ChatGPT had a look at the books I’ve read in August. This is what she said:

You’ve had a pretty strong reading month, with a clear preference for literary fiction, psychological/crime stories, and memoirs — and a few books that you really did not enjoy.

⭐ Overall

You read 16 books, including 4 nonfiction. Your verdicts skew strongly positive: several highly recommended/fabulous/magnificent reads, a handful of decent books, and only a few outright failures.

The pattern in your reactions is interesting: you seem to value a strong story and distinctive characters, particularly when there’s psychological tension, strangeness, or a compelling real-life voice. You have considerably less patience for meandering, plotless writing — and My Bags Are Big appears to have committed the cardinal sin of doing precisely that.

Book of the month: Gaining Ground
Nonfiction of the month: Careless People
Best thriller: Blood Orange
Biggest surprise/quirkiest choice: School for Patriots
One to forget: My Bags Are Big 😄

📚 Your month in books

Standouts

• Gaining Ground – Joan Barfoot — Your clear fiction favourite: “magnificent” and highly recommended.
• 501 Minutes to Christ – Poe Ballantine — A fabulous, grim collection of tales about an American drifter.
• Careless People – Sarah Wynn-Williams — Your standout nonfiction read; fascinating enough to earn a strong recommendation.
• Blood Orange – Harriet Tyce — A gripping psychological thriller featuring deeply dishonest lawyers.
• The Dark Road to Mercy – Wiley Cash — A fast-moving, dangerous kidnapping/chase story that really worked for you.

Good, but with reservations

• The World is a Wedding – Wendy Jones — A delightful continuation of Wilfred the undertaker’s story, set in 1920s Wales.
• The Odd Woman and the City – Vivian Gornick — An interesting, pleasant memoir built around life and conversations in New York.
• The Drunkard’s Walk – Leonard Mlodinow — Interesting exploration of randomness and probability, though sometimes beyond your comfort zone.
• School for Patriots – Martin Kohan — Strange, addictive and highly recommended “for some.”
• The Rest of Our Lives – Ben Markovits — Decent, but you felt you should have enjoyed it more.
• Liar – Ayelet Gundar-Goshen — An increasingly complicated web of lies that was OK, although the ending disappointed.
• Confessions of an Ivy League Bookie – Peter Alson — Short and perfectly acceptable.

The disappointments

• Malachy and His Family – Carlo Gébler — You found the whole thing tiresome.
• Antarctica – Claire Keegan — A few good stories, but short stories generally aren’t your thing.
• Dead West – Matt Goldman — Slow and tiresome, although ultimately OK.
• My Bags Are Big – Tibor Fischer — The month’s unequivocal disaster: plotless, meandering, expensive and hated.