LocusAmoenus' 2022 Reads

I don't set reading goals, because I'll often change my mind and I prefer to just go with whatever strikes my fancy at the time. I also don't hesitate to DNF books; sometimes I'll come back to them later on, other times I abandon them altogether.

I read across all genres, and will often read 2-3 books at once (I like to have a fiction and non-fiction read going at any given time).

That said, I am interested in exploring gothic novels this year, and have already read a couple. So I'll be (loosely) tracking that project.

Books Read in 2022

(I calculate reads based on the books I finished--not necessarily started--each month)

January
1. The Last Olympian (bedtime reading with my son)
2. Children of Ruin
3. Ramona the Brave (bedtime reading with my daughter)
4. The Headmaster
5. Jane Eyre
6. King of Battle and Blood

February
7. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
8. Ramona and Her Father (bedtime reading with my daughter)
9. New Moon

March
10. Rebecca
11. House of Earth and Blood (library loan)
12. Ramona and Her Mother (bedtime reading with my daughter)
13. Slouching Towards Bethlehem (library loan)

April
14. Empire of Pain (library loan)
15. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (bedtime reading with my daughter)
16. The Terror

May
17. Wintering
18. The Year of Magical Thinking
19. Ramona Forever (bedtime reading with my daughter)
20. Her Night With the Duke

Reading Project: Gothic and Gothic-Adjacent Novels

1. The Headmaster
2. Jane Eyre
3. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
4. Rebecca

Welcome, Marisa. How fun to be reading the Ramona books with your daughter. I read them with my daughter so many, many moons ago. They grow up so fast! How old are your kiddos? A couple of years ago my daughter read Jane Eyre in her English class, and then we watched several different film productions of it. That was a fun exercise.

>4 labfs39: Thank you! My daughter is eight, and my son ten. He's all about fantasy (with him, I'm reading all the Percy Jackson books, and he's already gone through Lord of the Rings and other series). My daughter prefers more realistic settings. She loved Judy Blume's Fudge books, and is having a great time with Ramona (partly, I think, because she resembles Ramona in many ways).

>5 LocusAmoenus: My daughter was into books like Julie and the Wolves and Island of the Blue Dolphins around that age. It was so fun reading with her. She's 18 now. I never read the Percy Jackson books, but have heard good things.

Welcome Marisa. Only a few years ago i “read” Frankenstein for the first time, listening to a library audiobook (with unlimited copies, which I didn’t know they could do). It was the 1831 edition (I learned this later). I think the 1817 edition is considered the better one. One arguable plus of the 1831 edition is that it has a longer intro, the opening letter. And I found this very charming in style (the rest of the book has different tone).

>7 dchaikin: There are certainly some big differences, both in tone and content. The 1831 is a revision where Shelly walks back some of the more interesting philosophical statements she'd made in the first version. After reading both, I felt really disappointed in the latter one!

>6 labfs39: I'll have to try those! She recently received a lovely set of Anne of Green Gables books, and I'm hoping to get her into those after Ramona (partly because I haven't read them myself!).

>8 LocusAmoenus: some day i need to read the 1817 version.

>10 dchaikin: I really loved it. It felt leaner and more propulsive, and packed a lot of punch.

>9 LocusAmoenus: Oh, yes! Anne of Green Gables is wonderful. My daughter loved them so much we went to PEI one summer. :-)

Hi Marisa, welcome. This is my first year in Club Read too.
Bedtime reading memories! When my daughter was around ten we had a Ramona reading club (RAchel MOm NAna) and read books like Heidi, Tale of Despereaux, and I think we did Anne of Green Gables. We live in PEI, so Anne is everywhere and I’ve read it too many times to remember, and I love it every time!

I like your gothic reading plan idea.

>13 raidergirl3: Thanks for the welcome! I visited PEI many summers ago, and absolutely loved it. But Ramona is definitely more in my daughter's wheelhouse. It's uncanny how both she and Ramona have sometimes gotten into the same kind of mischief!

The gothic project came out of some ruminations on just how feminine-coded this subgenre often feels, both in terms of authors and characters. So I wanted to go on a reading journey and explore this facet.

Thoughts on Rebecca (finished March 6).



