What I Read: Lately

It’s been a while since I’ve done of these posts, so let’s talk about what I’ve read lately. I have not been as diligent as I should about keeping track, but I think I am well past the 60 book mark already for 2020. Here are some of the highlights:

Ann Cleeves – Shetland/Jimmy Perez series

After I finished the Vera Stanhope series, I immediately began to binge read Cleeves’ other popular series featuring Shetland detective Jimmy Perez. While I enjoyed each and every book, it took me a little while to get used to Perez, who is a protagonist of a completely different mould than Vera Stanhope. But, 8 books later, I grew quite fond of him. In fact, I’m torn on which of the two series I would want Cleeves to continue next. They are similar in tone and approach – focused on the psychology of the characters and their relationships, whilst still staying grounded in the police procedural genre – and yet managed to have distinct vibes. I have to say that I kind of fell in love with the Shetland islands after reading these books, sight unseen.

Margaret Atwood – The Penelopiad

This is not quite a full length novel, but longer than a typical novella. It’s a re-telling of the Odysseus myth from Penelope’s perspective. More than anything, it’s a feminist allegory. The writing reminded me a lot of Atwood’s poetry, which I read when I was younger and love. At first, I felt like the book fell short of what I was expecting – too “easy”, too straightforward – but the more I thought about it afterwards, the more nuances and layers revealed themselves.

Deanna Raybourn – Veronica Speedwell series

This mystery series, set in Victorian England, was recommended to me by a follower on IG. I have mixed feelings about it after reading 3 of the 4 (or 5?) titles in the series. On one hand, its protagonist (Veronica Speedwell) is a spunky, smart, adventurous female scientist. Her partner in sleuthing is a Byronic explorer-slash-scientist with a tragic past. The mysteries themselves are kind of bland, but the writing is zippy enough that I found myself flying through them. There is a dash (and later on, more than a dash) of sexual tension and will-they-won’t-they suspense between the main characters. The latter is also on my list of negatives about this series. The taciturn, tortured hero was not a character I warmed up to a great deal, so the romantic undertones left me cold; by the end of the 3rd book I read, I just wanted them to get it over with. The writing, while zippy, sometimes felt too try-hard to me – like the characters were on a sitcom, not real people. And Veronica is also a bit too much of an anachronistic Mary Sue for my taste. But for pure entertainment, this series is a fun one.

M. R. Carey – The Girl With All The Gifts

I’ve had this on my reading list for over a year, and finally got around to it. Possibly not the best choice during a pandemic, as it deals with the aftermath of a plague-like event. I don’t want to say too much about the plot as I don’t want to spoil the initial twist – which is revealed fairly early on, but still – so I will only say that while this isn’t my usual genre of fiction, I enjoyed this book a lot. It kicked up my anxiety, but it was worth it. I binged through it in a couple of days, and the ending in particular had me on the edge of my, ummmm, bed. At midnight, not willing to put it down and go to bed.

Cherie Dimaline – The Marrow Thieves

Another community recommendation (my BFF and a few people on IG recommended it) that I ended up loving. It’s an interesting companion read, in a way, to The Girl With All The Gifts – also set in the future, in a post-apocalyptic world decimated by climate change where Indigenous people are hunted for their bone marrow which is used as medicine for white people. The author is Indigenous, and the book references and draws upon the historical abuse of Indigenous people in Canada (where the story is set). I think technically it’s a Young Adult novel, but I would recommend this even if you don’t typically read YA fiction (I don’t either). There were parts of the story that were hard to read (heartbreaking) but the writing was compelling throughout; I read it very quickly because I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen to the characters – holding my breath in anticipation of the worst, to be honest – and the ending provided a great, cathartic payoff.

Samantha Irby – Wow, No Thank U

Sam Irby is one of my fave current writers, period. At times, when I read her books, I feel like she’s been hiding inside my own head, and wrote down all of the things that I would never dream of telling anyone else. I adore her honesty, her voice, and her sense of humour. Wow, No Thank You is a follow-up collection of personal essays to her last book, We Are Never Meeting In Real Life which was also a must-read. I laughed out loud more times than I can count, but there is some serious discussion in there too, especially around Irby’s experiences as a writer on a TV show (Shrill) in Hollywood.

Alan Bradley – Flavia de Luce series

I thrifted these books last year, and finally got around to reading them. They are set in 1950s rural England, and feature an 11-year old chemistry-obsessed child prodigy turned amateur sleuth, Flavia de Luce. The books are very much in the vein of Agatha Christie, albeit I find the pace occasionally sluggish (something Christie never was). I love the ensemble of recurring characters as well, although Flavia is an extremely unlikely 11-year old and the de Luce family history is a bit over-the-top at times. Nonetheless, the series has a lot of charm especially if you’re a fan of “cozy English mysteries”.

Neil Gaiman – The Ocean At The End of The Lane

I haven’t read much Gaiman since my early twenties, when I was obsessed with the Sandman graphic novels. I am also a huge fan of Good Omens, but I think a large part of that is attributable (if I’m being perfectly honest) to Terry Pratchett’s contributions. Anyway, I picked up this book at the thrift store a while back, and finally decided to give it a go. It was an enjoyable read, in the vein of some of Gaiman’s earlier short stories (which I also really like). It’s a kind of adult fairy tale, about a young boy’s friendship with a strange girl living near his childhood home, and the things he learns (then forgets as an adult, and briefly remembers again) about the nature of the universe. There were elements reminiscent of Stephen King in the story, although the writing is definitely Gaiman-esque.

Phillip Freeman – Oh My Gods

This is a very accessible and straight-forward retelling of Greek (and a few Roman) myths. There is no literary embellishment or academic discussion, which I liked because I was looking for an adult version of the myth anthologies I read as a child. I used to love those – both the Greek and Norse myths were my favourite. What struck me, reading Oh My Gods, is how full of rape, and pillage and general strife these stories are. There are precious few happy endings, and so much violence. I must have read a very sanitized version as a child, or else my brain didn’t really grasp the nuances of what I was reading at the time. I remember having favourite gods and goddesses as a child (is that weird?), but now they all seem pretty despicable, goddesses included.

Tilar Mazzeo – The Hotel on Place Vendome

The best way to describe this book is to say that it reads like a longform Vanity Fair article. Its subject is the Ritz Hotel in Paris, but the book is really about the various famous people (society people, political figures, artists, etc.) who stayed there before, during and after WWII. It’s the kind of non-fiction, history-adjacent story I like to read – fact-based but entertaining. Infotainment, if you will. A lot of famous names are dropped – Chanel, Hemingway, Churchill, among them – but you won’t get a full picture of any of them, so it’s best if you’re somewhat familiar with their biographies already. Some of the chapters feel a bit disjointed, but I still enjoyed this one a lot.

Ijeoma Oluo – So You Want To Talk About Race

If you are starting your anti-racism work, as I am, this is an excellent resource. Oluo writes in a straightforward but dynamic, compelling voice. Reading her book is like having a conversation with a friend – a friend who doesn’t shy away from tough topics and from telling you difficult truths. She covers a lot of ground that is a must read: the roots and history of racism in America (racism isn’t about feelings, it’s about systems of oppression), micro aggressions, cultural appropriation, the school to prison pipeline, affirmative action, and more. Highly recommend it if you haven’t read it already.