July 2025 Books

You Like It Darker ¹ by Stephen King - This collection of short stories and novellas was really good, although I do admit to skipping a few that were too dark or just didn't grab me. These are the ones I listened to:

* The Fifth Step

** Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream

* On Slide Inn Road

Red Screen

The Turbulence Expert

* Laurie

Rattlesnakes

The Dreamers

♥ The Answer Man

(Didn't Read: Two Talented Bastids, Willie the Weirdo, and Finn)

♥ High Road to China by Jon Cleary

If It Bleeds ¹ by Stephen King - Another collection of good stories, but I couldn't get into the main novella (If It Bleeds), so I skipped it.

♥ Mr. Harrigan's Phone

* The Life of Chuck

* Rat

* State of Terror ¹ by Hillary Rodham Clinton & Louise Penny - I saw a hardcover copy of this at the Little Free Library in Bryn Mawr and picked it up for Mum. She tore through it in a few days and then passed it along to a friend who also couldn't put it down. I scored an audiobook version from the library and also finished it over a few days. Joan Allen, an actress I like, narrates, but left a lot to be desired, sadly. She basically just read it. Professional narrators tend to use accents and voices and pours life into each character. I longed for it to have been read by Davina Porter, who managed to take dozens and dozens of Scottish Highland men and create individual voices for them over the nine Outlander books. All that aside, Joan did an okay job and I imagined her as the main character, Secretary of State, Ellen Adams. It was well written and fun to listen to while putting together my Pride & Prejudice puzzle.

¹ - audiobook
² - abridged version
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.