Intro

Welcome to my quarterly book report! This is a recap of all of the books that I finished reading (note, not started or read, but finished) in the previous quarter (October 1 - December 31). For some background for this first book report, I usually have a couple of books going at a time, with my main 3 categories/times being:

Philosophy or anything that requires effort and thought to comprehend, and requires in depth notes and/or additional research. This is typically reserved for weekends where I have time to dedicate to reading, researching, and thinking about the concepts being presented.
Light reading or things that do not require in depth notes or study. This is reserved for reading before bed as part of my night time routine. I feel I am not able to retain as much information from reading at this time of day, but I still want to read then, so that's why I reserve this time for easier to understand material.
Everything else. . . Anything else that isn't light or extremely complex goes into my 'desk/edc' pile, which is just the book I pickup in free time or when alone for meals. This is the book that is with me while traveling.

Then there is a sort of back up category of:

Things I don't want to read but feel obligated to read, or think that I will benefit from the content but don't enjoy the writing. Currently, these just turn into audio books and replace podcasts while driving or running. I avoid putting classics or books I am seriously interested about in this group.

This last quarter contains a mix from all of those categories, but with a little less volume than usual due to the holidays. Hopefully this gives an idea of the mix of books that can be expected in the future.

Books

I Feel Bad About My Neck - Nora Ephron

This is the book the solidified the idea for me that there is a right time to read a book, and I don't know if it will ever be the right time for me to read this book, well I should say listen to this audiobook. This is one of those books that was on my list, but wasn't excited about so I went for the audio book. Now, why this is the wrong time for the book? I just can't relate to any of the content. And while it is nice to view things from a new perspective, it seems like even her core values are just vastly different from my own.

My first notes when reading this were "I just don't relate to anything she (Nora Ephron) is complaining about, and generally think she presents herself as vain, superficial, in a hurry to do nothing, and consumerist" and I still have that same sentiment now. She lived in the hustle and bustle of a global city of New York, I live in a smaller town; she is (or at the time of writing was) a middle aged woman with children and I am a young man without children; she appreciates appearances and keeping up with beauty and fashion trends and I prefer practicality and functionality.

Now it wasn't all bad, the later parts with her time in journalism and the white house and life in New York were enjoyable and did give me a better glimpse into who she was. Then the humor and energy throughout was nice, and made the less relatable content at least somewhat humorous. The ending with her perspective on life and mortality was also a high point, as it was maybe the one relatable thing we did share. And I enjoyed the insight about the Apthorp building and the personal history around the building, as I was completely unaware of the rent culture of New York.

Overall, I can't recommend this book, at least not to anyone close to my point in life. Maybe the content will be more retable and meaningful as I age, but I am doubtful I will have the urge to re-read this then, especially with a long list of other great works to get through.

The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

Now this book feels like the total opposite in terms of relate-ability and "reading the right book at the right time" when compared to I Feel Bad About My Neck. Ultimately, this is a love story that spans from childhood through marriage and parenthood. Then to relate this to me, I was reading about Henry and Clare's wedding just a few weeks after my own, so I had a bit of personal sentiment bias towards the book.

As for the book itself, I enjoy the way the book was structured and telling the story "out of order". The thing I enjoyed the most is the emotional "vibe" of the book. Everything is slightly tragic, yet hopeful. There feels like there is the constant pressure, or ticking of a clock, that things could go wrong, not quite anxiety, but it was broken up by moments of happiness and success or realization. I guess that is really the emotional draw here, is the feeling of waiting, anticipation, how time is inescapable, how every moment is fleeting, and even more so in Henry's case.

I'm going to ignore time travel related logic from the negatives, because unless a book egregiously and obviously goes against it's own established rules for time travel, there is a degree of "suspension of disbelief" that is expected for time travel. For the real negatives, the seeming lack of choice in their relationship is a bit weird. I get with time travel and making the argument "but they continuously make the decision to choose each other", but it still feels like they're trapped a bit if you think about it, reading it in the moment it doesn't quite feel that way. Then how the relationship works and is formed while Clair is still a child is a little weird. If we assume there is not an omniscient author who knows our full timeline and rules of this world, then Henry's behavior seems fine. At least my recollection now while writing this, I don't see any egregious behavior, but this is a book and someone is writing it, so I am more critical of the idea to write about those scenarios in the first place. So, in canon, fine I guess, IRL, a little weird I suppose.

