January Wrap Up 1

So far I've finished 4 books in January.

I've already summarized Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse in my previous post---3 stars.

The one I picked up after that was This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay. This was a nonfiction diary type book of his experience working as a junior doctor (intern/resident) in the NHS system in the UK. Some of the stories were funny, a lot were very gross, and some were quite sad. A lot were focused on how understaffed they were and how he often had to give up his social plans and how this constant overworking led to some problems. However, abruptly, as he has reached the pinnacle and is about to become a senior doctor with a lot more flexibility, he tells a story in which a patient dies. He has a strong emotional reaction and decides he can no longer be a doctor. We knew from the start that he had quit being a doctor but the tonal shift from funny to depressing was very fast. I knew he wrote this book as a call to make changes in the NHS so I felt it is important for people living in the UK to read, but as an American, maybe less so for me. I gave the book 3.5 stars.

I then chose to read Strange Planet by Nathan Pyle. This is a collection of his comics that are told from an alien's perspective about normal everyday things humans do but are put in a comedic light. It was fun and light. I gave it 3 stars.

The last book I read was Me by Elton John. I have been a fan of Elton John's music since I was a teen so I was excited to pick up his autobiography and learn more about him. I want to admit, the beginning was quite slow. There was a lot of name-dropping of industry people I had never heard of and it was pretty boring. I was keeping my DNF-ing goal in mind and considering dropping it but the audiobook was so good I decided to keep going and I'm glad I did. It really started to pick up as he started discussing his drug addiction, his friendships with people I had heard of (like Rod Stewart, John Lennon, and Princess Diana), and his charity startup to help people with HIV/AIDS. He is not entirely likable in this book which I think is something people should know going in, but his story is fascinating and I really enjoyed reading about his life. (So much so that I then went and rented the movie Rocketman which is a musical based somewhat on his life.) I gave the book 4 stars, for being difficult to start.