The Books I Read In January // 2022

I read a lot in January because I still have not been able to start my new career job so have been filling my time with reading and buying books. I have really loved most of my reading this month and it has made me really motivated to keep up reading all year and attempt to tackle some of the most intimidating books on my shelf as well. 

The Education of Ivy Edwards by Hannah Tovey

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This one I bought on a complete whim and I think it showed. I liked the idea of this because it sounded a lot like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, but it really wasn't and I think that expectation disappointed me. The main character wasn't very likeable but the story definitely picked up towards the end.

Talking Turkeys by Benjamin Zephaniah

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This was brilliant. It is a kid's collection of poetry but I'm so happy that I now own it so that I can share it with any children I know. Zephaniah is funny and clever and brings fun to poetry which I loved.

City Psalms by Benjamin Zephaniah

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This was my first adult collection of Zephaniah poems and I completely loved it. The poems with so clever, political and relevant. He brought humour to each one even while dealing with important topics and he made me more aware of the period it was written in (1992). I am really looking forward to reading more of his poetry and hopefully picking up his brand new memoir to learn more about him.

Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt by John Cooper Clarke

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I wasn't sure what to expect with this one because I had only studied the poem I Wanna Be Yours in high school and knew that it became the lyrics to a song. I enjoyed Clarke's poetry but not as much as I hoped, I think that was because it was so full of some really absurd ideas and metaphors that confused me.

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis

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This book was a collection of interviews and speeches given by Davis in the mid-2010s. There were some great themes and topics and I learnt a lot about the struggle in Palestine and the Civil Rights Movement in America.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo with Jamie Chang (Translator)

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Translated from the Korean. 

By an author from Korea.

Brilliant. I knew people had been raging about this book and I thought I would enjoy it but I underestimated how much. It was a simple story that quickly chronicled Kim Jiyoung's life but it was filled with so much sorrow in the things that women have to give up and compromise on and endure day after day in their lives. I also loved the final section where we see someone else's perspective and how this cycle of problems for women continues even when men sometimes have a small insight into our world. 

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa with Stephen Snyder (Translator)

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Translated from the Japanese.

Wonderful quiet book. It gives you a love for maths and small simple relationships with people. The story was comforting and the writing was beautiful. Highly recommend this book. Glad to be reading some more translated fiction and looking forward to reading The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa to get some more of the beautiful writing.

Heroes of the Night Sky: The Greek Myths Behind the Constellations by Tom Kindley

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A picture book with stories of the constellations as told by the Greek myths. A beautiful book and a wonderful application of some of the Greek stories which I am excited to read more of. Would gift this to anyone who liked the stars or myths.

Men Who Hate Women: The Extremism Nobody is Talking About by Laura Bates 

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This book was hard. It has all the trigger warnings in it and so if you don't want to read it, then don't. Besides, it is way less important for women to be reading this book than it is for men. I want to recommend it to all the men I know and hope that they would understand what it's about it an empathetic and understanding way.

The book talks about the groups of Incels, Pick-Up Artists, Men Who Go Their Own Way and Men's Rights Activists before talking about the ways these groups interact and then perform online and how they infiltrate the physical world and mainstream media and consciousness. It is terrifying and enlightening as a woman.

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

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Loved this book. Just a brilliant contemporary story. It involved some brilliant characters who were all differently flawed and showed up in their own ways but also had some brilliantly strong female characters which I loved to see. The fact that Nina made friends with everyone in her building eventually made me really happy and the way that both of Nina's best girl friends relationships developed, and resolved at the end was just wonderful. The insight about Nina's father was also sad but brilliant to read about.

Splitfish by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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I enjoyed the second half of this collection more than the first half. I thought the second half was brilliant with lovely depictions of the sea and the coast and some lovely descriptions of Norfolk where I am from. I also enjoyed the references to mythology which were relevant and not laboured. A great collection and I can't see how this author is a poet as well as a writer. I loved her book The Girl of Ink and Stars and now can't wait to get to The Mercies and The Island at the End of Everything which are both on my physical shelf.

Photo by Olesia Buyar on Unsplash