Oh hi! It’s mid-February, and I’m just now posting the list of what we read in January. Whoops! Well, actually I had a pretty good excuse this month…I went to Turkey!
Yep, my employer sends us on a yearly retreat. We’re all remote, so we get to meet once a year in person to hang out, work together, share ideas, brainstorm, and just have a good time. It’s been in Cancun the past two years, but this year it was in Antalya, Turkey.
Now, I had never flown across an ocean or spent longer than about 4 hours on a plane at once. So, I was pretty nervous leading up to it. Thankfully, it all went pretty dang smoothly and, although I had to deal with some jet leg, it ended up being really fun! I’m not sure I’d volunteer to spend 20+ hours in airports/planes again any time soon, but I did really enjoy myself.
In conclusion, if I can handle this, then you can do hard things. You can do things that feel anxiety-inducing. You can do things out of your comfort zone.
Without further ado, here’s what we read in January.
Cathy
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
This is a re-read of one of my favourite books ever. I absolutely adore the story, the characters, the setting, everything in The Starless Sea. I’m listening to the audiobook this time and have really enjoyed the different narrators that read out the different storylines – it somehow makes everything more cohesive.
Zachary Ezra Rawlins finds a book in his university library that mentions an incident from his childhood – I’d say it was a missed opportunity. He then seeks out answers in New York, where he meets Mirabel (a painter) and Dorian (a mysterious and handsome stranger) and attempts to figure out how his story ended up in this book.
The Starless Sea is essentially three or four storylines running alongside each other in one book. You’re not quite sure what’s happening when to begin with but as you get further into the story, you start to figure out how things, events, and people are connected within this universe. I enjoy a puzzle when I’m reading and Erin Morgenstern’s whimsical descriptions and endearing romances make the whole book fun to read.
It’s 5 stars for me.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness by Alastair Humphreys
British adventurer Alastair Humphreys spends a year exploring the local map of where he lives in the UK – think the couple of miles or so around his house – with the aim of noticing more, understanding more, and getting to know the natural world in his immediate surroundings.
I’ve been enjoying Local a lot, I like Humphreys’ thoughtful and thought-provoking writing – he moves from descriptive observations to interesting questions that get you thinking in one page. He puts out questions, things for you to mull over. His writing style is easy-going, not overly complicated, and pleasant to read – it’s a nice break from the winter weather in the northern hemisphere as the book stars off around September.
I picked up this book because I really like the idea of exploring your immediate surroundings and enjoying the beauty of the world that’s literally just outside your door (or window). I enjoy the fact that Humphreys gave himself a limited space to discover and shows how much you can learn from a couple of square miles. It’s a book about slowing down, taking time to smell the flowers (sometimes literally), and generally noticing things that we are sometimes too busy to notice.
It’ll be 3.5 stars for me 🙂
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Joli
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Oh man, I loved this book. We’ve been stuck in a polar vortex here in the Minneapolis area this January, with actual air temps dipping down into the negatives, so reading about an especially cold winter in Maine in the 18th century was just what I needed to dive into while snuggled in a warm blanket. (If you love winter books too, check out our list of winter books.)
As the title of the book implies, the frozen river/weather/setting is like an extra character in the book. It’s everything I was hoping for, with deep snow, roaring fires for warmth, a couple blizzards, candle making to light the long winter nights, creaking ice, biting cold horse rides to get to laboring women…perfect.
Check out my full review of The Frozen River.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph
Things I Learned From Falling by Claire Nelson (Audiobook)
Imagine falling and shattering your pelvis on a solo hike in the desert. How would you survive without adequate water, too much sun exposure, and no signal on your phone?
That’s the reality that Claire Nelson faced one day when she decided to go for a hike. Somehow she strayed far from the trail she thought she was on, tried to scale some boulders, and fell, destroying her pelvis bones. She was stuck on her back in the desert in pain, dealing with unrelenting heat during the day and shivering cold at night.
I enjoyed this audiobook, read by Claire herself. Her story is certainly harrowing! In addition to telling the story of her fall and subsequent 3 desperate days lying in the desert, she delves into her past to explain how she ended up alone in the desert that fateful day. Although there are certainly some great insights in those chapters, I wasn’t as engaged with that part of the story. Overall an enjoyable listen, though!
