Buuuut first, a few stats.
- Books written by women: 59%
- Books written by POC: 41%
- Books written by other diverse peoples (LGBTQIA, differently abled, Religions, etc.): 0%
- Books not originally published in English: 12%
- Books by Canadian authors: 12%
- Books by authors outside the "Western world": 0%
- Prompts completed: 19%
Now, without further ado, here is what I read/listened to in January.
Title: The Home for Unwanted Girls
Author: Joanna Goodman
Year of Publication: 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction
Prompt: Novel based on a true story
My rating: 4.3/5
One sentence synopsis: Teen mom's parents take her baby and give it to a nun-run orphanage (because family honor), which is converted into a mental institution under Quebec's Duplessis government (because money) and former teen mom spends decades trying to find her daughter.
Review: Be prepared for the feels! Especially anger, disgust and devastation. In large part because this depicts a shameful time in Canadian history that you may very well be unaware of or have heard about only passingly. This is not an easy read (because of the source of inspiration) but worth picking up. Read if you are a fan of historical fiction and, like me, think you might appreciate the difficult subject matter being integrated into a story that otherwise has some qualities of the very best of Sparks (read: lusty romance) plus some solid Canadian content (oh the eternal tensions between Anglos and Francos). A little longer than it needed to be.
Title: The Bridges of Madison County
Author: Robert James Waller
Year of Publication: 1992
Genre: Romance novella
Prompt: Book you purchased for less than $5
My rating: 2/5
One sentence synopsis: Rugged and adventurous National Geographic photographer (later played by Clint Eastwood in the film adaptation) goes on assignment to take pictures of covered bridges in middle America, meets lonely, married Italian-American woman and they have a weeklong love affair they both remember for the rest of their lives.
Review: More boring, less satisfying though arguably more realistic than the average Nicholas Sparks. Now, I love a good gut punch of an ending. The kind that so closely resembles the frequent chaos or injustice, occasional ugliness and ample missed opportunities of real life. The epic kind that is oddly satisfying in its devastation. The kind of ending that sticks with you. This book did not have one of those endings. I just felt a little bitter and deflated when it was over and oh-so-glad I had not invested more than a novella's amount of time in the story.
Title: I Was Anastasia
Author: Ariel Lawhon
Year of Publication: 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction
Prompt: Novel based on a true story
My rating: 4.2/5
One sentence synopsis: A frigtened young woman bearing horrific scars and an uncanny resemblance to the Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov is pulled from a canal in Berlin two years after her whole family was murdered, and then spends decades fighting the legal system and other threats to claim her true identity.
Review: This is to books as Making a Murderer is to documentary series. Follow me here. You know how the whole time you're watching Making a Murderer you're getting frustrated, thinking "poor Steven Avery. He's innocent. The cops are totally setting him up. The justice system is letting him down." You really want him to be innocent. Meanwhile, in the back of your mind, you're still kind of thinking "But keeping it 100, he like totally did it, right?" Yeah, it's like that. The book has it's slow moments but overall employs a neat setup: chapters detailing the last days of the ousted Russian tsar's family, including young Anastasia are told chronologically and interspersed with reverse chronological chapters of the older Anna and her decades-long fight to be legally recognized as the Grand Duchess. The "Is she? Isn't she?" tension builds all the way to the last, where the two timelines meet and we get our answers.
Title: Becoming
Author: Michelle Obama
Year of Publication: 2018
Genre: Memoir
Prompt: A biography or autobiography
My rating: 4.6/5
One sentence synopsis: Daughter of Chicago's southside ploughs an unlikely path to the Ivy League and marries a man who ploughs an even less likely path to the White House while she goes from being stereotyped as an "angry black woman" to arguably the most-loved FLOTUS of all time.
Review: Engrossing, blessedly apolitical* and oddly relatable (given that we have precious little really in common). While she definitely glossed over many aspects of the White House years, the things she does focus on from that time are so human and feel so much more essential now that things seem increasingly divided and dark. Plus, as the title suggests, that was never the focus of the story she wanted to tell. Do yourself a favor and get the audiobook and let her tell you her story in her own voice.
*She is still a Democrat and her views reflect that. As a memoir, the book is going to be subjective. I just mean she ain't about the politics, so that's not the kind of book you're walking in to.
