everything i read in january

a reading diary

Behind every Substack-er is a bookish nerd. I am no different. This year I want to try keeping a monthly diary of everything I read and how I felt about it. I’ll keep this preamble short, except to say while I *am* trying to read more this year, January was a particularly book-heavy month for me because I read a lot during the winter break (averaging a book every 4-5 days). I don’t expect every month will be as bookish. Okay let’s go.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

I started this book on December 30th and finished it in January so I’m counting it. Overall, I did not enjoy this book which makes me sad because everyone else seems to have loved it, and I love being in sync with the cultural zeitgeist. I’ve thought about it a lot and I think my dislike basically boils down to never really warming to the main characters. I found the unnamed narrator prickly and unlikeable. I have this pet peeve with female characters when the main thing making them interesting is that they’re grumpy and reek of being “not like other girls.” I know a lot of us female writers like feeling glum and misunderstood, but I felt like this main character was condescending and obtuse which ultimately just meant I was never really rooting for her.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

This was my first book by Riley Sager and it kept me engaged. I’m a life-long cozy mystery reader, and while this one wasn’t as cozy, it had a lot of elements that spoke to me: a dilapidated seaside mansion, a mysterious mute suspect, a gothic and shadowy past. I enjoyed the twist at the end and could see myself picking up more of his work.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Another one I read to see what the hype was all about. It’s short novel, almost reads like an essay on humanity and the natural world. I understand why it won all the awards it did, the writing is vivid and inspiring, the takeaways hopeful, profound and sobering. But I came into this book thinking it was a sci-fi novel which is most definitely is not, so I think that skewed my reading of it a bit.

Stalking Wild Psoas: Embodying Your Core Intelligence by Liz Koch

The first non-fiction of the year was recommended to me by

Kara Duval

and I’m glad I read it. Liz Koch has devoted her life’s work to helping people work support their psoas— the pair of muscles that attach at the spine and run down and reconnect on the inside of the hip bones— as a way of not only finding physical healing, but mental and emotional release as well. If you ever read The Body Keeps the Score, and wondered “how do I address my trauma on a physical level?” this book is for you. Academic writing, but most of the book is stories of working with hundreds of clients over the years and I found it really inspiring.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen

Having had a few weeks to sit with this book, I’ve decided I really liked it. I believe it’s the author’s debut novel, and if cozy mystery met nordic noir, it’d be this book. It follows the story of Agnes, a Californian who returns to her family’s homeland in Iceland to solve a cold case where everyone is sure the murder suspect was her grandfather. She goes to assist a podcaster covering the case with the specific intent of clearing her grandfather’s name, and discovers more secrets than she bargained for. When I was done reading this one I realized I wanted to stay in the snowy world Larsen built, drinking wine in the cabin at the base of the mountains talking about true crime. A good winter read for sure.

Long Bright River by Liz Moore

I read God of the Woods by Moore last year and fell in love with her style of writing, I’d call literary mystery. I didn’t like this one AS much as I loved GOTW, but she has such a wonderful way a developing out such real and beautiful characters. The dialogue feels so real, I’m never distracted by it feeling stilted or forced. The rest of her work is in my TBR.

City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim

Several things compelled me to pick this one up: it takes place in St. Petersburg, Russia (a city I love!), it’s about Russian ballet, and the cover. The writing style takes itself dead seriously, and while Natasha the protagonist is definitely a bit prickly, she doesn’t have any of the false modesty that annoys me about female leads. She knows she’s talented and works hard. I found myself endeared to her and in awe with the amount of research and work that Kim obviously put into writing this book. I really loved it.

Snow by John Banville

My first book by Banville and again, I was drawn in by the idea of a cozy mystery that takes place during a snowstorm in Ireland. I mean what’s not to love? It was much darker than I anticipated for a novel that follows the cozy mystery tropes so faithfully. Some of the thematic elements were definitely more reminiscent of Nordic Noir, but overall Banville is a wonderful writer and I found myself totally sucked in to this story.

The Witch Hunter by Max Seeck

Classic Nordic Noir with a whiff of the supernatural. A famous crime author’s wife gets murdered in her home, leading to a string of killings pointing to occult activity. This police procedural takes place in the winter in Finland is fairly fast-paced and is definitely darker than my usual cozy mystery books, but I always feel like reading something more depressing in the dead of winter. This book definitely delivered with a great twist at the end.

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The only other non-fiction read this month was a Christmas present to myself. It’s short and contains beautiful thoughts and drawings. I didn’t love it as much as Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer’s breakout book on humanity’s relationship with the natural world, but it still contained a lot of profound takeaways with the perk of being a MUCH quicker read. A good meditative collection of essays on our role in the world.

That’s it for January folks! I’ve been making my way very slowly through my February reads so next month’s round up won’t be as long but if one of these sparks your interest let me know in the comments.

cheers!

g xx

I may earn a small commission from anything purchased through the Bookshop links listed above. Everything goes towards supporting this newsletter. Thanks in advance!