In November 2019, I wrote about reaching 300 books read on Goodreads since 2014. This past Monday, when I finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, I reached 350 (or a little more, considering a few books were collections of books, such as The Lord of the Rings – a reread). Instead of breaking down the numbers like that 2019 post, I thought this time I’d highlight my top 10 of the 350, out of the 50 that I rated five stars.
The only order I’m putting them in is alphabetical order by title:
- All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
- All of Us: The Collected Poems by Raymond Carver
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells
- Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Leaves of Grass: The Deathbed Edition by Walt Whitman
- Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- The River Why by David James Duncan
- Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
Two of them, All Creatures Great and Small and All Systems Red, are the beginnings of series; another two, poetry; and five, nonfiction. That wasn’t by design to be split into fiction and nonfiction, but it is nice how it worked out that way. Naturally, I highly recommend all of them, but the one that I think is a must-read is Being Mortal – because, well, we all are mortal (unless there’s something I don’t know about you).
Last week, beyond Project Hail Mary, I mentioned books I might read. Out of those, the next one I’m reading is Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo by Jo Koy. I plan on finishing that either tonight or tomorrow. Kim and I are still listening to the podcast Aack Cast by Jamie Loftus about “Cathy, the iconic and much-maligned comic strip by Cathy Guisewite,” in which Jamie Loftus “weaves between reporting and fiction, putting a cruelly treated cartoon everywoman in context.” I’m still making my way through the final two seasons of Criminal Minds.
And finally, tomorrow afternoon I’m going to a virtual concert with Bob Dylan. Tying in with the mention of Whitman earlier, I’ll leave you with this from Dylan from last year’s phenomenal album Rough and Rowdy Ways:
Still an unfinished person... 
One of the books that I remember most and recommend to the most people is Being Mortal. It’s probably the age we are with aging parents, but it really spoke to me.
LikeLike
I think it’s because it applies to all of us, where we are heading…
LikeLike
Great list! I just discovered Martha Wells and read all the Murderbot series this summer. SOOOOO good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a great list, Bryan! Being Mortal, Between the World and Me, and Travels with Charley were all 5-star reads for me, too. I finally read Elizabeth Acevedo earlier this year and will definitely try The Poet X soon.
LikeLike
The Poet X is especially good on audio. I highly recommend listening to the author narrate.
LikeLike
Great list! I read Travels With Charley and Between the World and Me but I guess they are some of the books I forgot to review. So that means a re-read of them, and hopefully I won’t forget the reviews this time. 🙂
I hope you have a great week!
LikeLike
Both are worth revisiting — and reviewing.
LikeLike
That list has very interesting variety! I’m tempted by several of them. I’ve read quite a few articles by Coates and Gawanda, but not the books.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
LikeLike
Where have you read the articles? I’d be interested in reading them too.
LikeLike
Lists are my favorite sort of posts. Especially lists of books. And especially, especially lists of good books.
I’ve read three on your list.
*All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot ☆☆☆☆☆
*Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande ☆☆☆☆☆
*Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck ☆☆☆☆
All of Us: The Collected Poems by Raymond Carver
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Leaves of Grass: The Deathbed Edition by Walt Whitman
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The River Why by David James Duncan
I am very interested in reading the other seven. I’m especially interested in Poet X and Meditations.
LikeLike
The Poet X is especially good on audio as read by the author.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Completely agree that everyone should read Being Mortal. Same for the Ta-Nahisi Coates. I hadn’t heard of the Cathy podcast but being a fan of the strip back in the day, may need to check it out. Enjoy Dylan (love that song).
LikeLike
I also enjoyed a lot Travels with Charley!
LikeLike
I finished Project Hail Mary last weekend and it was quite good. I think you’ll enjoy it.
LikeLike
Oh, and I misread that. Hahahahahaha! You already read it. I’ve been writing papers all weekend. My brain is mush.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Was wondering. Only saw your first comment, but yes, I read and I loved it. One of the best books I’ve read in a while.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Been wondering how you are doing too. So how are you?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll definitely send you an email tomorrow. I’m well. But lots to catch up on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Look forward to hearing from you. I’ll fill you in on things here too…mostly more of the same, slowly opening up and improving like the rest of the country.
LikeLiked by 1 person