Already time to set the final month's reading intentions for 2022! I have kind of a random mix here of stuff I've been meaning to get to, so it would be nice to fit it in before the year's end, and one that is just a good Christmas break kind of read...
The ones I've been meaning to get to, mostly because they're beloved authors to me and I need to check out their latest...
- Maureen is in the Harold Fry universe by author Rachel Joyce that I read some years ago (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is great, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey is excellent); this adds to the universe by telling the story/perspective of Maureen, Harold Fry's wife. Didn't know about it until Netgalley sent it to me a couple of months ago, and it seems the darker wintery months might be the perfect time for this read, typically a bit quieter reads yet moving and redemptive, based on my experience with the others.
- One Two Three has been on my list for a while because I loved Laurie Frankel's first book, This Is How It Always Is, so much - and since my mom handed me the physical copy a couple of weeks ago, it's time to finally read it.
- And Yet is the new poetry collection by Kate Baer. I adored both What Kind of Woman and I Hope This Finds You Well for how much they spoke in both everyday and profound ways about the experience of being a woman/mother/sister/friend, so I of course pre-ordered the new one when it was announced. It has arrived and I just haven't made time to sit down with it yet, but that sounds like a nice thing to do on a dark December evening with the twinkle lights in the background, doesn't it?
- More Than You'll Ever Know is a family drama/literary suspense novel that was maybe a bit under-the-radar with its 2022 release, but the confluence of hearing a 5-star review of it on Sarah's Bookshelves Live + seeing it as a super cheap Kindle deal soon after led me to purchase, and now it's time to read!
Finally, rounding out the month with great holiday break type reading: the final book in the middle grade Winterhouse series. I read the other two last year, and their setting in this magical wintery hotel is just perfect for this time of year - plus the plot of the others has taken place in the Christmas break time period, so it just feels right! It's a cute series that also has a bit of mystery/action and lots of wordplay fun that I recommend for middle-grade loving adults and kids alike. I'm putting the first book in Hendrik's book-a-day advent calendar this year :)
And now for a November recap! I admittedly did not get around to reading Wintering, but I'm still looking forward to it - there's plenty of literal winter headed my way so I think I'll pick it up in January. The others were quite a mix of genre, and somewhat mixed in my feelings about them... so I feel like I should also mention the favorite books I read in November: We Are the Light by Matthew Quick (his signature humorous yet poignant/heartbreaking but ultimately redemptive approach to a character with mental illness - I loved it) and Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous (fun YA in a summer camp setting that also deals with some issues like cultural biases and social media landscape - for fans of Emma Lord or David Yoon).
- People Person: I loved the premise of this one, starting off with a formative experience of 5 half-siblings (who had no idea of the others' existence) being brought together by their absentee father, just to head off any potential accidental incest dating in the future.... Then in the present, a big event happens in one of their lives; despite having not spoken to each other in many years, she calls the eldest sister because she doesn't know what else to do. This brings together all 5 siblings to solve the problem, and the story unfolds from there. Because some of the plot started to feel a little slapstick at times to me in how they dealt with the problem (in the way of something like Finlay Donovan perhaps) it felt like things got occasionally sidetracked from the relationships at the heart of the story and thus I liked but didn't love-love this one - but I will say that the author's interview on Sarah's Bookshelves Live made me like it more, with great behind the scenes on the writing process and some of the motivations of the characters. All of the siblings felt unique and interesting in their own rights (even if a little hard to track at the beginning with so many characters), and the exploration of what it means to be loyal to family (and is this required if you're far-ranging family?) as well as the exploration of their different experiences with mothers of different nationalities (white, Jamaican, Nigerian) was interesting too. She definitely writes characters in all of their messy reality and what their modern lives look like - I really ended up liking her debut, Queenie - despite how hard it was to see how Queenie's trauma/mental health led her to some questionable decisions, was really written with love and care and was so root-forable. I'll definitely try whatever Candice Carty-Williams publishes next too. ★★★.5
- Maizy Chen's Last Chance: this middle grade novel follows Maizy from her home in LA to her grandparents' Chinese restaurant in a small midwest town, where she and her mom go to help out when her grandfather becomes ill. It's a story of getting to know her grandparents (from whom her mom was a bit estranged) and also her Chinese-American family history. She has some adventures in the little town, learns about what it's like to stand out as one of the few Asians in the area, and develops a lovely relationship with her grandparents. She also learns a lot about the history of Chinese immigration in the US in general, and makes some nice connections to her own family and to others through that (there's also an excellent author's note that I learned a lot from too!). It's really well done - sweet and fun - but my problem is that I have read SO MUCH good middle grade this year that it maybe doesn't stand out as one of my very favorites, just because I loved the others so much. But I would say this type of story/tone is in line with Frankie & Bug, which I also loved reading this year. ★★★.5
- The Family Chao: I feel like this was billed somewhat as "literary mystery" but it's much more an immigrant story + family drama. You know there's going to be a tragedy that befalls the Chao family and brings public shame; the first half gives the background to this, with the difficult father figure and the tough relationships he has with of the three sons, and then the second half moves a bit faster with a court case related to the tragedy (though it is really more character-driven for sure). There was just something about the portrayal of the characters/the way the story was told that made it feel too opaque at times, that I couldn't grow to love or root for anyone, and I guess I wanted that? I did see that this is based on The Brothers Karamazov, not a story I have a ton of familiarity with, so maybe I lost some appreciation because of that - but that is a helpful note that the heavy feels of the Russian classics are pretty present here. If you liked the Chinese immigrant + family drama aspects of Everything I Never Told You and didn't mind the pace/introspection, then give this one a try. (And little side note: it was interesting to read soon after Maizy Chen - obviously a very different tone, but both about Chinese restaurant-owning families in small midwest towns, and actually I learned things about Chinese immigration history in the US from Maizy Chen that were helpful in my reading of this one!) ★★★
- Elektra: I’m still up for Greek mythology retellings focused on the women and seeing these well-known stories from their perspective, but I just didn’t find this one quite as compelling as Ariadne (or my fave in the genre, Circe) as the characters didn’t feel quite as fleshed out, particularly the Elektra character herself, who felt a bit one-note compared to how the characters of her mother Clytemnestra and the Trojan princess Cassandra were developed. It won’t stick with me like my favorites in this genre because even with bringing in the women’s perspective to an age-old story, it didn’t feel as much like it brought something unique/new in the way Ariadne and Circe did (maybe that means I need a break from this kind of book, so that it could feel fresh again later in the way the first ones I read in the genre did?). But also those other ones felt more like a juicy soapy drama at times (in a good way), whereas this one felt all drama - be ready for some revenge and bloodshed…. Still a solid read if you like this genre. ★★★.5
So that's the 2nd to last month of the year in my reading lists... and now its' almost time for a best books of 2022 list! Sadly none of those November picks will be on mine, but maybe one of the December picks will sneak its way on in the 11th hour... If you want some amazing reading to round out your year, check out my "top 10 so far" list from earlier in the year for some 5-star selections!
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