Half a dozen books in after the first quarter of the year. My reading always picks up when the weather is nicer, so I feel like last year’s total of 31 is in reach.

Here are the four I have read most recently:

Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization by Edward Slingerland: I am not sure where I saw this, but I put it on my list for the Yule Book Flood that my wife, my daughter and I do each Christmas. This was a pretty deep dive into the history of alcohol from an alcohol-positive perspective. He did spend the final chapter going over all the negatives, but I really appreciated the historical insights into the benefits of a drink or two. He had a pretty good sense of humor about things and added some COVID context, which I appreciated.

The Bright Side of Going Dark by Kelly Harms: I had read one of her books in 2019 and thought I would give this a try. I didn’t hate it, but I enjoyed the other book more. This tale of a social media influencer who goes off the grid and the social media employee who secretly takes over the influencer’s account had some very serious topics going through it – sibling death, suicide attempts, and difficulty connecting with parents. But the heavy-handed examination of how social media influences our lives just didn’t work for me, especially when one of the critical moments was obvious from a mile away.

Too Much Too Late by Marc Spitz: An inside tale of a fictional rock band is one of my weak spots. Marc Spitz delivered in this one about a band that hits it big years after they broke up. Their attempts to embrace stardom on the back end of their career end up a hilarious (and sad) disaster. I was saddened to learn that Spitz died several years ago because I enjoyed both of his rock fiction books.

The Humans by Matt Haig: Having been blown away by How to Stop Time and The Midnight Library, I wanted to jump into some of Haig’s other work. This 2014 novel tells the story of an alien sent to Earth in order to assume the identity of a mathematician who found the key to advanced civilizations. Initially repulsed by everything on Earth, he comes to embrace our unusual ways, much to the dismay of his overseers. You can see the nuggets of wisdom in this book that make the other two books I mention so compelling. I highly recommend this if you have liked Haig’s other works.