I might make it to 52 this year!
50. 2am At the Cats Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino – 24 hours in Philadelphia as a group of characters lives intertwine, sometimes in big ways, sometimes small. They all converge at a jazz club who is struggling to survive. Cute story, quick read.
51. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin – this book was on a ton of “to read” lists. It was fine. I liked it. But I expect books on must read lists to be mind blowing, and it wasn’t. The story follows 4 siblings after they visit a gypsy who tells them when they will die, and who was accurate. It’s interesting enough but I wouldn’t tell everyone on earth that they need to read it.
52!!! The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King by Michael Craig – a non fiction poker book about the biggest stakes game(s) in the world. Between a group of Vegas poker pros and a Texas banker. The story is good, but the book is repetitive in it’s telling. It could have been half as long and still told the story well. But alas. You get little bios of all the pros, and Andy Beal the banker, and a good deal of talk of all their matches. A poker game is a poker game is a poker game, and they didn’t aaallll need to be discussed haha.
53. The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce – If you like music you’ll like this book. A very cute story beginning in the 80s, about a man who owns a record store and is able to always find the music a customer needs at that moment. Romantic without really being a romance, and great reverence for music and what it gives you if you really listen.
I’m still in the midst of HP5 and started a new one but I’m unlikely to finish either in the next 5 days. 53 though, a new record! I think I need to also start a list of books I want to read and the reason why, so I can remember when I’ve completed a book and was left wondering what interested me in it in the first place.