January 2024 in Books

This year's reading is off to a bit of a dubious start.  Overall January was kind of a disappointing reading month.  There were a couple of gems, but also several books that were very hard to get through and others that were pretty marginal.  Read on for the recaps;

Tom Lake - Ann Patchett - fiction - five stars - I loved The Dutch House, so I was excited to read this new book from Patchett.  The book takes place during COVID.  Lara and her husband have a cherry orchard in Michigan.  Her three girls return home due to the state of world affairs to help on the farm, and as part of their time together, Lara is recounting a relationship she had long ago with a famous actor....she was briefly an actress as well, and that's part of the story too.  I loved how the story tied into Lara's current story, there were several twists that I did not expect at all, and it was just a really good read.  

Falling into Place: A Story of Love, Poland, and the Making of a Travel Writer - Thomas Swick - memoir - two stars - Ugh.  This was such a disappointment.  I picked this up on a whim based on the description...a journalist falls in love with a Polish woman, moves to Poland, develops a love for that country, sees things, etc.  Sounded like it would be a really interesting read right?  It was more like one of those comedy movies, where all the funny parts are in the trailer and that's really all you need to see, the movie itself isn't worth the time.  This was a total slog, and I really struggled to finish.  I kept thinking it would get better, but it didn't.  First off, I don't even like this guy's writing, ironic that he is a journalist, he kept talking about how editors would critique his word choices and I kind of agreed with the editors.  He was not particularly likable, the love story was not a great love story.  Just not worth the time at all.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith - fiction - five stars - This was my classic pick for the month, and I really enjoyed it.  It's the story of Francie Nolan growing up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.  Francie's family is poor, they scrimp and save and don't get ahead much, but they survive.  This wasn't a fast read with a real story arc.  It's just about life in the way Little House on the Praire is about the Ingalls' lives.  If you like that type of book, I think you'll like this one too.  There is good and bad and struggle and fairness and unfairness, but I really loved the character of Francie and how she persevered through it all.  Really enjoyed this one.

Amazing Grace Adams - Fran Littlewood - fiction - three stars - This was another big disappointment.  Grace Adams is basically having a mid-life crisis in the span of the day.  Her life is falling apart and she is walking across town to get to her daughter's 16th birthday part...the party she isn't supposed to go to because her daughter doesn't want her there.  They had a falling out and she is now living with her father.  As Grace walks, she thinks back over her life and what brought them to this place.  To me the mid-life crisis part and the trail of destruction that Grace leaves was unnecessary and kind of a distraction.  It was also annoying how the book seemed to focus on menopause as a cause for what was going on in Grace's life when there were definitely deeper issues.  This one I could have passed on.

The Fraud - Zadie Smith - historical fiction - three stars - This was another one where I just kept waiting for the book to get better and it never really did.  It's based on the life of William Ainsworth a British author from the late 1800s who was a contemporary of Dickens and many others.  The book is narrated from the point of view of Mrs. Touchet, Ainsworth's cousin and housekeeper.  Also woven into the narrative is the story of Roger Tichborne and the Ticheborne Trial.  Roger supposedly drowned in a sea wreck.  Years later he reappears in Australia and comes home, claiming an inheritance.  The British public are sharply divided as to whether Tichborne is actually who he says he is or a fraud.  The subject is widely debated.  To me, this was really two stories, I'm not sure why the author put them together, it seemed very disjointed.  The only really interesting part was the story of Andrew Bogle, who used to work for Tichborne's uncle and believes he is Roger.  At one point in the book, he relates to Mrs. Touchet his life story which was quite interesting.  Other than that, I could definitely leave this book.

The End of Drum-Time - Hanna Pylväinen - historical fiction - four stars - This one is really three and a half stars rounded up.  I have very mixed feelings about this book.  We have actually been to Sweden twice, and I have a great love for the country, so I very much enjoyed the book from that angle, learning about the Sami, their customs, how they moved reindeer back and forth going to the sea during the summer and coming south for the winter.  The story itself was for me a little too loose there are several threads that kind of show up and disappear at different points.  I found it kind of disorganized with a generally unsatisfactory ending.  Just OK.

Favorite this month as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn with Tom Lake a close second.  Least favorite was definitely Falling Into Place.  I'm hoping February is a better month.  I just started The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise which so far seems like it will be a fun palatte cleanser.  I'm super backed up with my library holds right now, so I need to get a move on with my reading!  What havec you guys been reading?