Better late than never, here are the books I finished reading in January.
John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Wife This was the Guardian selection for November. It was written with the morals of 1967 but set in the Victorian era, making for a very interesting love story. I didn’t find the love story itself very engaging, but the juxtaposition of the two time periods was fascinating having read as much literature as I have from both periods. So I liked it in a nerdy sort of way, I guess.
Valeria Luiselli, Lost Children Archive This was the Guardian selection for December. I hated this book. All of my friends who knew what I was reading had to listen to me rant about it. Lost Children Archive tells the story of a blended family traveling from New York City to the Southwest where the mother wants to report on and try to save children being lost after immigrating illegally from Mexico. She seems to think this is urgent, yet they drive perhaps 2-3 hours per day if they bother to travel at all so it takes them about a month to get there. Then she is so horrified at what is happening to the Mexican children but at the same time is lackadasically heading toward divorcing her husband, separating his child and her child from the only mother/father they have ever known. To me, the latter is just as horrifying as the former, but her only justification for it is that they want to go to different locations in the Southwest for the projects they are each working on. To add insult to injury, I’ve traveled to many of the places they stopped and she completely got her geography wrong over and over again. One star was way too generous for this book.
Adrienne Brodeur, Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me Gretchen Rubin and her sister chose this for the Happier Podcast book club. This one has stuck with me. Her mother has an affair with her husband’s closest friend and the author (her daughter) becomes her mother’s confidante. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. What her mother did was bad enough, but using her daughter as her confidante? A very tragic tale on so many levels.
Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries: A Memoir This was the PBS/NYT selection for January. It’s a stream-of-consciousness memoir that spends a lot of time in and out of a mental hospital. There is no direct storyline to follow so the reader has to do the work. If you’re interested in the plight of American Indians, there are so many other great books out there. Honestly, this isn’t one I would recommend unless you really like this style of writing.
Madeline Miller, Circe This book came highly recommended by several very reliable sources – most notably Heidi White from the Close Reads podcast and Laura Tremain of 10 Things to Tell You. My initial reaction upon finishing the book was that it was very well written, but no matter how good the book, you just cannot get me to care about the lives of the Greek gods. However, as time elapsed since I read the book, I’ve grown far more fond of it and am actually considering reading other books by Miller. The writing was just that good. Great summer reading or escape/comfort reading.
Jeannette Wells, The Glass Castle I’ve wanted to read this since forever, especially since the movie came out (four years ago and which I still haven’t seen). It is the tragic tale of a neglected child, in a similar vein to Educated or The Sound of Gravel. Some of this book is spent out in the West and the rest of it happens in Appalachia, so if you read according to region, it is a good choice for either.
Louis Sachar, Fuzzy Mud This was the January selection for the Waverly Library book club. Science fiction for middle grades. Not really awful, per se, but not something I would ever recommend to someone unless there was simply nothing else to read.
Helen Phillips, The Need 2019 National Book Award Nominee. A thriller written from the perspective of someone who may have mental health issues (aka unreliable narrator). If that sounds good, you might enjoy this book. I gave it two stars.
Leif Enger, Peace Like a River I read this book four years ago and loved it then. The Close Reads podcast read it over the holidays, and I loved this book once again. The discovery of one of the popular boys in the school attacking a girl in the locker room turns into a tit for tat that leads to murder. The suspect breaks out of jail and is pursued by his family. A very literary thriller that will keep you reading late into the night.
Will Schwalbe, The End of Your Life Book Club I read this book a couple years ago and returned to it as a comfort read. I had read many of the books they read together since my first reading. Yet the story was still mainly about his mother and her gradual decline and death due to cancer. His mother is one of my heroes. What a great tribute to her life!
James Clear, Atomic Habits This book makes some great points about habits. My advice is to read through it slowly and apply his advice as you go. Otherwise it’s one of those forgotten as easily as it is read.
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God This was the Well Read Mom book selection for January. I had always wanted to read this, especially since it was set in Florida, but had never gotten to it. It was wonderful! Where she lived in Maitland was very close to where I went to high school so I was pouring over it in terms of learning about Florida history. Then she went to the Everglades and survived the hurricane – even more fascinating history of Florida and what hurricanes were like back in the day. Not to mention the black history and her relationships with men. A great book club selection with lots of fodder for discussion.
Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Teen’s Heart Hunt’s book Honey for a Child’s Heart was my official booklist for the kids when we were checking out dozens of picture books from the library on a regular basis. It was fun to return to her writing about getting kids to read (albeit a different age group) and seeing the selections she recommends for teens.
Willa Cather, Pauls Case and Other Stories My beloved Close Reads podcast did an episode on the short story Paul’s Case as a bonus for Patreon supporters. Loving Cather’s work as I do, I decided to read the rest of the stories as well. Cather never disappoints, and short stories can be a great palette cleanser between longer reads.