January '23 Goodreads Update 1
I wasn't even sure how many books I've added since the last week of December. Um. There've been a few. Buckle up, Buttercup. We're going for a ride.
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey - This is about a 29 year old woman whose short marriage is ending, and she's trying to put herself back together. But she's really good, actually. I don't anticipate I'll have much in common with this main character but maybe it will be super funny.
Maame by Jessica George - This is about a Ghanaian- English woman who is finally getting out of her parents' nest. Again. Not much in the way of connection, but maybe it's done well enough that I care anyway.
The Trackers by Charles Frazier - Frazier wrote Cold Mountain. Remember that one? Me either. I didn't read it or watch the movie with Renee Zellweger. This one is set in the Depression. Val is off to Wyoming to paint a mural for the new post office in Dawes. He stays with a couple on a farm who have... interesting histories. It wasn't so long ago that this was the Wild West. Then the wife leaves with something valuable and Val is enlisted to track her down. His search leads all over the country.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang - Kuang is the internet's latest wunderkind. I have her release from 2022, but it's massive and I haven't gotten to it, yet. This one is a brief 350 pages. 2 young women are set to be the next big thing in publishing. One of them takes off (the Asian woman) and one goes nowhere (the white girl). When the star dies, the other lady steals her manuscript and passes it off as her own. The publisher gives her a vaguely Asian name and off she goes. Until maybe somebody knows?
Witch King by Martha Wells - Murderbot Martha Wells. That Martha Wells. Apparently she's been writing Fantasy for decades, but only got major notice with Murderbot. Well I'm here for some Fantasy from her.
The Ferryman by Justin Cronin - This is a sci-fi story about a guy who ferries dying people in this dystopian world to the island where they get rejuvenated and have their memories wiped to start over again. Cronin wrote The Passage and its sequels awhile back. I thought it was fantastic. I'll give this one a sniff, for sure.
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak - Poe's death was weird. My son is taking a class on Poe this semester, so it would be fun to drop some knowledge on him. Not annoying at all, I'm sure.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann - This story does not sound the least bit interesting to me, but if you had told me 10 years ago that I would love a book about white people killing Native women for money and land and how the FBI got started, I would have thought you were nuts. But David Grann wrote that book and I loved it, so maybe this will be amazing also.
Quietly Hostile: Essays by Samantha Irby - I feel like I will love this. I feel like I will love all of Irby's essay collections. Have I read the one I own? No. But have I read other of her books? Also no. But do I really want to? One hundred percent.
Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett - Mike gave this for Christmas. I'd never heard of it before. I can't make out what it's about, but it's intriguing.
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha - This is about the Korean fashion industry and the immense pressure on women to be beautiful.
Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt - Apparently this is fantastic. There's an octopus. I finally put it on my request list.
That's the list. That's it. Huzzah!