Books I Read, January 2024

Over the last 2 years I have made reading and listening to audiobooks a huge part of my life. Between 2022 and 2023, I read and listened to a total of 139 books! (Come read along with me on Goodreads.)

I’m excited to start the year with such a memorable stack of books. Here are the books I finished in January – I’ll share a bit about each one with the exception of “The Hormone Shift: Balance Your Body and Thrive Through Midlife and Menopause” by Tasmeen Bhatia. Menopause deserves its own post!

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

I found this book to be delightful, with a big capital D. I am a sucker for a tale about unlikely friendships and deep human connection forged in adverse situations; and this book delivered on both. I’ve read two of Towles’ other novels, Rules of Civility and Lincoln Highway; all his books are so different in plot but all paint rich characters and a very distinct sense of time and place.

The book begins with aristocrat Count Alexander Rostov sentenced to a life of house arrest at the Hotel Metropol (a real place) for writing a poem with potential revolutionary intent. Within the walls and bustle of the Metropol, we follow Rostov’s life over three decades, where he makes a few enemies but mostly dear friends. 

This book completely surprised me; the title and cover don’t suggest the touching tale that unfolds. I already know that this will make my top ten books of 2024, and it’s a novel that I can see myself reading over and over again. My only complaint is that it spoiled the ending of Anna Karenina, which I happened to be reading at the same time – boy was it hard to keep all of my Russian characters straight!

Congratulations, The Best is Over by R. Eric Thomas

I’ve never laughed so much while listening to a book, which was not helpful on the nights when I was listening to it while trying to help Bowie fall asleep (we’ve been going through a lot of sleep fear lately). He kept asking, “Mama, what are you laughing at?” The answer: R. Eric Thomas storytelling his life! Thomas is that rare memoir writer who can be vulnerable on one page and then crack you up in the next line. I highly recommend this book as a listen because Thomas’ delivery adds so much (though I want to go back and reread the physical book so I can underline all the lines that moved me to laugh and reflect). He and I are the same age and even though I am definitely not a gay, Black man (at least not in this life), I related so much to his essays about midlife – the process of making adult friends and desperately wanting more connection trying to find meaning in this undefined middle stage where you’ve become something but maybe not everything you want to be. If you love personal essays that weave humor into weighty life moments, I cannot recommend this memoir enough.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

I listened to Dominic Hoffman’s narration of this book and was just transported by his voice. This story takes place in the 1920’s in the segregated town of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, mostly the neighborhood of Chicken Hill where the immigrant Jews and Blacks are allowed to live. The book first centers on a Jewish couple, Moshe and Chona Ludlow, who are the owners of a local musical hall and the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. Chona spends her days running the store and her kindness is the bridge that connects the two communities. From there the book expands to the experience of the Black community living in a prejudiced town that contains more than a few KKK members, with the town doctor among its membership. A tragic event occurs that requires both communities to help each other in the name of justice and takes the book into its final heist phase. Like A Gentleman in Moscow, this is a book about the role of humanity in the face of adversity. The year is early but I can also see this book in my top 10 of 2024.

The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland

The only thing I knew about this book was that it was about a fire (says so in the title!), but the specific tale Beanland imagined out of this historic event totally captivated me. In 1811, a fire started in the Richmond, Virginia’s only theater during a packed Christmas performance. The story of this tragedy and the immediate aftermath are told through the eyes of 4 different characters (2 of whom are based on real figures), all while exploring the conditions and injustices faced by women and the enslaved at this time. The incidents of violation and violence against several enslaved characters were upsetting to get through but unfortunately so true to the times. This book was a great listen with 4 narrators, but the story would have been just as compelling if I had read it. If you like historical fiction and stories of hope in the face of tragedy, you’ll enjoy this one. 

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I am kicking off my attempt to read more classics with the tome Anna Karenina – after all, many have said it’s one of the best novels ever written – and I’ve learned not to be scared of long books. While I can see how it was an incredibly unique novel of its time, I didn’t always love it. I found Anna’s emotional journey to be honest and raw, but I also didn’t find her arc and inner monologue to be especially unique when considered within the vast literary canon of tragic female stories (Ooh, am I throwing shade on a time-honored novel? I guess I’m not not throwing shade.)

The bigger problem was that I did not care for the other main plot – that of Levin, a privileged landowner who is connected to Anna through her brother. This book really should have been called “Anna Karenina and Also This Guy Levin.” I found the content of his philosophizing to be too self-important and self-conscious, especially for someone with such privilege, and the same tantrum and tedium repeats itself over and over again. Because of all the attention paid to Levin, we lose what I see as the more interesting foil to Anna, her brother Stiva, a cad who skips through life under a guise of importance while indulging all of his vices without any punishment because he is well, a man, and she is not.

I think if someone just gave me this novel and didn’t tell me it is one of the greats and if Levin’s story was greatly reduced, I probably would have read it and possibly enjoyed it differently. Still, I’m glad I finished this book. It makes me want to go back to high school English class and write a five-paragraph essay answering the question: Why wasn’t Anna Karenina’s story important enough to stand on its own?

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

I have a goal of becoming an Ann Patchett completist and this is my 5th book of hers (6 more to go!). Like all of Patchett’s books, it’s beautifully written but unfortunately it wasn’t a story I connected with. We follow two families through divorce, which deeply alters the lives of the 4 parents and the 6 kids especially. It’s not told in chronological order, which allows Patchett to keep some secrets from the reader. Despite not connecting to the characters, it’s still a wonderfully written story about the complexity of family, the messiness of life, and how the people we are in our youth don’t necessarily predict who we’ll be as adults. If you enjoy a family narrative, especially one filled with several anti-heroes, give this one a try.

I’m so excited to have this space to share more of my reading life with you. Are you a reader? I’d love to know some of your recent (or past) favorites. Email me or drop me a comment.

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