The History Book Club discussion

DECEMBER

30. by N.K. Jemisin
Finish date: December 10, 2020
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: B
Review: I had a hard time getting in to this one. I'm not sure if it was the writing or just that I have been moving and things have been hectic, but I had a hard time figuring out what was going on at first. Once I began to understand the plot and background of the story I was still left with a lot of questions that were never sufficiently answered even by the end of the book. This is the first in a series, so hopefully the rest of the books will help clear things up. But, with all of that being said, I still really enjoy Jemisin's world building ability and creativity. Her books are always unique and intriguing.

DECEMBER

30. by Michelle McNamara
Finish date: December 21, 2020
Genre: True Crime
Rating: B+
Review: McNamara spent years researching and trying to hunt down the Golden State Killer. In fact, she herself coined that name. This book is part true crime and part memoir as she recounts details from the history and police reports related to GSK's crimes, but also talks about how she became interested in true crime and what her life was like after she became obsessed with solving this case. For the most part, I really liked this book. It was well written and you could really feel how much this meant to McNamara. However, I must admit that there were a few places where the writing seemed a little...insensitive, I guess. Particularly in reference to one of the victims discussed about halfway through the book. I don't know that that is the tone McNamara intended, but it was a little off putting. Overall, however, she seemed to really care about the story and finding answers for the victims.

DECEMBER

30. by Agatha Christie
Finish date: December 29, 2020
Genre: Mystery
Rating: C
Review: Much better than the 6th book of the series. I enjoyed the nursery rhyme theme and the clues and red herrings kept making me change my mind about who the culprit was.

JANUARY 2021

1. by Becky Cooper
Finish date: January 18, 2021
Genre: True Crime
Rating: A
Review: Cooper, while attending Harvard, became obsessed with a rumor she heard about a murder that had been committed on the campus in the 1960s. She began researching and interviewing those close to the victim. In doing so, she uncovered a story much more complicated than the rumor suggested. She also uncovered a history of sexism and sexual violence on the Harvard campus that had been covered up for decades. I really enjoyed this book. It was infuriating at times, in the way that many true crime stories seem to be. Cooper's writing was excellent and it was clear that she had a lot of sympathy for the victim.

2. by Sherry Thomas
Finish date: January 20, 2021
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Rating: C
Review: This was the first Thomas book that I have ever read and from what I understand it is different from her usual work. This novel is a retelling of the story of Mulan in which Mulan's family is in the midst of a long standing feud with another family. Mulan is training to duel the oldest son of the rival family and therefore must disguise herself and live as a man. When war breaks out, she is the only member of her family capable of serving in the army and therefore must continue the ruse. I liked this retelling well enough, but didn't love it. There were some aspects of the story that didn't really make sense to me as written. There was also one section that felt very ableist and made me uncomfortable. It was apparent in many sections that Thomas has a background in writing historical romances and the romance in this novel was very sweet. Overall an okay read, but not one I any plans to revisit.

3. by Juliet Marillier
Finish date: January 30, 2021
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: B
Review: This is the fourth book in Marillier's Sevenwaters series. Each book of the series follows a different character from a different generation of the family. This novel follows Clodagh, the daughter of Lord Sean, as she must delve into the Otherworld, home of the Fae, to retrieve her kidnapped baby brother. A man named Cathal joins Clodagh on her quest and they develop a friendship and romance that changes them both. I enjoyed this novel much more than the prior in the series. The overall plot and characters were much more interesting. However, I do feel that the book was too long and Marillier could have cut out around 100 pages without losing anything terribly important.

FEBRUARY 2021

4. by Gareth Russell

Finish date: February 12, 2021
Genre: History
Rating: C
Review: Everyone knows the story of the Titanic. In this book, Russell weaves together this story with the end of the Edwardian era by discussing the changes in class and social status many of the passengers were facing in 1912 as well as broader cultural changes of the time. I found this book really difficult to get into. I almost put it down several times during the first 100 pages. For some reason Russell's writing style was difficult for me at first. I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first.

5. by James Baldwin

Finish date: February 15, 2021
Genre: Essays, Nonfiction
Rating: A-
Review: The only reason I downgraded this to an A- instead of an A or A+ is because it sort of felt like two different points and at times those points didn't feel like they entirely came together in one coherent narrative. They were both great and valid points and Baldwin's writing is great, it just felt a little disconnected from part one to part two of the book.

6. by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Finish date: February 23, 2021
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Rating: C
Review: This novel is the author's take on the story of how the brides of Dracula became the brides of Dracula. I enjoy Kiran Millwood Hargraves writing style, but wasn't super impressed with this novel. I liked the first half much more than the second half and though I knew how the story was likely to end, I still felt disappointed by it.

