When January began I knew it was going to be a stressful month and so my reading theme was "escape". I planned for it by putting aside a number of books (mysteries) that I had been looking forward to reading. I had been holding on to them for months. Maybe that built them up too much in my mind, but they didn't do the trick for me this month. Unfortunately. Very disappointing.
Although one of my reading resolutions for the year was to, again, try to read fewer mysteries, four out of the seven fiction books I finished this month were mysteries. I think when I set my goals I didn't realize how traumatic the news of the world would be this year so I am letting myself off the hook. This may be a year when I do mostly "lite" reading. I did also read one book of poetry and one non-fiction book. One of the fiction books was a classic and three were historical (literary fiction or mysteries).
These are the books I finished in January:
The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts by Louis Bayard
I was on the library hold list for this novel for quite a long time. I can see why it was popular. The dramatist/author Oscar Wilde infamously had his life ruined by the Marquess of Queensberry who accused Wilde of debauching his son leading to a criminal trial and imprisonment for Wilde. In this novel Bayard looks at Wilde's family: his wife Charlotte, his mother and his two sons, Cecil and Vyyan. From what I can tell, Bayard seems to stick to the facts and, in fact, credits interviews with Vyvyan's son Merlin for some of his facts. A lot is made (quite rightly) about the travesty of the anti-gay laws in countries like the UK and how they forced people to lead double lives. And that was certainly hard on non-heterosexual persons. But the wives and children who were lied to were also harmed, psychologically and, if the spouse was ruined, sometimes financially. Wilde's family suffered financially but mostly psychologically, changing their name to Holland and hiding their connection to him. Wilde, who is depicted in the novel as a very good father, never saw his sons again. This is an interesting novel because it doesn't try to tell Wilde's side of the story (and Lord Alfred Douglas comes off as a complete ass), it follows the rest of the family. I found it quite engrossing and rather sad. This is literary fiction at its best - the characters are well drawn and the move through time from the late 1800's to the 1920's is handled well. I'm glad that the first book I finished in 2025 was so good. Recommended.
The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff
When someone posts their three favorite books of 2024 and you have read two out of the three, it's only logical to find the third and read it. I would never have heard of this book otherwise. First published in 1931, this novel was re-issued in 2021. Sherriff was more well known as a screenwriter, working on Mrs. Miniver, Goodbye Mr. Chips and other films, but did write several novels and at least one well known play. In this book the Stevens family (father, mother, three children of which two at this point are adult and working) take a yearly holiday to Bognor, a seaside town on the coast of England. Every year they stay at the same boarding house, a place that the parents stayed on their honeymoon more than 20 years earlier. They do the same things every year and rediscover the familiar places each year - noting the changes that have been made in 12 months. Of course the boarding house is getting shabby and the children are perhaps getting too old for these types of family holidays but for this year at least they enjoy their traditions. The Stevens are always aware that with the passage of time things may change so it's important to enjoy them in the moment. Anyone who has ever vacationed each year at the same place can relate to this. This is not at all a plot driven book but by the end you know the characters like they are your own family and you know the place so well it is as if you, too, had holidayed there each year. It is a book that explores what it is like to be in a family that loves each other and looks forward to being together on holiday each year - even if they also worry about things going right. I finished the novel with the hope that the characters enjoyed more years on these holidays even though knowing that nothing is for certain.
Death on the Tiber by Lindsey Davis
The most recent Flavia Albia mystery, this one also includes her dad Marcus Didius Falco in a small role. A woman's body is found in the Tiber and Flavia is determined to find out what happened to her. It turns out that she was from Britain (as was Flavia) and was the common law wife of the man who raped Flavia when she was a young girl. He is now in Rome and she is determined to avenge herself. (and the dead woman). This was one of the books I was saving for January and it didn't quite do it for me. I enjoy this series because I like ancient Rome, but for some time now I've felt that Davis' very thorough research has gotten in the way of the pacing of her stories. I don't remember that being an issue with the Falco series but I do find it with the Flavia Albia series. I only recommend this if you really like reading about ancient Rome - if not, you will probably find yourself skimming a lot. I also think this series is best read from the beginning.
Water, Water (poems) by Billy Collins
Billy Collins is the former poet laureate of the United States. He is known to write "accessible" poetry because he writes about day-to-day things. I generally enjoy his poems for that reason. I like that he can take something perfectly ordinary and write a poem about it. This most recent collection was, however, not one that particularly resonated with me. Usually there are a few poems that I really, really like - that I would read aloud or say to someone: "listen to this". But this time, there were none. Which is not to say that I did not enjoy it. I did. I just don't think it will stay with me like, say, Picnic, Lightning did.
