Category: Historical Fiction

January 2020 Book Roundup

On By onehappybookwormIn Fiction, Historical Fiction, Lists, Memoirs, Nonfiction, RomanceLeave a comment

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The beginning of the year is always a time to reflect on the previous year and set intentions for the new year, but as usual I’m a little late to that party. I do know how many books I read in 2019 (38) and that only a fraction of them were nonfiction (25%), and both of those numbers mean that I missed my targets (40 and 50% respectively). But the fun thing about reading is that it’s a hobby so it doesn’t matter at all what those numbers are! The only downside to reading fewer books is that my to-read list has grown exponentially faster than the number of books I’m capable of finishing; my list spreadsheet is currently sitting at 351. Oops.

On the upside, I started off strong in January and finished 5 books! This is thanks in part to being sick over a weekend and spending a solid chunk of time on airplanes last month, but I’ll take the win. On top of that, three of them were nonfiction, so if I keep up this trend then I will surpass my goals from last year. I guess we’ll see how long this momentum lasts…

Anyway, my first book of 2020 was In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. Larson has a special place in my bookworm heart because his The Devil in the White City was the first nonfiction book that I absolutely loved. Thanks to him I had the courage to step out of the familiar literature section of the bookstore, and it’s been an amazing journey ever since. Unfortunately, I didn’t love Beasts as much as White City, but I found it an interesting albeit dark read. It follows a year of events in Berlin starting in 1933, with the focus centered on the US ambassador to Germany and his adult daughter. From a history perspective, it provided more details on specific events and attitudes of various people in the beginning of Hitler’s rise to power. It was eerie to read some of the accounts when I knew what hell and horror awaited the world over the next ten years, but that dark edge is what I enjoyed most in the book. What I didn’t like was that a lot of the source material was based on journals, letters, and unfinished manuscripts, so I felt like I had to read everything with a critical eye and that there might be more to the story that I was missing. Maybe that’s just a byproduct of living in the fake news era, or maybe that just means I’ve grown to be a more critical reader. Also, I didn’t care for the ambassador’s daughter. Had I been alive in 1933 I’m pretty sure we would not have been friends.

Moving on to (fictional) people that I would want to be friends with, my second book of the year was The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. I really enjoyed this book, which was surprising to me because I was expecting it to be a bit of a dud after all the press it received ahead of publication. It follows a small group of women who run a mobile library in the backwoods of Kentucky, despite facing personal hardships and ire from many of the people in their community. The plotline was a bit much (it covered everything from marital problems and illegitimate children to natural disasters and racy courtroom trials) but the characters at its heart made it worthwhile. I think each of the women, but especially Alice and Margery, were very well flushed-out and felt like they could be real people. I felt connected to their challenges and was totally invested in wanting to know how their stories ended.

Third on my list was Call Them by Their True Names by Rebecca Solnit. This collection of essays fell a little flat for me, but I think that was based more on my attitude and interest rather than the quality of writing. I had been so looking forward to reading this in December, but by the time I started it in January I wasn’t as into it. I enjoyed how Solnit presented her views; she discusses the linguistics of the Trump era and challenges incorrect uses of language to highlight problems in our current society. However, I found myself skimming some of the essays rather than really reading them. I just didn’t feel drawn to what I was reading in the way I thought I would. I think I’ll pick this collection up again at some point in the future, I want to give it a fair shot when I’m more in the mood for this type of content.

Next up on my reading list was How to Stop Time by Matt Haig, which was a little out of left field for me. This is one of those rare books that magically appeared in my life without ever landing on my epic to-read list. I found it in the laundry room in my apartment building. There’s an area where people sometimes leave unwanted items (pots, fans, old Christmas decorations, etc.) and one day I saw a book on the pile. I grabbed it without really looking at it, and it’s been sitting on my shelf for months. When I was sick for a few days I wanted to read something light and fluffy, so I picked it up again. It’s about a man who ages incredibly slowly- he was born in the 1500’s but looks to be about 40 in the 21st century. He’s part of a society of people like him, and their purpose seems to be to live, keep their lives secret, and limit interactions with regular humans. The novel covers his growing disillusionment with the society, his inner conflict about a potential love, and his desperate attempt to find his daughter from his first marriage in the late 16th century. It was a fun sci-fi/romance/history hybrid and was the perfect light read for a sick day.

The last book I read in January was anything but light, but it was easily the best that I read last month and might be my best book of 2020 (yeah, I’m calling it early). The book was Know My Name by Chanel Miller, and damn did I feel things. Chanel was the woman who was sexually assaulted while unconscious by Brock Turner- you know, the piece-of-shit former Stanford student who was found guilty and convicted of sexual assault yet was only sentenced to 6 months in prison because apparently his skin color, wealth status, swimming accomplishments, and male gender made him more important than minimum recommended sentences for sexual assault felons. Chanel, known at the time only as Emily Doe, wrote a profound victim impact statement that was published on Buzzfeed and instantly went viral. I can remember reading it in my office at my old job and feeling like I was punched in the gut. She held nothing back. In many ways her book is an expansion on that original statement. My physical reactions were just as intense; I couldn’t read more than a chapter at a time because I had to get up and move around, try to let out the rage and despair that she had to experience this, that she’s not alone, that 1 of 6 American women are victims of rape or attempted rape, that there are millions of people right now at this very moment grappling with the same reality, and that again and again and again our society says that if you are a white male your life and future opportunities and value as a human being are worth infinitely more than a woman’s. It is impossible for me to accurately describe the undercurrent of fury buzzing through my veins, but Chanel does an amazing job of capturing her emotions and walking us step-by-step through her experience. I could probably go on forever about this book and how much it made me feel and how important her message is, but instead I’ll just end my rant and say that this should be required reading. It’s a fierce criticism of our society and the systems and processes that are designed to protect us but often fail, yet it’s also a personal and eye-opening account of triumph and hope.

