reading lately: December roundup

Whew, with the whirlwind of the holidays I did manage to keep with some reading (partly thanks to some quickies to end the year on), but not writing reviews. So here's a belated December roundup. One of these, Shark Heart, did sneak in on the best of 2023 lists (and Birnam Wood definitely got an honorable mention); there were a couple mehs, but several really fun ones as well to round out my year of 122 books... And now hoping for some good reading to start of 2024, with this holiday-gifted stack in my plans for January!

Literary/contemporary fiction

Shark Heart: In this gorgeous but also fully accessible and readable novel that's written in a unique way, formatted with a combination of prose, scenes from plays, and verse, the story of a young marriage facing the "in sickness or in health" part of their vows is given an unexpected and fresh twist: the illness that Lewis is diagnosed with is a rare one, a mutation that means he will gradually turn into a great white shark. How this (and some other animal mutations brought up in the book) plays out is interesting and novel, but all of the personal and relationship feelings of loss, grief, withdrawal, making peace with unfulfilled dreams - these are absolutely true to life and written about in such a moving way. It would certainly parallel having a spouse ill with something like dementia (slowly losing their sense of self) or cancer (slowly declining toward the inevitable). I appreciated this story of Wren and Lewis' first year of marriage, but what knocked the book out of the park for me was that it's an intergenerational tale. In the second section, we learn more about Wren's upbringing, and what made her into the careful, practical, pragmatic woman she is. I found the story of her mother, Angela, who became pregnant at 15 and managed a lovely life with Wren thanks to her own love and strength along with her found family, until she was faced with a difficult diagnosis of her own. And then in the third section, coming back to Lewis now that he lives in the ocean and is trying to figure out how to reconcile the life he lost with the one he has now - just so good. It's a unique read both in terms of style and fantastical content, but it still feels grounded and real with its humor and heart, and its universal themes of learning how to carry on in spite of grief and in finding what makes life meaningful. Though quite different, the experience/general feeling of reading this book and how unique it felt reminded me of a couple of my top 2022 picks, especially Lessons in Chemistry (partly for some wry tone and flow of the character-driven plot, partly for the loner/very particular heroine who is brought out of her shell by unexpected love) and Unlikely Animals (partly for the slight magical realism, partly for the humor amidst the grief and sadness of caring for an ill family member). So not read-alikes, per se, but feel-alikes, for the singular reading experience, and for the heart, that will stick with me. ★★★★★

Birnam Wood: Birnam Wood is a collective of idealistic young folks in New Zealand that considers itself a "guerilla gardening group", planting crops wherever they can find unused land. Founder Mira has struggled to get 100% buy-in from the members as they've never quite been able to break even, until she investigates a new place to expand their operations, a farm that has been essentially abandoned after a landslide cut off its nearby down, and she happens to meet drone/surveillance industry billionaire Robert Lemoine, who is ostensibly there to build an end-of-the-world bunker for himself. He wants to sponsor the group, which Mira thinks will be a great opportunity, but it sows ideological conflict when the collective is paired with the peak of capitalism, which should be its worst enemy. Not to mention that it's quickly clear to the reader that Lemoine's bunker is just a cover for more nefarious activity, setting up quite a collision course for Mira, her friends, and the land. The book started a bit slowly, feeling like it was a tad stream of consciousness or tangent-y in narrative style as it introduced the characters and set up the plot, but even so, the word I would have used to describe it from page one is intriguing. Even if some of the philosophical and ideological discussions/rants by Birnam Wood members felt a bit over my head, or if it just took a bit of work to get into in general, from the beginning I was invested and wanted to know where it was going - and this only increased as the plot thickened. Honestly, it was edge of my seat for the last third, which feels like a feat for literary fiction. Part of it was the eventual fast-paced action of the plot itself, and part was just this general sense of manipulation and/or self-centeredness in how the characters interacted with the world and with each other. Robert especially was this sort of deranged evil genius and it was fascinating to see him interact with these idealistic youngsters, who seemed in his thrall; with employees, where he seemed quite mercenary; and with the land owners, where he again seemed so manipulative - yet he made some miscalculations in underestimating some of these regular people... Still reeling from the ending, to be honest - it made me immediately need to google to see what others thought of it! And made me think it would be a great miniseries. With the Shakespearean reference of the title/collective's name, and the way the story ends up, it's clear that the author is examining the "tragedy" genre, but it's also characterized as an "eco-thriller", plus you get some investigative journalism, some politics, some relationships and machinations - and some very interesting themes of looking at humans' desire for survival, the consequences of human actions on each other/the earth, the dangers of technology and greed, and more. ★★★★.5

Flight: In the first Christmas season since their mother died unexpectedly, adult siblings Martin, Henry, and Kate get together with their families for Christmas at Henry's upstate New York home rather than all gathering at their mother's in Florida as they always have. They're navigating all of their complicated feelings of grief and family dynamics as a family alongside those feelings within themselves and within their marriages - alongside the nitty-gritty of the bereavement process, like how to do their annual family holiday traditions in this new reality, and how to handle the sale (or not) of their mother's house in the absence of a will. It's quite character driven; the plot is what they do together in the days leading up to Christmas and there is one sort of crisis they all deal with together, but mostly it's using the small interactions to study these characters and where they're coming from as siblings, in-laws who had different upbringings, individuals who bring their own baggage, etc. I thought the impact of their mother on their lives was really well illustrated - even though we never meet her, we can really feel how she looms large - but overall the book didn't quite have the impact I thought it would based on reviews. I think it's partly because I had trouble keeping the characters and their spouses/kids straight for quite a while, and partly because there was a side character, the client of one of the in-laws (a social worker) who got part of the storyline and it didn't quite mesh, even if the plots did intersect. I timed this read perfectly in the lead-up to Christmas, but I actually couldn't decide if that was great, or if it was a bit triggering in terms of thinking about some of those complicated family dynamics that are on full display at the holidays! My family doesn't have quite the dynamics of this one, but definitely some of the push-pull of reverting to your childhood role in terms of sibling relationships, and of navigating the nuclear/extended family/in-laws in terms of sharing space and traditions and also managing expectations/needs/wants definitely felt relatable and on-point. ★★★.75

One Woman Show: I was so intrigued by this premise: a novel written in the form of museum exhibit wall labels that encapsulates the life story of one woman. The author was employed for years by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was inspired by her work writing wall labels for one of the galleries to create a novel in this form, using the conventions and requirements of these labels to tell a whole story. The result is interesting, telling the life of one eccentric woman with the backdrop of the major world events of the 20th century; it manages to capture her feelings of social climbing and ennui in the role of socialite as well as sadness over loss of husbands and miscarriages, and there were some really clever uses of the conventions (such as listing "from the collection of" for each piece of "art", which gives you the feeling of Kitty being property of her parents or one of her husbands, an interesting commentary on a woman's place in society), but sometimes the use of art terms/artifacts as metaphor for life felt like a bit too much of a stretch. It was clever and creatively done, definitely unique, but I'd say you have to be quite into art/museums to enjoy, given the art terminology used. I double majored in English and Art History and still feel like I was missing some of what she was trying to do with the book here... I also have to say that having heard/read in the cover blurb that the construct was to tell the whole story in museum wall labels, I found it a little disappointing to encounter some random snippets of conversation that didn't follow that construct. It kind of illustrated that it doesn't 100% work to tell a full story this way, but it was still interesting (and super quick to read!). ★★★.5

