Got Mono/Updated my Blog

After four years without an update, I have plenty of books I need to add to my have-read list! And while I’m in bed recovering from mono... why not just dump an updated list onto the blog?*

1. Closing Time by Joseph Heller
• ⭐️⭐️/5 Such a letdown after Catch-22.
2. Flash Boys by Michael Lewis
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Really enjoyed this.
3. If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino
• ⭐️⭐️/5 I am not sufficiently postmodern to revel in this.
4. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Does anyone ever get sick of Erik Larson making history not only come to life — but come to life entertainingly?
5. The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 I had heard this was going to be surprisingly applicable to everyday life, but I was still surprised when I started recommending that everyone at work read it to understand why we make mistakes and how we can make them less troublesome. I work in the healthcare finance field, where minimizing the negative effects of human error is so key in order to make sure that patients get the best care constantly, which makes this especially interesting.
6. Educated by Tara Westover
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 I recommended this to every thoughtful person I know.
7. Mere Christianity by CS Lewis
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Excellent, but I should have been more engaged with it. Will need to re-read it when I have more brainpower.
8. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Surprisingly good for YA lit. I was actually engaged the whole time despite feeling like it could have put a bit more effort into not being “The Breakfast Club with a murder.”
9. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Walked Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Became a surprising favorite of mine. I would definitely reread this.
10. So Close to Being the Sh*t Y’All Don’t Even Know by Retta
• ⭐️/5 In my never-ending quest for the perfect celebrity autobiography, Retta did not treat me.
11. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Frederik Backman
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 I loved this. I read it voraciously.
12. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 It no longer makes me wonder why I’ve had at least one person recommend this book to me basically every year since I was 17. I highlighted a LOT in here.
13. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Eh. Overrated.
14. Queens of the Conquest: England’s Medieval Queens Book One by Alison Weir
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Pretty good.
15. Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 My spiritual big sis comes through for me. This will never leave my most accessible bookshelf. Thank the Lord for St. Therese’s impression in the Catholic  compendium!
16. Britt-Marie was Here by Frederik Backman
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 So different from My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, but so excellent in its own way. I was surprised this became a poorly-reviewed movie, because I could see it being an excellent movie if properly managed.
17. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Perfection. I was so excited when I finished this, I emailed my most ardent LOTR friend at about 1am so that he would know as soon as possible how eager I was so talk to him about it. For reference, he’s a big enough fan that his wife has allowed him to hang a Middle Earth map in their living room.
18. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Perfection. I had tried reading this before and didn’t get through it, and definitely still think that my mistake was not reading The Hobbit first. 

*Excludes books read for school