everything I read in January
quick hits on a bunch of books
Playing catch up on everything I read in January. Spoiler alert — reading pace slowed dramatically in the doldrums of February (so far) after this fairly ambitious (to me) start.
New Animal - Ella Baxter
Took advantage of a post-holiday sale at indie publisher Two Dollar Radio for the first three reads of the year. In this one, young woman works at her family’s mortuary business in Australia; world is upended when her mom dies, she flees to Tasmania and gets involved in a local BDSM community. Blurbed as adjacent to Sally Rooney’s “millennial malaise,” which I didn’t totally buy (although it obviously appealed to me): a bit darker and the short time period made it feel somewhat unresolved, but I overall liked it.
The Underneath - Melanie Finn
Unsettling! Journalist Kay Ward takes her family for a summer in remote Vermont, but her husband is called away and she’s left to grapple with complicated feelings about motherhood, deep unease about something terrible that might have happened in the rented house, plus an urge to investigate and memories of her journalism work on a genocidal dictator. Not the most pleasurable read, but quite good. Would first recommend her later book The Hare: 1990s, naive woman meets wealthy man, spends time in Southport, CT (weirdly, for local readers) and ends up isolated in Vermont. Very good.
Virtuoso - Yelena Moskovich
Admired the writing, but I, like, didn’t really get it? Two girls live in the same building in 1980s Prague; their lives diverge but will perhaps overlap again in adulthood, in a mysterious Parisian bar. Had shades of Elena Ferrante in the dynamic between friends, which is what enticed me. I enjoyed reading it but truly did not understand what ended up happening. I don’t know if I can, in good conscience, recommend— but would be curious to discuss further.
Alice Sadie Celine - Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Post-college, Alice is trying to become an actress and is annoyed when her best friend, Sadie, sends her mother, famous feminist author Celine, in her stead to attend Alice’s play. A very bad idea affair ensues. While I generally balk at books centered around terrible social decisions (the secondhand agita!), I liked this. Nice about female friendship, relationships and young adult struggling. Read if you liked The Rachel Incident.
You Only Call When You’re in Trouble - Stephen McCauley
Light family drama, slight skewering of academia and architecture, warmhearted: Tom’s boyfriend has left him, partially on account of Tom’s over-dedication to his niece Cecily, Tom’s career may be collapsing, but so is Cecily’s and her eccentric mother is becoming more so. Everyone needs help; can they heal and move forward with their lives? Good for fans of Andrew Sean Greer’s Less
The Takedown - Carlie Walker
Silly, and not in a particularly fun way. I shan’t bother summarizing, other than to say it was a romance with an action plot (CIA, FBI, undercover, family wedding, Maine) that altogether made very little sense. I am certainly NOT above an action-romance (see my enthusiasm for The Blonde Identity, which I still think you should read) but this one was not good.
Here in the Dark - Alexis Soloski
I’m stealing vocabulary from the Bookshop description, but “dark and stylish” ARE the correct words here. NYC theater critic Vivian gets way, way too involved in looking into the death of someone who interviewed her: compelling reading about the mind of a critic, NYC theater, a woman maybe spiraling into madness and the meaning of art, but all wrapped into a mystery plot. Very good.
Love, Me - Jessica Saunders
Really had to look this one up to remember what it was, making me think I ought to call it forgettable? Rachel’s married, suburban life is upended (but… why?) by the release (why…) of correspondence with her high school boyfriend, who is now a famous actor (but… who cares?). Too contrived, romance unsatisfying. MUCH prefer Nora Goes Off Script for the “sparks with celebrity shaking up a mom’s life” genre.
Ilium - Lea Carpenter
Also super stylish: international espionage, in which a young woman, somewhat inadvertently, becomes the perfect undercover participant in a high-stakes mission. Lea Carpenter is (or seems to me, what do I know) very good (accurate?) on the subtle mechanics of spy craft and at telling a story where the plot is important, but so are questions of morality. A quiet spy thriller, very good.
West Heart Kill - Dann McDorman
A murder mystery, whose disembodied narrator spends a bunch of time talking to us about the rules and history of the mystery novel, and how this one fits into that universe. The murder occurs over the bicentennial weekend at an exclusive summer hunt club, where a private detective had preemptively finagled an invitation with an old college friend. Overall diverting, maybe a few too many narrator digressions and an ending warranting further discussion.
Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar
This has been thoroughly raved over the past month and it was quite good: Cyrus is a very sad recovering addict and a poet in the Midwest, shaped by his parents’ deaths, currently consumed by the topic of martyrs and now drawn to a Brooklyn gallery where a terminally ill artist is staging her last show. Deserves a more thoughtful review than my few sentences, so linking to a real review here!
Thanks for being here, and I’ll be back SOON.
— Alexa
Currently reading
The Fortune Seller: recently started, but the relevant nouns seem to be: horses, Tarot, Yale, female friendship, money.