Happy 2020! Welcome to the first addition of what I learned by reading. This month felt like it was a million years long, which is fine in terms of reading because I read 12 books so far, well ahead of my 100 book goal for 2020.

Read Cover-to-Cover in January

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

• Adult science fiction about community in which a captain takes a time-travelling young boy and an ambitious scientists stretches her work beyond the last vestiges of Earth
• Takeaway: Beautiful prose that makes evocative metaphors that don’t distract from the plot or characterizations

Kushiel’s Dart (Phèdre’s Trilogy, #1) by Jacqueline Carey

• The first installment of Phèdre’s Trilogy, about a smart young woman enraptured in a multi-national war full of court intrigue and the infamous BDSM the book is known for
• Completely lives up to the hype
• Takeaway: How to write a 900+ page book that does not feel 900+ pages

Prosper’s Demon by K.J. Parker

• Da Vinci is possessed by a demon and our sarcastic, tired, nameless narrator is going to exorcise it
• Takeaway: Correct way to play the pronoun game

Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda & Valynne E. Maetani

• Young adult fantasy taking place in Japan in which a young shrine maiden must gather seven shinigami to prevent eternal darkness
• Takeaway: Lean into tropes and culture to deliver a wonderful experience

Finished in January

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

• Non-fiction story of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster
• Takeaway: Deep emotional cores deserve the utmost respect and accuracy in their retelling

Audiobooks

Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin #3) by Robin LaFevers

• Third book in the young adult fantasy, His Fair Assassin, trilogy which takes place in an alternate history of medieval France and Britain
• Takeaway: Bring themes established in the previous books to satisfying conclusion, regardless the narrator

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

• Adult science fiction in which a woman comes to the city of Qaanaaq riding a whale that’s actually about why landlords are bad, the AIDS epidemic, and how climate change rocks communities
• One of my favorite books of all time
• Takeaway: Tight prose and sentences which do more than one thing at the same time

Come Tumbling Down (Wayward Children #5) by Seanan McGuire

• The fifth installment of the Wayward Children series in which we return to the Moors for the continued adventures of Jack and Jill
• Takeaway: Fantastic characterization in such a small package

In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt

• Great title and cover
• Shifting fairy tale about a woman moving away from her puritanical way of life
• Not quite like The VVitch as I expected
• Takeaway: I need to manage my expectations better

The Whisper Man by Alex North

• Crime thriller about a series of murders returning to a sleepy town in where a bereaved father and his son just move into
• Takeaway: Fantastic true crime has to poke at something deeper than just the horror of the murders and crimes

Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby

• A World War II era Chicago era told from the points of view of a ghost and an alive girl navigating familial hardships
• Dear reader, I cried
• Takeaway: Another excellently woven narrative that’s researched without feeling like it

The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation by Rich Cohen

• Non-fiction vintage true crime about Alfred Hicks and New York’s crime in the mid-1800s
• Takeaway: Consider the overall story arc to manage reader expectations

 

Until next time,
Jo