books read: 2024 january

[meitachi]

It's 2024! Going to try to do book reviews by month again. I didn't end up catching up on One Piece again in January as I vaguely hoped to do, but I was dealing with some family and work things. And February will be a month of work insanity, so we'll see what I manage to get read. But I'm excited about my TBR list! Continuing to treat it as a "could read" list and adding and deleting things at will.

1. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - A reread of a classic mystery where I had vague impressions of remembering the ending but also forgot the details. Honestly, sometimes having no memory is great for rereading mysteries! This was appropriately twisty and iconic.



2. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi - Oh man, a take on Bluebeard that I really enjoyed. There was always a sense of knowing what was coming, to an extent, but I still really enjoyed the ride. Took a beat to get into the writing/storytelling style, but it worked for me. Surprisingly fairy tale-like despite being set in modern day, though there's just enough weirdness of behavior that you kind of handwave/accept as part of the tale.



3. How to Protect Bookstores and Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling by Danny Craine - Loaned from a friend whom I had shared dreams of starting an Asian American bookstore in Houston with. It is likely not to be, but it's interesting to examine the struggles and role of bookstores in the community and the different ways to engage, sustain, and survive Amazon. Made me think about a lot of things, but also, yeah, rent is difficult, margins are thin. Bookselling is not a glamorous job.



4. Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux - This was added to my TBR list after reviews of Michael Lewis' book, Going Infinite, were critical. This is definitely a more curious and critical take of crypto. Fascinating, disturbing, and strange to have lived through the same time period as the folks in this book and have such a different life experience and lens. Anyway, lots of men are misogynists, get-rich-quick is almost always a scam, and I have come to understand I would never enjoy loud DJed parties on yachts even if I were rich.



5. School Stories by P. G. Wodehouse - Actually a collection put together by Standard Ebooks of some of Wodehouse's short stories through the years. It took me a moment to get into -- the first story had way too much technical stuff about cricket -- but on the whole it was a fun peek into British public school boys and their friendships, shenanigans, and relationships with their schools. Kinda silly and harmless, if you ignore the vast privilege and wealth inherent in their lives and the system.



6. Jackalope Wives and Other Stores by T. Kingfisher - Absolutely loved this book of new fairy tales, many of which are set in the U.S., but still captures the mythos and feel of fairy tales. Very nature-oriented, rules-oriented, lyrical, creepy, lovely. The title story Jackalope Wives probably stands out most with its borrowing of selkie lore and set in the southwest desert instead, featuring silly men and tough old women with wisdom and grit. Also the one on old gods and death, which made me cry for a possum. Anyway. Fantastic!



7. To Davy Jones Below by Carola Dunn - (Daisy Dalrymple #9) Much more fun than some recent ones, but I do enjoy murder mysteries set on a ship. The dangers of the sea! People trapped in one space! The inherent conflict of feeling absolutely physically miserable (seasick) and also dressing nicely and playing games as if you're in regular high society. Anyway, a fun one with a slightly interesting twist on the end.



8. Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed - A graphic novel by an Egyptian author, with a retelling of genies that grant wishes -- but these wishes are commodified and sold at markets. Follows the story of three modern-day Egyptians and how they use their wish, including how the fallout for each of them is different. Such interesting worldbuilding! But it's absolutely the characters who draw you in, feeling real and sympathetic and compelling, in their good and terrible decision-making.



9. Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - (Before the Coffee Gets Cold #4) A gift from a friend who didn't realize it was book 4 in the series, but honestly I'm not sure I need the earlier books to understand. Time-traveling cafe, human stories of (missed) connections and coming to better understanding to move on... I felt like the stories were pretty heavy-handed in getting their message across, and the characters not particularly fleshed out. I also couldn't tell if it was the original writing or translation that came off distant and stilted, but it was Not Good. Perhaps it was a choice, but one I did not enjoy (compared to many other translated Japanese novels I've read).



10. Up Home: One Girl's Journey by Ruth J. Simmons - A memoir of the early life of the author, who became the first Black woman to serve as president of an Ivy League university. But before all her flowers and recognition, this was a story of how she grew up in small town/farmland East Texas, moved to Houston, and slowly had her world opened up to more than what was ever expected of her (frankly: not much). A tough but lovely look at East Texas, and especially Houston; I think the history here is particularly interesting given my own time on these same streets and knowing how different things are now.



11. The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman - I was wary but interested; the premise is middle-aged women in Regency England taking on capers to help others, but I had not enjoyed the author's Dark Days series. This worked better for me! I really enjoyed the writing, the sisterly relationship, and even the self-righteousness of the heroine's Notions of Justice. She was somewhat appropriately tempered by the realities of society, but did still try to do the right (and sometimes reckless) thing, but with help. Truly, I think the sister helped balance this. The villains are all so...villainous, whether starkly evil or just Oppressive Misogynists, but at least there's acknowledgement that they're kind of enabled and lauded by society. Anyway, there's a little romance but it's not the main focus so I could deal with it. Very much ends set up for a sequel, which I will definitely read.