MARCH 2021

7. by Julia Phillips(no photo)
Finish date: March 1, 2021
Genre: Mystery
Rating: C+
Review: That ending though! I fully thought this was going to be a 2 star (D) rating from me until the end. This story is about the disappearances of 3 girls from a small town in Russia. However, it doesn't really focus on the investigation. Instead each chapter is from the POV of a different person in the community. This serves as a way to delve into the cultural and racial differences among the population (two of the missing girls were white, one was native). I found myself struggling to care about a lot of the characters because we didn't spend enough time with any of them to really get to know them. I loved the first couple of chapters and the last couple of chapters, but I struggled to get through the middle of the book. The ending was soooo much more interesting than I anticipated based on the rest of the novel.

8. by Olivia Waite
Finish date: March 7, 2021
Genre: Historical Romance, LGBTQ Romance
Rating: A+
Review: I know that historical romance novels are kind of looked down upon by a lot of readers, and I admittedly didn't think I would enjoy this at first. But I LOVED this. It was delightful and I had a smile on my face the whole time.

9. by Olivia Waite
Finish date: March 24, 2021
Genre: Historical Romance, LGBTQ Romance
Rating: A-
Review: I loved the first book in this series so much that I immediately picked up the second. This one was much longer and was much slower to get going, but I still really enjoyed it. The third book in the series comes out this summer and I can't wait to read it!

APRIL

10. by Angeline Boulley
Finish date: April 4, 2021
Genre: YA, Mystery
Rating: B-
Review: I've been trying to read more books by authors of color and/or indigenous authors lately and when I heard about this book earlier this year I immediately decided to pre-order it (it was published in March). This is a mystery that takes place on and near a reservation and follows a teenage girl named Daunis. After Daunis's friend Lily is murdered, Daunis gets pulled in to an FBI investigation as a confidential informant. The investigation uncovers a much more complicated story than anyone was expecting. I enjoyed this. It was an interesting and fast paced read. Not my favorite, but definitely enjoyable.

11. by Virginia Woolf

Finish date: April 14, 2021
Genre: Classics
Rating: C
Review: This was fine. I just found Woolf's writing style hard to follow. This was my first Woolf and I haven't read many things that were written in this stream of consciousness style. It took me a long time to get through because of that. I enjoyed the second half more than the first.

12. by Kate Moore
Finish date: April 27, 2021
Genre: History
Rating: A-
Review: This is the story of a group of women who painted watch/clock dials with luminous paint made from radium. The book follows some of them throughout their careers, their subsequent occupation related illnesses, and their legal battles. Parts of this book are really graphic. Parts are heartbreaking. Parts are infuriating. I am happy that I read it. It was just too long. At times it got very repetitive. Those are really my only complaints.

MAY

13. by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Finish date: May 5, 2021
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: C
Review: This was my April selection from Book of the Month. The writing was beautiful and for the most part I enjoyed the story. However, the ending was a disappointment to me and I wish the main character had made a different decision.

14. by Tana French
Finish date: May 19, 2021
Genre: Mystery
Rating: B+
Review: This is the third book in French's Dublin Murder Series. So, I figured out who the murder was suuuper early in this one. Like pretty much as soon as the character was introduced I was like "yup, that's the one." Usually that would ruin a mystery novel for me. I don't like my mysteries to be all that predictable. But with this book it didn't really matter. I felt like that wasn't really the point of this story. Its a "mystery" novel, but to me it felt like it was focused more on family dynamics, shared trauma, etc. The story made me feel a lot of feelings. Things with my family haven't been great lately, so it may have just been my mind set, but it definitely made me emotional at some points.

JUNE

15. by Rhys Bowen
Finish date: June 1, 2021
Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Rating: D
Review: This was a read for a book club that I have with some friends. I found this really disappointing. It felt in a way like two books combined into one and I didn't think that all of the strings fit together in ways that made sense. I also found it to be pretty anti-climactic in the end. The relationships between the characters felt convoluted and it would have been a much better book if the main character wasn't in the story. If the story had been told from the perspective of one of the side characters I think it would have been more interesting and less confusing overall.

16. by Lloyd Alexander
Finish date: June 7, 2021
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Rating: C+
Review: I loved the Disney movie adaptation of this when I was a kid, but had never read the book, so I decided to pick it up. It was a fun read, but definitely suffered from some issues. There were almost no women or girl characters in this book. Just two, in fact. One was an evil sorceress and the other was a young girl who was flighty and not a very well developed character. Also, the main character, Taran, made terrible decisions and refused to listen to what anyone else said or suggested. But, despite that, I still had fun with this. It was a fast paced read and the author managed to create an interesting world.

