Books of January
Apologies for the 2 week late book post. I actually wrote my penultimate draft of this in January, but I've been treading water lately.
This month has been of new beginnings; a new routine, a new treatment plan for my health, a new direction, a new pace. It's also been a month of acceptance; accepting that I wasn't, and haven't been, okay for a while. Accepting that my pace of doing things is absolutely fine, and accepting that I do need a balance - all work and little play is not fun for me. Sorry to everyone that told me this, I've learned my lesson now.
(As I write this in February, a lot has changed!)
My sister and I were discussing my book goal for this year. She said 70, I said 100, we settled on 125. That's 10.4 books a month. Easy.
So here's what I read last month:
House of Sticks by Ly Tran
What a way to start the year.
House of Sticks details Ly Tran's life as her family immigrates from Vietnam to New York. The book recounts her fathers PTSD after being a Prisoner of War for a decade, a period in her life dubbed 'The Sweatshop Era' where her entire family would participate in sewing and ironing cummerbunds for a living, and eventually 'The Nail Salon' era. It talks about her struggle with her eyesight, how this only failed her, her fathers resistance to her myopia due to his fear of the government. Tran is diagnosed as someone with high functioning depression. She details her struggles, and how she fights her way out of them.
This resonated with me so strongly. Her descriptions of her parents marriage, trying to find a place in her family dynamic, her struggles at college as she slips into a depressive episode - you root for Tran to find a way out. You're stunned by her courage, her kindness and her determination. I enjoyed this for its beautiful but simple writing - vivid descriptions of New York, the Nail Salon, Tran's life. It was easy to keep up with, and the latter half of the book completely slipped out of time with me - I raced through it without even realising. It was heartbreaking at times, for both the sad moments and the happy moments. If you love memoirs, you will love this.
Rating: An easy ★★★★★
Cheat Day by Liv Stratman
This book was.... interesting. It's written from the point of view of Kit Altmann, manager of family-owned bakery Sweet Cheeks, habitual dieter, bored wife. We read through Kit's affair with carpenter Matt Larrsen, how this affects her marriage, her struggles with eating, her reflections on her life and previous life. Kit is the definition of an unreliable narrator, and you definitely feel that throughout the book.
I enjoyed this and I didn't enjoy it. It was well written, and I loved the descriptive paragraphs of New York interwoven with Kit's thoughts. I liked the characters and the very real descriptions of Kit's marriage. But I didn't like the ending and the loose ends. I am all for books that leave things opens, but there is no closure. It was hard for me to resonate that a relationship could be left on the foundation of lies, or made stronger through lies. I would recommend this for the fun writing, but I wouldn't recommend this for the plot.
Rating: ★★★★☆
It Ends With Us by Collen Hoover
This book has been so hyped on social media, and Hoover's work has been so recommended to me. I always brushed it off but I saw a TikTok saying this book would 'destroy me'. Who isn't a fan of that?!
It Ends With Us is about a character called Lily Bloom (Yep) who meets a mysterious guy in Boston on a rooftop. She also has a boyfriend from the past. The story starts with her fathers funeral, but it transpires that he's an abuser, and that Lily has spent most of her childhood watching her father physically beat her mother.
I will start off by saying this book did not destroy me. It felt insanely rushed. I didn't feel a build up in relationship, not enough to get invested in either of the characters. Lily was unlikeable; it felt as though I were reading a YA book, akin to something like Twilight where the characters are infallible and flawless. Things were too perfect - who finds the perfect employee in one day, willing to work for free?! Who magically has best friends appear in her life despite never mentioning them!? Who meets random guys on rooftops and has the most bizarre conversations with them!? It felt like a bad fanfiction.
I will say I didn't expect the plot, and thought it was a surprise. But every other aspect of the book fell very flat and felt predictable. I could definitely see this being made into a movie (I'm pretty sure it is!) but the book just did not tick any boxes for me.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer
Don't judge me for this. Seriously. Twilight is my guilty pleasure. I used to read the same book for months whilst eating dinner as a teenager; something so comforting in the familiarity of the books, of how bad they are. That still applies now.
Midnight Sun is the book Twilight but written from Edward's perspective. I read a copy of this online briefly when I was around 14 (on a school computer on a Friday...) but didn't get into it. There isn't much else to say about the plot - we listen to Edward lament on his frustrating feelings for Bella, that he was literally plotting to kill their entire biology class the first time he saw her, how they fell in love, his own history.... Basically, Twilight.
My actual review is that I loved this. I had so many reactions; why did the Cullens ever let Jasper near a human when he was so ready to kill them all!? Why was it never mentioned that Edward can't hear Charlie's thoughts either!? A lot of my love for this book came from the nostalgia - I definitely don't think I would've enjoyed this otherwise.
