January book reviews
If you’re a reader, you might be like me and set reading goals for the year. What are your 2024 goals?
On Goodreads, I said that I want to read 120 books this year (down 35 from last year – the idea is to read slowly and with more intention, and maybe not try to race my friends).
I also want to read twenty books set in and by authors from twenty different countries. This month I covered four: India, Canada, the United States, and England.
Here’s what kept me busy in January.
The Persuaders – Anand Giridharadas
In our fractious, angry world, how do you change someone’s mind? Democracy is predicated on the ability for us to disagree congenially – to have faith in a system that represents us, even if our chosen party isn’t elected. Today, with social media echo chambers forever entrenching existing views, persuading someone to a different position feels impossible. Journalist Giridharadas’ non-fiction book is a case study in mind-changing. He interviews successful activists, politicians like AOC and Bernie Sanders, and more to explore the subtle and strategic art of meaningful persuasion.
Recommended by Cathy
The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese
A sprawling story rooted in Kerala, India. Follows generations of a rural farming and land-owning family from the aftermath of the world wars to partition to the modernization efforts of the 1970s. Rich in description of India’s Malabar Coast, its seasons, and its people from bustling city centers to remote leper colonies. A rotating cast of narrators including a young bride relocated from her family, an earnest Scottish doctor posted in Madras (modern day Chennai), a would-be writer, and more, each as compelling as the last. A massive book about family curses and the price of love, well worth the read.
Recommended by Michaela
Split Tooth – Tanya Tagaq
A short, heart wrenching story that is equal parts novel, poetry collection, and musical album from renowned Inuk throat-singer Tanya Tagaq. Traces the coming of age of a nameless Inuk girl in an arctic town in Nunavut. Replete with all the familiar woes of adolescence – first crushes, social jockeying, drugs and rebellion – but darker yet for the undercurrent of sexual violence and substance abuse that shadows the narrator wherever she goes. Tagaq interweaves mythic elements and cutting turns of poetic phrase between chapters. I recommend the audiobook because it also features sections of throat singing. A weird, haunting, beautiful read.
The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, The Burning God – R. F. Kuang
R.F. Kuang is the most powerful voice writing in fantasy today. Her epic historical trilogy is set in an imagined feudal China and follows the rise to power of Rin, a lowly war orphan. The trilogy pivots from civil war between warlords to a broader conflict against white-saviour-esque colonizers. Kuang’s books are relentless in their social commentary – from addiction, to slavery, to the nature of divinity, to who has the right to rule and the brutal cost of war, her trilogy embraces dark themes in a way that immediately makes you see the relevance of her critique in our modern world. Not for the faint of heart, these massive novels show how power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Despite that, you can’t help but root for Rin and her revolving door of allies (betrayals abound in war, it turns out) on this rollercoaster of a story. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something dark and meaningful that will make you think.
Recommended by Justine
The Dutch House – Ann Patchett
An intimate and unusual story about the strange sway an old manor house has over its occupants. Patchett is an exceptionally popular writer and this novel shows why – she can weave a sense of place and people that compels you to keep reading, even if you don’t really like the characters. Follows a brother and a sister as their family falls apart and they’re forced to make peace with repeated abandonment by mother figures.
The Invited – Jennifer McMahon
An unassuming little ghost story about the legacy of a family whose matriarch Hattie Breckenridge was hung for witchcraft. McMahon’s novel features two narrators – a young girl whose mother disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and a relocated urbanite building a new home on cursed land. They slowly unravel the mystery of what happened to Hattie, all the while experiencing unexplainable hauntings. A quick, atmospheric read that puts a twist on typical ghost story tropes.
Recommended by Kelsey
The Essex Serpent – Sarah Perry
For fans of Wuthering Heights or Fayne. A novel that is much about a place (the dark bogs and rolling moors of the Essex, UK coastline) as a people. Perry’s novel follows Cora Seaborne, a recent widower who relocates from London to a rugged little estate in Essex where she embarks on a quest to discover the truth behind the rumoured Essex serpent. Though the book promises a monster – the serpent is said to steal farm animals and children in the night – it is much more a story about discovering who you are after a period of oppression. The book has all the hallmarks of its spiritual contemporaries – forbidden love, fervent religion, tuberculosis and poverty – and though its meandering at times, it’s ultimately satisfying, especially because Perry, an Essex native, imbues it with a sense of place.
Recommended by Allie
