Karl's Reading List

This is the first time I have done a 'yearly' top 5 (although I did a ' Top 5 Top 5s ' previously, after my 5th book list), but it seems to fit with the year ending in a 5. Anyway, this is entirely subjective, and is an indication of where I currently sit in regards to these books. The list might even be different if I was asked on a different day. The following are not reviews of these books per se, but each one has been reviewed, and that review can be found by clicking on the title of the book in question. Also, these are ranked in the order that I read them, rather than specifically 1-5 or 5-1. That would take a while longer to sort out! The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. I will give this one the award for 'Best Audiobook of the Year' and 'Best Whodunnit of the Year'. I listened to this over the Summer holidays last year, and enjoyed it enough that I listened to the rest of the series in the same year. Twisty, humorous, a bit unpredictable (a...

Published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited: Gosford, NSW, 2025. Subtitled A Hunger Games Novel, Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel to the main series - the second Suzanne Collins has written in recent years, actually. I have yet to read The Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds, which tells the story of a young President Snow, but I spotted this one - telling the story of a young Haymitch - at the library, and got it on a whim. Fans of the original Hunger Games series, particularly the first book , will remember that Haymitch was introduced as a perpetually drunk, cynical, checked-out past winner of the Hunger Games, who doesn't see any point in training Katniss or Peeta because they are not going to win anyway! Throughout the book - and the series as a whole - we see him regain his spark of life, and eventually become a true protagonist, working to bring about the downfall of the corrupt Capitol and its evil President. And of course, if you are looking for a subject to write a spin-o...