January 2015 Reading Wrap-Up

This month I didn't get up to too much reading but when I did sit down to read, I read a lot. The books for January were all quite diverse and it made it a little more refreshing from all the Thomas Cromwell that happened in December. Additionally, I want to take part in Fantastical February so that will be a month of all one genre.


Somewhere in France - Jennifer Robson
This book inspired me to fall back in love with Downton Abbey as well as write the post I did on recommendations based on Downton Abbey. The story is not super original, think Sybil from Downton, a young aristocrat who desires a more simple life, who goes against her parents and joins the war effort, serving as an ambulance driver at the front in WWI. It was a cute piece of historical fiction and romance and was just the fluffy, light-hearted read I needed to get going for January. Thanks Mum for the recommendation.

The Opposite of Loneliness - Marina Keegan
This is a collection of essays and short stories written by a Yale graduate who tragically passed away in a car accident when her boyfriend fell asleep at the wheel. Think "young prodigy" and "voice of our generation"  and you have Marina Keegan. I loved this book, I enjoyed all the short stories as well as her essays. I felt truly connected to her way of writing that I never have with a book. The characters felt like they could be friends I knew, they said things that my friends say and they just felt so real and modern in a way that literary fiction has never felt. If you're looking for modern fiction or a short story collection, this come highly recommended, from Heather and I (Canadian jokes eh!).

The Back of a Turtle - Thomas King
Chapters Indigo dubbed this as one of the best books of 2014 and seeing as I had never heard of it, I thought I might want to know what all the hype in about. It has multiple narratives but ultimately tells the story of a First Nations Reserve in British Columbia decimated from environmental hazard accidentally exposed into their water system. It deals with Corporate Greed, Environmental Stewardship and spins it into a deeply personal story. Canada is a country so dependent on its  natural resources, our fresh water supply, the oil sands, what was formerly our cod fishery, and so the story feels very relevant. The writing was excellent, the characters were unique, but mostly I loved how it took a story you would hear on the news and formed it into a story that really made you feel deep personal connection. If you're interested in Aboriginal novels (reading diversely people!) or unique subject matter, I highly recommend this as well.