November

03 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital (2001) Lemony Snicket

12 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Carnivorous Carnival (2002) Lemony Snicket

17 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Slippery Slope (2003) Lemony Snicket

26 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Grim Grotto (2004) Lemony Snicket

December

04 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Penultimate Peril (2005) Lemony Snicket

14 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The End (2006) Lemony Snicket

27 The Devil in the White City (2003) Erik Larson

I am currently reading A Clockwork Orange and suspect I may be able to finish that before the end of the year as well.

In total, I read 41 books (Maybe 42 if I finish A Clockwork Orange). The shortest read was Animal Farm which I read in one day and the longest is A Series of Unfortunate events which spanned nearly 4 months. I had started a job and wasn't able to read much so I chose a children's series I hadn't had a chance to finish when I was a kid but I didn't think it would take me so long.

I certainly learned a lot about what I enjoy, what writers I like and discovered books and genres and I hadn't tried before. I discovered that Glen Duncan's style is insufferable to me and horribly pretentious and took a concept I thought I would enjoy and absolutely ruined it. Any idea that can be expressed in 5 words, Duncan will write in 5 pages while browsing a thesaurus to make sure he found the most obscure, difficult way of expressing his thoughts. I, Lucifer was definitely the worst book of the lot.

Choosing a favorite is a lot more difficult. I loved both books by Scott Smith. I was a fan of both movies but hadn't seen them in a while so I figured I should read the books. The tension and dread was palpable and just fun to read. Watching the movies immediately after also added to the enjoyment because interestingly, Scott Smith wrote the screenplays for both films. What was hugely entertaining though, is that Smith changes the sequence of events and what characters do, and the endings. Overall, it's almost as if he treated the films as an opportunity to do a whole new story with the general framework of the books. It's really interesting to see characters that die in one form live in another and do things other characters did. Definitely one of the more memorable experiences of the year and I highly recommend it.

I loved Slaughterhouse Five. Genuinely hilarious while intelligent and I am now a huge Kurt Vonnegut fan and plan to read his other works soon. I enjoyed Cat's Cradle as well but Slaughterhouse was more deep in it's mixing of the horrors of war, time shifting and general sci-fi.

I enjoyed And Then There Were None. I wasn't expecting so much style from such an old book even though I know how well regarded Agatha Christie is. Her writing plays out like a film in my mind and she genuinely caught me off guard with her twists and turns. I appreciate the film quality though I had to keep a sticky note keeping track of all the characters due to my memory being what it is. My memory has improved since reading and I actually stopped looking at the note halfway through the book but it did help early on.

The Picture of Dorian Gray was incredibly well written, particularly everything that came out of Lord Henry's mouth but I felt the book dragged a bit when the focus shifted away from him. The book picked up again during the end so overall I greatly enjoyed it.

The Catcher in the Rye is another book I greatly enjoyed. People seem to not like the book due to their frustrations with Holden but I found him to be a very real, confused, and hypocritical character but that's why I enjoyed it. Reading about a character that is clearly suffering emotionally and finds the world around him so confusing and frustrating was incredibly insightful. I don't judge my protagonists, only attempt to understand them and Holden is a very interesting character in that regard.

The Martian was a ton of fun and something I see myself reading again and again. Ready Player One was a bit frustrating in its desperate need to reference as many things as possible and the overall story was a bit generic but I did still enjoy the book. Armada however, lacked what little charm Ready Player One had and was a frustrating read, being almost identical to Ready Player One and yet completely devoid of anything of interest.

For the rest, I enjoyed everything by Alex Garland, from his screenplays to his directorial work and now his books as well. Great writer and quick reads. I loved the travel nature of his first two books. I was surprised that the HG Wells book I most enjoyed was The Island of Dr. Moreau. A Series of Unfortunate Events was deeply unsatisfying in it's conclusion and although I enjoyed "Snicket's" style, I can't help feeling that the books began as one thing and ended up another. Almost as though he was so desperately trying to tie together strings that clearly weren't intended to be tied up when first written. Plus many things are introduced that are never given any closure. Not a bad series, but certainly disappointing.

Lastly, there's The Devil in the White City. I haven't read much non-fiction because it's so hard to find what is good (there are certain historical figures, such as Houdini or the Zodiac Killer that I would love to read about but there doesn't seem to be any one great book about them) but this book was phenomenal. I got the book being interested in HH Holmes and finished it a lot more interested in the World's Fair. Absolutely fascinating and riveting the whole way through. I intend to read a lot more non-fiction assuming I can find others as well regarded as this is.

Overall, I had a great experience with this experiment to read and intend to keep it up for the next year as well. I apologize for the sheer length of this post but I wanted to share my opinions and hopefully hear the thoughts of all the people here on this sub.