January Reading

I read some really good books in January. My daughter inspires me, as she is a great reviewer and reads many more books than I do. Some of these were recommended by her (she is great at knowing which books I will enjoy), others I picked up for other reasons. They are all worth reading.

Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon tells the story of a midwife in colonial Maine. The US is in its infancy and life is hard. Martha is much more than a midwife; she is a parent with marriageable children, a friend who survives a rape, and a crusader for justice. Based on a real person and highly recommended.

Loot by Tania James is also based on a real situation. A young Muslim boy, Abbas, is a talented woodcarver. He works for Sultan Tipu, along with a Frenchman. When Tipu is overthrown, the Frenchman returns to France. Eventually Abbas manages to get there, although his route is long and hard. A centerpiece of the story is a real statue of a tiger standing over an Englishman.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride was one of the top-rated books of 2023. It is about Jewish and Black neighbors in a Pennsylvania town; a Jewish woman runs a neighborhood grocery store, and her childhood friend, a Black woman, lives next door. When a mute boy needs saving, the community all gets involved.

One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley explores the mind of a woman with dementia as she tries to remember what happened to her childhood friend who disappeared when they were young. The chapters where Edie tries to remember are especially well written.

The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin explores the relationships among a lonely woman beekeeper who befriends a teenaged boy in a wheelchair and a young man who is on the run. The main character Alice grows throughout the story, dealing with a tragic loss and her hopes for the future.

Mrs. Porter Calling by AJ Pearce is the third in a series about a young woman in WWII London who works for a women's magazine. These books are charming and you will love the characters if you read them.

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson is also on lists of best books of 2023. The three main characters are Clara, whose teenage sister has run away; Mrs. Orchard, her beloved neighbor who is dying in the hospital; and Liam, a man with a long-ago tie who inherits Mrs. Orchard's house, to Clara's dismay.

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill is the first of a mystery series recommended by a friend here in Chiang Mai. Dr. Siri has lived through the terrible times of the Pathet Lao in Laos. The new regime forces him to become the coroner in Vientiane. After supporting the Communist takeover, he becomes disillusioned. A good mystery and I'll be reading more.

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett is the first book in his Century Trilogy, about family relationships prior to and during WWI. Main characters from Russia, Germany, England, Wales, and the US have intertwining lives. I'm looking forward to the second and third books, even though they are all enormous (this was was 985 pages).

My other two books were Animal Farm by George Orwell, published in 1924; it needs no review from me; and That Summer by Lauren Willig, an author I like. I listened to this book in tiny bits and pieces, which made it hard to review. I focus much more easily on written books than audio ones.