The White Octopus Hotel

The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell, 368 pages

Eve is a reclusive art appraiser for a London auction house, happily doing her job when an old man walks in. He says his name is Max Everly — coincidentally, the same name as her favorite composer, born more than a century earlier — and he has a gift for her. After leaving Eve's office, the man disappears from her life, though she's intrigued by the small white octopus he's given her. A bit of research on the octopus takes Eve to an abandoned hotel in the Swiss Alps, and as she's exploring, she falls through time to the heyday of the hotel in the 1930s, where she once again meets a much younger Max Everly.

Sprinkled with time travel, mysterious magical objects, and a curiously fun hotel (my favorite element is the hidden eavesdropper in the speakeasy, who gives his signature cough whenever someone is lying), this book is a lovely read. Yes, it dabbles with the fantastical and magical, but it's not a full-on fantasy novel. An excellent magical realism read for fans of books like The Night Circus.

The Letter Carrier

The Letter Carrier by Francesca Giannone, 416 pages

When Carlo returns to his small Italian hometown of Lizzanello with a new wife, Anna, everyone is intrigued by her beauty and unconventional ways. When she takes over the job of letter carrier after the previous one dies, she's seen as even stranger, as no woman has ever held the position. But Anna slowly works her way into the hearts of Lizzanello's people, though she never ceases to be a subject of gossip, especially once she creates a home and learning space for women.

Beginning in 1934 and spanning several decades, I expected this book to really give us a flavor of the political and social changes throughout the 20th century in Italy. And while those were touched on, it was very much pushed to the margins. While the relationships were well created, a few of the characters had me rolling my eyes (you'll know which ones if you read it) and itching to get back to Anna.

Making History

 Making History by K.J. Parker, 128 pages.

Aelia's head academics have a problem. First Citizen Gyges needs a war to help people forget that his claim to power is less than totally legitimate, and to help the people swallow his harsh policies. But he can't just start a war for the sake of starting a war, so he needs justification. He has decided to make this the problem of the city's professors. Their task is to create a lost utopian city underneath the plains, so convincing that nobody can question the the righteousness of their anger, or the fact of this hitherto unknown civilization. After all, if history is just a story we tell ourselves, who says it can't be changed?

This was a really cool premise, but I found the execution a little lacking. Very little time was actually spent on any of the mechanics of changing history, and more was dedicated to weird metaphysics and speeches on history I mostly found self-indulgent. For a book that plays in this space in a more compelling way, I recommend The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow. 

The Sisters

The Sisters 

The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, 656 pages.

As intimated by the title, The Sisters is about sisters and (surprise!) a guy. The novel spans thirty years of their intertwined lives as Swedish-Tunisians mostly living in Sweden with short forays to Tunisia and New York. There are several throughlines, such as a curse, difficult family dynamics, and life between two cultures, but the book is really about maturing and finding your place in the world. The book is structured in a fascinating way. It is divided up into six parts with each part covering a shorter time span. The first part is a year which compresses to a single minute by the final, sixth section.

I love books with complicated family dynamics. Khemiri really shines when writing about the sisters and the relationship they have with each other and extended family. While Jonas' (the guy) voice is used as an outside perspective to the sister's lives, I am not sure his character brought a lot to the story and I questioned why he was there at all. The book is a solid 656 pages, but I was invested enough to want more. 

How to Be Perfect

 How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur, 304 pages.

This hugely approachable introduction to moral philosophy is by Michael Schur, who also created both The Good Place and Parks and Recreation, shows I have not seen. As this was pitched to me as sort of an "extended reading" for the The Good Place, being an extension of the philosophy research Schur did for that show, I was a little worried about that, but I ended up being very glad I picked it up! Schur mostly digs into three major philosophies (Aristotelian Virtue Ethics, Utilitarianism, and Deontology) with smaller detours into several other secular moral frameworks. 

Schur does a really great job not only contextualizing information about these frameworks, but also showing how they can applied, as well as all of their respective weak points. It is also extremely funny. I listened to the audiobook, which is read by the author with cameos from a handful of his actor friends, and I really can't recommend it highly enough. Schur's delivery regularly had me cracking up a little, which isn't necessarily the most common reaction to ethical quandaries. I feel that I should also clarify how completely approachable this book is. It starts with addressing the ethical question "Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?" and builds only gradually to the stickier questions. Schur always prioritizing presenting the philosophies in an easy to understand way, so that the audience's thinking power can be devoted to evaluating them rather than struggling to understand the concepts themselves. Overall, an easy to digest piece of nonfiction that still feels very enriching, I highly recommend it. 