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan
Having grown up in Wisconsin (and now not living far away in Minnesota), these cryptid hunting mysteries have been super fun to read. I had never heard of a hodag before and was pretty surprised that the Rhinelander Hodag is a “real” thing! Now I feel the need to go on a road trip to meet some hodag statues.
Anyway, getting to the book! It was a fun read, just like the other two. Morgan is just as curious, the murder is just as mysterious, and the possibility of a living cryptid is just as thrilling.
Check out my full review of Beast of the North Woods.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Molly
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
An Africanfuturist novella set in Nigeria. AO, a cybernetically enhanced woman, flees her city after an altercation with a group of men in a marketplace. On the run and off grid, she meets DNA, a traditional herdsmen who has lost most of his cattle and two friends as a result of a staged terrorist attack.
Together, AO and DNA find themselves headed into the Red Eye, a raging desert storm, as they learn harrowing details about their government and the wealthiest corporation in their society.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
A professor from San Francisco and her husband buy a home in Italy. There are recipes, and also lots of complaining about how expensive everything is.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Renee
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
It’s August 1975. 2 months into the summer at Camp Emerson, Barbara Van Laar goes missing. But Barbara isn’t just any summer camper. Her wealthy family owns the large home at the top of the hill where they host extravagant parties for their wealthy friends. And, unfortunately, Barbara is not the first of their children to go missing. Their son Bear disappeared from the property during the summer of 1961 and was never found.
The book weaves together the stories of multiple characters: Barbara; her bunkmate, Tracy; her camp counselor, Louise, her mother, Alice; and Investigator Judy Luptack, the only female investigator on Barbara’s case. Through these stories, another emerges from the camp’s director, TJ Hewitt, a woman who grew up at Camp Emerson and the Van Laar Preserve, and whose father was the caretaker before her. The Hewitts and the Van Laars are and have always been closely connected.
The book sees all of the female characters making the best of their situations as they work for something more. It’s a mystery, but it’s also a book about family (chosen and traditional).
Beautifully written and engaging. Loved it.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson
Bel Price was a small child when her mother, Rachel, disappeared. Bel was found in her car seat, in the back of her mother’s car, with her mother nowhere to be found.
As the anniversary of Rachel’s disappearance approaches, a film crew comes to town to investigate and interview Bel, now 17, her dad, Charlie, and other members of their family.
And then, in the midst of filming the documentary, something happens that no one anticipated: Rachel returns.
While this is technically a YA book, I think that, like with Holly Jackson’s other books, adults can enjoy it, as well.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win by Jo Piazza
Charlotte Walsh and her husband, Max, are executives at a tech company in Silicon Valley, but she wants more. Originally from Pennsylvania, she decides to return there to run for Senate against Ted Slaughter, a Republican who generally runs unopposed because he’s occupied his seat forever.
The book follows Charlotte and her family for a little over a year as she launches her campaign, moves back to Pennsylvania, and focuses all her time and effort on winning. This is definitely a good book to read if you’re interested in women in politics. I think the more interesting thing is the way it looks at gender roles and its portrayal of the idea that women can have it all and do it all. The flip side of that is knowing that “all” means the good and the bad, including the toll women pay for ambition.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
While out to dinner for her 45th birthday with her quiet husband who is in his 80s, Josie Fair sees another woman celebrating her birthday surrounded by an attentive husband and lots of family and friends. The woman is also turning 45.
Josie follows her to the bathroom and introduces herself by saying, “Hi! I’m your birthday twin!” They realize that they were born on the same day at the same hospital. But their lives have been very different.
The woman is podcaster Alix Summer, and in her, Josie sees an opportunity to share her story of change. Josie wants a change. Her life feels stagnant. Routine. She’s bitter and resentful.
Josie latches onto Alix and they begin recording.
Within a few weeks, both families are shattered and two people are dead.
Lisa Jewell is so good at domestic thrillers. This one kept me turning pages, eager to find out what was going to happen next. The reader knows pretty early on that something isn’t quite right with Josie, but there are so many different versions of events that it’s hard to know exactly what’s true.
Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
That’s our list! What did you read in January?
