I know this entry is a little late but…you know…*gestures wildly but specifically towards the direction of the previous 3 essays if you need an explanation*.
Better late than never, right? Without further ado…what I read in January.
Non-fiction Books
The Body Is Not An Apology - I highlighted, dog-eared, and annotated the crap out of this book. If you are on a personal journey of radical self love, and if that is a priority over any sort of “self-improvement” goals, then you must read this book because it will be your bible.
Hood Feminism - This book is classified as a memoir but I like to refer to it as a educational resource about intersectional feminism. This book might make you feel uncomfortable at times - especially if you are a middle class white woman - but it’s a must read. I will forever include things like housing, food and healthcare on the top of my Feminist Priorities list from now on.
Evicted - This book was heavy and my only non-memoir non-fiction of the month. I actually started it this summer but struggled with it as first because it follows so many different characters but you need to read this book all the way through, especially including the “About this Project” chapter. I thought I knew about how poverty in this country is a trap, but this book really opened my eyes.
Young Adult Fiction
Furyborn - This book has strong female leads who are complicated characters who might not be clearly good or evil and that is my favorite type of character. I really enjoyed this one even though I struggled in the beginning. It's really long and has a LOT of complex world building across two different timelines - which I tend to struggle with - but once I went back and re-read the first chapter around page 170 I was like, "OHHHHH. I THINK I GET IT NOW." I suddenly felt like I had a better grasp of the two different worlds and how they were connected. I was gifted the other two books in this series and I can’t wait to read them.
The Poet X - This one centers around an Afro-latina teenager struggling to find her voice as a poet and her personal identity while navigating a complicated relationship with her Mother. I’ve read all of Elizabeth Acevedo’s books except this one and it’s the one she gets tons of acclaim for! The library finally delivered my hold and it was so good. It’s another one written in lyric-style and so I took the advice of a friend and listened to the audiobook (I actually had the paper book and the audiobook checked out from the library at the same time) and I highly recommend that you do the same. I still want to own a paper copy, but hearing the author read her own verses was definitely the way to go.
Our Dark Duet - This was the second book in another V. E. Schwab YA series (she’s my new favorite author, I’m reading all of her old adult and YA fantasies). It’s another fantasy story with characters who are not clearly good or evil. Her series’ are just always so rich in 3-dimensional characters with vivid fantasy worlds and complicated boundaries of morality and I love THEM ALL.
Adult Fiction
The Once And Future Witches - This one is definitely going on my Top of 2021 lists. Great female leads/empowerment combining fantasy with an alternate history around the women’s suffrage movement and I just adored every bit of it.
The Mercies - This is a historical fiction built around a witch-hunt story that evolved after tragedy struck a fishing town in Norway in 1619 and the women basically survived by taking over the duties of the men that had died. There’s strong women rising up against misogynistic boundaries, there’s religious bigotry, and there’s lesbian love…three of my favorite elements to appear in any story.
Their Eyes Were Watching God - This was a free audiobook offered on the author’s birthday and I’m so glad I snatched it up, even though I’m not usually an audiobook person. I never read this one in school like a lot of people did. I wish this book was assigned more often because it’s a strong black female lead set about 10 years later than To Kill A Mockingbird (which gets assigned too much) and while it definitely dealt with race and racism, it’s also about love and overcoming tragedy and finding your path outside fo what the world might define for you and I loved it.
The Ten Thousand Doors Of January - Another one by Alix Harrow. I struggled to get into this one at first but once I did I enjoyed it. It’s a unique fantasy world that doesn’t fit into any previously defined mold, and once I tried to understand it like that I settled into it better. I didn’t love the love story element of it as much as I was probably supposed to, but I did love the “thwart the bad guys” element. There’s probably a lot to be said about how you can miss out on important things in your life if you get caught up in obsessive tasks…and I did find that element kinda interesting…but I just didn’t love this one as much as I loved Harrow’s other book.
I also read two other books in January that I did not include on this list. First is The Outsiders because I read it with Wesley for school and the second is the first book in the Wings of Fire series which I’m reading with my nephew. While I include these book in my “Reading Challenge” on Goodreads, they’re not really the books I write about after I’ve read them.
I hate picking “favorites” because I read so many different types of books that are different in so many ways, so this was the best I could come up with for January. I read 12 books and I reduced it to 8 “favorites” which is pretty good for me.
I have The Body Is Not An Apology being delivered tomorrow. I’m currently reading The F*CK It Diet on the recommendation of my therapist. It’s fascinating and I highly recommend it!