 

Historical fiction

Do Tell: Edie is a young woman who managed to make it from her poor upbringing in Boston to a contract with a Hollywood movie studio, but she never made it big so she's looking for next steps to support herself. She did manage to pick up a lot of skills along the way in being resourceful with money, clothes, getting party invites, etc. and in gathering and trading information, so she parlays her ins with the studio execs/actors and her knack for picking up gossip into a career as a newspaper columnist. This book recounts and examines, from her perspective as a much older woman, this transition period in her career and a scenario where one of the famous actors of the time tells her "you got it all wrong" in understanding/writing about it. I'm struggling a bit with a review as I really wanted to like it - partly because Edie seemed like she should be a great character, scrappy and resourceful with a bit of a gossipy narration, and partly because it is a debut championed by Ann Patchett (and I bought my signed copy on my pilgrimage to her bookstore!) - but it felt a bit like there were just soooo many characters and too little depth to their development or to any plot. So it was intriguing, but super slow, and that just continued on instead of feeling like it developed and went somewhere. It did have a great sense of time and place, definitely felt that classic Hollywood feel of the 30s and 40s, and the pre/early WWII era in the US, enough that I would forget sometimes among the mentions of actual stars like Clark Gable that the characters in this book are fictional. Unfortunately though with the way the narration is formulated in choppy bits and pieces, even if the characters felt like they could be real people I didn't actually feel like I got to know them as fully-formed characters on the page, and while I was drawn in to their world, I couldn't ever get a sense for what the point of Edie's tale in recounting this time was or where it was going, until she finally lays it out in the very end (which then made it feel rushed). There's an interesting theme of who controls the narrative and who gets to tell women's stories - a bit of a #met00 event going on but told in the 1930s/40s, which is interesting because the double standards and the way things are reported/who is believed/how women are expected to conduct themselves is sadly not all that different even if things have improved some in Hollywood. Overall just didn't quite land for me though. ★★★.25

The Woman with the Cure: The fictionalized story of a real-life woman whose research helped develop the polio vaccine in the 1940s/50s, this is a good pick for readers interested in women in science and in the behind-the-scenes and the individual human angle of some important developments in history. While Sabin + Salk are the ones remembered most readily for it, Dorthy Horstmann was a key player overlooked in history. I appreciated how the author centered women's stories that were real but have been overlooked (not to mention the sexism of the era with women in science...) and how I learned more about the polio epidemic with interesting parallels to our recent pandemic + its race for a vaccine (though amazingly the author started her research before covid!). I also thought it was fun to have the Cincinnati connections, with Sabin being employed at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, one of the hospitals where Peter trained. However... This one felt really in the commercial historical fiction genre in terms of the writing style; it's a style that for me tends to feel a little lack of subtlety in terms of telling rather than showing. And with that, I felt like the author was trying to include every single interesting factoid that she learned in her research, and all of these extra name dropping bits or explanation of yet another conference for polio researchers made the book too long. The narrative was supposed to be giving urgency to the need for a vaccine, but with how long the book was and how many characters it got bogged down and didn't read with any urgency. It really needed to be streamlined and more focused to be successful for me. So interesting subject, too broadly addressed, and honestly a bit dull for me.  ★★.75

Mystery/thriller

Mother-Daughter Murder Night: A cozy mystery about 3 generations of women - self-made real estate powerhouse Lana who is a big city lady through and through, her semi-estranged daughter, young single mom Beth who loves her quiet life in a more sleepy coastal town, and Beth's 15-year-old daughter Jack, who loves paddle boarding and leading kayak tours out on the slough. Bring Lana under their roof because of a cancer diagnosis, and a dead body found in the water by a tourist on one of the outings led by Jack, and you get what the publisher blurb calls "Gilmore girls, but with murder". It's light reading with some comedy, a lot of family dramedy with 3 generations of headstrong women, and some amateur detectives getting into antics but also uncovering some clues. I've been having a bit of a problem with genre books lately that unless there's something really standout about a character, or an interesting angle/issue in consideration, I just get really bored in the middle. You know with genre books what the general arc is going to be, and while I actually do like that comfort of predictability, I need something more memorable to get me to the tidy ending if it's a cozy mystery without much suspense. This one was fun, but for me not super memorable, occasionally bogged down (literally and figuratively) by some of the mystery having to do with swampy land deals/contracts. Definitely recommend for anyone who likes a mystery investigated by a lady of a certain age, or the combination of female family dynamics with a little sleuthing on the side though. ★★★

Romance/rom-com

Once More with Feeling: The final romance/rom-com genre read of 2023 for me made me want to keep on with them in 2024, after wondering based on my recent ratings whether I need a little break from the genre. As always, it's in picking the right one for yourself! The writing in this one had me in from page one - just the right balance of zippy and fun and banter with feeling like I'm reading about actual grownups with real-world feelings. And then the clincher: protagonists having a job that I find really interesting. Former teen pop star turned actress trying to achieve her Broadway debut, paired up with her former flame, a relationship that made her career go up in flames due to public perception. It's catnip for this theatre nerd Read this one if you love: teen pop star nostalgia, musical theatre, second-chance romance, past-present romance storylines, People magazine-type intrigue of celebrity couples, not-too-steamy romance (there was clear chemistry but not too much explicit talk about desires; only one open-door  scene that you can just skip/skim), rom-coms with a bit of depth (in this case, thinking about the price of fame, the sexism of the music/entertainment industry, and public perception that judges women more harshly on certain things than it does men). ★★★★

The True Love Experiment: I was excited for this one as I really enjoyed The Soulmate Equation for that "extra" it added to a romance novel, with the fake dating trope taken up a level by being based on a DNA matching company's results. I liked the twist and the interesting discussion it brought up about dating and about what a soulmate is, if people could be matched by DNA. And I really liked Fizzy as the friend character in it, so it was fun to hear that she was getting her own book. I got into it immediately, loving her energy (Fizzy being an apt nickname) and how the DNA matching was incorporated in a new way, as part of a tool in matching contestants in a dating show. Fizzy is the star of this new show, hoping to leave behind her serial dating days and also her writer's block slump, but then she and the executive producer start to have feelings... I have no problem with romances being predictable in terms of the romantic relationship arc - they're supposed to be - so I was overall satisfied with the story, but it was the filler that let me down a little. Filler being constant sexual innuendos or jokes. Fizzy's character is supposed to be "sex positive" but I personally don't think this requires constant explicit thinking about bodies/sex. I personal prefer a closed door romance but can enjoy something more open door like this if I just skim certain scenes, but this felt a bit more pervasive in the suggestive content. Or maybe that's just me. But there were multiple times that Fizzy thought about having "pants feelings" and I really don't understand how that wouldn't make anyone cringe? So overall it ended up feeling a bit long and drawn out and honestly a tad dull at times, but I really liked the main characters overall and love a dating show as a plot device - I actually could have gone for a bit more of a focus on this, like some other dating show-based romance reads I really liked: One to Watch and The Charm Offensive - I felt like with those I got a bit more of the behind-the-scenes (and with One to Watch, a lot more interesting social commentary on Bachelor-type shows in general) and perhaps a bit less of the hot-and-heavy, so those worked better for me. ★★★

