The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by John Tiffany, JK Rowling
Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham
Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
I immediately read another Sherlock book after finishing the first. I think I’d intended to make a run straight through them, but I got sidetracked at some point. I should return to this project.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson was memorable for being set at the World’s Fair and the “ripped from the headlines” nature of the story. It’s a period of history that doesn’t get a lot of study, but it’s fascinating because it’s right when we were becoming a modern society.
I had to read Cursed Child right when it came out so I didn’t have the surprises spoiled for me, but it’s only an okay extension of the Harry Potter story. I was fortunate to see the play in NYC a couple of years after reading it, and it was only okay live as well. I did like seeing the familiar characters dealing with adult problems, but the shift in medium from “unreliable narrator in a novel” to “dialog-driven stage play” creates too much of a disconnect.
I had to read Lauren Graham’s autobiography for work, but I picked up her slightly autobiographical novel as well because she was such a competent writer. Her autobiography was memorable for the writing advice she gives in it. And the cover, if I’m being honest. I purposely went out and bought the hardback instead of downloading an ebook so I could take this picture. And while I was reading, I was stuck in a row on a full flight with two of the most awful people I’d ever encountered. They were a doctor and a nurse co-workers on their way to a convention. They popped some pills and drank about three screwdrivers apiece, talked trash about their estranged spouses and went into graphic detail about the sexual exploits they were going to get into in the hotel room during the conference. Their plan was to make their first stop a weed dispensary, then have a sex marathon…and I guess attend some of the conference sessions? Anyway, it was harrowing and I almost had them arrested for trying to engage in sex acts on the plane right beside me.
Easy read. Clear writing, engaging style. The characters are all fully realized, but not a lot happens for long stretches. The pace seems to lag in places, and the major developments are all fairly predictable. Still enjoyable despite that.
—From my Goodreads review of Someday, Someday, Maybe, ⭐️⭐️⭐️