New Books Read
Setting Free the Bears by John Irving*
CW: war, death, animal death and abuse
Have been wanting to read this one for a while because I love bears and it’s been a while since I read a John Irving book. In 1960s Vienna, two young men hatch a plan to set free the animals of the Vienna zoo. The book is a coming of age story about grief and generational trauma and war and friendship. Struck me as a bit gay. I did enjoy this. It has the absurdity of other Irving works, including a wild and ridiculous death. I didn’t think it was as funny as some of his other books, and the middle section about Siggy’s family history did drag. But I loved the final image of the bears.
3.5/5 bears
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss*
CW: death of animals
When a family is shipwrecked on a deserted coastline on their way to colonize Australia, they set up their home in the jungle instead. It is rather fun, although apart from the shipwreck they experience absolutely no hardship whatsoever. They are cheery and industrious about the whole thing and are never upset that they will never see another human again. This does get a bit tiresome after a while, so the middle drags until the 10 years later epilogue which has more action than the whole rest of the novel. I also didn’t love that they had to shoot absolutely every animal they encountered, even when it wasn’t threatening them and they didn’t need more food. Would have been nice if at least one of the children was a girl. Also, I know this was published in 1812, but Wyss clearly had no idea what flora and fauna actually might be found on a South Pacific island and so included whatever he wanted. I’ve heard there’s another edition that includes conflicts with natives, which sounds probably racist, so I’d recommend this edition.
3/5 kangaroos (for some reason)
Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
Temeraire book 2 of 9
I’m currently obsessed with these. In book 2, Laurence and Temeraire travel to China to try to resolve diplomatic tensions which have arisen since Temeraire was a Chinese dragon taken by the English navy. I love to see Laurence and Temeraire’s relationship develop, and it was fun to see more of the world and the way dragons are incorporated into Chinese society. I think I liked it just a smidge less than the first one, just because there’s a little more conflict between Laurence and Temeraire, and I just love them so much.
4.5/5 jewels
The Malady of Death by Marguerite Duras*
I was going to get rid of this book without reading it because I didn’t think it looked that interesting, but then I saw it was only 60 pages and had large type. I thought I could read it in less than an hour, and I was right. I was also right that it wasn’t that interesting. It tells the story of a man who hires a woman to try to teach him how to love. The prose is at times lyrical and lovely, but the man was predictably terrible and the woman had no personality. Which was perhaps Duras’s point, that you can never learn to truly love something you don’t see as more than an object. But I’m not interested enough to think that hard about it.
2/5 unnamed characters
Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser*
CW: rape (off page), incest, death
I loved this. I love a Cinderella (or any fairytale) retelling. Through the eyes of Lady Tremaine, we see the familiar story anew, exploring what a mother will do to better the lives of her daughters. This version is historical rather than fantastical, and explores feminist themes of motherhood.
5/5 falcons
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow***
CW: death
Another banger. I love Harrow’s work. This is probably my second favorite of her books after The Once and Future Witches. The myth of Sir Una Everlasting, Knight of Dominion is the founding myth of Dominion society and the research subject of veteran and scholar Owen Mallory, but when a rare and mysterious manuscript appears in Owen’s office, he’ll discover just how important this story is, and how history may be rewritten. Spanning centuries, this is a fated love story that explores how important propaganda is to an authoritarian regime. I love Harrow’s prose.
5/5 yew trees
Jackal by Erin E. Adams***
CW: racism, serial murder
I keep reading thrillers because I want to like them, and then I don’t like them that much. I almost put this book down after the prologue because I hated the writing style of the prologue. The majority of the rest of the book was better though. Young Black girls have been going missing every summer in this Pennsylvania town on the edge of the woods. When her best friend’s daughter disappears, Liz must unravel the mystery and why everyone has been looking the other way for years. I liked the idea a lot, especially the themes of systemic racism. I didn’t love the execution. I don’t mind fantastical elements in thrillers, but I like to know whether that is likely in the world of the novel. I hated the sex scene, I had to skip it.
2.75/5 hellhounds
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane***
This book was a bit of a downer, which is absolutely not a fair assessment for a dystopian book about grief. In a world where those who have “hurt others” are assigned an extra shadow, and subsequently shunned and discriminated against, a woman must learn to raise her child in the wake of the death of her wife. Because childbirth was the cause of her wife’s death, the child is assigned a second shadow at birth. This was a really lovely meditation on surveillance, grief, right and wrong, and what it means to hurt someone. It was a bit depressing though. And I’m not a parent, so maybe this criticism is irrelevant, but the child read older to me than the age she was described throughout the book.
3.75/5 scorpions
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia***
I loved this. In three parallel timelines, women from three generations investigate a vanishing by a malevolent witch. I loved all the witchcraft elements and the way the three stories were braided together. I did guess who the witch was, but I’m not mad about it.
5/5 bird talismans
Books I did not finish
The Improvisers by Nicole Glover***
CW: murder
It always makes me so sad to DNF books. I really really wanted to like this. It’s a companion to a series, so maybe I should have tried the series first, but this is supposed to be a stand alone. I loved the idea of a prohibition era smuggler and trick pilot solving magical murders with the help of her family’s funerary business. That is SO up my alley. But I just wasn’t that into it. I didn’t feel like I was connecting with the characters and I didn’t feel the need to find out the solution to the mystery.
*This book only includes straight white cis people. There was gay subtext in Setting Free the Bears.
**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be lying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.
***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Jackal for an examination of systemic racism. Read The Everlasting to learn about how propaganda weaponizes nationalism in service to authoritarianism. Read I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself for a queer dystopian exploration of grief and surveillance. Read The Bewitching to see Mexican folklore and queer characters in fantasy/horror. Read The Improvisers to see Black characters in historical fantasy–maybe it will hit for you.
Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.
