With the cold weather, I was able to kick off the year with some great reading. I read some pretty great books in January and I am excited to share them with you.
Books Read: 16
Favorite Books: Final Girls by Riley Sager, The House at the End of the Hope Street by Menna van Praag, Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
Least Favorite Books: The Pisces by Melissa Broder, Elminster: The Making of a Mage by Ed Greenwood
The House at the End of the Hope Street by Menna van Praag
*****
“Filled with a colorful and unforgettable cast of literary figures, The House at the End of Hope Street is a charming, whimsical novel of hope and feminine wisdom.”
It’s been a while since I fell headfirst in love with a novel. I continued to hold this book next to my heart because I just loved everything about it so much. There is so much beauty and enchantment in this novel. It follows a couple of different women, magically inclined, who are staying at a magical house filled with iconic literary characters, and their lives as the house help them find happiness.
Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston
*****
Based on interviews between Zora Neale Hurston and the elderly former slave sat and chat, based on those interviews, featuring Cudjo’s unique vernacular, and written from Hurston’s perspective with the compassion and singular style that have made her one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth-century, Barracoonmasterfully illustrates the tragedy of slavery and of one life forever defined by it. Offering insight into the pernicious legacy that continues to haunt us all, black and white, this poignant and powerful work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
*****
Little Women is a classic and is such a great read for the winter when curled by the fireplace.
Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
****
Go Tell It On The Mountain, first published in 1953, is Baldwin’s first major work, a semi-autobiographical novel that has established itself as an American classic. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy’s discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Baldwin’s rendering of his protagonist’s spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves.
Final Girls by Riley Sager
****
Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.
That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.
Elminster: The Making of a Mage by Ed Greenwood
**
It is the time before Myth Drannor, when the Heartlands are home to barbarians, and wicked dragons rule the skies. In these ancient days, Elminster is but a shepherd boy, dreaming of adventure and heroics. When a dragon-riding magelord sweeps down upon him, though, the boy is thrust into a world of harsh realities, corrupt rulers and evil sorcerers.
The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers ****
This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Phillips ****
The Witch’s Book of Self-Care: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit by Arin-Murphy-Hiscock ****
The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton ***
Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth’s Most Awesome Creatures by Nick Pyenson ***
The Pisces by Melissa Broder **
An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena ***
Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber **
Melmoth by Sarah Perry ****
Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren *****
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I have to read Little Women!
It’s pretty great!