Title: How Not to Get Shot (And Other Advice From White People)
Author: D.L. Hughley
Year of Publication: 2018
Genre: Humour
Prompt: Book with a mostly black cover
My rating: 3.8/5
One sentence synopsis: Comedian Hughley makes you cry with laughter while painting a deeply disturbing picture of the state of racial injustice in America.
Review: First of all, this book is capital H "Hilarious". Also, capital H "Heartbreaking". It's that dark, satirical humour that you can't help but be grateful for because, stripped of the laughs, there would be nothing but pain and unspeakable rage. And that's just speaking as an ally, not as someone who is on the receiving end of systemic racism on a daily basis. A lot of it is stuff the average semi-woke person already knows, but he's got some fresh factoids in there, too.Wish there were citations, though. Honestly, part of my comparatively lackluster rating might come from how I feel about some of the other polarizing comments the author has made with respect to the #MeToo movement and women's role in the culture of sexual assault.
Title: Seven Fallen Feathers
Author: Tanya Talaga
Year of Publication: 2017
Genre: Non-fiction
Prompt: Book by or about Indigenous people
My rating: 4/5
One sentence synopsis: Investigative journalist probes the history and current reality of racism and oppression of Indigenous people in Canada while casting a narrative spotlight on the mysterious deaths of seven Indigenous teens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Review: This book is crushing and so, so important. It is very hard to read, but not because of how it is written (in that sense, it's good, very accessible). It is just massively uncomfortable. It cuts deep into the narrative of Canada as a peaceful, benevolent and accepting nation and forces readers (read: white, settler Canadians) to confront their own biases. It offers a filter-free image of how we as a nation truly treat our First Peoples and the conditions, descrimination and abuses they continue to endure. Be prepared to be shocked and infuriated by all of it — even if it's not entirely new to you — especially how these teens' disappearances and deaths were handled by authorities. Essential read for all Canadians.
Title: Us Against You (sequel to Beartown)
Author: Fredrik Backman
Year of Publication: 2017 (in Swedish)
Genre: Fiction
Prompt: 2018 Goodreads Choice
My rating: 4.9/5
One sentence synopsis: Still reeling from the aftermath of a scandal that rocked their small forest community and tore apart their beloved hockey team, the residents' loyalties remain divided, fueling a bitter rivalry and bringing new heartbreak to Beartown.
Review: Backman spins a good story, but it's his characters that truly stick with you, for better or for worse. The schmarmy business man cum local politican and tough as nails brought in to resurrect the hockey team are fantastic additions (though in the case of the first, he's a character you love to hate. He is infuriating and slimy). This book plucks a very different emotional string than the first, but it still had me going for an emotional ride. Some interesting narrative choices (holy breaking the fourth wall Batman!) and perhaps the most charged, effective and sustained use fo onomatopoeia throughout a book that I have ever seen. On the whole, probably preferred Beartown by a smidge, but the quotable quotes in this book are off the hook. The author and/or his translator are incredibly skilled at turning a phrase. To be totally transparent, my connection with this book is likely bolstered by the way it speaks to me as someone who grew up in a tiny northern town and whose life revolved a great deal around the sport of hockey. Nevertheless, highly recommend. You will definitely want to read Beartown first, though.
Title: The Inconvenient Indian
Author: Thomas King
Year of Publication: 2012
Genre: Non-fiction
Prompt: Book by or about Indigenous people
My rating: 3.9/5
One sentence synopsis: A sprawling historical journey through centuries of injustices perpetrated against Ingenious people in North America suffused with King's own experience of being a "living Indian" when White North Americans, he argues, would prefer them to be extinct.
Review: You will learn a lot. Even if you feel like you know a good bit. King packs a lot into comparatively few pages. He also brings humour and poignancy to some of the most despicable aspects of North American history — and our present — with a simmering resentment couched in a light, easy tone and lots of self-deprecation. He is bold and opinionated and I could see how that might turn off many of the very people who most need to hear what King has to say. As for me, I feel like I need to read this at least two more times to really mine it for all that it's worth.
Title: The Wife Between Us
Author: Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Year of Publication: 2018
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Prompt: Book with "wife" or "daughter" in the title
My rating: 3.4/5
One sentence synopsis: Jealous ex-wife begins stalking her former husband's new fiancée, but things are not what they seem, and it just gets more twisty from there.