Nicked

Nicked by M.T. Anderson, 220 pages.

In 1087 the path to wealth and prestige was often through holy relics and the pilgrims they brought. So when Brother Nicephorus has a dream a St. Nicholas that he interprets as a call to minister to the pox-stricken in the city of Bari, the powers that be instead decide that obviously this dream instead means that St. Nicholas would like his bones removed from Myra and brought to Bari. So Nicephorus is introduced to Tyun the relic hunter and his international crew, both as the "dreamer" and as a valuable witness of authenticity, due to his complete inability and unwillingness to lie. What follows is a swashbuckling adventure that goes in a whole lot of unexpected directions. 

This was a great book, and a great work of historical fiction! I feel like a lot of historical fiction feels like it uses history as a setting rather than something that impacts characters and worldview, but this book felt immersive. One of the characters is a dog-headed man, and in the author's note he mentions that he included this because they were in virtually every travelogue published at the time. I feel like this really nails the commitment to living within this medieval worldview. Beyond all of that, it was just a really fun book! This feels like the kind of adventure story that is begging to be turned into a movie. It was twisty and engaging, and I loved how all of the threads kept coming together. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a heist that's a little different, swashbuckling, or great medieval historical fiction. 

Gallant

Gallant by V.E. Schwab, 338 pages.

Olivia Prior has never entirely fit in at Merilance School for Girls, partially because she can't speak, and partially because she sees the dead. A letter from a man claiming to be her long-lost uncle invites her to his country home, Gallant. And Olivia, desperate to be wanted and find a place to belong, goes willingly, even though Gallant is the one place her mother warns her never to go in the diary that shows her slow spiral away from sanity. When she arrives Gallant is not what she expects, but she has to learn its secrets quickly if she is to have any hope of the family she has longed for. 

This was a fabulous, very gothic, novel. The books blurb describes it as The Secret Garden  meets Crimson Peak, and honestly that's an extremely accurate comparison. I liked how spooky it was, but also how thoughtful. The writing is beautiful, and the images are striking. Highly recommended for fans of modern gothic. 

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 180 pgs. 

A mysterious party host; a decadent mansion with crowds of lavish guests overflowing into the lawn; champagne and rumors spilling; distant views of the working class below. Welcome to the Roaring Twenties in New York City.
When Nick Carraway moves into the much smaller home next-door to Jay Gatsby's mansion, he gets an up-close view of extravagant wealth. Mr. Gatsby throws a fancy party every weekend, each one more over the top than the last. Nick is only an observer of these events until one day he receives an invitation, and suddenly he is a part of Gatsby's world--a world of affairs and adventures which is sure to end in disaster. 

This was my first time reading this classic, and I had a good time! The prose was a bit difficult for me to understand at times--I definitely had to re-read a few parts to get what was going on--but it is a very interesting story to imagine. The themes of class and gender roles during the 1920s are quite interesting to unpack, but this is definitely a story written from a well-off white male perspective.

January Totals

Our TBRs are as endless
as the current snow

 Annie: 6 books, 2142 pages

Byron: 3 books, 721 pages

Chani: 2 books, 706 pages

Jan: 4 books, 1219 pages

Kara: 11 books, 4417 pages

Regan: 4 books, 1081 pages

Totals: 30 books, 10286 pages

Two Truths and a Lie

Two Truths and a Lie by Cory O'Brien, 304 pages

Set in a futuristic waterlogged Los Angeles where information is literally currency, this debut novel follows combat-drone veteran Orr as he tries to sort out the details of a murder the cops assume he has something to do with (even though he isn't aware of it at all) and also track down an ex-lover, who may somehow be involved. While some of the ideas are intriguing and some of the scenes are entertaining (playing truth or dare with a bunch of people dosed with truth serums? Scandalously fun!), a convoluted plot and the odd noirish vibe of Orr's narration keep this one from really coalescing. Still, I'm interested to see what O'Brien comes up with in the future, assuming he's able to hone these fiction-writing skills.