December 2023 in Books

I'm so late with my December reading recap, it's been a busy several weeks, but better late than never right?  Here you go:

The Postcard - Anne Berest - historical fiction - five starrs - Loved this one.  It's kind of a Holocaust mystery, and a fictionalization of the author's family and search for answers.  One year, her mother receives a postcard.  On it are written four names - the names of family members lost during the Holocaust.  There is no sender name or return address.  Fifteen years after received the postcard, the author decides to try and figure out who sent it.  Her exploration leads to numerous conversations with her mother and others as she hears the story of how her mother grew up and survived.  A must read.

This Other Eden - Paul Harding - historical fiction - five stars - Based on the true story of an island off Maine where freed blacks settled in the late 1700s.  The island became a haven for former slaves, Native Americans, mixed race families.  They lived there peacefully, though with very little, until they were evicted by the state of Maine in 1912.  The book covers the history of representative families there as well as the period directly preceeding their eviction.  The families were considered mentally and physically unsound, some were sent to psychiatric facilities, others fled.  It's a sad story of home and loss of it.

The Vaster Wilds - Lauren Groff - historical fiction - five stars - The story of a servant who flees her English colonial settlement in the midst of famine and escapes to the north.  It's a story of survival against all odds as well as solitude.  The girl is trying to reach the French settlements, but ends up alone.  The Native Americans know she is there and tolerate her, but do not engage with her.  As she flees she remembers her story, the reason she left England, her life in the colony, her reasons for fleeing.  A quick and compelling read.

O Pioneers! (Great Plains Trilogy, #1) - Willa Cather - historical fiction - five stars - I read Cather's My Antonia several months ago and really enjoyed it.  Turns out it was the third book in her Great Plains Trilogy.  The books aren't related in terms of storyline, just in theme, so the rest of the books have been on my list to read.  This one was just as good.  It's the story of Alexandra Bergson who grows up on a farm in Nebraska.  Her father dies when she is just a teen and it has been a difficult existence for the family, but Alexandra is savvy and innovative.  She takes over the farm and it prospers as does her family.  Just like My Antonia the book doesn't necessarily have a story arc, it's just the story of life, the good and the bad, the various relationships, how Alexandra lives her life and what goes on in it.  Really enjoyed and looking foroward to reading book #2.

The Mystery Guest (Molly the Maid, #2) - Nita Prose - detective - five stars - This is a sequel to Prose's The Maid which I really enjoyed.  Molly is now Head Maid at the Regency Grand, and she's in charge of a reception int he newly renovated tea room for famous mystery writer J. D. Grimthorpe.  When Grimthorpe drops dead, an investigation ensues.  Molly, and others, are under suspicion.  Molly works to discover who the murderer is while also remembering the past....Molly and Grimthorpe actually have a connection.  I enjoyed learning more about Molly's growing up life in this book, and while it wasn't quite as good as the first one, still very good.

North Woods - Daniel Mason - historical fiction - four stars - This book is centered around a little cabin in New England built by a couple that runs away from their Puritan settlement.  It follows the life of the house up to presenet times and the inhabitants that live in it throughout the years.  This one was more like three and a half stars rounded up.  For me it was kind of uneven.  I found some of the stories of the inhabitants fascinating and really interesting, while others were not so much.  It ended up being a little bit of a let down as I thought the first part of the book was the strongest and then kind of faded away.  Still a decent read.

We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I - Raja Shehadeh - biography - four stars - A really interesting book particularly in light of current events.  Shehadeh is a Palestinian writer/journalist/attorney who is looking back at the life of his father, also a Palestinian lawyer and activist.  The book focuses in large part on how the Palestinian state arose and while there is plenty of frustration with the Israelis, he is equally critical of the Arab world's complicity, particularly Jordan.  His father spent time in jail and was later banned from Jordan (and his family) for a time due to his activities.  A really interesting view of the current situation came to be.

Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education - Stephanie Land - autobiography - three stars - This was a strong disappointment.  It's probably closer to two and a half stars rounded up.  I really enjoyed Land's previous book, Maid.  It was eye opening to me how fine a line many families walk between making it and not making it as well as the difficulties in obtaining aid.  In this part of Land's story, she and her daughter have moved to Missouri where she is getting her degree.  She continues to clean and between that, child support, a scholarship, and school loans they are surviving.  This book bothered me a lot though.  Honestly, Land just seemed pretty selfish throughout.  I get that she wants time to herself, to live the life of a student vs a mom, but she got to where she is as a result of decisions she made in her life, many of them admirable, but they were her choices.  She complains a lot about having a kid and not being able to have a life.  When she doesn't have her daughter she makes questionable choices that lead to other difficulties.  Maid made me want to read a second book by Land, this one makes me not want to read a third.

My Armenian Friend: A Novel - Andrei Makine - fiction - four stars - This book is a reflection of the narrator's childhood friendship with Vardan, an Armenian boy living temporarily in Siberia where the narrator is an orphan.  The orphans go to the local school along with the regular inhabitants of the town, and that's where he meets and befriends Vardan.  Vardan is a quiet, thoughtful child with very deep and thought provoking observations.  He changes the narrator's view of the world and those around him.  The story takes place over a short period of time, but the impact of the friendship is lasting.  This wasn't a knock your socks off book, but I enjoyed the pace and tenor of it.

Favorite this month was The Postcard and least favorite was Class.  I got to 99 books in 2023!  I never set goals, but 99 seems kind of like it's taunting me...  I'm off to a bit of a slower start this year, but I need to hurry it up as there are a ton of books that just came in on my hold list.  I'm currently almost done with Tom Lake which I'm loving as well as the autobiography of a travel writer which I am not loving.  What have you guys been reading?