January Reading Update

Nobody writes gossip or heartbreak like Edith; nobody writes anti-fascism like the fantasy authors

Wouldn’t it be lovely if January were what we think it is? A new beginning; crisp, cold weather. Instead, it seems to be a month of disasters, both personal and global, as a new calendar year arrives to shake things up and nothing has quite settled into place.

Winter Sunrise, Mondanock, Abbott H. Thayer, American, 1917

Instead of my idealized January, I’m nine days late to posting this. But I’m currently trying to get better at not throwing in the towel when things are a bit less than perfect and I really loved the books I read this (well, last) month. I’ve found myself reading fantasy novels again for the first time in ages because it is both my comfort genre and the genre that gives me confidence in people. All three (well, two-and-a-half) fantasy novels on my list this month are about how governments collapse into corruption or, maybe even more disturbingly, are founded with cruelty at their core. And while I don’t think reading these books is inherently revolutionary, I’ve been reaching for my secondary world to remind myself to keep watching and keep caring, when that is often all we can do.

For my escapism, I’ve started my Author Completionist project by re-reading an old favourite that brought me back to better times: the Gilded Age in New York City. Nobody writes social rules like Edith Wharton. Or heartbreak. Or regret. Plus, the spite she is able to subtly slip into her books is magnificent. No notes.

Overall, I’ve finished 22 books this month, which was short of my goal to read a book every day, but, in my defense, some of these books are long. This month, I have five that I’ve loved.

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

The complexity of this world blew me away. I’ve been putting this one off for ages because it felt heavy and intense, but this was a MISTAKE. About 20 pages in, I realised I wasn’t going to be reading or doing anything else until I had consumed the whole thing, entire, and was done in less than two days. It also has me looking out my windows at the crows in my local park a bit differently.

Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi

I’ve talked about this before and will talk about Saara El-Arifi again and again and again. I just think her writing is brilliant, so hearing that she was taking on the myths, legends, and classical literature around Cleopatra meant I was here for the entire thing. Apart from the book itself being beautiful (THAT COVER), I love examination of historical silences and whose voices are heard in the archives and in the stories we tell (this book made me think of Saidiya Hartman and I loved it).

To Ride a Rising Storm by Moniquill Blackgoose

The sequel to one of the best contemporary fantasy books I have read this decade – To Shape a Dragon’s Breath – To Ride a Rising Storm did not disappoint. Telling the story of a girl, Anequs, who is forced from her home and community when she bonds with a dragon, this series discusses colonialism, imperialism, and how people are Othered in a country that demands adherence to rigid social norms. Also, dragons! Blackgoose has an amazing ability to craft characters who are simultaneously sympathetic and infuriating and I cannot wait for the third book to come out.

Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

I’m a little bit obsessed with Alaska. It’s one of my dream destinations (the MOUNTAINS) and the politics fascinate me and I feel like it is a space with so much history that I Simply Don’t Know. So finding a magical realism book set in Alaska with a gorgeous romance and some of the best naturalist writing I’ve read in ages has obviously done everything for me. This was brilliant and devastating.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

I remember reading this for the first time in high school and being furious about the ending. This time around, I think I re-read the last page about fifteen times before putting it down. What do you mean, it’s more real to me here than if I went up ?! Maybe it’s the decade (okay, more than a decade, yikes) since I first read it and having a few more mistakes under my belt, but if that line doesn’t perfectly describe the delusional nostalgia we often call innocence, I’ll eat this book. I’m exceptionally excited to read everything else Wharton wrote after this. What a glorious start.

Winter Scene in Moonlight, Henry Farrer, American, 1869

So, onto (or, well, further into) February, where I’m reading The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish and more Edith Wharton. I’m also diving into a re-read of the Robin Hobb Farseer trilogy (and probably everything else in that world, let’s be so honest) because I am tired about making choices and having so many long fantasy novels to read sounds like a blessing right now.

What are you reading? What must I read next?