5 amazing Books I read recently in January 2022
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For the very first in my blogging history (of 1.5 years) I have missed a whole week of posting, primarily due to health reasons mental, and physical. Apologies to my readers who expected interesting reading material.
Also experienced a pretty bad reading slump this month, due to the fact that my sister was visiting from down under and she was here practically the whole of January and I was meeting her after close to 4 years and my little nephew for the very first time.
And so I read 5 books this month. Not making excuses, but just elaborating to readers who’ve become habituated to expecting at least double the number of books every month from me.
But I did write some very interesting posts that I had pre-planned and plotted long back in November-December 2021 and I’m so glad I did that because seriously January has been a whirlwind of a month and I’m truly surprised to find out that’s it has already ended.
Linking those posts here, followed by short write-ups/reviews of the books I read in January 2022. Highly recommend The Push, Dark matter and The Paper Palace – underrated gems.
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Recent Reads January 2022
The Push by Ashley Audrain
“A mother’s heart breaks a million ways in her lifetime.”
Blythe wanted to be the best mother for her new born girl Violet. She wanted to be the opposite of what her mother was to her – selfish, unconcerned and unloving.
But Violet is not an easy child.
The Push has an absolutely unique and amazing plot. The winding and weaving way we are taken through Blythe’s current life and her traumatic childhood with a mother who abandoned her has been written in a very absorbing way.
This is a very dark story and gives readers a peek into a side of motherhood that is usually neither discussed nor portrayed.
Read this for Booklist Queens Reading Challenge 2022 – A Book With a Twist.
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Romance
My rating: 3 stars
First Published in 2022
Pages: 336
Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill meets Younger in a heartfelt debut following a young woman who discovers she'll have to ditch the "dream job" and write her own story to find her happy ending.
I picked this book believing it was a romantic comedy. But romance is a very small theme in this story which primarily focuses on the process of publishing and books in general. It also deals with themes like suicide, mental depression, and loneliness.
While I did enjoy parts of the book I skimmed through long pages of publishing information that I found a bit dull, frankly.
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Romance
My rating: 5 stars
First Published in 2021
Pages: 389
Before anyone else is awake, on a perfect August morning, Elle Bishop heads out for a swim in the glorious freshwater pond below 'The Paper Palace' -- the gently decaying summer camp in the back woods of Cape Cod where her family has spent every summer for generations. As she passes the house, Elle glances through the screen porch at the uncleared table from the dinner the previous evening; empty wine glasses, candle wax on the tablecloth, echoes of laughter of family and friends.
Brilliantly described landscape around "The Paper Palace". Every time Elle plunged into the pond, I held my breath.
The tenderness and the emotion with which the writer handled the whole story was unlike anything I've read before. I could totally relate to the dilemma going through Elle. My heart went out to her.
Milk, Blood, Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz
“I sat among them, enraptured by their stories, realizing for the first time that every one of us was a link stretching back, mother to daughter to mother, in an unbroken chain from the center of time, connected by milk and blood.”
A thirteen-year-old meditates on her sadness and the difference between herself and her white best friend when an unexpected tragedy occurs; a woman recovering from a miscarriage finds herself unable to let go of her daughter—whose body parts she sees throughout her daily life; a teenager resists her family’s church and is accused of courting the devil; servers at a supper club cater to the insatiable cravings of their wealthy clientele; and two estranged siblings take a road-trip with their father’s ashes and are forced to face the troubling reality of how he continues to shape them.
As much as the writing was interesting, so were the myriad characters. But all the stories contain dark themes and sometimes deeply disturbing.
A very relatable, touching, precise and eloquently held mirror to our lives. I look forward to more stories from Dantiel Moniz.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Imagine this scenario. It's family dinner night. Your spouse insists you pay your friend a quick visit at a local pub because they are hosting a celebration for receiving a prestigious award. You meet your friend. You’re on your way home with ice cream for your family and then you’re abducted.
Abducted to a world that you never knew existed. Where all your sacrificed choices have come true, but you don’t have your family with you. Meanwhile, a supposed impostor starts living with your family in place of you. You would do everything in your power to get back to your family and your world, wouldn’t you?
Absolutely brilliant, twisted, and unbelievable.
Do you read the short reviews on the covers of books that go – brilliant, breath-taking, genius, and so on and so forth? For the first time, I’ll say I believed all that the reviews had to say. It was simply that good.
Read This for Uncorked Reading Challenge 2022 – Time Travel Books.
To-Be-Read List for February 2022
February I have a lot of eARCs to read. I will also try to read more than 5 books this month. And hopefully also read some mushy romance in tune with the Valentine vibes for the month.
So stay tuned and keep reading.
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