I was able to read quite a bit this month, 13 books in all. I am still struggling to get through Theo of Golden, but more on that in another post. Six of the books were in print, five were digital, and two were audiobooks. Many of the titles are perfect for your Winter season reading.

My reading goals this year are to read more books on my TBR (to be read) shelves, read more memoirs, and read more books in audio format. Seven of the books I read had been on my shelves for a year or more, so that was a good start. I didn’t have any five-star books this month, but what I did read was quite entertaining and satisfying.

Grab a cup of tea or coffee, a notebook, and a pen, and let’s get started.

Antarctica by Claire Keegan. If you have enjoyed any of this author’s other works (Foster, Small Things Like These), you may want to try this collection of short stories, which was her debut. I enjoyed her other works more, but I am glad I read this collection. All the stories explore the complexity of relationships, loss, and the search for meaning. The characters are all quite diverse and finely drawn, with struggles that are very relateable. 4 stars

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino was kind of unhinged. It is classified as a thriller and tells the story of a woman at her wits’ end trying to buy a home in a seller’s housing market. The book poses the question, “How far would you go to buy a home?” Our protagonist steps over every line you can think of in her quest to purchase a certain home. You will cringe, you will wince, you will kind of sort of hope she wins. 3.5 stars

Five Winters by Kitty Johnson is a book about love, motherhood, friendship, and moving on. Beth Bailey has been in love with her best friend’s brother, Mark, as long as she can remember. For years, she’s held onto the hope that he could come to love her back. The book opens with Beth, at thirty-five, going to Mark’s wedding to another woman and realizing that perhaps she needs to finally move on. I enjoyed this Hallmark-style romance, and since it’s free on Kindle Unlimited, what do you have to lose? 3.5 stars

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim has been on my TBR shelf for way too long. This book is a mystery, which I had not realized. It tells the story of a family whose beloved father goes missing, the only witness being his son Eugene, who suffers from a rare genetic condition that prevents him from speaking. His family’s desperate search uncovers information that makes them question everything they thought they knew about their father. This was very suspenseful, and kept me turning the pages as fast as I could. I certainly learned a lot about the genetic condition “Angelman Syndrome” and was quite surprised at the various twists and turns of the plot. I recommend this one if you haven’t read it. 4.25 stars.

Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven is an entertaining novel set in the golden age of TV in the 1950s and early 60s. The plot is a total takeoff on the old Ozzie and Harriet TV show. Dinah and Del Newman and their two sons Guy and Shep have been America’s favorite TV family for the past decade. It is now the early 60’s, and their idealized, perfect family is becoming much less relevant than before. Del, the force behind the TV show, is injured in a car accident and is unable to make decisions concerning production. His wife, Dinah, takes over and encounters many setbacks because she is not taken seriously as a woman. This book tackles many issues that were gaining increasing importance at the time in our country: feminism, gender roles, and gay rights. I enjoyed it quite a lot. 4 stars

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark is a terrific blend of family drama and intriguing mystery. The book begins in 1974 with a shocking event. An intruder apparently murdered two teenage siblings in their family home. A third sibling survives, but grows up with a shadow of doubt on his innocence in spite of having an alibi. This surviving teenager becomes a famous horror writer, Vincent Taylor, whose life remains marked by turmoil. Our main character, Olivia Dumont, is a successful ghostwriter, and is surprised when her agent tells her that Vincent Taylor has asked that Oliva ghostwrite his memoir. It turns out that Vincent is her estranged father. Will he spill the beans about what really happened the night his siblings were killed? Can she trust him? This book was a great mix of emotional depth and suspense and I think many of you will really like it. It has gotten great reviews and is highly rated. 4 stars

Strangers, a Memoir of a Marriage by Belle Burden. I have mixed feelings about this memoir. It begins in 2020, with Belle and her family settling into their home in Martha’s Vineyard to wait out the pandemic. She thinks her life is pretty near perfect until her husband of 20 years announces that he is leaving her and wants a divorce. He walks away from his wife and teenage kids like he is shucking off a raincoat. As despicable as I found his behavior, I had a lot of trouble reconciling his wife’s need to thrash out every detail of their separation and divorce. It was pretty ugly. In my opinion, some things are best kept private. 2.5 stars.

