Everything I Read This Month: January 2023

My friend gave me this amazing Pride & Prejudice-themed novel for my birthday and I stayed up super late last night finishing it. Longbourn is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice from the perspective of the servants. It was a quaint narrative, giving the reader a glimpse of the world around the Bennet sisters and the realities of daily life.

Read more of my thoughts on Longbourn by Jo Baker here.

Longbourn is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

An immersive novel based loosely on the myth of Pandora’s Box, Susan Stokes-Chapman’s Pandora is a brilliant Georgian historical fiction read. The novel follows Dora Blake, the orphaned daughter of two classicist collectors who aspires to design jewelry. Throughout the story, she strives to free herself from her tyrannical uncle’s control. Drama and lovely descriptions of ancient artifacts ensue. If you’re a fan of mythological reinterpretations, you’re going to need to order this book immediately!

Read my full review of Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman here.

Pandora is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Based on a true story, Kate Thompson’s The Little Wartime Library follows the highs and lows of an underground library founded during World War II. With powerful emotions throughout the tale, both elated and devastating, Kate Thompson brings a large cast of characters to life as they work to survive while living and working underground in the unused Bethnal Green tube station in East London. In short, The Little Wartime Library is a must-read for historical fiction lovers, and it will certainly make you want to support your local library in the process!

Read my full review of Kate Thompson’s The Little Wartime Library here.

The Little Wartime Library is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

After watching House of the Dragon, I decided it was time to read (or, rather, listen) to the Game of Thrones books. I’m currently listening to the fourth book, A Feast for Crows, and am enjoying it. The series is incredibly detailed, as you might guess from the size of the books (this audiobook is over 30 hours long!). Definitely worth a read or listen if you were a fan of the original show or the prequel.

A Feast for Crows is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

A mythological tale set in an Italian convent, The Book of Eve tells the tale of a bewitching book that changes the protagonist nun’s life. In all, I really wanted to like this book, and there are some great sections to it, but it was a bit too disjointed for me. I left the novel confused as to what happened. Good in theory, but not for me.

The Book of Eve comes out September 19, 2023 and is available for pre-order from Amazon.

I couldn’t resist pre-ordering Prince Harry’s memoir and I read it in a matter of days once it arrived. The book is fascinating, both from a historical standpoint but also from a psychological one. Regardless of your thoughts on the monarchy, and reading the book with a hefty grain of salt, it’s a really compelling profile of troubled families in the public eye.

Spare is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Andrew Vargas The Last Saxon King is a quick, enticing read, perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell’s novels. This YA novel is delightfully multi-hyphenate, as it is truly a historical fiction novel first, but also features time travel and other sci fi and fantasy elements. I enjoyed the story and thought it flowed well. There was obviously a lot of research that went into the book, and I enjoyed the historical aspect of the novel immensely. Personally, I’m looking forward to future novels in the series!

The Last Saxon King is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

A regency romance novel, Scotland’s Melody follows the wealthy Melody Foster as she strikes out on her own after refusing an arranged marriage. She follows the man she loves to London, but quickly finds that she has been mislead. In London, Melody is forced to grow up quickly and learn to fend for herself amongst a cast of old and new friends, as well as to trust her heart once more.

In all, Katie Stewart Stone’s Scotland’s Melody was a lovely, fast read with thoughtful characters and historical world building. I really enjoyed it, especially because of the role Scotland plays in the tale.

Scotland’s Melody is available from Amazon.

Donna Tartt’s The Secret History has been all over my Pinterest home page lately. It’s a cornerstone novel of the dark academia aesthetic, evidently, and gives off major Dead Poet’s Society vibes. Finally, I gave into the platform’s algorithm and ordered a copy for myself.

In short, The Secret History is about a group of college students who embrace eccentricities to the extreme and all but worship at the feet of their classics professor in a small New England college. It ultimately becomes a murder mystery and, by the end, the reader really isn’t meant to like any of the characters. They’re pretentious to a fault (read: really, really annoying at times) and their delusions of grandeur are ultimately their collective downfall.

I’ll be honest, though, I almost did not finish this book. It’s a long, winding narrative, and I found it rather slow-going for much of the story. About 2/3 of the way through, I really began to wonder what people saw in the story. However, for the last third or so of the novel, I was hooked. I had to know what happened! So, if you’re looking for a bit of a thriller, and you’re willing to slog through the first half-to-two-thirds of the book, this is a good one.

The Secret History is available on Amazon and Bookshop.org.