Title: P.S. I Still Love You
Author: Jenny Han
Year of Publication: 2015
Genre: YA Romance
Prompt: Bonus
My rating: 4.2/5
One sentence synopsis: 16-year old good girl Lara Jean goes through a scandal with a boy she was pretend-dating-but-then-really-fell-for and now they're dating for reals but he keeps hanging out with his ex and he can't tell Lara Jean why, and now a handsome figure from her own past has resurfaced.
Review: Bearing in mind this is pure YA and you've gotta appreciate it for what it is (read: not the pinnacle of literary genius), I really love this series and the movie(s) it spawned. it is fun, easy reading with plenty of feels. Makes me feel really old sometimes because the world of teens (and technology) has changed so much since I was in high school. Even so, it's nice to have a story where a) the family dynamic is good, b) diversity is normalized, not the point of the story and c) the main character is interested in doing right and doing well. Admittedly, little sister Kitty is my favourite supporting character because she is the more interesting, independant and precocious foil to our conservative protagonist. If you come to the books from the movie To All the Guys I've Loved Before, note that the movie carries over into the beginning of this book.
Title: Always and Forever, Lara Jean
Author: Jenny Han
Year of Publication: 2017
Genre: YA Romance
Prompt: Last book in a series
My rating: 4.1/5
One sentence synopsis: Lara Jean is now almost 18 and trying to enjoy her senior year with boyfriend Peter while facing down the uncertainty of life after high school, including starting college further away from home than originally anticipated and having to make grown-up decisions about the future of her relationship.
Review: Again, this book is going to require a willing suspension of critical reading. If you don't, the teen tropes WILL bother you if you are not in fact a teen yourself (and perhaps even if you are still one). Still, it is cute and saccharine and maybe even a little nostalgia-inducing. Not a lot happening plot-wise, but reminds me of the turmoil and terror of preparing for that first biiiiiig life transition, even if you've really been looking forward to it.
Title: A Spark of Light
Author: Jodi Picoult
Year of Publication: 2018
Genre: Fiction
Prompt: Book by an author with multiple titles on your "to-read" list
My rating: 3.9/5
One sentence synopsis: Religious dad snaps when he finds out his teenage daughter has had an abortion and violently attacks a women's health centre (where abortions are among the services provided), trapping many, including an undercover protestor and the hostage negotiator's own teenage daughter.
Review: A timely read given that while I read, my feed was full of thoughts on New York's recent legislative changes (from both sides of the debate). Generally I think Picoult is undervalued — often pegged with the almost derogatory label of "chick lit" when in reality she has a talent for taking on contentious issues and showing many perspectives while ultimately advocating for a particular view point. She definitely does that here, but this one falls a touch flat. Still good, but for the passion I feel for the topic of women's reproductive rights, it didn't fire me up quie enough, didn't get me as much in the feels as Picoult is wont to do. I did, however, enjoy some of the artistic decisions, like telling the story largely in reverse.
Title: The Paris Wife
Author: Paula McLain
Year of PublicatioN: 2011
Genre: Historical Fiction
Prompt: Book with "wife" or "daughter" in the title
My rating: 3.8/5
One sentence synopsis: Told from the perspective of the first wife of notorious writer Earnest Hemingway, this book recounts their beginning — and premature end — through their fast-living exploits in Paris with other members of the "Lost Generation".
Review: While there is something truly poignant about her marriage's demise, as a 21st-century woman it is difficult not to find Hadley less and less likable as the book goes on. I found my sympathy turning to contemptuous pity though not really because of anything she does. In fact, it's mostly because as Earnest behaves more and more despicably, she rolls over, she lets it happen. She doesn't stand up for himself or call him to task. Not that she lived in a time where that would have been expected and not that it would have saved their marriage. Earnest was too caught up in his quest to earn his place in history. To Hadley's credit, she does eventually leave him. There is a mingled sense of karmic justice and almost-tragedy in the fact that Hadley went on to live a very happy life with her second husband while Hemingway would divorce a total of four times before taking his own life. Overall, a kind of read insofar as it feels a bit like a "peek behind the curtains" for fans of writers like Hemingway, the Fitzgeraldses and Gertrude Stein.
