Welcome to Vogue[ish!] While the “official” launch is Feb. 11, it seemed only fitting to kick this off with a surprise bonus article about one of my favorite things to do: read.
While this type of bonus article is usually for paid subscribers, for the next little while, I want to share a wide range of pieces and topics as I experiment with what you like reading the most, what you get the most from, and what you want more of, so some extra bonus topics will come to all subscribers. As a reminder, all free posts do enter the paid subscription archive after 6 months. Enjoy!
I read 10 books in January.
Here’s what they were and what I thought.
A note: I don’t usually rate books. I don’t find it helpful in determining if I will like a book based on someone else’s opinion. Someone who loves thrillers might not love a sci-fi young adult book, so their rating on a book in my beloved genre doesn’t help me and vise versa. It’s a little like clothes and personal style - just because I love vintage, doesn’t mean you do, so my waxing poetic over a vintage, Escada forest green leather midi-skirt (an actual thrift find hanging in my closet) might not hit the same for you.
My go-to genres: science fiction and fantasy along with their related sub-genres of dystopian, apocalyptic, urban, paranormal, superhero, AI, etc., mystery, lots of YA, and based on true events investigative journalism style reads.
On to the books!
Listed below in the order I read them and linked here:
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks. Give me a good, fun, cryptid book any day of the week. Written as a true account, this was a fun, short read. I loved it enough to seek out the author’s other books. He wrote World War Z, which was turned into a movie, The Zombie Survival Guide, and Minecraft the Island. In an interesting turn of events, I couldn’t get into these, which is odd as he hits all the things I like in a book: end of the word, zombies, dry humor. I might revisit these when I find myself in a book lull.
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo. Lately it feels like Leigh is everywhere. Her Grishaverse novels are being turned into a TV show and this is a collection of short stories she devised as what the Grishaverse characters would have read as kids. I used to like short stories, but a lot of my favorite authors in this genre (fantasy, sci-fi) have written collections of short stories with like authors, so it’s actually turned out to be a great way to find more authors I like. The stories in this collection are memorable - some are creepy, some are haunting, all are beautiful. (ps - I love the Grishaverse as much as the next fantasy YA reader AND recommend her “paranormal fantasy adult debut” Ninth House and its following books even more).
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer. This tale was incredibly charming. The plot and characters were a tad thin and I had to set aside some disbelief, but at its heart, I loved this one. It features an eccentric author who lives on an island and adults who ran away to said island as kids and are invited back to partake in a challenge with a grand prize at stake. The heart of the book is about connecting with your inner child, being brave, and pursuing your dreams. It was a joy to read.
The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen. I scooped this up at the library as a joke. My husband kept pointing it out to me, saying, “This book is everywhere!” The algorithm snagged him I guess, as it was showing up on all his devices, but it had been off my radar. If you need a fun book based on a group of 60-some retired CIA agents living in rural Maine who’ve dubbed themselves “The Martini Club”, go for it. I can easily see myself picking the rest of this series to fill a book lull.
The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schawb. I really enjoy V.E. Schawb’s writing. Most people know her as the author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and she has so. many. other. books out there. When I picked this book up, I didn’t realize it was a continuation of The Shades of Magic series I read last year which I would rank as feeling very original and fun within the genre of fantasy, young adult. To find a continuation, as a surprise no less, was great! This means more books after this one!
Zero Days by Ruth Ware. NOTE: The next 3 books are thrillers, which is a genre that I enjoy for being quick reads, engaging enough, and are my go-to “filler” books if I’m in a book lull or something I really want to read isn’t available yet at the library. But I don’t usually put thrillers on my “must read” list. On to Zero Days: during a bed bound sick day, I read through this book in a little over 24 hours. I liked the idea of it (a couple is hired to break into offices in order to test out the corporate security system when something goes terribly wrong) while wishing the characters and plot had been a little more developed. I’ve read a handful other books by Ware and they are all fine. Truthfully, I would pick up the “The Martini Club” books for my fillers before hitting the thriller genre - they are usually pretty wholesome while giving a different character type that I feel I don’t read about enough.
The Only One Left by Riley Sager. This felt like an original plot and idea. I wish the characters were deeper and the end has a twist that I had to read really hard to keep up with, so I just sprint read until the end them slammed it shut and moved to my next.
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell. Whew - this one had me page turning frantically and with a mounting feeling of dread the entire time, which I expect achieves their goal of writing a thriller. It was written in a documentary style way which gave it a lot of foreboding and was a little creepy in a - this could happen in real life - kinda way!
The Fury by Alex Michaelides. I picked this up having read The Silent Patient and enjoying that one. The Fury was one of the more uniquely written books from this month even as I really came to dislike the main character. Also - the ending!!!
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. I felt a little bait-and-switched by this one. I was intrigued by the plot (secret police, government turning towards tyranny, etc. ) as this tends to be up my alley. The writing style, however, took me a bit to get into and understand - everything was one long, extended paragraph, no breaks, with no quotations to indicate who was speaking when. I really had to work for this one. It reminded me of White Noise by Don DeLillo (which I didn’t love, but still vividly remember) where a lot of what went on was mundane life events underscored by the main plot, usually something pretty horrible. Towards the end, I skimmed it just enough to see what happened. While the ending leaves you hanging, it worked in favor for this book. If you’re down for a more “literary” book, give this one a go.
Book I Loved the Most:
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer. Maybe because this was a book about books, authors, dreaming, and being brave, but I loved this one despite it’s slightly surface levelness. The plot was heart warming and every one lived happily ever after. I give it 5 hearts because it got mine. 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
Book I Would Add to my Collection:
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic. I could read this again and again, take my time over the stories and really get lost in Leigh’s storytelling and words. Also 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 because dang, she can write and I love a slightly creepy fairy tale.
Honorable Mention(s):
The Fury and Prophet Song. I’ve giving these guys a tie - they were both unique, original, felt “literary” over gimmicky and stick out in my mind.
YOUR TURN: If you could become a character that lives within any book (or series), who/what would it be and why?
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