Looking forward to February, there are a few Russia-related books on my radar, a novel about immigration and motherhood, a book on feminism and equality, and possibly a classic adventure novel if I’m able to maintain my current momentum. Cheers to 2020, it’s been off to a great start!

 

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

On By onehappybookwormIn Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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On any given day, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. You can spill coffee on your bare foot in the morning, or you can rear-end someone on your way to work. You can give your job everything you have but be let go without warning for reasons outside your (and maybe your supervisor’s) control. You can enjoy a lovely midsummer dinner with your partner only to have your heart broken when they tell you they don’t love you anymore. A family member that has been crucial to your life since the day you were born can suddenly betray and abandon you, seemingly without a care. Your universe can completely upend on a sunny afternoon when you get the call that your mother, or brother, or best friend, or any loved one has been taken from this world. On any given day, anything and everything can go wrong; but it’s what you do with this fact that determines the course of your life.

Beryl Markham learned this at a young age. Abandoned by her mother at the age of four, then catapulted into an unhealthy marriage at sixteen, Beryl was a seemingly modern woman born well before her time and forced to grow up way too soon. Born in England, her family moved to Kenya when she was very young. After her mother fled back to England, she was raised by both her father and the natives that lived on his estate. She was an unconventional wild child, and as an adult she never really found a way to fit into the mold of society. She made mistakes and muddled through them the hard way, yet she always seemed to make it through with her head up. She was an admirable woman; she built a career as a successful horse trainer, she learned to fly, she became the first female pilot to cross the Atlantic from east to west, and most importantly, she lived and loved on her own terms, regardless of the cost.

It sort of amazes me that Beryl Markham was a real person. When I first heard of Circling the Sun, I don’t think I realized that the characters in the novel were actual people, and that they really did a lot of what was detailed in the book. Then, once I bought the book, I think I was confused at first as to how much was real and how much was fiction. But as I started reading, those questions faded away as I became wrapped up in the story. Beryl was a fascinating character, real-life or not. Once I finished the book and read the author’s note, I did a little bit of research on the real Beryl Markham, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Circling the Sun truly mirrored her life (at least in the big ways). I was also very excited to learn that Beryl had written a memoir, and I’ve added that to my reading list along with Out of Africa, written by Beryl’s acquaintance Karen Blixen under a pen name. It might be a while before I make it to those books, but it will be worth it to read the true story of her life.

Simply put, Circling the Sun just really clicked with me. It’s got all the makings of a novel that I would enjoy: it’s historical fiction, there’s a romance plot, the main character is an admirable heroine, and there’s a solid bit of adventure. This book was right up my alley and I definitely enjoyed it. It was just so easy for me to get wrapped up in the story; I’m surprised at myself for waiting so long to read it. It’s been sitting on my bookshelf for a while; I originally bought it last fall before my trip to Munich. I planned on reading it on the flight back to the States, but I was too distracted by movies and games on the plane. Then in Newark airport I was way too annoyed about watching my final flight home being delayed every half hour to really enjoy it, so when I finally made it back to my apartment I put it on the coffee table to “read later.” When it sat there for a month it was moved to the bookshelf, and it’s been there until two weeks ago. I was very proactive in April about putting together my reading list for May, but I had a few delayed and missing packages that left me scrambling when it was time for a new book on May 1st. That day I noticed Circling the Sun on the bookshelf and figured it was time to give it another go. I think I finished it the next day, it was that good.

I’m just very fascinated about Kenya’s history and culture, particularly with how the British colonials were able to live in such a different environment than their home country. And I’m interested in the African wilderness- the geography, the animals, the climate, everything. The traveler in me is itching to go there, but realistically I know that it won’t happen anytime soon. A few years ago I read Love, Life, and Elephants, the memoir by Daphne Sheldrick. Her Kenya was a little bit later than Beryl’s, but when I finished Circling the Sun I found myself studying the pictures in Daphne’s memoir and comparing the maps in both books. It was such an interesting time and place in history, and it produced such amazing people. To me, that’s enough to justify visiting in person.

I really, truly enjoyed Circling the Sun. Considering my interests, I realize that I’m a little bit biased but the story was just so engrossing, and the fact that much of the novel was inspired by the real life of Beryl Markham makes it so much better. I’m still kind of kicking myself for letting it sit so long, but I’m happy I finally read it. The weather has been cool and rainy here, so I’m grateful that I had such a great book to curl up with and lose myself in. Now I just have to cross Beryl’s memoir off my reading list and figure out a way to make it to Africa to see her country for myself!