Rating: ★★★★☆
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
This book has been one of my most anticipated reads for a while now. Yanagihara's writing is excellent, and when I say that A Little Life is one of my favourite books, I mean it. However, before reading this, I was told to go in with an open mind.
I'm glad I did.
The book is split into 3 different parts, each telling a different story. I won't spoil any of the stories by mentioning them; going in blind was a real experience. You note the repeating themes and motifs as you continue to read, akin to putting a jigsaw together piece by piece. I spent the better part of my 3 days reading this explaining to everyone around me that I was intensely puzzled trying to link the stories together. It became all more clear to me that it's not obvious and I needed to keep reading.
Book 3 takes up 50% of the novel and for good reason - it was excellent and unravelled the story at an increasingly intense pace.
So my thoughts? Going in without the expectation of it being anything like A Little Life definitely helped. Because it isn't anything like A Little Life - the stories are long enough to get you invested, but short enough that you still get sucked into the next. The stories are all about choices, circumstances, dealing with the consequences of decisions you have made. They're about protection. The writing is excellent, and I don't think I will ever enjoy an author as much as I enjoy Yanagihara. I could say this will easily be the best novel I read in 2022, so it's pretty much all downhill from here.
Were there any things I didn't like? A few. I've seen... not criticism exactly (though some criticism) about Yanagihara's portrayal of mlm relationships. I can't really comment on this, as it doesn't feel like it's my place, but it stuck out to me too. In addition, I'm not a fan of cliffhangers, and so certain parts left me feeling a bit unfulfilled. But these things did not ruin the book for me, and if you can get through the 700+ pages, I would truly recommend reading.
Rating: An easy ★★★★★
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
This is another book split into 2 novels; one about a family visit from our main characters sister and niece. Part 1 focuses on Natsuko's sisters breast enhancement surgery, coupled with a curious situation where her daughter isn't talking to her. Part 1 flips between the novel and diary entries from Natsuko's niece, who is struggling to get to grips with puberty, her mother's surgery and the concept of growing up. Part 2 follows Natsuko as she looks at her own fertility and what her future means to her.
I've seen a lot of criticism online about this book focusing on the wrong type of feminism, and that it projects a certain type of narrative. I strongly disagree - there are so many themes that go against the grain, and that aren't talked about; a mental rejection of puberty and growing up, an exploration of what bodies mean to us, a rejection of traditional marriage, IVF, what it means to have a biological clock. I don't think this could be classed as the wrong type of feminism when you consider the context of the book - it's set in Japan! To ignore this aspect is doing the book a disservice; being a mother, and not being a mother, are both equally as important and neither should be discounted.
I guess it thus becomes suffice to say I really enjoyed this. Both parts of the book were easy to follow, and reading about things like fertility, something I honestly haven't really considered, really struck with me. I would go as far as to say it's an important book for its reflections and thought provoking nature.
Rating: ★★★★★
Daddy by Emma Cline
Daddy is a series of short stories. I didn't realise this at the time, and as I reached the second chapter, I panicked thinking I had missed something. And then I learned that I hate short stories. I love getting to know characters, following them through a story and their life. By the time a short story gets interesting, it's over!
I can't write a review about what each of the short stories were about, but I will say I almost DNF'd this book. The characters shared 1 ugly similarity - an air of detachment. This is fine on its own, but boring by the time you reach the third story.
I think a certain audience may like this book, but I really did not.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Nothing But Blue Sky - Emma MacMahon
Nothing But Blue Sky is a fiction book following a widowers realisations about his late wife as he returns to their routine vacation spot. That's the simplest way I can put this book, but it is much deeper than that. He realises things about his wife that he hadn't realised whilst they were married, he realises things about himself that he didn't realise whilst they were married, and he developed his wife's traits in her passing that didn't exist during their marriage.
As I write this next sentence, I'm aware of how strange it sounds - and it only made occurred to me after reading the book. So much of this books magic is how well the author captures the point of view of a man. I rarely find this in books, where even the intrusive, ugly thoughts of the character reflect so accurately a male way of thinking.
What else did I love about this book? I love that I fell in love with Mary Rose, the late wife, as I read the book. I felt like I'd lost a wife by the end of it. I felt his grief. I loved that the main character, David, was so unlikeable and how much MacMahon succeeded with this. The book was so well written, with a clear narrative. I loved David's profound realisations throughout the book and his reflections. Reading this was another delight of January and I would recommend this to anyone.
Rating: An easy ★★★★★