Category: Top 100

Favorite Book – The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

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Before I add books to my Top 100 I do a reread, or in this case a re-listen last year, to make sure they still belong on the list. As I read the review I originally posted in 2015 I still agree with everything I said. but the most compelling part is what I didn’t say. I didn’t spoil Hanna’s big secret. But Hanna’s big secret is the thing that turns the story into something worth reading, contemplating, and discussing. I think the emphasis on the relationship between a 15 year old boy and a 30 year old woman is obviously worth debating, but it isn’t what makes this story stick.

So much story in 200 pages. It’s translated from German so it may not feel the most poetic, but it packs a punch. I’m drawn to books that can say much with few words. I recommend the audio book and the movie.

From my 2025 review

The Reader by Bernard Schlink

Unabridged audio read by Campbell Scott. 4 hours, 30 minutes

Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany.
When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover–then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder.

from Goodreads

I watched the movie made from this book in 2009 when it came out because I love Kate Winslet and I ended up being very moved by it.  And it was with those images in my mind that I listened to the book expertly narrated by Campbell Scott. He became the young and then the adult Michael for me.  Between the movie and Campbell’s narration there was a warmth and richness to this story that I don’t know if I would have found in reading the book alone.  At just over 200 pages it tackled a lot and much of it had to be personally considered by the reader.  What I’m saying is that I can vouch for the audio, but I don’t know it I would have loved it as much if I had read the book alone.

The first part is the love? story between the 15 year old Michael and the 30 something old Hanna.  I didn’t ever truly figure out the why of it on her end, but it’s an easier sell for a 15-year-old boy to be captivated by a woman who teaches him all about sex .  I found it realistic especially since as he started to spend more time with his peers he began to question Hanna’s place among them.

Flash forward a few years and Michael is at university studying law and his class is studying a trial of women accused of Nazi crimes and he sees Hanna for the first time since he was 15.  She was a guard for one of the concentration camps and now must face her day in court.  Michael is riveted and doesn’t miss a day.

I loved this for how much it manages to pack into such a short book.  There was the strange physical relationship between the two, but then it moved into things more thought-provoking, horrifying and sad.  It’s a great book for discussion and those who are interested in post-war Germany.  Not a happy book, but one that left me satisfied and enriched.

My Top 100 Fiction list

Favorite Series – Lincoln Lawyer/Mickey Haller by Michael Connelly

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These books about defense attorney Michael Haller set in Los Angeles are part of the bigger Harry Bosch series. I’ve watched the Bosch series on Amazon, but haven’t read the books. I I’ve also watched the Lincoln Lawyer series on Netflix. I’ve loved both of them. There are only 7 books of the Lincoln Lawyer so far and I thought I’d start there. Once I started I couldn’t stop!

This series is addicting if you like courtroom drama. The writing is good and the plotting is stellar. There are twists that you don’t see coming. Mickey Haller flies high in some books and lands low in others, but always manages to land on his feet and right the wrongs that happen in the justice system. I’m cheering him on because he has that bleeding heart, albeit one that needs to pay the bills. I flew through these in a few months time.

That being said, they are part of the larger series, so you aren’t privy to the happenings of those books or the years that went by. In some of the books quite a bit of time had passed and you just had to pick up where it was and know your questions might not be answered.

And the Netflix series, while drawing some storylines from the book, really doesn’t follow it closely. Some of the side characters are considerably different too. I enjoy both print and screen versions so that’s okay.

Considering how much I loved these I probably will start the Bosch series soon and this might get wrapped up in that series. Time will tell.

I think all but the first have been 5 star reads for me.

Lincoln Lawyer #1, Harry Bosch Universe #16

Lincoln Lawyer #2, Harry Bosch Universe #19

Lincoln Lawyer #3, Harry Bosch Universe #22

Lincoln Lawyer #4, Harry Bosch Universe #23

Lincoln Lawyer #5, Harry Bosch Universe #26

Lincoln Lawyer #6, Harry Bosch Universe #35

Lincoln Lawyer #7, Harry Bosch Universe #38

Other series on my Top 100 list.

A favorite series – Chaos Waking Trilogy by Patrick Ness

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This YA dystopian trilogy is not one that I’d consider in my wheelhouse, but sometimes when you open yourself up to something new, great things happen. This is what I said about the books when I read them…

When I started reading this one I hated it.  I disliked Todd and I didn’t understand why some of it was written phonetically.  By the end I still had the phonetic question, but Todd turned into a character that I loved.  Todd is being raised by two dads in Prentisstown, a town in the New World made up only of men, when he is forced to flee for reasons he doesn’t understand.  He is the last boy in town.  As he escapes he finds what he thinks is a girl, but doesn’t understand how this can be since all of the women were killed by the Spackle in the war.  And he is accompanied by his faithful dog Manchee whose thoughts you can also hear.

The unlikely threesome run for their lives and the chase takes them to new towns with facts long hidden from Todd and astonishing to the girl, Viola.  The men and women they encounter change their view of the world and shed light on the inclinations of people that is truly alive and well today.  Manchee, my favorite character, is all things a good dog is, loyal, clever, and loving.

This may not sound like it’s in your wheelhouse and I get that.  I remember reading all of the rave reviews when this came out 12 years ago, but didn’t think it sounded like something I’d be interested in.  I was wrong.  I got sucked in and the book kept it’s hooks in me the entire time.  

The appeal of the first book of the series lay in large part with the relationship between Todd and Viola as they learn to trust each other to stay alive.  This book has them separated most of the book, so it’s the hope they’re holding on to and the trust that they have in each other that sell the story.

Todd is being kept captive, watched, and groomed by the man he’d spent all of the first book trying to escape.  He also is being partnered with Davey Prentiss, the same Davey who has been trying to kill him.  Viola is put in a hospital for and run by women and when she recovers must figure out what is going on in the town and how she can reach Todd.  The two end up on opposite sides.

I loved continuing the journey of these two teens and hope that the next book brings them the happy ending they deserve, but I’m skeptical.  Way too many of the bad guys seem to survive and desperate times call for desperate allies, so it’s hard to say what lines will be drawn and crossed in the finale.  I look forward to finding out!

This last book brings the same fight for good, with Todd and Viola doing much of it apart. Todd is with the Mayor who grows more powerful every day. Viola is with the women healers who are fighting the Mayor for control. A scout ship from earth brings reinforcement and weapons, but on a small scale. The Spackle get their own, prominent storyline so that we can see what gifts they can bring to the peace process. There is a lot going on.

And I was rivetted for all of it. There was a ‘resurrection’ and a rebirth and the end was not what I expected, it was better. I loved the short story that ended the series and how it added to and closed the trilogy.

Who should read it? Dystopian/Sci-Fi lovers, YA readers, and those who want to immerse themselves in 1724 pages of top notch storytelling.