This month has been a lot. Sometimes the year just starts off at a gallop, I guess. Fortunately, the books that accompanied me on my life’s journey in January have been an absolute treat. Not a dud in the bunch.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Oooo, what a treat to begin a new year. January 1st I get notified that I can jump the library holds queue if I agree to a shortened 7-day loan period. Yes, please! A modern retelling of David Copperfield set in rural Kentucky, this novel grabbed me by the heart and throat at the very first paragraph: “First, I got myself born. A decent crowd was on hand to watch, and they’ve always given me that much: the worst of the job was up to me, my mother being let’s just say out of it.” That voice, the vividness of the scenario, the big questions it opens up – I was spellbound the entire way through. My first read of 2023, and it’s likely to be one of the very best.
Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory. Exactly what I’ve come to expect from Jasmine Guillory, an engaging, smart, sexy romance between two highly competent individuals who face some kind of significant obstacle on their way to forming a lasting partnership. It’s her formula, for sure, but it doesn’t feel lazy. Maybe she’ll zig on her next novel or maybe she’ll stick to what has bee proven to work? Either way, I’m here for it.
Fleabag: The Scriptures by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. If you haven’t watched the show Fleabag, I highly recommend you do. Even better would be to get a lovely hard cover copy of the complete scripts as a Christmas gift from a dear friend and read then watch, episode-by-episode, as I did. Experiencing the two media in combination like that, I realized just how very beautiful and spare the writing is – just exactly enough and just exactly right. Sooo good.
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome. Published in 1889, this still-funny fictional travelogue narrates the day-by-day adventures of “J” and two friends as they row the Thames on a two-week holiday. Montmorency, a free-spirited fox terrier, makes for a chaotic neutral fourth member of the party. (As if I would say nothing of the dog.) Bill Bryson, Tim Moore, and many others including Connie Willis, below, owe Jerome K. Jerome a huge debt of gratitude.
Sign Here by Claudia Lux. What a ride! Peyote Trip has put in his time in Hell (yes, actually Hell), recruiting those folks who decide to sell their souls for whatever they desperately want. He’s just got to sign one more person from a particular family line – he has four already – to complete the whole set, which will grant him the promotion of his dreams. While none of them seem particularly evil, he sees the potential. Then Cal, a newbie recruiter to the deals department, shows up. And everything changes for Peyote. (That description makes it sound like this is going to be a love story. It’s not not a love story, but definitely not that kind of love story.) Anyway. you should read this novel. It’s really fantastic.
No One Left to Come Looking for You by Sam Lipsyte. I am not the audience for this novel. This novel is for people who include Trainspotting – novel or movie – on their top 5 list. This novel is well-written, the story is well-plotted, the characters are believable: crusty, pathetic, sincere. Here’s the promotional blurb if you’re interested: “A darkly comic mystery set in the vibrant music scene of early 1990s New York City. Manhattan's East Village, 1993.” You might love it. It’s just not for me.
Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley. Iona was once an acclaimed It Girl and model, tracked and fawned over by the tabloids, paid to attend parties, out and proud when that was an outrageous thing to be. Now, she rides the tube to and from her job as a magazine advice columnist, taken for granted by her coworkers and ignored (she thinks) by everyone else. But when a fellow commuter she’s internally dubbed “Smart-but-Sexist-Manspreader” chokes and is saved by another regular who happens to be a nurse, it acts as the catalyst for a series of increasingly significant interpersonal interactions that end up changing everything for all of them. Absolutely delightful.
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. A 25-year-old time travel comedy, mystery and love story that pays homage to Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat and, like it, is as fresh and funny today as it was when published. The only element that was jarring to me reading it in 2023 are the references to a pandemic of the early 2000s. Since this novel’s “present day” is 2057, the Pandemic is long past and can be referred to casually. For me reading it after what we’ve all lived through recently, it doesn’t feel at all dated but rather TOO SOON.