YA/middle grade

The Getaway List: Sometimes I'm just in the mood for some good fun YA rom-com escape, and Emma Lord is peak of this sub-genre for me - cute but not cutsey, light but not too fluffy, and always these infectious main characters and overall feeling of cheer and energy. Plus this one, like my all-time favorite of hers (Tweet Cute) is back in a New York City setting, which just feels so vicariously fun, like living the best parts of the city and of teenage life/friendship in a great teen movie or something. In The Getaway List, Riley is graduating high school in a bit of a funk - she hasn't felt quite herself for a couple of years since her best friend Tom moved to NYC, her mom over-scheduled her with extracurriculars to keep her from getting into more antics/pranks, and she didn't get accepted by any of the colleges she applied to. Before starting her summer of work, she spontaneously decides to drop in on Tom for the weekend so they can finally do at least one thing on their "getaway list", a list created over the years of all the things they wanted to do together but couldn't because of some sort of disappointing last-minute cancellation in plans by one of their moms. Reunited after a few years, they pick right back up where they left off in their friendship bond, but there's another little spark too... and one weekend turns into a whole summer as they have fun together, create a fabulous little friend group (such good found-family feels! almost felt -in a good way - like reading the YA, summertime version of The Christmas Orphans Club, since I read that so recently), and all work through their personal situations (reconnecting with sense of self, overcoming loneliness, navigating parental expectations with personal dreams/goals). There are some real emotions and coming-of-age considerations, but it's not an "issues" book - so it feels fizzy and fun but still manages to avoid the fluff. Delightful. I received an advance e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Publishes in January 2024. ★★★★

best of 2023: current reads

And now for my favorite books of 2023 that were published this year! Like with the backlist list, these aren't in complete rank ordering (you know for a book lover picking a favorite is like picking a favorite child), but the first 4 or 5 are such easy 5-star reads that I'd hand to most people. In general, what made the list this year was genre mash-ups or interesting twists on a genre, along with unique and unforgettable voices. (Not sure Tom Lake was quite any of these, but it was pretty much a class of its own however you categorize it.)

 

1. Tom Lake: truly, it’s pretty much a #puremichigan ad. It’s also an insightful, resonant, even funny story of new love, long-term married love, family dynamics, seeing parents for who they were before they were parents, reflecting on what could have been. I loved the characters, their family banter, the last-present storyline that perfectly incorporated the feels of early lockdown, and the more literary take on the dating a (soon-to-be) famous man aspect of Malibu Rising and the summer theatre aspect of Good Company (both fun reads to toss in your beach bag!).

2. My Murder: What an amazing genre mashup of literary fiction, speculative/sci-fi, and mystery. Through the wry narration of Lou, a new mother who was the 5th victim of a serial killer and brought back to life with his other victims in a government cloning program after public outcry, the book explores the issue of our society's obsession with true crime, how we fetishize "the girls" and they end up being known only for their fame as a victim of this apparently brilliant killer, how so much misogyny and violence against women is just standard in our world but it's the white, pretty ones who get the attention. Along with that incisive social commentary there are also insights on motherhood and the before/after of becoming one. The plot and storytelling felt really fresh and inventive to me, never bogged down by these issues but still making me want everyone to read it so that I can talk about how it handles the issues - and about just how interesting and eerie and GOOD it is with it’s unexpected twists and great characters.

3. Shark Heart: unique and unforgettable in terms of both format (mix of prose, poetry, and play scenes) and fantastical twist (rare gene mutations that cause people to morph into some particular type of animal) - but that still feels so grounded and real with its humor and heart, and its universal themes of learning how to carry on in spite of grief, in finding what makes life meaningful, and in loving fully.  

4. Romantic Comedy: Hit all the sweet spots for me: a famous-dating-“normal” scenario, a super fun behind-the-scenes of a cool job, relationship building via correspondence, and protagonists in more of a middle age category (as one who is turning 39 this week I admit I am starting to much prefer any rom-com situations to be in this age bracket). It’s delightful and just the right amount of swoony while remaining pretty down to earth - and the whole first section providing a backstage look at an SNL type sketch show makes it a fun read also for people who don’t typically read this genre. Recommend for fans of Nora Goes Off Script or that too-short-lived Aaron Sorkin show Studio 60.

5. The Many Lives of Mama Love: Recounting her path of suburban soccer mom to addict to prison inmate to writer/literary agent in a frank, engaging, compassionate and sometimes funny style, Lara Love Hardin had me on the edge of my seat, rooting for her to make it out on the other side and regain custody of her kids in the difficulties of addiction and the constraints of a justice/parole system that doesn’t make it easy. Her reflections on this system, as well as forgiveness/self-forgiveness and how we can allow ourselves/others to move past the worst self we/they have ever been were moving and eye-opening and insightful. Highly recommend.

6. Warrior Girl Unearthed: set within the same extended family in a northern Michigan Anishinaabe community as Angeline Boulley's excellent debut, Firekeeper's Daughter, this one was a similarly excellent reads for the strong and fully fleshed-out female protagonist, the mix of coming-of-age story + mystery with great pacing, and how much I learned about this Native culture and history + very timely current issues related to it - but at the same time still felt like I was really immersed in the life of a girl living in this world, not just being taught about her culture 

7. Happiness Falls: genre mashup and singular narrative voice doing it for me again! It’s a family drama but with strong narrative drive from being a missing person’s case when a family’s dad goes missing and the only witness is their non-speaking son. Came for the story, stayed for the engaging voice (though warning if you find the college-aged Mia’s narration to be annoying this book will not work for you) and the compelling thoughts on real/relative happiness, ability/disability, autism’s effects on a family, ableism, and more.

8. All That Is Mine I Carry with Me: just as much family drama as it is missing person mystery, and super interesting take on the "it's always the husband" trope when the dad is cleared by police of the 1975 disappearance of the mom - so it becomes a study of what it's like to be in a family where you always have a little suspicion, and what that does to the various kids' relationship with their father/the way they live their lives as they move into adulthood. And to look into all of these themes of family loyalty, love, loss, and secrets, Landay also gives a twist on the genre through different timelines and narrative lenses in 4 sections. Makes it feel super intriguing and not same-old at all.