This one was quite a ride at times, and not completely what I had expected. But I loved it, and am still thinking about it.

The pacing is interesting, with a very slow build-up until the last hundred pages or so, when everything comes crashing down. And it mirrors the weather that accompanies the action: a very hot, oppressive summer (which was interesting too--I normally associate gothics with fall/winter darkness, though I guess the family name being de Winter makes up for it) that ends up breaking in a downpour.

Another thing I loved was that we're never told the narrator's name: she's (the new) Mrs. de Winter to most people. And yet, she says at a couple of points that people comment on her name when she gives it, saying it's a pretty name. And early on, when she receives a note from Maximilian, she says she's surprised he'd spelled it properly, because most people didn't. And still, we never find out.

My other favorite aspect was that, as soon as I read the last paragraph, I had to go back and re-read the first couple of chapters. I love books that get me to do that. In this case, the story really comes full circle, and even though there are many things left unresolved, there are interesting clues at the start of the book.

I still haven't read Rebecca yet, even though everyone who reads it raves about it. The covers are just so uninviting! I keep looking for an audio version.
I love books where you go bak and reread the first few chapters too. The last one I remember doing that for immediately was A Gentleman in Moscow.
Looking forward to more gothic reviews.

>15 LocusAmoenus: On my TRB list as well. I have even read a couple of books over again as soon as I finished: In the Shadow of the Banyan and The Snow Child. I wasn't ready to leave that world.

>16 raidergirl3: Yes, the covers could definitely do with an overhaul! I've had this paperback in my stash for probably 15 years? At least if the old receipts I had tucked into it are an accurate indication of date (I love finding little pieces of paper hidden in books). I think I've seen a tie-in cover for the movie that came out a couple of years ago, but I hate movie-based covers.

My next gothic read is Wide Sargasso Sea, which I started yesterday and is also amazing (and I was lucky to find a Penguin Student Edition second-hand; I'm a sucker for annotated editions).

And thanks for the recommendation of A Gentleman in Moscow! Is Rostov a nod to one of the families in War and Peace?

>17 labfs39: It had been on my list for a couple of decades, so I figured I should get on with it. :D

>19 LocusAmoenus: You are reading my TBR list! I pulled Wide Sargasso Sea from the greater shelves and moved it to eye level across from my reading chair a couple of months ago.

>20 labfs39: Oooh! We'll have to compare then! I'm only on the first chapter, but it's a fairly short novel (most of my edition is taken up by the annotations).

House of Earth and Blood
Finished: March 11



I'd been wanting to read this one for a while, and when I saw the second book had come out, I placed Overdrive holds for both (knowing the wait was longer for the second and I'd get this one first). I'd loved A Court of Thorns and Roses (though I still haven't gotten to the last book, A Court of Silver Flames), and thought a modern fantasy setting would be fun to read.

And it didn't disappoint. It's hard to describe without giving all the twists and turns away, but Maas is always brilliant at presenting flawed characters who are more than they appear. She's great at crafting believable relationships (both romantic and otherwise, since friendships play a huge role in this story) and knows how to pull of a tense third act. You feel every loss and cheer for every win.

So now I'll go nurse my book hangover, and wait for that second library hold to arrive.

>22 LocusAmoenus: my book hangover

I know exactly what you mean!

A couple of non-fiction reads to wrap up March and get into April.



This one I picked up because I'd read about Didion's essay "On Keeping a Notebook," and as a lifelong journal-keeper, I'm always intrigued about how writers document their lives and work. I loved the other essays in the book, too. It's the first Didion book I've read, and I quite like her voice and style.

And then this one:



Probably my favorite read of the year so far, and an absolutely breathtaking look into how a family-driven corporation's greed was responsible for the opioid crisis. I can't recommend this one enough: it's engaging, and sometimes feels almost like a thriller, as Purdue and the Sacklers lie and manipulate their way out of trouble again and again... until they don't.

And now I have to figure out what to read next!

>24 LocusAmoenus: Didion can be addictive and Slouching towards Bethlehem is an excellent gateway book.

>25 SassyLassy: I've got The Year of Magical Thinking on hold at the library. Are there others you'd recommend?