I kept saying the January books post would be soon, but clearly I have a wonky definition of the word "soon," as it's already March.
Anyway, here it is. I read nine books in January. I'm trying something new and keeping my little summary above the cut, with my thoughts under the cut. Spoilers, as always, will be marked.
1.
Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist - 2.5 stars. Two years ago Lena dropped out of med school and went to work for her botanist aunt in Italy. Now she's back home because her father has lost his job and she needs to help her family pay the rent. She finds a job working as an assistant to the personal physician of an extremely wealthy family. This includes being on-hand to administer treatment for the inevitable alcohol poisoning and drug overdoses suffered by guests of the family's wild and lavish parties. After a particularly rough party where she witnesses an innocent acquaintance being humiliated and degraded, Lena decides to put her botany knowledge to use and punish them all.
( My thoughts on Tripping Arcadia )2.
The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz - 3 stars. Struggling writer Alex is invited to attend a writing retreat at the home of her absolute favorite author and of course she jumps at the chance. She and the four other attendees are told upon arriving that they must complete an entire novel during the month-long retreat, and the best one will be given a massive publishing deal. They also must hit a certain word count per day or they will be kicked out of the house and sent home with nothing. It's nightmare NaNoWriMo. Not only that, but Alex's former BFF Wren is another of the attendees. Alex is terrified of Wren and Wren is an immature mean girl who lives to beat down her former friend in every way she can think of. And then a blizzard cuts the isolated house off completely from the outside world, and strange, spooky things start to happen.
( My thoughts on The Writing Retreat )3.
Night Film by Marisha Pessl - 3.5 stars. Ashley Cordova, daughter of mysterious director Stanislaus Cordova, famous for his dark, troubling, and impenetrable films (think basically an amalgamation of Kubrick, Hitchcock, and David Lynch), is found dead by apparent suicide. Disgraced investigative journalist Scott McGrath thinks there's more to the story. But he has to be careful with his investigation, as it was an ill-researched and immediately debunked hit piece on Stanislaus that destroyed Scott's reputation to begin with. So no one is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to any Cordova. Pairing up with a couple of 20-somethings who have tenuous connections to Ashley, he sets out to find out what really happened, and what dark secrets the Cordova family is hiding.
( My thoughts on Night Film )4.
Nestlings by Nat Cassidy - 2.5 stars. Ana and Reid are a married couple with an almost one-year-old baby. Ana suffered a traumatic birth experience and is still recovering from the effects. Reid is an aspiring musician who is slogging his way through a standard office job that he hates. It seems like their luck is about to turn, however, when they are picked out of the housing lottery and given an apartment in a swanky NYC building they would otherwise never be able to afford. But from day one something seems off. Ana has a bad feeling she can't shake. Reid is growing increasingly angry and impatient with his life and family. The baby won't stop screaming. The neighbor seems to be in the middle of a psychotic break and none of the building staff seem to care. As things grow stranger, it becomes clear there is something terrible happening to the building's inhabitants.
( My thoughts on Nestlings )5.
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters - 2 stars. Ruthie, youngest daughter of a migrant Mi'kmaq family, disappears from Maine one summer. Her older brother Joe was the last to see her, and he never stops blaming himself for her disappearance. Meanwhile, Norma grows up in a middle class household with a distant father and an overbearing mother. But there's a huge secret her parents are keeping from her, and it will take her decades to figure out what it is.
( My thoughts on The Berry Pickers )6.
Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King - 4 stars. Dolores Claiborne is sitting in the local police station, having been accused of killing her wealthy employer Vera Donovan. She insists Vera's death was an accident, and over the course of the evening, she tells her story--the whole story, about her abusive marriage, her attempts to be the mother her children needed, her complicated relationship with Vera, and the murder that she did commit.
( My thoughts on Dolores Claiborne )7.
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow - 4 stars. I'm going to paste part of the Goodreads blurb because it basically covers it: "For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. David Graeber and David Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals. Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself."
( My thoughts on The Dawn of Everything )8.
The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman - 4 stars. The second book in The Invisible Library series. Irene is now Librarian-in-Residence in the alternate version of London that most of the first book was set in. Kai the dragon prince is still her assistant/apprentice, and they still work regularly with Holmes-esque detective Vale. When Kai suddenly goes missing, it soon becomes clear that he has been captured by one of the Fae, who has taken him to a different alternate world and plans to auction him off, with the ultimate goal of provoking a war between the Fae and the Dragons. Irene, as a member of the neutral Library, isn't allowed to take sides. But she can't just leave Kai to suffer, so she risks her life, her career, and everything to go after him.
( My thoughts on The Masked City )9.
C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton - 2 stars. In this one Kinsey is hired by wealthy 20-something Bobby Callahan. Bobby was in a car accident six months prior that killed his best friend and left Bobby with life-long physical disabilities. Everyone blames Bobby for the accident, assuming he was drunk and speeding, but Bobby insists he was forced off the road by another car, and that someone deliberately tried to kill him over some secret that Bobby found out. Problem is, due to his TBI Bobby can't remember what that secret was or who it might have been about. So Kinsey takes the case with no clues, no suspects, and a client who can't be anything more than vague about what actually happened to him. Though it soon becomes clear that Bobby might be right after all.
( My thoughts on C is for Corpse )
![[personal profile]](/makepkg/implementing-https-www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