9. Exiles: Jane Harper is one of my auto-buy authors for slow-burn atmospheric mysteries, and this third installment in the Aaron Falk series did not disappoint. I always like the sort of current-day investigation that starts to reveal connections to characters' pasts - and in this particular book I liked how we got a bit more character development for Aaron himself along with it. (I’d say that you could read this without having read the others, but why, when all 3 in the series are great slow-burn mysteries?) 

10. Rewind: while it's written for a middle grade audience, I think this one is just as much for the moms with 90s nostalgia. The references to very specific things like Dunkaroos made me smile almost as much as the fun plot and spunky characters - McKinley, who accidentally travels back in time to when her dad was a student at her same middle school and learns to understand the present day version of him + their disagreements better, and Jackie, mom of her present-day best friend who is just a delight. Covered lots of middle grade friendship and coming of age issues I've seen before, but felt so fresh and fun with the time travel element and the voice.

And of course I must throw in some honorable mentions - some variety here in genre, but all similarly great in terms of memorable/enjoyable reading experiences for me:

best of 2023: backlist books

In some year-end "best of" book lists/podcast episodes you'll see a distinction for books published in that particular year vs. earlier - and as I read enough books per year, and frequently get sidetracked to the shiny new releases vs. what's already on my shelf or TBR, I've started separating out my top 10 lists like this too. (Plus, it's way too hard to pick only 10 when I read 100+ in a year.) So for my first 2023 top 10 list, the backlist - aka books published before 2023.

 

These aren't 100% in ranked order, but definitely the top 4 are. SO GOOD. A quick description follows, but I have full reviews of all of them on Goodreads or in a previous blog post.

1. Demon Copperhead: a retelling of David Copperfield set in modern-day Appalachia, with the economics and opioid epidemic of the region as a backdrop. It's a masterpiece, and the main character's voice, which is humorous and wry amidst the tragedy, has stuck with me all year. 

2. Dinners with Ruth: Nina Totenberg's memoir of friendships (including with Ruth Bader Ginsberg) that's entertaining and also inspiring on a feminist and friendship goals level. Audio is a must for this one.

3. Other Words for Home: middle grade novel in verse about a girl moving to the US from Syria for the safety of her family, and making adjustments to her new home. Gorgeous.

4. The Swimmers: one of the most unique books I read this year in terms of narration, utilizing the "we" voice for narration in the first section, and then the "you" 2nd person narration for the next. Reading it is soothing quietly engaging in a way that swimming laps can be, and there's also so much emotional resonance in the "you" section, with that narrative style making me feel such empathy as a reader.

5. Wrong Place, Wrong Time: one of the most interesting mysteries I read this year, with its element of time travel (a mom keeps waking up earlier and earlier in the timeline right after she has witnessed her teenage son stabbing someone, and she tries to figure out why it happened so she can prevent it) and also with how much it made me think about parenthood.

6. A Rover's Story: this middle grade novel about having resilience, finding your purpose, and ultimately, love, is completely delightful, bittersweet, lovely. Fictional NASA rover named Resilience  is being readied for his journey to Mars, and as he learns what he'll need to know for a successful mission, he also develops great curiosity about the humans who are programming him and starts to learn some human-like emotions too.

7. Crimson Lake: A new-to-me atmospheric slow-burn mystery series set in Australia with Jane Harper comparisons?! Always yes - and even better that this one lived up in terms of those things, and also had its own unique spin in terms of the unexpected relationship between disgraced cop Ted and former convicted juvenile murderer Amanda (not to mention her savant tendencies/prickliness that made her a unique character), as these outcasts form a private investigator partnership. Really interesting issues about the court of public opinion too, so there's some great character development.

8. Now Is Not the Time to Panic: one of the quirkier/more offbeat books I read this year, and what a fun coming of age book full of excellent characters and analog/pre-internet nostalgia, along with some interesting reflections on making art.

9. Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance: one of those character-driven books that is so readable thanks to the voice, this one a woman reflecting on what it was like for her family to cope when her older sister died suddenly in a car accident, told as kind of a letter to her sister reporting on daily life, memories, etc. There's wry humor in the telling, and it's such a great pairing with Now Is Not the Time to Panic in terms of that nostalgia feel for the time, and the encapsulation of what it's like to be a (slightly uncool) high school girl.

10. The Measure: not the most well-written one, but this speculative fiction about how individuals (as well as society at large) react to a new reality in which everyone aged 22+ receives a box with a string that correlates to the length of their life sparked so much discussion in my book club, and so much thinking/reflection, so it really stuck with me. I liked how the 8 focal characters explored this in different ways, seeing how it played out in their relationships and what they chose to do if they knew their time was short - definitely much food for thought for your own life too, even if sometimes the writing was a bit on-the-nose.

 

And I just had to include some honorable mentions as well - some other great backlist books I read in 2023 include:

 

reading lately: November roundup

November was a bit of a weird reading month, it seems, when I look at my lineup here - somehow I ended up with pretty much all genre books, partly because of library holds that came in and partly because I had a couple of Christmas rom-coms that I wanted to read - one based on the book podcaster hype (Becca Freeman) and one because I'll read everything by the author (Kerry Winfrey). So though I'm not usually much of a holiday-specific reader, I actually read both of these quickies in the time between Thanksgiving and December 1. Definitely got me in the Christmas mood!

Mystery/thriller

Just Another Missing Person: Gillian McAllister's previous book is one of my favorite thriller(lite) that I read this year - it was perfectly twisty and engrossing but also had something more to make it stand out from the pack: an interesting structure (time travel - and it totally works!) and a reflection on motherhood that really stuck with me. So I was very excited to get my hands on her new release, which was also great - though admittedly it couldn't quite live up to the first, I think partly because of how much I loved that unique structure, whereas this book is a bit more of a straight procedural. Still some great twists and turns though, and still some great reflections on motherhood. In fact, you get multiple angles to consider the question of what lengths a parent would go to for their kid - with a detective investigating a weird new missing persons case who is being blackmailed because of something she did to cover up/protect her teenage daughter a year earlier, a dad of the victim who is driven to desperation as his own missing teenage daughter is still not found, and a single mom of the accused who wants to believe in her son but has doubt creeping in. Don't want to give away any plot because this is one you want to be in for the journey, but it's again great writing and characters who feel real and well developed, with secrets that slowly unravel and dilemmas that make you consider "what would I do as a parent in this situation?" ★★★★