The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley. Have you read anything else by this author? (The Winter Sea, The Rose Garden, The Firebird). If you enjoy well-crafted historical fiction, you may love her books. This book is set in 1613 and centers on Andrew Logan, a messenger for King James. He has been tasked with the duty of traveling to Scotland to round up Sir David Moray, former adviser and close companion to the recently deceased Prince Harry. As his mission unfolds, it becomes clear to Andrew that Sir David is being set up. He wants no part of betraying an innocent man, and the plot unfolds masterfully. There is romance, intrigue, and a touch of magical realism in the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to read more by this author. If you enjoy holding a hardcover edition in your hands, it is only $7 on Amazon right now. 4.25 stars

The Invincible Miss Cust by Penny Haw is historical fiction that tells the true life story of the first female veterinary surgeon in the United Kingdom. The story takes place between 1870 and 1922. Aleen Cust was rejected by her family for pursuing a career as a veterinarian. She was finally allowed to attend veterinary college, but was denied being able to take her exams, receive a diploma, and qualify as a vet, even though she was at the top of her class. Her story is frustrating, and I felt the book lagged a bit in the middle as her struggle was detailed. She was a remarkable woman, and this story of her life is extremely highly rated on Goodreads. 3 stars

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex is another novel inspired by real-life historical events. In 1972, a boat pulls up to the Maiden Rock lighthouse on the coast of Scotland to provide relief for the lighthouse keepers. Only the three lighthouse keepers aren’t there. The table is set for a meal; the logbook mentions a storm that never occurred; and the clocks have all stopped at 8:45. The mystery was never solved, and no bodies ever recovered. In this book, set two decades later,we follow the widows of the three lighthouse keepers and their quest to figure out what could have happened to their husbands. It is a story of isolation, obsession, and what is real and what is not. If you think you’d enjoy a mystery based on real-life events, this one’s for you. 3.5 stars

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths shows that some murders are so old they can’t be solved in just one lifetime. Ali Dawson and her team investigate crimes that are so cold they refer to them as “frozen”. How do the crimes get solved? It turns out the investigative team can travel back in time to find the evidence that solves the crime. This was an intriguing premise for me, the gal who loves time travel. Ali travels back to 1850s London to clear the name of an eccentric patron of the arts. Only something glitches, and she is unable to get back. This book was a delightful genre mash-up: mystery, police procedural, historical fiction, and sci-fi. This was a fun read, and I understand it is the first of a series, and I am on board. 4 stars

The Land in Winter by Allen Miller was my favorite book of January. It is literary fiction that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Set in 1962 in the English countryside, two neighboring women, both pregnant, start up a friendship. Their husbands could not be more different: one is the town doctor, the other a farmer. Both couples seem mismatched, and their marriages are showing signs of strain. Amid the coldest winter in memory, the two couples are thrown together, and their isolation is both physical and emotional. The author has a knack for describing domestic matters with acute realism, especially the class and social differences between the couples. You will get to know these four characters intimately, and even if you don’t approve of their choices, you will be hooked until the last page. 4.75 stars

The Poet Empress by Shen Tao is a lush historical fantasy set in 650AD China, during the Azalea Dynasty. We follow Yin Wei, the daughter of a rice farmer who becomes the unlikely concubine of the cruel heir to the empire. The book explores court intrigue, the impact of trauma, the lure of power, how monsters are made, and what one might endure to exact revenge. The characters are multi-layered, and as you get to know them, your opinion of them develops and changes. This book has a level of complexity that will keep your interest throughout as we follow the politics of the court and the succession of an heir . Be warned, not only is this book intense, it is very violent. This book is a huge hit, but for some reason, it is free on Kindle Unlimited right now. 4.5 stars

I hope you had a great reading month as well. If you read any of these books, do let us know what you thought about them! Do any of them sound like something you might want to read?

Have a wonderful weekend.