October's not quite over yet, but I've finished all of the books on my TBR for the month, and in general it was so successful that I couldn't wait to come and report on them. Also got me excited for putting together a November list, since I did so well with my picks for this month... I ended dup with kind of a random mix for November, but it's all stuff on my shelf, and all stuff that has some orangey fall feels to the covers, so that seems like good enough reason for this lineup!
For starters, I've got Wintering, a meditation on "the power of rest and retreat in difficult times," which has been on my list for a while after hearing such good reviews; as we go into the literal winter season in Michigan this definitely feels like the time to pick it up.
Then I've got another feminist Greek mythology retelling, Elektra; I actually just read (and enjoyed) Ariadne by this author, and then this one ended up on my shelf because Hendrik noticed it at the library when he was there with Peter one day and suggested they bring it home for me because he thought I might like it too. Isn't that sweet?
And a few more contemporary fiction options: People Person, a family dramedy (smart and with heart, if her first novel, Queenie, is anything to go by); Maizy Chen's Last Chance, a middle grade read about an Asian American girl and her family's Chinese restaurant that I heard about on From the Front Porch; and then a grown-up story of an Asian American family and their restaurant located in the midwest that I coincidentally have on my shelf - this time a literary family drama with a touch of mystery, The Family Chao.
Excited to pick these up soon and report back in a month. Meanwhile, here's October's recap...
For October I chose my version of "spooky" - nothing scary, but still some seasonal feels with some fantasy and ghosts and such. And aside from one disappointment (and a BOTM again - really not doing well with them this year!), it was a most excellent reading month:
- The Change: okay, this one gets a bit bonkers by the end and has a way higher body count than I was expecting, but I could not put it down. Billed as "feminist revenge fantasy", it reads as juicy and gossipy, like the best of Liane Moriarty, but with a magical realism/fantastical twist: three women find that with middle life (i.e. menopause) comes unexpected empowering gifts. It's as if their rage has physical manifestations, like literally emanating heat enough to melt things and start fires. When a young woman in their wealthy coastal town is found dead and is written off by the police as an addict, these three women find each other and their gifts, coming together to figure out who the girl was and get justice for her - but finding that this is just the tip of the iceberg in missing girls, and the men who run things are doing nothing about it. I loved the mystery aspect, the friendship aspect, and the author's creativity in coming up with these women's newfound powers, along with how they use them to uncover the truth and bring their own form of justice. And while a wild ride of an unputdownable read, with that fun slightly snarky tone, there also was SO much to think about and unpack here - it's about when women are overlooked despite their skills and accomplishments, when they become invisible to the world (middle age, poor immigrants), how our lives are in some ways ruled by fear of what men could/might do to us, and what it could be like to be fully empowered to band together and do something about it. Content warning that there is some ick about men and underage girls (think Jeffrey Epstein type wealthy men behaving abhorrently); the tone made it not to depressing and horrible, but definitely some bad things happen to women in this story. All in all, I found it fascinating fun, though it almost goes off the rails at the end there - definitely a good way to channel your feminist rage for a few hours. ★★★★
- Unlikely Animals: A 5-star reading experience that felt fresh and unique, but also enjoyably familiar, as though it had mashed up my favorite elements of Goodbye, Vitamin (Rachel Khong), Nothing to See Here (Kevin Wilson), Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders), and Mostly Dead Things (Kristen Arnett). The result is a darkly comic, warm-hearted story narrated by the ghosts of a small-town cemetery as they observe a flailing 20-something return home to help care for her father, dying too young of dementia, and also make something of her own seemingly failed potential and family/friend relationships. It's a little weird and has a lot of elements going on (comedy bordering on silliness, tragedy, supernatural elements, family drama, small-town life and quirks and history, opioid epidemic, and hilarious 5th graders to name a few), but it all works - and it easily won me over thanks to the underlying feel that, as she mentioned in a great interview on Sarah's Bookshelves Live, Annie Hartnett writes from a place of understanding humans' difficulties and conflicts, but "just wanting everyone to be okay." ★★★★★
- The Fortunes of Jaded Women: here's my disappointer of the month - for a short book it just felt like it was a such a drawn-out family dramedy, I think partly because it was hard to know if it was actually supposed to be about the drama (and the immigrant, diaspora, prejudice, generational trauma etc. issues faced by a Vietnamese family in America) or if it was supposed to be about the comedy, which veered into the slapstick with the feuding 60-something sisters throwing oranges at each other and stuff like that, seeming like caricatures rather than characters to really get to know and root for. The contrast was just too much I guess? It made the characters a bit forgettable for me, rather than endearing. And unlike Unlikely Animals, the mix of "real" with the magical realism element just didn't work for me in this one. ★★.5
- Amari and the Night Brothers: my new favorite middle-grade fantasy series! I was just so sucked in and satisfied by this one and can't wait to read the next installment. It has a lot of my favorite elements of my recent fave, the Nevermoor series (strong female character, creative world-building that is easy to follow and get into and also has some clever delights to smile at, great story pacing, nicely dealing with some preteen/universal emotions and struggles), but I like even more the basis in the real world - and then having the protagonist come into this whole world of magic that she had no idea existed. It has the "chosen one" arc in the way of Harry Potter, where Amari is a seemingly average kid, but it turns out she was born with so much magic in her, nobody in the "other" world can quite believe it. She has to learn what this unseen world even is while fighting prejudice against magicians. That theme of prejudice was really well done - it drew on her life as a black kid in Atlanta and how she and her family are judged for their skin color or for living in the projects, and then how in the same way people fear what they don't know or what they think is "other" in the magic world, not giving her a chance when they learn she is a magician. I don't think you even need any more synopsis. Just know that if you like a school for magic type situation with a great protagonist, this is a must-read! ★★★★.5
- A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting: if you like recent Regency romances like the Bridgerton series or Bringing Down the Duke but find the steaminess to be a bit much (or distracting from the story, like I sometimes do) - here's a great suggestion! It's set in that time period and gives you the reluctant young duke who has to figure out his new duties and is also not interested in marriage, along with the young woman who needs to get married to secure a comfortable future for herself - and her four younger sisters. It draws on the themes of Jane Austen regarding the limited options/agency for women, the tension between marrying for security and marrying for love, and the tension/forbidden movement between social/economic classes - but it's more explicit in discussing these issues, through what the characters think and say. You also get a bit of interesting history of the period that Austen doesn't quite go into but just hints at - like what war were all of these regimental officers that Lydia Bennet is obsessed with actually fighting in? The story is predictable, but if you like a nod to Austen (without being a retelling) and you like the pluck of modern writing about the era like Bridgerton, it is oh so delightful. Note that if you need some steam, you might find this one boring, but for me it was a cute amount of chemistry and cheekiness; no bedroom scenes at all, but the banter is really all I need! ★★★★
No comments : Post a Comment
Post a Comment