Murder in the Family: I feel like I've been seeing more and more mystery/thriller books with a true crime angle - it's quite possible this sub-genre might get a bit tired soon, but a unique entry like this particular one keeps it fun. This is the story of a film director who teams up with a true crime Netflix producer to film a documentary/investigation into a cold case for which he was a witness as a kid: the unsolved and notorious murder of his mother's much younger second husband. The book is presented as transcripts from the show - which assembles a team of experts like retired police officers, a psychologist, a forensics specialist, and a lawyer to research, discuss at a roundtable, and follow up on leads/interview witnesses - along with some texts/emails among the participants and producers, newspaper reviews of the episodes, and online chatter/speculation. It's an interesting way to do the narration, and once I got a handle on who the various expert characters were (took a minute), it really worked for me. The filming of this fictitious series is done an episode at a time, with new episodes produced that build on evidence (and twists!) revealed in the last episode, which gives the novel some good drive. And I can totally see that it would be a series (or podcast) that would garner quite an interested audience given the true crime enthusiasts out there. On top of that, the author adds some intrigue to this one by slowly revealing some twists, about the experts' secrets/closer than realized relationship to the case, and the producer's conniving ways to make the show a hit. I'd suggest it for fans of true crime investigative podcasts, cold case detective miniseries, and books told in transcripts/letters like Janice Hallet's The Appeal (though I liked this one much more - better twists and turns, and made more sense in transcript form than the email format of The Appeal where there were things that clearly were necessary to move the plot/explain things but didn't make sense that people would actually write in an email... ended up feeling gimmicky while this one didn't). ★★★.5

The Golden Spoon: Great British Bakeoff meets Agatha Christie in this mystery that starts off with a body on the set of a popular week-long amateur baking competition show, filmed at Grafton Manor, home of the show's creator and host, the formidable baking queen Betsy Martin. Then we rewind to the beginning of the week to find out who it was, how it got there, and who was responsible - quickly learning, of course, that while the 6 contestants are all skilled and eager to be there, some ulterior motives may be at play with them, and perhaps with the show's producers/host as well... It's a fun concept and I enjoyed the mystery that's less about gore/suspense and more about whodunit/little twists, plus the descriptions of the bakes and the behind-the-scenes of a show like that were great, but there are a lot of characters' perspectives; I didn't think their voices were all that well differentiated to give them a bit more of a full-fledged feel or make them very memorable, and some of their personal narratives got a bit repetitive - but overall it made for a good vacation pick with short chapters and easy reading and interesting setting. ★★★.25

A Most Agreeable Murder: Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie meets Sherlock Holmes with the cheekiness/innuendo (if not the explicitness) of Bridgerton in this Regency-era locked-room manor mystery. Beatrice Steele is expected to abide by the (literal) rulebook for proper conduct for young ladies, not to mention marry well to avoid her estate being entailed away to her grubby cousin (literally named Grub) - but she's obsessed with a famous investigator, Sir Huxley, who recounts his murder cases in newspaper columns, and with solving along. When a neighborhood ball turns deadly (and of course everyone's stuck there because of the terrible weather), she finally has her chance to get in on the detective action, alongside Sir Huxley's former assistant Drake, who of course just happens to have showed up at the ball with his friend. It's a fun romp, a comedy of manners/farce with a dinner party murder mystery, but I do have to say that the farce borders on silly with a few eye rolls from me at times. If you want something a bit less wacky that has the Regency society + mystery combination I'd recommend Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord (actually had surprising feminist depth on top of being a fun read) or The Murder of Mr. Wickham (lighter), but if you're up for something with a campy feel, you'll have fun with this one for sure. ★★★

Romance/rom-com

The Christmas Orphans Club: While likely to be shelved with the rom-coms, this holiday season read is just as much, or maybe even more, a story of platonic friendship and of found/chosen family. There is some romance, but it's mostly a story of a friend group and its bonds formed over the years. The four friends each have their personal reasons that they don't have a family to go to at Christmas, but now at their 10th year they're facing what is probably their last official one together, given that one of them is moving from NYC to LA. Overall I found it a pretty delightful way to get into the season thanks to the banter, the development of the characters' joint history, and the fun pop culture/music/food/New York references. I'd recommend for anyone who enjoys a found/chosen family story of 30-something friends, or the magic of New York City in December, or Emily Henry books - as this one reads (in a great way!) like a combination of People We Meet on Vacation (with the now/then alternating chapters that show how a male/female friendship has developed since college, with a falling out and coming back together) and Happy Place (with the college friend group that has a beloved and strong annual tradition that they kind of feel like is falling apart as they get older and go slightly separate ways). A breezy read but not too light, and not too much residual drama/tension with the group to drag anything down. ★★★★

Faking Christmas: I'm not that into Christmas-specific reading or Hallmark movies, but I am into Kerry Winfrey, so I had to give this one a whirl. It's a super quick read, both in terms of physical length and metaphorical depth, and definitely fun if you like: the aforementioned Hallmark movies, a fake dating trope, the grumpy/sunshine dynamic, closed-door romance, and minimal conflict before the eventual (expected) happy ending. I always like her midwest (Ohio) setting as the small towns and characters feel familiar, and I like all of the nods to other beloved rom-coms. That said, it landed as least favorite of mine among all of Kerry Winfrey's books as the fake dating/deception stuff just go a bit farcical, and the "hot mess" main character energy isn't my favorite in any rom-com. I have no problem with a rom-com being predictable (one could argue it should be), but I like it to have a little something "more" to make it memorable. This one was a couple of days of brain (Christmas) candy - fun and cozy, but didn't get me quite as drawn in, endeared or charmed as her other books. ★★★

YA/middle grade

Rewind: What a hoot and a delight! This book is written for a middle grade audience, but I think their moms who came of age in the 90s will enjoy it even more. In 2018 middle schooler McKinley is beyond excited for this year's annual Time Hop, a town event held at her school that celebrates a year in history with fashion shows, food, movies, historical sketch shows and more. She is just putting the finishing touches on her perfect 1993 outfit that she designed and sewed by herself, when her overly routine-loving and inflexible, no-fun dad tells her she has to miss the fashion show to take care of her grandma. She sneaks out to do it anyway, but then everything goes wrong: she has a big fight with her best friend, and in the middle of the fashion show her dad comes in and yells at her for having gone against his instructions. She runs off in anger and embarrassment and suddenly find herself suddenly transported to the *actual* 1993, where her dad is a middle schooler at the same school, and her best friend's mom Jackie is one of his classmates. Working with Jackie (a most delightfully kooky character), she tries to figure out what she needs to "fix" in order to get back to her present timeline - and she thinks it must be her dad, who is a bit of a jerk as a middle schooler, nothing like the uptight guy she knows in 2018... and she's also got to figure out a way to make sure she doesn't mess up things (time travel butterfly effect and all) to not erase her best friend from the future so that she can go back and make up for their fight - seeing that in middle school Jackie is 100% grossed out by the boy who becomes her husband in McKinley's 2018 life. It's a fun middle grade read with spunky characters and some good lessons about trying to understand where people are coming from, learning to be a good friend, and having the right intentions - but it's also a super fun and quick read for grownups who love 90s nostalgia (so many delightful references to childhood loves like Dunkaroos and having all of the episodes of Saved by the Bell recorded on VHS, and naming all of the chapter titles the titles of 90s songs, that probably go over the heads of kids actually). Also in a way great for fans of Emma Straub's This Time Tomorrow with this father/daughter relationship and gaining new understanding of oneself/one's familial relationships by seeing a younger version of a parent and thus seeing them as more of a full person, not just as parent. ★★★★.5

