One of my friends (Marie, looking at you) keeps a book log every year. I used to keep one all the time and I’m going to keep track this year. I don’t promise to make long commentary about all of them, but will add a word or two about each one so you can tell if it would be something you’d like to sink into. My tastes are very broad and almost no one is going to read all the same things I enjoy. Without further ado, the January list:
The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah. Upmarket fiction. This book has made many best of the year lists and it is on mine, too. Every sentence is true and unflinching. Not a single false note anywhere, and I am a major WWII buff. Really, one of the best books I’ve read in ages and I highly recommend it.
A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara. Literary. This is a bleak book. I loved a lot of it, and read to the end, but it has many dark literary turns. Be warned.
The Shameless Hour, Sarina Bowen. New Adult, very sexy. Well-written, intelligent, with a hot Latino hero who is a really good guy.
One Plus One, JoJo Moyes. Women’s Fiction. Addictive, romantic. Set in England. Fast becoming one of my favorite writers.
Abandoned a science fiction novel not meant for me. Perfectly fine, I’m just not the reader for this book.
Last night picked up Moonlight Over Paris, Jennifer Robson. Very promising.
Off and on:
Safekeeping, Abigail Thomas. Essays. I like her stuff. Short, piercing. Different from the usual memoir fare.
Word Puppets, Mary Robinette Kowal. Science Fiction. One of the best stories I’ve read in a long time is in this collection, The Consciousness Problem. She has a deeply intelligent, thoughtful voice and a lot of this work would be right at home on the old Twilight Zone
What have you been reading lately?
I’ve been reading & rereading for some of them, all of Carl Hiaasen’s books. I live in Florida & wanted to read some Florida books. In December I read A Land Remembered about early Florida, which was excellent. I only have 2 more Hiaasen books to go, so I’m very happy for your reviews. I’m also reading David Copperfield in spurts.
I read a bit of non-fiction in January — Ta-Nehisi Coates’ BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME and Sarah Ruhl’s ONE HUNDRED ESSAYS I DON’T HAVE TIME TO WRITE — both written by MacArthur Geniuses and both well worth the read. Lots of quotable passages in both.
Other than that, I’m reading a lot of Stephen King. 🙂
(My husband’s reading THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah too. )
I’ve never kept a book log, though one year I did list all the books I read that year. I think a log would remind me of what I liked about each book since I’m such a voracious reader I sometimes don’t recall each book. Thanks for the idea!
I have had the Ruhl on my,list for awhile. Must move it up.
Barbara, if you’re a fan of WWII try A God In Ruins or Life after Life by Kate Atkinson or All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Stunning books beautifully written.
Marisa De Los Santos.. The Precious One..
Her writing reminds me of yours. Poetic Beauty!