17. by Judith Flanders
Finish date: June 27, 2021
Genre: History
Rating: C
Review: This book is marketed as being about the history of alphabetical order, but I feel like there's more to it than that. There's a little bit of information about the history of writing, the history of paper, and the history of other organizational systems in there as well. I have a masters in library science, so I kind of felt like I was back in school while I read this. The author clearly did extensive research and the book was filled with a lot of interesting footnotes. However, I did find the writing a little dry.

Ragan, so many interesting books you have been reading. I am a big fan of Tana French and her Dublin Murder series as well.

Lorna wrote: "Ragan, so many interesting books you have been reading. I am a big fan of Tana French and her Dublin Murder series as well."

I really like it. The last book that I read (Faithful Place) especially! Probably my favorite of the series so far.

18. by Olivia Waite
Finish date: July 5, 2021
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: A-
Review: This was the last installment in Olivia Waite's Feminine Pursuits Series and though it was my least favorite of the series, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I am looking forward to reading some of Waite's other stuff in the future.

19. by Shirley Jackson

Finish date: July 19, 2021
Genre: Horror, Classic
Rating: A+
Review: I love this book. I think this was my fourth time reading it and it just gets better every time. This was my book club's July pick and I was excited to reread it as I had just finished the Netflix show of the same name. Though the show and the book are extremely different, I did pick up on a lot more similar threads during my reread than I had expected to.

20. by Laura Sebastian

Finish date: July 30, 2021
Genre: Fantasy, Retelling
Rating: C-
Review: Half Sick of Shadows is a retelling of Arthurian Legend told from the perspective of an oracle named Elaine. It focuses mainly on Arthur's early life and how he came to be king. The rest of the story (Guinevere and Lancelot's affair, Arthur's death, etc.) is told through visions Elaine has throughout the novel. To be honest, I found the first half of this extremely boring. There were also some weird creative decisions that I found puzzling. There were a few interesting developments in the second half of the book, but I just found it all to be pretty underwhelming overall. However, I did like that all of the woman in this book were tough and smart and strong in their own rights.

AUGUST

21. by Julia Quinn
Finish date: August 14, 2021
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: D+
Review: Read this for a book club that I am in. I actually like the show more than the book. I thought parts of the book were fun, but parts of it were really troubling. I also felt like Simon was a much more developed character than anyone else in the book which is odd because the book is supposed to be about the Bridgerton family. Overall I just didn't love this and I don't think I will continue the series.

22. by Charlotte McConaghy
Finish date: August 16, 2021
Genre: Mystery, Contemporary
Rating: B-
Review: I didn't really know what to expect going in to this, but I liked it more than I expected to. It was a little slow to get going. There were parts of this that were difficult to read and at times I struggled to like the main character. However, the author's writing was beautiful and I did not expect the final twist.

23. by Gigi D.G. (no photo)
Finish date: August 30, 2021
Genre: Graphic Novel, Children's
Rating: A
Review: I hesitated to add this because it only took me like an hour to read and its intended for kids. But, I guess it counts. I loved this show and was so excited to find this graphic novel. While I didn't love it as much as the show it was still really fun and had some great artwork. Scorpia showed up and had some great moments which was exciting because she is the best character!

SEPTEMBER

24. by Merlin Sheldrake
Finish date: September 1, 2021
Genre: Nonfiction, Science
Rating: B
Review: This was kind of dry at times, but did include a lot of interesting information.

25. by Alice Oseman
Finish date: September 10, 2021
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Rating: A
Review: Its probably strange to say as this is a YA novel, but even as a 32 year old, I really connected to this novel. I saw so much of my younger self in some of the characters. I wish I had had this book when I was a teenager.

OCTOBER

26. by Elizabeth Wein
Finish date: October 4, 2021
Genre: YA, Mystery, Historical Fiction
Rating: C+
Review: This is a prequel to another well known Elizabeth Wein book. I loved the other book in this series, so I was excited to pick this up. But, while I enjoyed this well enough, it was nowhere near as good. It definitely feels like an entirely different and unrelated story. I did enjoy the mystery and the LGBTQ rep.

Good progress

27. by Edith Wharton
Finish date: October 18, 2021
Genre: Classics, Short Stories
Rating: C
Review: Edith Wharton is one of my favorite authors, but I have never been a huge fan of short stories. These stories were fine, but I didn't find any of them particularly spooky. However, there were a few that I did enjoy quite a bit and it was a good October read.

NOVEMBER

28. by Grady Hendrix
Finish date: November 4, 2021
Genre: Fiction, Mystery?
Rating: C+
Review: This was fun and a little spooky, but there were parts that bothered me and characters that I didn't particularly like. However, I thought it was an interesting take on vampire lore.