Memoirs

Dinners with Ruth: Though it certainly deals with a lifetime's share of grief and struggle, my main expression when listening to the audiobook of beloved NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg's memoir of her life and the friendships that have shaped/defined it: a huge smile on my face. Knowing her voice from the radio, I thought it was a MUST for listening rather than reading the hardcopy, and I think that absolutely made me love this book even more. A memoir of Nina's life alone would have been a great book: she came of age in journalism in a time when women made up very little of the reporter/press pool, so her career progression is both inspiring and informative of a time in history and women's (in)equality. She has had a hand in some huge media moments, like shaping the early days of NPR and breaking the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas story, and her behind the scenes on these + reporting on the Supreme Court + the Washington who's-who name drops are fascinating. Her personal life is worth a memoir too, beyond the career, with her experiences in marriage and grief. But then the stories of her friendships and how they shaped her life along the way really make this such a lovely and warm and honest and special book. The title indicates that it is about her long-time close friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and this is indeed a large part of it. As she recounts their childhood and career histories side-by-side it's such a beautiful illustration of a friendship but also of two women who broke glass ceilings in their fields. We've still got a long way to go (kills me every time hearing about RBG's amazing contributions and then reflecting how Roe was overturned), but there are many things that we take for granted as normal for women now, and I so appreciate hearing how these women helped make that happen. But then there are several other strong friendships that Nina talks about, with women like Cokie Roberts from their days of working closely at NPR, with professional contacts like former Supreme Court judges she interviewed, and with couples that she and her husband would host for dinner parties. All of it so inspiration and aspirational about the meaning and joy that friendships can bring to life, what it means to be there for someone, what it means to be willing to receive love and support from friends in your time of need. Cannot recommend this book highly enough! ★★★★★

Corrections in Ink: In this memoir Keri Blakinger recounts her childhood as an elite figure skater, and the ways that her obsessive/perfectionist tendencies brought her success in that area but then also led to rock bottom when her skating career ended - going from eating disorder to drug addiction and drug dealing, culminating in an arrest while she was a college student at Cornell. A lot of the memoir is about her time in prison - learning the system, getting clean, and getting back on track after. It's an honest look at her own faults and the faults of our prison/justice system, and a story about second chances, told with humor but also showing the grit. I appreciated that she wrapped up the story with some discussion of how different her situation was as an educated white woman vs. a black or brown woman who would likely have had a longer sentence, racist treatment in prison, less support network because more likely to have the prison be located far from their family, etc. not to mention that she managed to get readmitted to college even after a prison sentence (also appreciated hearing how she reports on prison inequalities in her career now, which I also learned more about in her interview with Sarah on Sarah's Bookshelves Live, which is where I heard of the book in the first place). I kept thinking about this white privilege throughout the book and feeling like it should be acknowledged - I'm glad she did, which brought also some more general social commentary about our prison system and its inhumanities to give the personal story a broader purpose, but I might have liked it woven in a bit earlier. To be honest, the earlier part of the book just stressed me out. I understand the obsessive/perfectionist tendencies firsthand, so that's a bit stressful to read about people being self-destructive because of them, and then I'm rather a rule follower too, so reading about the life of selling drugs, breaking off contact with family, etc. stresses me out too! Overall quite a compelling read, especially the way she structured it with chapters that alternated between her "current" prison situation and the past that led up to that point; I probably would have liked it even more if I hadn't read The Many Lives of Mama Love earlier this year, as it's a somewhat similar memoir, and for some reason that one just landed more - I couldn't stop thinking/talking about it when I put it down. Another comp is obviously Orange Is the New Black, if you liked that one. ★★★.75

Can't believe it's almost time to put together my best-of list for the year. Never easy to do when there are over 100 books to choose from. I feel like I maybe had fewer 5 stars than last year, though I also have some high hopes for a couple of the books on my shelf that are ready for December reading, so stay tuned...

reading lately: October roundup

I'm not usually a season-specific reader, and I'm definitely not a "spooky season" person in general, but I had several books on my stack that seemed like they'd be just right for the gray that October brought to Michigan, and I was right! Some ghosts, some atmospheric feels, some campus settings - still good for gray November days if you need any reading recommendations for that...

Literary/contemporary fiction

The Sentence: This is one of those books that I wasn't sure what to make of while I was reading it, but the more I think about it, the more I appreciate the layers and the messages. It's definitely one of those singular narrative voices that'll stick with me, in Tookie, the Native American formerly incarcerated woman who now works at an independent bookstore in Minneapolis, where she becomes haunted by the ghost of one of the peskiest old white lady customers the store had. That's all I knew going in, aside from having read a bunch of Louise Erdrich's earlier books that focus on modern-day families living on Minnesota area reservations and how they confront their family + cultural history of trauma and injustices. So I was a bit thrown off when the beginning of this one felt so farcical, from the wacky reason that Tookie goes to prison to the offbeatness (rather than spookiness) of the ghost situation and general magical realism. And I was a bit thrown off again when it turned from a farcical beginning to a love letter to books/bookstores and the power of narrative (love that, especially all the name-dropping of great books/authors!), to a family drama, to a cultural/societal reckoning with the fallout of the Covid pandemic + the George Floyd murder and subsequent protests. The latter part of the book definitely read like the author was trying to sort through feelings on the pandemic (rather than using Covid simply as a tool to put her characters into interesting situations, like was done in Happiness Falls or Tom Lake), and I thought it was really compelling but also felt so different from where the book started out. But then again I guess that's a bit how it went in real life - it was a complete shift of our lives in so many ways. Really appreciated the perspective on the George Floyd situation both from the perspective of someone living at the "ground zero" of it all, in Minneapolis, and of someone who is also of a group that has suffered police brutality/killings. I can imagine how seeing deaths like this would really affect Black families, but it was eye-opening to consider how (of course) it could have such an impact on other marginalized/oppressed communities. There's a lot going on, there's humor and emotional depth, there's literary depth and also meta-storytelling - but occasionally with all of the layers I'd feel like was missing something, especially in some of the conversations among the characters. It also felt like there were "in" comments and jokes for indigenous people and that I was the outsider in this story, but that I actually thought was great because how often do I read books where my perspective is not the assumed one like this? I should do it more. Also really thought the meta aspect of it was great - the author is the owner of an indie bookstore, Birchbark Books, in Minneapolis, and the story is set there with her actually as a side character, since Tookie works there. It was cleverly done, and I also loved it as the setting partly because I'm a sucker for a bookstore book, and partly because I've actually been to this bookstore, and it is great! ★★★★

