The book(s) of life

2025 has been quite a year in my reading life with nearly 120 books completed, so far. I’m sure this is the greatest number of pages I’ve ever consumed in 12 months, a feat only possible because of my recently acquired practice of reading both a print book and audiobook simultaneously.

My reading material has been somewhat varied with memoir, realistic and historical fiction, fantasy, mystery and nonfiction all being represented, along with a handful of graphic novels.*

As I finished my current audiobook, Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, I thought about how much I had loved the story of Nora Seed, a thirty two year-old woman who has taken steps to end the life she finds herself living. Instead of simply dying from her actions, Nora finds herself in a library, one we come to learn is composed entirely of volumes featuring the countless different lives Nora may have chosen for herself.

And, of course, there’s a librarian to guide her through the stacks.

Nora’s regrets, struggles and sorrows are compelling. The sense that a single decision (coffee or tea?) can direct one up, or down, a path that may lead to a completely unexpected destination is a powerful premise and I think it would be impossible to read this book without reflecting on one’s own choices made. With music, sports, science and philosophy all featured, there’s something in this for everyone.

I’m not sure how Floyd McNeil’s Last Ride came to my attention but I’m sure glad it did. We meet the title character, a second generation police officer in Atlanta, shortly after he received dreadful news – he has an inoperable and fatal brain tumor.

Boom.

Floyd’s immediate response to the terrible prognosis is to keep the information to himself, he doesn’t want to involve anyone else. As he considers what the next, limited months ahead might look like, Floyd grows increasingly more convinced that he doesn’t want to burden anyone with his diagnosis.

So, he doesn’t. Initially it’s because he hasn’t yet begun to process his situation, his imminent death and the worries about providing some sort of financial security to his beloved teenaged son when he passes. Floyd’s commitment later in the novel to keeping his health a secret, though, comes from a more practical (and legal) motivation – he doesn’t want to incriminate anyone else in the insurance fraud scheme he has determined he must perpetrate.

See, Floyd is a practical man. He knows his premature death means that his time to earn and save enough money to provide for his child’s future is far too abbreviated. When he learns that the death benefit for a police officer killed in the line of duty far exceeds what the pay out will be from his life insurance policy, Floyd begins to take risks at work like never before. As he seeks a noble (and eventually fiscally positive), death, Officer McNeil inadvertently also becomes a social media star and local hero.

I loved this book with a good cop with a bad hand who simply wanted to care of his community and, most especially, his child. It was sweet and funny and sad and I’m looking forward to seeing the film which is presently in development.

I wonder – who is going to play Lloyd? I think a Matthew McConaughey type would be perfect.

Now, Tart is a completely different story. This anonymously penned memoir, published under the name Slutty Cheff, is the culinary and sexual antics of a chef, primarily in London. A posh girl (did you assume it was a man?) who struggles with anxiety and depression, the narrator shares her experiences of being often the only female in a series of trendy sounding professional kitchens.

The vivid descriptions of all the food and (mostly) men she consumes makes for an entertaining story in a setting that feels somewhat familiar to me. I might not have worked in London, or much in the kitchen at all, but I know restaurants and the descriptions of the banter, the hard work and the post-shift cigarette and drink, all rang true for me.

This book, and Slutty Cheff’s unapologetic passion for the culinary and the carnal, made for a really fun read. I hope to read more of her work.

These three recent reads may not immediately seem related to one another – there’s a fantasy, realistic fiction and a memoir in the mix after all. But, when I consider the thoughts they each prompted for me, they feel deeply connected. Each book features human beings making decisions and then living with the ramifications.

It’s that simple.

Nora, Lloyd and our friend, Slutty, are in different places in a myriad of ways, yet in the most essential way, they’re the same. Each character reflects on choices (and mistakes) made and expresses some regrets. They question if they’ve lived the “right” life. Have they done “enough?” What have they missed?

Hmmm. Interesting, right?

What have you been reading this year?

Have you read any of these?

*Graphic novels comprise more than 60% of the circulations in my middle school library