Normally, January is a big reading month for me, but this year has started off kind of slow, with only five books. I guess that’s still probably a lot for most people, but for me, it’s average at best. I’ll use the very real excuse that three of the books I read this month were pretty big, and one was downright huge! So I still read a lot of pages, even if it wasn’t a ton of books.
These books are in no particular order.
The Muse by Jessie Burton
I picked this book up several years ago, and it has been on my to-read shelf for ages. To be honest, I bought it mainly because of the pretty cover, but it also boasts a couple of tropes that I am a real sucker for. 1. It is a book about creating art. I LOVE books about books, and books about art are the next best thing. 2. It has a strong female heroine. 3. It alternated between two timelines. So basically, this book had a lot going for it as far as my preferences go, but honestly, it didn’t wow me. I actually read about the first twenty or so pages of The Muse a while back, but couldn’t get into it. I decided to give it another go, and while I did finish it, I was reminded why I initially put it down on a first attempt. The story is about a Caribbean immigrant living in London in the 1960’s who starts working at an art gallery, and is the means of discovering a lost painting by an artist in Spain whose short career was just taking off in the beginning of the twentieth century. We also hear the story of that artist, painting while navigating a difficult time period of Spanish history. The plot is surprisingly slow moving, and I never felt truly connected to any of the characters. It wasn’t bad; it was just only okay.
My rating: 2/5
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Here was a book I was very excited for. Released in 2020, I finally picked up a copy of Pip Williams’s debut, which is a fictional account of the process of putting together the first Oxford English Dictionary. The main character, Esme, works for the dictionary, but at the same time, begins collecting all the words that will be left out of the final product—words that are mainly used by women, and mainly by the lower classes of society. Slang words, dirty words, etc. A book about books, and specifically, a book about words, I was pretty confident I would love this book, and I did. It has a lot going for it, with a likable main character and careful attention paid to the way that even language itself contains biases and prejudices. I loved this one!
My rating: 5/5
A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris
Ahh, David Sedaris. I love pretty much everything he’s ever written, and this newest release did not disappoint! A Carnival of Snackery is a curated selection from Sedaris’s personal diary from the years 2003-2020. As always, you can expect to laugh at Sedaris’s somewhat dark sense of humor and ponder his unique view of the world. I immediately flipped to the last chapter for his take on 2020, which was extremely entertaining. While not as polished as some of his essay collections, I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and frequently laughed out loud!
My rating: 4/5
London by Edward Rutherfurd
This is another one that has been on my to-read shelf for quite some time, mostly because I have to be in a certain mood to undertake a 1,000 page book, and that mood doesn’t come upon me all too often. The principle of this book is incredible. It tells the history of London from Celtic times to the modern day through the history of one family. Each chapter follows a different generation, tracing the whole history of the city of London. What an endeavor! And I feel like I learned quite a bit. With that said, I was much more excited about this book at the beginning than I was by the end. It was just too long for me. The writing also sometimes felt more suited to a history book than a novel, and because it covers such a vast time period, many of the characters feel pretty one-dimensional. It read like a series of short stories rather than a single, complete novel.
My rating: 3/5
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
This one is a re-read. I first read Outlander back in 2016 and loved it. I proceeded to read the first three books of the series, but gave up for some reason. Well, I’m coming back to it this year, starting with book one. I love it just as much as I remember. So much drama set against the backdrop of the Scottish Highlands, what’s not to love?! The story follows Claire, a woman living in the mid-1900’s, who, after serving as a nurse in WWII, is transported back in time to the eighteenth century through a circle of standing stones in Scotland. She must navigate the practical dangers and political events of the past, plus there’s some pretty steamy romance. If you haven’t heard of Outlander by now, just what are you doing? I seriously can’t believe I never finished this series, and am very excited to come back to it a second time!
My rating: 5/5
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