Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading: Four books this week, with varying degrees of enjoyment. I read John by Cynthia Lennon, The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, and Contamination Zero by TW Piperbrook. Reviews below.
I also had my third DNF of the year, Pemberley: Mr. Darcy's Dragon by Maria Grace. If you're going to add dragons to anything it should be fun and whimsical and joyous (or dark and brooding and apocalyptic.) This was just boring. 50% in and literally nothing had happened.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I just started Marsha by Tourmaline, about the life of trans activist Marsha P. Johnson.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: It'll probably be whatever is picked for me at Give Me Five, but if there's a delay there I will probably go with Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond next.
30. John by Cynthia Lennon
After the sanitized version of her life published in the ‘70s, Twist of Lennon, John’s first wife finally comes clean about the truth behind their decade long relationship.
Though this memoir came out in 2005 this was the first I’d picked it up, and I was happy to discover that Cynthia was more honest this go-round in talking about her life with John Lennon. I did recognize many of the ‘60s era stories from Twist of Lennon. And while John was well-written, I also found it soooooo incredibly frustrating to read. The issues with exposing the warts and all to the relationship is the knowledge that she did nothing to protect herself and her son while it was happening, and the frustration comes in from seeing her, 37 years after their divorce, 25 years after his death, STILL DEFENDING HIS ACTIONS.
The man physically (once) and mentally/emotionally (regularly) abused her and she comes up with justification after justification. His behaviour left her walking on eggshells to appease him and traumatized their son, but she always has an excuse for it. And I get the issues of being an abused wife *at the time* and the way it can psychologically damage you, but I’d truly hoped that with distance she’d be able to see that she was not the one at fault, that there is only so much one can blame on childhood trauma, and that she deserved better.
Dates Read: March 03 to 05, 2026
Page Count: 322
4 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 27 - non fiction (30/52)
+ Lost Challenges Countdown - Prompt 3 - read 3 books with one-word titles (02/03 - 30/55 total)
31. The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
The last house is occupied by a troubled man, a beloved cat, and sometimes the man’s daughter. Years before the man was a suspect in the disappearance of a little girl at the lakeside. How they are connected is the basis for this absolutely phenomenal story.
I couldn’t put this one down. And sadly I can’t tell you anything about it because one iota of information would spoil the whole thing. I will only say this: the story has layers upon layers, and you must stick with it to peel them back and get to the truth.
It’s a story of strength and survival. I’m kind of in awe of the mind that came up with it.
Dates Read: March 06 to 07, 2026
Page Count: 342
5 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 18 - location in title
+ Lost Challenges Countdown - Prompt 2 - read 2 books with a title of 5 or more words (02/02 - 31/55 total)
32. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Three women take their destiny in their own hands in a land beset by endless winter and a capricious tsar.
Miryem is a moneylender’s daughter who proves adept at the job; Wanda is an abused child; and Irina is the plain daughter of a duke. None have good prospects in the world, and all three work to wrest control from the men who would decide their fate. A mix of feminism/woman power, the medieval world and the fantasy land of the fae, I wanted to absolutely love this. Unfortunately, I found it a little… boring.
The writing style is just emotionless. I don’t really know how the characters *felt* at all. And
Miryem and Irina are both too good. Because they always know the right thing to say or the correct action to take, they read as Mary Sue’s. I fail to see why they would want anything whatsoever to do in their “love interests”.
Only Wanda and her family kept my attention. I loved watching her and her brothers grow and shine.
Dates Read: March 08 to 10, 2026
Page Count: 465
3 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 42 - set in an isolated location (32/52)
+ Lost Challenges Countdown - Prompt 6 - read 6 books published in 2023 or before (01/06 - 32/55 total)
33. Contamination Zero by TW Piperbrook
The zombie apocalypse starts in small town Arizona.
This is the first of a series of short novels. This one clocks in at only 92 pages, so it jumps straight into the action with our first victim who quickly multiplies into dozens more. Family man cop Dan is desperately searching for his daughter, while his coworker is up to no good.
There’s a little intrigue to set this one a bit apart from other zombie novels, but other than that it’s your pretty basic story, with plenty of intestine pulling, spewing bodily fluids, and head-shots. The brevity means that it’s almost all action but that was fine by me. Dan was okay and I’m happy to stick around and see where the story goes from here.
Date Read: March 10, 2026
Page Count: 92
4 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Days - Prompt 26 - Z in title or author name (33/52)
+ Lost Challenges Countdown - Prompt 10 - read 10 books from any series (05/10 - 33/55 total)
.