Title: Every Breath
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Year of PublicatioN: 2018
Genre: Romance (sorry Sparks, that's what you are)
Prompt: Book with a two-word title
My rating: 3/5
One sentence synopsis: Rugged and adventurous Zimbabwean safari guide travels to America to meet his biological father for the first time, but also ends up meeting a lonely, otherwise attached young woman on a North Carolina beach and having a weeklong love affair they both remember for the rest of their lives... wait... this sounds awfully familiar...
Review: Why is this plot almost interchangeable with The Bridges of Madison County? Oh right, because this genre is formulaic af and we who consume it rely on that kind of predictability. Ultimately, Sparks scores higher because the ending is a touch happier, a tinge more satisfying and frankly, why the hell else are we reading romance novels? And yes, while I am regularly underwhelmed by Sparks' storytelling prowess and feel the need to (lovingly) disparage most anything he writes, I won't give up on him. I have another Sparks on my list this year even. Stay tuned.
Title: Dreams From My Father
Author: Barack Obama
Year of PublicatioN: 1995
Genre: Memoir
Prompt: Book that makes you nostalgic (read: for a pre-Trump as President world)
My rating: 4/5
One sentence synopsis: Pre-public office, law-school era Barack Obama uncovers his own past and explores the forces that formed him, including the father he hardly knew, his time as a community organizer and finally discovering his ancestral home in Kenya.
Review: One of the most fascinating things about this book was the new forward written 10 years after the book was first published, when Barack was a Senator but not yet on the fast track to the Presidency. By his own admission, there are some stories he would have omitted or told differently by that point, some thoughts and feelings he could no longer identify with. I can only imagine how much truer that would have been another 10 years later when he was in the White House or even today, now that his time as President is behind him. But that's also what makes this book so interesting as a memoir. It's a rare introspective to Barack, the man, before he the most auspicous title. Barack could not and would not write the same book today even if he recounted all the same material. That kind of vivid, in-the-moment perspective — the way you think and what you know and hold to be true at any given point in your life — is lost over time as a person changes, matures and accumulates experiences. This book has its weaknesses and quite honestly, had Barack not become President Obama, it wouldn't half so interesting. But as things turned out, there's a certain poignancy to hearing directly from the young man he was and identifying with the sometimes confused and sometimes angry reflections of a young man coming to grips with his identity and upbringing, the societal contexts that surrounded him and his place within it all.
Title: Good and Mad
Author: Rebecca Traister
Year of PublicatioN: 2018
Genre: Non-fiction (because I refuse to call it "self-help" as it is pegged on Wiki)
Prompt: Book about feminism
My rating: 4.5/5
One sentence synopsis: Traister blends personal narrative, history, journalism and feminist critique to deconstruct society's condemnation of female emotion (especially anger) and highlight the power of the collective fury of the "subjugated majority" (i.e. women) as a transformative political fuel in the past as well as the present.
Review: Whether you understand precisely why women are angry or can't quite imagine what they have to be so pissed off about, you should read this book! Women's anger has too long been caricatured and delegitimized. While the predominating message in media and society is that anger (especially female anger) is destructive or unhealthy, Traister argues that it is this precisely this rage that can be harnessed to change history. It's probably a tad light for those who are particularly politically aware and voracious consumers of the news, as a lot of of it is recap of the swell of women's voices and anger over the past couple years following Trump's election (protests, #MeToo, etc.) But that's also what makes it a fantastic primer and there is still plenty of snark and skewering to keep the well-initiated interested. Fair warning: Be prepared to feel the rage, too!
Title: Britt-Marie Was Here
Author: Fredrik Backman
Year of PublicatioN: 2014 (in Swedish)
Genre: Fiction
Prompt: Book with someone's name in the title
My rating: 4/5
One sentence synopsis: Quirky (to put it lightly) and "socially incompetent" older lady leaves her cheating husband and takes a temporary job in a middle-of-nowhere town where Somebody and a pack of kids open her up to really live her life for herself for the very first time.
Review: Like Ove (A Man Called Ove) Britt-Marie should be entirely unlikeable. She's difficult, frustrating, judgemental, compulsive, insensitive, rude and annoying. But man does Backman have a knack for making these kinds of characters nuanced and charming. You really care for Britt-Marie by the end of this. Plus, she has some first-rate zingers. World class shade, if you will. The ending was a little drawn out for me, but the overall effect is very warm.
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