The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
Another book that I saved to read in January that didn't quite do it for me. This is #19 in the Inspector Gamache series and, while I enjoyed it, it was not my favorite of the series. A few years ago Louise Penny collaborated with Hillary Clinton on a thriller that I thought was very good. Well, this also seems like a thriller with international travel and big national consequences. While the premise of the threat seemed very real to me, the actual finding of the culprits seemed very forced to me. A lot of "coincidences" needed to occur to get to the end. And then it ended on a cliffhanger. There wasn't enough of the residents of Three Pines in this book to satisfy me. I like this series best when Inspector Gamache is solving actual murders and not trying to avert national (or international) catastrophes.
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson
I am a big fan of Kate Atkinson, although I like her literary fiction more than her Jackson Brodie mystery series. Possibly this is because she only writes an installment when she feels like it (there was five years between the last one and this one) and she is far more interested in characterization than in plot. This was the main book that I was saving to read in January and ... it didn't quite hit home for me. Atkinson is exploring the trope of the Golden Age mystery by setting it (at times) in an English Country House where everyone is stranded due to a snowstorm. But she also throws in everything but the kitchen sink - art theft, a killer on the loose on the Moors, the death by accident(?) of a character we never really meet, the local Vicar who has lost his religion, and more. There is also a Murder Mystery Weekend going on at the Country House. It's all somewhat farcical - although I think it is intended to be that way. In true Kate Atkinson fashion she gives many of her characters a lot of depth. Part of the problem for me was that there were so MANY characters that I found myself wanting her to get back to the plot and away from their back stories. I enjoyed this novel but it won't go down in my books as the best Jackson Brodie mystery.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
This was another BlueSky read-along. Maybe if I had read this at a different time I wouldn't have disliked it so much. But given the state of the world right now, and following on the heels of reading Gravity's Rainbow, Cat's Cradle and Things Fall Apart, it was just too depressing for me to like. And the constant themes of pedophilia, incest and rape were enough to make me dislike it. I find it interesting that the book reviews that I've read (and watched) gloss over the pedophilia, incest and rape - most of them don't mention it and when they do mention it they don't analyze it's use in any way. One said that the book was like mythology and you would find all of that in myths. Ok, but myths are short and this was a long book. Another said that Garcia Marquez was using them, along with all the other bad things that happen in the story, to show that humans were constantly doing things like this throughout history. And I agree that history as circular time is a theme of the book. But the thing is - not ALL history is bad. In my opinion, this novel was unrelenting in its negative view of people and history. And the actions that he chose, over and over, to reflect this were actions that I'm tired of reading male authors write about. I guess I'm glad that I can cross it off of my list of classic books I "need" to read. But I didn't enjoy it. And I think it colored my reading for the whole month because every day I dreaded picking it up and reading the assigned pages.
Gallows Court by Martin Edwards
Desperate to find a mystery that would keep my mind occupied (which didn't happen with any of the other mysteries I read this month) I went to my very, very long TBR list and chose Gallows Court. My expectations were low but I was so happy to discover that it was a real page turner. The story takes place in London in 1930. The main character is Rachel Savernake, the enigmatic daughter of the late Judge Savernake. There is a lot going on in this novel - Rachel is very mysterious - is she good or is she evil? Jacob Flint, the new crime reporter for The Clarion isn't sure but he is desperate for a scoop. And Scotland Yard thinks a woman should mind her own business and not try to assist them in solving crimes. I actually guessed one of the major twists in the story fairly early but it didn't matter. There are at least two more books in this series so far and I'm sure I'll read them.
How Sondheim Can Change Your Life by Richard Schoch
This was a book I was looking forward to because I love the music (and lyrics) of Stephen Sondheim so I was happy my library hold came up during my "escape" January. But what a disappointment it was. First, it really didn't focus on "How Sondheim Can Change Your Life", it didn't even focus on how Sondheim changed the author's life. The author is a drama teacher and the book seemed to be written for people who didn't have enough life experience to understand the point of some of Sondheim's lyrics. Maybe he has spent too much time around college students. It is also possibly written for people who had never seen the Sondheim shows. There is a lot of explaining the plot and the characters. I didn't need any of that and there were no new revelations to come from him. Not recommended.
In addition to the books I finished in January, I embarked on a year-long read of Don Quixote with a BlueSky reading group which I am very much enjoying. I also joined in on a read of Clarissa which is an epistolary novel (written in letters). The letters are dated and we are reading each letter on the day of the month on which it is dated. It should take all year (if I keep up with it - it's too early to tell).