The Sweet Spot: A feel-good, big-hearted novel with some quirk, lots of found-family feels, and a bit more madcap adventure than I might usually tolerate, but the characters and their relationships charmed me enough that I was happy to go along for the ride. There's a young mom trying to maintain her artistic career with a house full of kids and an absent-minded scientist husband; there's her widowed mother who is frosty at first but finds new life in helping run their household and meeting their neighbors; there's a woman whose husband has left her for someone younger (as they do) after 30-something years of marriage and all she wants is revenge; there's a recent college grad who lost her job in a social media fiasco. Their lives all intersect in this quirky old house with a bar (called The Sweet Spot) underneath located in the heart of Greenwich Village, in amusing and in heartwarming ways. It's a bit lighter/more absurd in scenarios than Emma Straub, but perhaps a decent comp with the light-hearted but heartfelt family foibles; it's also a bit of a grown-up version of the children's series The Vanderbeekers, perhaps, with the New York neighborhood feel and the cute and quirky kids in their family brownstone. A fun palate cleanser read if you're in the mood. ★★★.75

Mystery/thriller

The Resemblance: I was intrigued by the description of this one, especially as a fall read: a campus setting with a murder being investigated in a fraternity, along with a bit of a creepy/Southern Gothic feel in the circumstances of the murder (a fraternity brother killed in a hit-and-run accident where the witnesses say the driver looked just like him), in the University of Georgia setting of all the old and stately buildings in their campus/Greek system, and in the dark underbelly of the hazing/fraternity world that is uncovered and how the brotherhood won't ever turn on one of their own. It turned out to be great for rainy day fall reading in fitting that mood well, and it has the elements of slow-burn investigations that I often like: a detective who becomes obsessed with solving a case, but maybe that's partly because of something that happened in her past, and the lines get blurred a bit... Some Tana French comparisons could be warranted with the situations and psychological elements, especially to her books that have the campus setting such as The Likeness - and Tana French comparisons are the end-all-be-all to me. But in this one, I found the ins-and-outs of the investigation to end up a tad convoluted, and I also felt like the bad side of fraternities was hammered a little hard. Don't get me wrong, it's not a system I have any love for with the history of gross and horrible things in terms of hazing, sexual assault, drinking deaths - but this story makes it feel like that's ALL it is, and it felt a bit over the top. So this particular story didn't quite hit home for me, but if you like the Southern Gothic and slow-burn mystery combo, give it a whirl. I liked elements of it and the procedural part enough that I think I may still try the next book as I just noticed there is another one coming with the same campus setting and detective - I'd be interested to see what happens with these elements in a new storyline even if this one wasn't 100% there (and maybe that's partly because it's a debut, and the next one might be stronger!). ★★★.5

If We Were Villains: A dark academia / why-done-it / literary slow burn character-driven mystery for fans of The Secret History, this book follows a cohort of 7 theater students at a dedicated arts college and how over the course of a year their super close bonds, born out of their constant proximity and work together, start to twist into rivalries both in relationships and acting roles - and one of them winds up dead. The story is told by one of the 7, Oliver, who is just getting out from 10 years in prison related to this death, but the detective on the case still believes that he wasn't the one who should have done time for it and asks Oliver to finally tell him the full truth. From there, Oliver tells scenes of how the group's standard roles that they had played for their first 3 years - hero, villain, temptress, ingenue, extra - started to be recast and how that led to drama spilling over to real life. While there are no fantasy elements, it has a bit of a fantastical feel, sort of a grown-up version of a Hogwarts type situation with this super atmospheric, isolated campus complete with a forest, a lake, and even a building called the Castle, where the group of 4th year acting students lives together. Combined with their very discipline-specific studies (it's all Shakespeare, acting, and sword-fighting training all the time) and school traditions (like flash-mob type play performances of Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet put on for the rest of the students out in the forest or ballroom, in which the 7 have all secretly learned their parts and don't know who is playing the other roles) it gives you a feeling of being in a whole other world, and you can see how obsessions would develop and how the stakes would end up feeling so high for a bunch of 20-year-olds. It does read very academic at times in terms of how often the friends speak to each other in Shakespeare quotes, or how much we get a blow-by-blow of their acting out of various scenes, so be ready for that. I found it felt a bit esoteric at times, not to mention the relationships/interactions of the friends a bit opaque, but overall the setting and the characters were really immersive. I liked it better than Secret History, actually, because the characters felt a bit more real, and because the framework of telling the story 10 years after the fact and unraveling the truth of it gave some little breaks from the psychological depths of the story to reflect a bit on it in the present timeframe. ★★★.75

None of This Is True: Ok admittedly I go back and forth on this author - I have really liked a couple of her books, and I have found a couple to be just too bonkers in the way that makes me not really like this genre. Twists and turns are great, but when it hinges on a character being completely unhinged... I just don't know. I prefer stories about people who feel real and get into kind of crazy/suspenseful situations, versus people who make the story suspenseful because of their own level of crazy. Decided to give this new one a shot after seeing it around though, and, well, I remain mixed as I feel like it gave me both of those things. For people who like the genre, I think it'll be a hit. For me, I liked that there was a slight procedural type of element in that you know at the beginning that a couple of people will wind up dead, so you get to unravel what got things to that point. I also liked the structure of it being told through the real-time interviews that were recorded for a podcast, and then getting foreshadowing for what's to come from snippets of a Netflix true-crime documentary that came out of that podcast. So it started out great, but then it veered into the bonkers territory as Josie was clearly manipulating podcaster Alix and creepily inserting herself into Alix's household (and also there were hints that there was something really yucky to be revealed about Josie's home life) so it just felt kind if icky/stressful to read in the middle and also a bit like I was being manipulated as a reader. I didn't like either of the characters (though it's true to the genre that they be a bit unreliable, that's part of the twists), and it felt like we were going a bit off the rails. But then I liked that the twist came slightly before the end, so that there could be some interesting unraveling done by Alix to wrap up the story, and she started to actually feel like a full, regular person. All in all, decent entertainment for me, though 1/2-way through I really considered not finishing. So if you're so-so on the genre, there are better options, but if you like the genre you'll probably like this book! ★★★

The Murder of Mr. Wickham: It's Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie in this locked-room/cozy mystery that imagines the couples from Austen's various works coming together at the Knightleys' Donwell Abbey for a summer house party along with uninvited guest Mr. Wickham... who winds up dead. It turns out that all of the couples have reason to hold a grudge against him - not just the Darcys as known from Pride & Prejudice - but who would have been driven to murder? Teenaged Jonathan Darcy has a solid alibi, having been in the stables at the time, as does young Juliet Tilney, having never even heard of Wickham before this night. Working around the delicate rules of propriety, they team up to figure out the mystery. Obviously this is tailor-made for Jane Austen fans, and it was really fun to imagine a scenario in which all of the main characters from her various books could end up in the same place - but in trying to incorporate all of them, it is a bit convoluted, especially early on, in making all of those connections. I also liked imagining some scenarios of beyond the "happily ever after" where there might be some real ups and downs in relationships, and of course I loved the callbacks to my favorite Austen scenes - though sometimes they were too on-the-nose or explained. This book isn't going to be read by a non-Austen fan, so do we really need to spend time explaining the entire scene of Darcy's first, disastrous proposal? We got that covered. I'm not much of an Agatha Christie reader, but I do think this one would appeal to her fans as well. I typically don't find that type of cozy mystery to be super interesting, same with this one; it's pretty tame and not suspenseful, but being with these characters is the fun of it - and it's fun! ★★★

