Show Us Your Books, January 2022

You guys. What is even happening anymore? Betty White, Bob Saget, Omicron, new mask mandates a foot of snow already, a cat in my basement. It’s all too much. It’s like the worst version of We Didn’t Start the Fire and it’s only the 11th day of the year. At least no one’s tried to overthrow the government, so there’s that. I wish we didn’t have to start with something as ridiculous as “oh, I’m so glad there hasn’t been an attempted coup this year” but here we are.

At least it’s not killing my desire to read. In fact, not participating the Goodreads challenge has made me more inclined to read. It feels so liberating to just say no. Oh, and StoryGraph? That’s also a no from me right now. I didn’t find it user-friendly and the data is cool and all, but for a simple tracking system, I need less work. I’m lazy and I admit it.

I couldn’t actually remember what I read since the last time we met (not for the yearly favorites) but Goodreads and my Notes app let me know I’ve read a good number of 4-star books (yay!) which is nice. So let’s recap.

Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo and Donal Logue. Holy hell is Danny Trejo absolutely fascinating. HE WAS IN PRISON WITH CHARLES MANSON FFS. I loved reading about how he got sober and got famous and his own kids’ struggles with addiction and how he tried to help them and just his whole life. It’s a great memoir, but the name dropping got a bit much at times.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. Can this guy fucking write. OMG. Even though this wasn’t my favorite of his, I genuinely love Ray and I’m so excited there’s going to be another book about him. It’s all the things you expect and love in a Whitehead book, but just a little lighter around the edges.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. Big ups to NetGalley for the ARC for this, even if I read it a month after the pub date. It’s a Covid book, so reader beware, but it’s not a preachy Covid book. Like, you know it’s there but it’s not the main point of the story. But the story can’t happen without it. If you read it, you’ll know what I mean. Anyway, it’s a great book. SO MUCH BETTER than her last book which was crap on a stick.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain. LOVED this book. I can’t remember what I interpreted it to be about when I requested it (thanks for the book, NetGalley), but it turned out to be nothing I expected. It was so very good and interesting and even though it went back and forth between past and present, it didn’t feel gimmicky the way some books do. And a character has the same name as one of my friends so OF COURSE I sent text updates about that character. This is what you get if we’re friends.

Currency, various authors. This one of those free Amazon short story/novella collections, written by lots of well-known authors. This particular collection has stories by Emma Cline, Cristina Henriquez, Tom Perotta, Kiley Reid, and some others, and they focus on things like race, wealth, class…fun stuff like that. It was a decent group of stories. Some I loved, most I just liked. But if you’re aiming to get your book count up in a quick way, this is a solid way to do it.

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard. Probably my favorite book of the month. Another Covid book, but there’s crime. It’s quite a creative take on what could happen and the surrounding story is really different and well done. I don’t know what else to say without giving too much away. But you can read the summary.

You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen McManus. I read this YA thriller in a day. Literally an afternoon. I think this is going to be her next series (following the whole One of Us is Lying pattern), but it’s good. She knows how to tell a mystery. However, if you are not a fan of YA, you might not like this one and should pick up other books instead. If you are, you’ll probably enjoy it.

Currently reading The Sentence by Louise Eridich. Hopefully I will finish it before it needs to be returned.

So that’s it for me. Now it’s your turn to link up and show us your books! Don’t forget to visit my co-host Steph and some other bloggers and mark your calendars for February 8 for our next one.