I also had my third DNF of the year, Pemberley: Mr. Darcy's Dragon by Maria Grace. If you're going to add dragons to anything it should be fun and whimsical and joyous (or dark and brooding and apocalyptic.) This was just boring. 50% in and literally nothing had happened.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I just started Marsha by Tourmaline, about the life of trans activist Marsha P. Johnson.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: It'll probably be whatever is picked for me at Give Me Five, but if there's a delay there I will probably go with Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond next.
30. John by Cynthia Lennon
After the sanitized version of her life published in the ‘70s, Twist of Lennon, John’s first wife finally comes clean about the truth behind their decade long relationship.
Though this memoir came out in 2005 this was the first I’d picked it up, and I was happy to discover that Cynthia was more honest this go-round in talking about her life with John Lennon. I did recognize many of the ‘60s era stories from Twist of Lennon. And while John was well-written, I also found it soooooo incredibly frustrating to read. The issues with exposing the warts and all to the relationship is the knowledge that she did nothing to protect herself and her son while it was happening, and the frustration comes in from seeing her, 37 years after their divorce, 25 years after his death, STILL DEFENDING HIS ACTIONS.
The man physically (once) and mentally/emotionally (regularly) abused her and she comes up with justification after justification. His behaviour left her walking on eggshells to appease him and traumatized their son, but she always has an excuse for it. And I get the issues of being an abused wife *at the time* and the way it can psychologically damage you, but I’d truly hoped that with distance she’d be able to see that she was not the one at fault, that there is only so much one can blame on childhood trauma, and that she deserved better.
Dates Read: March 03 to 05, 2026
Page Count: 322
4 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 27 - non fiction (30/52)
+ Lost Challenges Countdown - Prompt 3 - read 3 books with one-word titles (02/03 - 30/55 total)
31. The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
The last house is occupied by a troubled man, a beloved cat, and sometimes the man’s daughter. Years before the man was a suspect in the disappearance of a little girl at the lakeside. How they are connected is the basis for this absolutely phenomenal story.
I couldn’t put this one down. And sadly I can’t tell you anything about it because one iota of information would spoil the whole thing. I will only say this: the story has layers upon layers, and you must stick with it to peel them back and get to the truth.
It’s a story of strength and survival. I’m kind of in awe of the mind that came up with it.
Dates Read: March 06 to 07, 2026
Page Count: 342
5 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 18 - location in title
+ Lost Challenges Countdown - Prompt 2 - read 2 books with a title of 5 or more words (02/02 - 31/55 total)
32. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Three women take their destiny in their own hands in a land beset by endless winter and a capricious tsar.
Miryem is a moneylender’s daughter who proves adept at the job; Wanda is an abused child; and Irina is the plain daughter of a duke. None have good prospects in the world, and all three work to wrest control from the men who would decide their fate. A mix of feminism/woman power, the medieval world and the fantasy land of the fae, I wanted to absolutely love this. Unfortunately, I found it a little… boring.
The writing style is just emotionless. I don’t really know how the characters *felt* at all. And
Miryem and Irina are both too good. Because they always know the right thing to say or the correct action to take, they read as Mary Sue’s. I fail to see why they would want anything whatsoever to do in their “love interests”.
Only Wanda and her family kept my attention. I loved watching her and her brothers grow and shine.
Dates Read: March 08 to 10, 2026
Page Count: 465
3 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 42 - set in an isolated location (32/52)
+ Lost Challenges Countdown - Prompt 6 - read 6 books published in 2023 or before (01/06 - 32/55 total)
33. Contamination Zero by TW Piperbrook
The zombie apocalypse starts in small town Arizona.
This is the first of a series of short novels. This one clocks in at only 92 pages, so it jumps straight into the action with our first victim who quickly multiplies into dozens more. Family man cop Dan is desperately searching for his daughter, while his coworker is up to no good.
There’s a little intrigue to set this one a bit apart from other zombie novels, but other than that it’s your pretty basic story, with plenty of intestine pulling, spewing bodily fluids, and head-shots. The brevity means that it’s almost all action but that was fine by me. Dan was okay and I’m happy to stick around and see where the story goes from here.
Date Read: March 10, 2026
Page Count: 92
4 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Days - Prompt 26 - Z in title or author name (33/52)
+ Lost Challenges Countdown - Prompt 10 - read 10 books from any series (05/10 - 33/55 total)
.