YA/middle grade

All My Rage: Salahudin and Noor are teenagers of Pakistani descent living in small-town California in this story of friendship, star-crossed love, struggle, regrets, and forgiveness. They had a falling out when Noor confessed her love and Sal didn't reciprocate, but their friendship is rekindled through grief, when Sal's mom (and beloved "Auntie" to Noor) dies. They're both trying to do all the normal high schooler things and graduate with good grades, but the deck is stacked against them both: Sal's dad is an alcoholic and goes further into it with grief, so Sal is trying to figure out how to keep their family's motel afloat and makes some bad choices in this; he's also dealing with some long-buried childhood trauma. Meanwhile Noor knows the source of her trauma, being the only survivor in her town in Pakistan when a huge earthquake hit when she was six; her current living situation with her uncle makes her feel stuck and small, as he holds over her being her savior, and he won't let her apply to college to achieve her dreams of becoming a doctor. Though it gets deep on issues and emotions - and indeed sounds pretty downer based on the description above - I found it super readable and thought Sal and Noor's character development and their friendship was great, and I liked that it was a bit of a mash-up of family drama, romance story, and even a bit of courtroom drama. I also appreciated the nuance to several of the characters - the villainous uncle who Noor lives with also is someone who has had his dreams crushed and his share of grief, so you can see a bit where he's coming from. Likewise, the clingy girlfriend Sal has at the beginning of the book seems like a teen mom caricature at first until you see her strength and drive and kindness shine through when Noor needs it. (Admittedly there was one high school mean girl who had no nuance, but you can love to hate her...) This was some great YA that I'd recommend for fans of authors like Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give) as it has that type of emotional resonance, character development, and current social issues (without feeling *too* much about issues). Aside from really relevant and important issues about racism, addiction, impacts of childhood trauma, and faith I also appreciated a lot how it addressed this horrible unfairness of life that some people live trauma-free and fit right in, while others have to deal with so much. This piling on of one terrible thing after another is a big source of Noor's rage (hence the title), and I thought the theme and the discussions around it were handled really well and gave a hopeful note to the heartbreak. ★★★★.5

Immortality, A Love Story: This sequel to the YA gothic romance Anatomy: A Love Story seemed like some appropriate "spooky season" reading (even if spooky season isn't my thing). And indeed, this early 1800s England setting that gives you some of the darker, dingier feels of the era (more Dickens than Austen) with the grave-digging characters and the look at the medical procedures of the time along with a slight fantastical element (no spoiler: "immortality" is in the title) and an associated secret society called Companions to the Death definitely fits the gray fall feels around here. I enjoyed the first in the series, about Hazel, a girl from a relatively well-off family who is expected to marry for money but has a dream to become a surgeon, her cross-dressing secret medical school attendance, and her also secret grave-digging love interest - but I admittedly didn't *love* it partly because of the abrupt-feeling ending. It of course was setting up a second book though - and this second book was even better, a great escape read that's something a bit different. Part of what I liked more about this sequel is that it has a broader cast of characters that really added interest; it's a bit less focused on the love story of it all, and a bit more historical fiction, adding in some royal family drama with the Hazel becoming physician to the ailing Princess Charlotte and getting involved in palace life, and also incorporating some big science/art minds of the time like chemists Antoine and Marie-Anne Lavoisier and poet Lord Byron. It's fun historical fiction with a fantasy twist - a tad YA regency romance with a ahead-of-her-time girl like Pride & Premeditation or Dangerous Alliance, a tad star-crossed royals love story slash alternate history like American Royals, and a tad fantasy story with immortality a la Invisible Life of Addie Larue. Maybe not 100% necessary but probably better to read the first book first, but worth it to get to this one, I think. ★★★★

Amari and the Great Game: Another sequel: this second installment in a middle grade fantasy series that has the magic school training setting, the "chosen one" trope, and an epic battle of good and evil that we all love from series like Harry Potter - but suffused with black girl magic (literal and figurative!) and some really great tie-ins to real-world issues like prejudice, discrimination, and giving people a second chance that are well handled for a young audience. I really like the "unseen" world that is set up in this series, so you've got real world plus some creative fantasy in the Bureau of Supernatural Investigations that Amari is invited to join as a junior agent, and I think the writing and characters are great - but as with the mid-points in some fantasy series (there's clearly another book to come, the end sets that up with only moderate resolution to this book), the story can feel a bit like only terrible things are happening and our hero is getting so beat down in his/her quest... All in all I think the story wasn't quite as tight or engaging and I wasn't quite as charmed overall by book 2 as I was by book 1 - which really was excellent - but it's a series I think is great, especially to add something more diverse to the canon of magic school-type fantasy series. Hendrik liked it too! Will certainly read the next one and keep recommending the series. Also recommended for fans of the Nevermoor and Percy Jackson series; if you've read those, then also check out The Marvellers. ★★★.25

Audiobooks

XOXO, Cody: Admittedly I'm not sure how much of an audience this book has outside of Peloton groupies like me, but I liken this to listening to a memoir like those of the Queer Eye cast - fun to hear their backstories in their own voices, and get some of their signature humor and charm they're popular for. This is combo memoir and self-help/advice column type book and is pretty much what you'd expect if you are familiar with Cody Rigsby through his Peloton classes - lots of opinions and hot takes about everything from pop culture to relationship issues, including some reader-submitted questions (just like in his XOXO bike classes with rider-submitted relationship questions), lots of humorous asides, and lots of gay pride. In general, just being himself, and making for an entertaining listen. I did appreciate that even with the overall snarky and fun feel, he gives readers/listeners a fuller picture of just how much work he has put into his career - how much hustling he's done since his teenage years to put himself in a successful place, and I think it's great that he puts it out there in attributing his success others where it is due but also gives himself credit for his hard work and isn't ashamed to do so. That's inspiring. He also had a bit of an unstable childhood situation and coming to terms with sexuality/coming out, and I appreciated again seeing full person rather than just the persona (even though I do think the persona is true to his general personality) in his backstory and also how he candidly admits mistakes and personal growth. The behind-the-scenes of Peloton is a bit limited - mostly to his own training and approach to teaching - but the behind-the-scenes of his time on Dancing with the Stars had some juicy tidbits. ★★★★

Freaks, Gleeks & Dawson's Creek: included in my recent audiobook roundup. ★★★.75

All My Knotted Up Life: included in my recent audiobook roundup. ★★★

I did get to start out the month with pool reading - The Sweet Spot was a delight for that! - thanks to tagging along on a Nashville conference trip with Peter. And there is actually pool in my future for November thanks to a family trip coming up, though with kids along we shall see if I read more than 1 book total rather than my 1 book a day desires when at an all-inclusive without children... I've got Do Tell, purchased on my pilgrimage to Ann Patchett's Parnassus Books on that Nashville trip, ready to pack and pass around to the other readers on the Cancun trip, as it looks like it should be both entertaining and good for discussion!