29. by Garth Nix
Finish date: November 25, 2021
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Rating: B-
Review: This is the second book in Nix's Abhorsen series. I liked this less than the first book. There were about 200 pages in the first half of the book that didn't really need to be there. If those had been removed, I think this would have been better. The ending was very interesting/exciting and I am looking forward to reading the next book to find out what happens.

DECEMBER

30. by Beverly Jenkins
Finish date: December 16, 2021
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: B+
Review: I really enjoyed this. Beverly Jenkins's writing is funny and entertaining. I really liked the heroine. She was tough and smart and independent. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series and other books by Beverly Jenkins.

31. by Beverly Jenkins
Finish date: December 20, 2021
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: B+
Review: So good. Can't wait for the third book in the series.

JANUARY 2022

1. by Beverly Jenkins
Finish date: January 10, 2022
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: B-
Review: I have been devouring Beverly Jenkins's historical romances lately. So far this is my least favorite, but it was still really enjoyable. I love her stories and will definitely continue to read through her works.

Great progress Ragan

2. by Sarah Ferguson (no photo)
Finish date: January 17, 2022
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: C-
Review: I liked the main character of this story. She was interesting and generous and defied expectations. But somehow, despite the strength of that character, this book was still mostly just boring. There were a few interesting parts, but overall it just felt like nothing much happened.

3. by Patti Smith
Finish date: January 26, 2022
Genre: Memoir/Audiobook
Rating: A-
Review: This is Patti Smith's memoir about her relationship with her lifelong friend, Robert. I listened to this on audiobook. Usually that is not my preferred method of finishing books, but this one was narrated by Patti Smith herself so it felt like the time to make an exception. This was beautiful. And listening to Patti Smith tell the story was the perfect way to enjoy it. You can hear the emotion in her voice in certain parts and the story is told the way she intended for it to be told. I would highly recommend the audiobook for this one.

FEBRUARY 2022

4. by Casey McQuiston
Finish date: February 4, 2022
Genre: Romance
Rating: B-
Review: This books is part romance, part time travel sci-fi. Admittedly, I had a lot of fun with this. It wasn't amazing, it wasn't particularly exceptional writing, but it was fun. I didn't love the ending though. It didn't make sense to me for this to end the way it did and it made me feel bad for one of the characters. She ended up giving up literally everything and I don't feel like the author emphasized that/explored that enough. If it had ended differently I think I would have given it a higher rating.

5. by Anthony Horowitz
Finish date: February 21, 2022
Genre: Mystery
Rating: C+
Review: This was just okay. I didn't find the book within the book very compelling. It took a lot longer than it should have for me to finish. Definitely my least favorite from Horowitz so far.

Interesting review, Ragan. I have a couple of his mysteries to read. Have you read the Magpie Murders?

by Anthony Horowitz

Lorna wrote: "Interesting review, Ragan. I have a couple of his mysteries to read. Have you read the Magpie Murders?

by [author:Anthony H..."

Yes, I have. I liked it much better than this one!

MARCH 2022

6. by Beverly Jenkins
Finish date: March 3, 2022
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: C-
Review: I love Beverly Jenkins' books and have been making my way through her catalog for the past few months. So far this is my least favorite. I struggled to believe the romance as written, so I wasn't very invested in the characters. But, I liked some of the side characters a lot and would be interested in reading more books in this series because of that.

7. by Brandon Sanderson
Finish date: March 19, 2022
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: B+
Review: This was my first Sanderson novel and I think it was a good introduction to his work. Admittedly, parts of the middle of this felt like they moved really slowly. I think that is simply due to the fact that Sanderson has created such an intricate and layered magic system which took a long time to fully explain to the reader.

8. by Nnedi Okorafor
Finish Date: March 26, 2022
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: C
Review: I read this while in recovery after surgery. I had a little trouble following parts of it, but that may have been due to the pain medication more than the book itself.

9. by Shirley Jackson
Finish date: March 30, 2022
Genre: Classics, Short Stories
Rating: C
Review: I'm not usually a fan of short stories, but I like Shirley Jackson, so I decided to pick this up. It was a good surgery recovery read because it didn't require me to be able to pay attention for long periods of time and I was able to read it in between naps. These stories were fine. I didn't love any of them, but they were entertaining.

MAY

10. by Sylvia Plath
Finish date: May 1, 2022
Genre: Classics
Rating: A+
Review: I have been in a reading slump lately, so I decided to pick up a book that I love and have read many times before. I annotated the book this time around and, as usual, I got a lot out of it.