April 2024 Reading Endeavors

How were your April book endeavors? Mine reached opposite ends of the spectrum. I attempted five. I finished three and had two unfortunate “DNF’s.” Those suck. Especially when they’re books you’ve had your eye on for some time, and once you finally find them and get the chance to read them, you kind of hate everything for a minute or few.

I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to keep doing these monthly book recaps. I used to do them all the time, then took them down. It’s content I guess. Overall, April started strong and ended strong. It’s what fell in between I could do without, and that’s where the disappointment sits. I started with a book on my “List of 10” books for 2024. One of the “DNF” entries came from the unofficial list, the list of books from years past I never got around to reading. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel, was a hit. A true selection for the revered and respected fourth shelf. Got to watch two film versions, one being an all-time, top-rated, top-shelf favorite. The other, a remake, not so much. After listening to Ralph Steadman’s autobiography, I was on a Hunter Thompson kick, and with 2024 being an election year, found Thompson wrote a book covering the 1992 election, Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie. The narrator sucked, and the book isn’t any better. Like a lot of later Thompson books, and the man himself, it’s tired and lazy, and a caricature of what once was so many years ago.

To follow that up with two “DNF’s” wasn’t the best of endeavors. Silver: My Own Tale as Written by Me with a Goodly Amount of Murder, a piece of Treasure Island “fan fiction” turned into a novel was a poor excuse for a novel and for writing. I turned to Black Sails, and as of this writing, I’m not sure what to make of the series. The other “DNF?” From the unofficial list comes renowned Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh’s The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation isn’t a book to listen to, or enjoy for entertainment like many of his other works. This is a college textbook about Buddhism. A book for study, and audio books aren’t the best for that type of thing.

At least the month ended on a high note with another selection for the revered and respected fourth shelf. R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez’s combined The Death of WCW: 10^{^th} Anniversary Edition. Alvarez narrates and does a wonderful job. The original appeared in 2004, but the 2014 edition gets revised and expanded. A must for all pro wrestling fans.