational. I’m not a writer, but I still find the overall lessons of ‘do what you love’ and ‘be the best you can be at it’ to work for any craft. I finished it and promptly gave it to Nick to re-read. We need inspiration!

I read a short story by King that is included in this tiny little book (a short story, really) called Blockade Billy that I found in the bargain bin at Big Lots (where I got Chain and Madonna, btw). Morality is a dark little tale that will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. In a good way. I’ve always said that Stephen King really shines with his mastery of the short story. He can pack a punch with an amazing economy of words. If you’ll read On Writing, you’ll see why.

Now I’m on a King binge and I’m reading the Dark Tower series again. King has been toying with re-doing the whole collection and I’m all for it. I can see where some edits and rewrites would make the tale more fluid and cohesive. I need to get the newer version of The Gunslinger (I typed the BUNslinger – hmm, totally different idea there!) that he edited and reissued a few years back. I also discovered that I’m missing book VI, Song of Susannah, which I know I’ve read and I know I had at some point. Bah. I just checked the Wiki and King intends to rewrite the whole series. He will remove himself as a character in the later books as well, which I agree with. It was distracting to have him as a character in his own book. There is also interest in doing the series as movies or perhaps something on HBO. Normally, I’d be against trying to do a book series that’s so involved as The Dark Tower as screenplays, but I was happy with the treatment of The Stand as a miniseries, so if they can get good people, I think The Dark Tower series could transfer to the screen successfully.

And with that last sentence, I was drawn to Amazon, where I got the new(er) Gunslinger, replaced my missing Song of Susannah, got the newest installation to The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole and The 100 Secret Senses by Amy Tan. I think this reading binge is going to last for a while. :)

I’ve decided that I’d rather waste my life sitting around reading than sitting around looking at Facebook. I will say, however, that as much as FB is a time suck, I’m starting to use it well for networking in prep for the move to Phoenix. I’ve joined a couple of groups and everyone has been so nice and so supportive of our move. Seriously, I’m blown away by how great everyone has been. I cannot WAIT to get out there! If Nick wasn’t holding the hand brake, I tell you, I’d be there already. We make a good team, my Weasel and I. We offset each other’s innate weaknesses and make a duo that is absolutely more than the sum of its parts. [Still in ATL. Argh. – 2015]

In other news, our illustrious host, InMotion, has been a huge pain in my ass lately. I’m looking at WiredTree and 24Shells as our potential new hosts. Their VPS deals are about the same as what I have, with WiredTree only offering phone or email support and 24Shells offering chat as well as phone/email. They are truly neck and neck. We’ll see how it goes. I’m loathe to move the goddam sites AGAIN, but at least these new hosts will do the dirty work for us. If InMotion can get their collective shit together, then we’ll stick. [They did not, we moved to WiredTree and have been very happy with them. WiredTree support can be too geeky sometimes, but they run a tight ship and shit WORKS. They are proactive with security, too. It’s the host for NERDS. -A 2015 // WiredTree got too big like they always do and we left them for Zweeko in London, which was ok for less than a year before the collapse started. We left Zweeko and soon after, the owner then ran off with all the money and screwed all their clients. Dodged bullet! THEN we got with Kualo, where we’ve been since. Kualo is also in London and they are not a new startup, so they’ve been pretty solid. Support is still spotty (like ALL hosts) but overall, we’re happy with them. Saving money with a shared host plan, too. 2020]

I’ve not been monitoring my eating for the last two weeks. Why bother? All I eat is mac and cheese and soup. My weight has gone down by a pound or two, so at least there’s that. The snot and soup diet seems to work quite well. Getting back into daily exercise is gonna suhuck.

The train of thought has left the station. I hope this week will end this allergy crap once and for all. I’d like to know what everyone else is reading! Tell me in the comments.