reading my five star predictions
15+ books I think I'll love until I love one
Last year, I had possibly the greatest reading year of my life.
I didn’t read the most books (I read 365 in 2022, a horrible experience I will never repeat) or find the most favorites (I used to be less picky), but I had so much fun.
I read broadly, across genres and origins, and I read by mood. I read mostly new releases with some very old books thrown in. In addition to having a good time, I felt accomplished.
I’d love to run that feeling back. I’d also love to begin the year with a five star.
Last month was okay, but I think there’s room for improvement.
So I’m going to read books I think I have a shot at adoring and see what happens.
This will mostly occur in order of when my library holds come in.
Attempt #1: Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Baldwin can do no wrong in my eyes. Okay, scratch that. Sometimes he’s very misogynistic. But that hasn’t stopped me from unconditional love of an author before and it won’t now!
This is his first major work, and there’s a high probability it’s perfect.
Update #1: Immediately I am obsessed with our teenage protagonist, John. I would protect him with my life and may pass away if anything bad happens to him.
Update #2: This is under 300 pages long and covers both a single day and several generations, as well as multiple characters, some dead and some alive. It’s doing all of that more convincingly than most longer books do with much less.
Update #3: Yeah. I love James Baldwin.
Final rating: 4 stars
What held it back from a five star: Its depiction of the sins of those who mean well and those who don’t, and the role of religion in the follies of humanity and their most profound moments, will stay with me — but the ending chapter felt rushed and, while repetitive, incomplete.
Attempt #2: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
I was blown out of the water by how much I enjoyed The Wedding People.
In my defense, I read it before publication, so definitely before it became a global sensation. I think I would have been prepared for charm potential in that case.
Espach had two books published before that sweeping success. I read the first and definitely understood why it wasn’t the one destined for international fame.
I wonder how this one will go.
Update #1: Thus far, it is reminding me of neither The Wedding People nor The Adults, which is of course neither a good thing or a bad thing.
Update #2: Bizarrely, this is giving me notes of…Laurie Colwin?! (Reveal on why this is a fun coincidence forthcoming.)
Update #3: Like The Wedding People, this is a witty but also serious book about the serious topic of grief. It is a little more literary and a little darker. I like that, but I don’t love it.
Final rating: 4 stars
What held it back from a five star: This is messy and strange and hard to predict, which is both a pro and a con.
Attempt #3: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut
I honestly know very little about this book.
The small scraps of commentary I’ve heard from other people not only convinced me that I want to read it, but that it might be a mind-blowing philosophical work that will change my life if not the world.
That being said, I don’t know what it’s about.
Update #1: I’m really enjoying following the narrative thread through history that Labatut has managed to use to weave together all these great minds and ideas. But I don’t know if I’m capable of truly loving a STEM book. I’m still the same high school student who hated math and science in equal measure deep down.
Update #2: Just went to copy the cover of this in order to paste it above and caught the word “fictional” in the synopsis. What? How is this fictional? What parts of this are made up? Now I’m upset. I hate to feel dumb. I JUST ADMITTED I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK. OR MATH. OR SCIENCE.
Update #3: Bluh. I hope Schrödinger being a total weirdo freaky creep is the fictional part.
Update #4: Oh, wow. I love this ending.
Final rating: 4 or maybe 4.5 stars
What held it back from a five star: Obviously the metafiction aspect of this broke my brain in half. Also there was something so creepy and consuming about the whole book that when I tried to have lunch while reading it I lost my appetite completely. But a) that is not necessarily a bad thing and b) it may be Schrödinger’s fault.
