January and February 2023 Reading Roundup

So far, in January and February of 2023, I've read far more than in the same time period the prior few years! 

In part, I've been making a conscious choice to sit down with a book instead of mindlessly scrolling or watching TV. I've also just been far less stressed than in the last few years, so it's been more natural to pick up a book without having to make a conscious effort. 

Links within the body of this post are affiliate links for Bookshop.org. Links at the end of the post are from Amazon.com. Either way, these may result in a small commission for me if you make purchases through these links. Thank you in advance!

In January, I finished:

• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (American fiction)
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (non-fiction; memoir; autobiography; poetry)

In February, I finished:

• Cold by Mariko Tamaki (young adult fiction; murder mystery)
• The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson (Contemporary British fiction; chick lit; Rom-Com; lighthearted and sweet)
• Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan (Contemporary American fiction; psychological thriller; family and friend relationships; near future climate crisis)

As of this writing -- the second to last day of February -- I am currently working my way through:

• No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib (Contemporary fiction; dramatic and tense but EXCELLENT)
• The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (Contemporary Swedish fiction; humorous)
• Animal Farm by George Orwell (Fiction; satire)

I have several other books in progress from months past, but these three are at the top of my list.

So far, the best book I've read in 2023 is Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan. Whoa! This book is tense, but I could not put it down! The book takes place in the near future amid a growing climate crisis that is making life nearly unbearable in what is an otherwise very typical suburban United States neighborhood. As the story unfolds, we see relationships  shift between a group of neighbors and their children. The kids are growing up and shifting allegiances. The parents are mostly trying to hold their lives and families together with varying degrees of success. Ultimately, everything unravels when one of the kids disappears into a sink hole. Cracks in all of the relationships -- family units, friends, and so on -- begin to form and unthinkable acts of violence occur under the cover of darkness. Although this was a devastating story, it was also exceptionally written and I highly recommend it.

What has been your best read so far in 2023?

BOOK REVIEW: Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Folger Library edition

This post may contain affiliate links -- making a purchase through these links is at no additional cost to you, but may earn a much appreciated commission for my blog. Thank you.

As part of the Shakespeare 2020 reading challenge (see THIS post for more info), I started off 2020 by reading Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.

Please note:

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

if you aren't familiar with the story line of Twelfth Night. 

I read Twelfth Night in high school, and frankly, I remember enjoying it a lot more. The play is one of Shakespeare's comedies and centers around deception and mistaken identities, as well as love triangles, with a bit of mischief thrown in. 

As one of my tutoring students put it, many of Shakespeare's plays -- especially the comedies -- start out and end with a lot of action and the middle is almost all explication and background. I found this particularly true of Twelfth Night. I loved the beginning and the ending, but the middle was just a slog. While I suppose some of the mischief and trickery involved was necessary to heighten the main comedic aspects of the love triangles set up earlier in the play, I found that these portions overshadowed the rest of the play and the main story: the separation of siblings who believe each other dead and the love triangles based on mistaken and disguised identities. 

I really wanted more at the end of the play -- more action surrounding the unmasking (of sorts) of Viola, more around the reunion with her brother, Sebastian, and more tension between Orsino and Olivia.

There are definitely comedic aspects to the play, but it really confirmed that I very much prefer Shakespeare's tragedies over his comedies. 

I am officially quite far behind in the reading plan for the challenge, but hope to eventually catch up. I started reading Henry VI, Part I last night, and I LOVE IT! This is my first time reading Henry VI, and I wish I'd picked it up sooner! 

A couple of notes about reading the plays of Shakespeare:

1. Although plays are meant to be watched, heard, read aloud, I find great enjoyment in reading them. There's quite a bit of controversy in one of the online reading groups I participate in with regard to reading plays in general. I love it.
2. I specifically chose to read the Folger Library editions of all of Shakespeare's work, unless I am unable to get my hands on a copy. While there are may editions available, I particularly like Folger's approach to the material. Each book starts with several explanatory sections, including a brief overview of the specific play in the book, and each also has a brief synopsis of each Act and Scene at the start of each part of the play. Additionally, on the left page, specific vocabulary and notes are listed by line to assist in understanding as you read. The right page contains the text as closely to the original as makes sense (the prefaces include notes about changes that may have been made to the texts and why).

What is your favorite work by Shakespeare? Is there a particular edition that you like over others? Drop a note and let me know!

BOOK REVIEW: The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Ginder

Book: The People We Hate at the Wedding
Author: Grant Ginder
Publisher: Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan
Year First Published: 2017

ISBN: 9781250095206
Genre: contemporary fiction, dysfunctional family

Pairs well with a flute of champagne,

chocolate covered strawberries,

and a fainting couch.

I had really high hopes for The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Ginder, and although I did enjoy reading it, it wasn’t as stellar as I wanted it to be – maybe because I saw some of myself in each of the main characters? Maybe I didn’t like what I saw?

Whatever the reason, I do think this is a worthy read, regardless. The book centers around a brother and sister, their mom, and their half-sister. None of them are particularly nice, but they are all written in a manner that makes them painfully human and real.

First, there’s Alice. She used to be carefree and up-and-coming until a personal loss – a tragedy, really – sent her fleeing from real life into a pseudo-existence in Los Angeles where she (and if she were a real person, I think she’d agree) became a cliché. And, she’s doing her best to avoid dealing with her loss, even if it means pushing others away.

Second, we have Paul. Paul and Alice are brother and sister. Paul has all kinds of relationship issues ranging from a manipulative boyfriend to an overly protective mother to a father that wasn’t at all the person Paul thought his dad to be.

Next, we come to Eloise. Eloise is posh and poised. She’s Paul and Alice’s older sister – nay, half-sister – and they never really let her forget the “half” part of that equation. Eloise is the one getting married and Paul and Alice revel in picking apart every aspect of the wedding plans. For Eloise, outward appearances are almost everything, and she spends extensive amounts of time second guessing herself in order to put on an outer shell, masking what might be a rich inner life. She just wants everyone to be happy.

Then, we come to the matriarch – Donna. On the one hand, Donna is a great mom. She loves all of her children deeply and thoroughly and would do just about anything to protect them. On the other hand, I think she’s tired and just wants her kids to grow up already and to find happiness. She tries very hard to help them, but at the same time she has her own issues to deal with related to a failed marriage to Eloise’s dad (he’s charming, but a cad) and with the death of Alice and Paul’s father who turns out not to be quite what Paul thought he was.

Grant Ginder managed to write characters that are so real that I think most of us will see ourselves or those we know in these people.

And, while I mentioned that The People We Hate at the Wedding wasn’t all I had hoped it would be, the very last several pages redeem any shortcomings. Ginder ties up all the loose ends and pulls it all together in a satisfying manner that had me smiling and thinking, “Yes. These people are real and I so want them to carry on with one another and to keep trying to be the people they want each other to be.” Ginder doesn’t give us a “happily ever after” ending, but one that is real and satisfying. I definitely recommend The People We Hate at the Wedding for this alone (although the rest of it is worth reading too!).

What was the last book you read that left you satisfied and glad you’d read it, even if it wasn’t what you’d hoped it would be? Drop a comment and let me know! 

While I found The People We Hate at the Wedding at my local library, you can also find it on Amazon HERE.