New year, new books!
I set myself an annual goal of 40 books this year, which is a little less than 2023 and 2022. I’ve been putting off reading some longer books I’ve been wanting to read for years (and some non-English books), and I’m hoping that a lower book goal will motivate me to finally pick up those books.
With that said, I finished four books this month, which will hopefully leave me a lot of room for some longer novels later this year.
(As a reminder: I always track my reading both on Goodreads and via Instagram stories.)
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“WINTER GARDEN” BY KRISTIN HANNAH
Meredith and Nina have grown up with a warm and loving father and their cold, distant mother Anya. Anya has paid them no attention, short of a Russian fairy tale she has started — but never finished — time and time again during Meredith and Nina’s childhood. Now, as Meredith and Nina’s father lies on his deathbed, he makes his daughters promise to draw the entire fairy tale story out of their mother. As Anya tells her story slowly, and in pieces, Meredith and Nina finally gain insight into their mother’s haunted past in war-torn Leningrad.
I don’t think it’s possible for Kristin Hannah to write a book that doesn’t leave me sobbing at the end. This book wrecked me emotionally. I’m obviously really drawn to historical fiction about the Soviet era, which may be why I loved this book so much. It did take a really long time for the novel to draw me in, and a lot of time was spent focusing on the relationships between the three women in the present era — some parts of which verged on unbelievable — but overall this was still a book I’d highly recommend.
“THE HOUSEMAID’S SECRET” BY FREIDA MCFADDEN
In this sequel to “The Housemaid,” Millie is back. She has a reputation this time as a girl housewives can call when they need some help with their abusive husbands. So, when Millie gets a new job cleaning and cooking for the Garricks in their New York City penthouse, she finds herself moved to act when she witnesses Mrs. Garrick covered in bruises and cowering behind closed doors. Just how far is Millie willing to go to get Mrs. Garrick to safety?
I liked this book a lot better than “The Housemaid.” The original book of this trilogy was a little too much like “The Last Mrs. Parrish” for me, and this one felt a little more original. However, Millie didn’t quite endear herself to me in the sequel as much as she did in the first novel. But, this book was still hard to put down and easy to blow through in a single afternoon sitting.
“THE OVERNIGHT GUEST” BY HEATHER GUDENKAUF
True crime writer Wylie Lark has committed her foreseeable future to an abandoned farm house in rural Iowa, which was the site of a series of grisly murders in the early 2000s. As Wylie settles in and prepares for a snowy night in isolation, she meets an overnight guest: A small child who shows up alone on her doorstep. As the darkness and snow settle around her, Wylie must cope with the fact that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought.
Overall, this was one of the better thrillers I’ve read lately! The ending is a bit predictable, the writing is a little awkward at times and the ending dragged on a little too long, but the first 80 percent of the book was fast-paced, and I thought the three timelines/ perspectives that the story is told from do a great job at intersecting in the end.
“WEYWARD” BY EMILIA HART
In 1619, Altha is on trial for witchcraft. In 1942, Violet is coming of age in a crumbling mansion during a time of war. And in 2019, Kate is fleeing an abusive husband in the middle of the night. All three women come from the Weyward family line, and there is more than the family name that connects these three women, who all possess powers beyond what they could possibly imagine.
My friend Mickey suggested this book to me last year, and it did not disappoint. The novel focuses on three incredibly strong members of the same family line, and all that they do to escape and move past the trauma caused by the men in their lives. I thought this book was really well-written and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a strong feminist read.
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Happy reading!
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