For the Love of Reading: January 2025

I’m breaking with my typical Three on Thursday post this week to share with you the books I read last month.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
And myths are the stories we tell ourselves to make living tolerable.
This debut novel by Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar is stunning. The narrative centers on Cyrus Shams, a young poet grappling with depression and addiction, haunted by the death of his mother when her airplane was shot down by the United States and his father who has passed away more recently. Cyrus considers historical martyrs to justify his own longing for death in the modern world and eventually makes a conscious effort to turn himself into one. The prose is gorgeous and, while the themes are difficult and the ending is ambiguous, I found this to be a poignant and profoundly moving book.

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This book had such potential: a mysterious and reclusive author, a remote Scottish island, and the dark side of the fine art world. And yet, I struggled with all of it. The plot was meandering, the characters were stereotyped and predictable, and I just didn’t care about the outcome or even really understand what was at stake. Fans of Hawkins will probably enjoying but it never took off for me.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.
It’s unfathomable that I never read The Outsiders until now but when the Massachusetts Reading Challenge theme for January was to read a book set in the year you were born, this matched perfectly and I decided to finally check this classic off my list. TL,DR: I’m glad I did. The story of Pony Boy and his attempt to understand society’s rules and how economic class divides us has stood the test of time.

In the Woods by Tana French
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
When a body is discovered near a spooky wood, a murder-squad detective in Ireland is forced to confront his own horrific past in this engrossing and melancholy novel. Yes, it’s a mystery but it’s more of a psychological drama that sometimes gets bogged down in angst and self-reflection. I enjoyed the character development and story but would have preferred more swiftly delivered ending. I’ve read more recent books by French and think her style has developed significantly since her debut with this book.

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Every human dies. But the bad news is that every day they act like they don’t know they’re alive. They lie or behave inconsiderately or cheat. Each one is a little death. Humans experience many little deaths before the final one.
A gorgeous and heartfelt exploration of humanity through the eyes of Adina, a girl who believes she is an alien sent to observe Earth. Often sad and filled with a longing for home that anyone who has ever felt misplaced can relate to, it’s also witty and tender. Bertino does an incredible job capturing the contradictions and complexities of life and it totally deserves the accolades it has gotten as one of the best fiction books of 2024. Is Adina really an alien or just a lonely neurodivergent individual? And does it even matter?

The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bohjalian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Chris Bohjalian has once again written a well researched and engrossing book, this time set during the Civil War and loosely based on a true story about a Vermont soldier who is nursed back to health by a Virginia woman. The characters are well developed and believable and never slip into stereotypes, staying true to their nature while also evolving as they are exposed to new situations. The setting is vivid and engrossing, particularly in the depictions of the battle scenes which felt truly realistic and horrific. There are enough twists along the way to keep the reader engaged and the ending is inevitable, as Bohjalian resists the urge to sugar coat it into a modern day romance. Highly recommended. I was given an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One 5 star read, three 4 star reads, one 3 star read and one 2 star read makes for a pretty good month of reading.