Overall, I think it is a good book, with tragic characters, an interesting hook, and interesting depictions of a variety of times in a couples life. I would recommend this book to most early adults.

1984 - George Orwell

This was a pre-bed read, but once we got into the torture and psychology of the world, I had to switch times to read it in the day; it was just stressing me out too much to go to sleep afterwards.

The concepts and ideas covered in the book make it a must read for anyone. The book poses questions like "Is it possible to change human nature in a way that removes the desire for freedom, dignity, integrity, or love?", "Is it possible for humans to forget the things that make them human?". Brings up the idea of how the continued preservation of war leads to the deconstruction of democracy, and how an continued arms race only leads to an increase in weapons, divide, and worsening human condition. Then also the ideas of pragmatism and philosophical idealism. Is perception reality? And if perception can be completely controlled, then so can reality, and so power then comes with with ability to control perception, and thus reality. There is also symbolism for the dehumanization of humankind, where machines are made to be more like humans and humans more like machines.

This book, or at least when it was described to me, is said to be about Stalinism or communism, but those people were mistaken. It really is about industrialism and humanity as a whole. While certainly inspired by the ideas of that time, it's concepts and warnings extend past just Stalinism.

Overall, this is a must read. Possibly for anyone teens or young adults and older? I think teens would mostly understand the concepts here, but I feel like some things would be lost without some time as an adult to directly relate to. Anyway, just read it if you haven't yet.

My Sisters Keeper - Jodi Picoult

A generally good, but predictable, book about family. The book is mostly asides about each of the characters and their lives/trauma/past. The characters all feel one note and are just tropes. There really isn't any character development, except maybe you could argue for Anna, but really it's more a character *reveal* than growth, or possibly Campbell.

Overall, I think this should have just been a short story. The reveal/climax is not that surprising or deep, and doesn't really challenge the reader. OH AND THE ENDING! I despise this ending. It's the equivalent of just writing "and then they all died. The End". The car crash is so unnecessary, and contributes nothing to the meaning or purpose of the book. It really just feels like a cop-out. It is such lazy writing, and just thinking about it is making me mad again.

A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J. Maas

Sorry dear readers, but you missed book one of the series. If you really want I can make a review xd. Anyway, I think this series gets more flack than it deserves (what is societies issue with women and romance that warrants such vitriol?). I don't think the reception of this series is as bad as say Twilight, but it is still present. You could make an argument about the writing for the more intimate scenes being awkward or unsophisticated, but that usually isn't the argument that is presented when I see critical receptions of the series, and doesn't warrant such disdain either.

Cultural rant aside, this series is my introduction into the "romantacy" genre and I think it does it pretty well. This book is much more interesting than its prequel. The writing style is the same as far as I noticed. We get so much more of the world and of the characters, which really is Maas's strong suit I think, the characters. There are so many different threads for each character and it is interesting to see how they all weave together.

The mating thing is a bit cringe, the wings allegory is a bit cringe.

Overall, I think this is a fine book, and good continuation of the series. I would recommend most early adults and up to read this series, especially if they have not read anything already in this genre.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

I don't think you really need a review for this one.

This is really just a comfort read for me. I think I slept better the nights I was reading this because I was less mentally stimulated after reading. I watched the movies, but never read the books, so I'm going back to see the differences and also really try to learn from the writing style. It's interesting to me to see how authors are able to write for the YA audience, making concepts still interesting and descriptive without using too complex of vocabulary or grammar that makes the reading inaccessible.

Current Books

Here are the books that I have finished this quarter already, have in progress, or expect to finish by the end of the quarter:

Guaranteed

A Court of Frost and Starlight - Sarah J. Maas
Coming Up Short - Robert B. Reich

In Progress

The Western Wind - Samantha Harvey
The Birth of Tragedy - Friedrich Neitzsche
A Court of Silver Flame - Sarah J. Maas
What We Owe to Each Other - T.M. Scanlon (This thing is a beast, I'll be lucky to get through it this year. . .)

Q1 2026 Book Report