"it made all the blood in her veins suddenly writhe and coil"

Dear Reader,

As you may have guessed from previous posts, I’m a fan of the epistolary novel – even if it does sound like some sort of hair-removal device.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova didn’t disappoint. The narrator, the motherless daughter of a diplomat, begins the tale with a packet of old letters and even older book found in her father’s study. She then recounts the story her father shares with her on how the book – blank except for a woodcut of a dragon – found him. Letters from his advisor, Professor Rossi, Rossi's daughter Helen, Carpathian monks, and Crescent Guards of the Sultan all add their voices to this complex tale of the hunt for Vlad Dracula’s tomb.

Part travelogue, part thriller, Kostova takes the reader into a world in which librarians are brutally attacked and books hold the darkest secrets. From Istanbul to Budapest, back through Amsterdam and Paris, mouth-watering pastries, luscious scenery, sinister monks, and tons of libraries, this story will have you turning on the light at twilight and stocking up on garlic, just in case.

Judging from the reviews on Goodreads, this one may not be to your taste. If not, here are some other novels to note. 

Yours, Morningstar

Callithumpian Activities

Dusted off this post from December 2018 because, well, keep reading. 

Pick up any women’s magazine this month and chances are there’s an article about how to handle the stress of Christmas. I always assumed this to be a modern phenomenon until I picked up The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum.

 In it he writes, “The Ladies’ Home Journal actually published an article in 1897 that acknowledged [women experiencing stress at Christmas] as a cultural problem.” Although I couldn’t find the actual article, I did come across this gem that reminded me the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Throughout the book, Nissenbaum also makes the case that a commercial Christmas is also not a product of modernity, but was an integral part of the transformation of Christmas from a rowdy, drunken celebration of the annual slaughter to a more domesticated affair that included women and children. As he writes, “there never was a time when Christmas existed as an unsullied domestic idyll, immune to the taint of commercialism…indeed, the domestic Christmas was itself a force in the spread of consumer capitalism.”

If you’re curious to read more about the origins of American Christmas traditions - Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and “personalized” mass-produced presents - add The Battle for Christmas to your list. You know you have one.

Read Harder

So this year’s challenge is complete. Looking back over the list, I can easily spot (the many places) where a book I was already planning to read fit nicely into a category. But as it turns out, several of the most memorable books that I read came from the Read Harder recommendations for the challenge. Success!

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig

Peter Darling by Austin Chant

Even though they encompass widely differing genres, these books all focus on characters seeking belonging in a world that has set up very narrow parameters for doing so. 

Looking for a challenge? Here’s one for 2022.

Books We Love 2021

 Looking for your next read? Gift idea? Go to Books We Love at NPR and click on the filters that appeal. Here’s what I’m looking forward to reading from the 2021 list.

Family Matters/Rather Short/Seriously Great Writing

Real Estate by Deborah Levy

"Three bicycles. Seven ghosts. A crumbling apartment block on the hill. Fame. Tenderness. The statue of Peter Pan. Silk. Melancholy. The banana tree. A love story."

Names for Light by Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint

“I do not like to make decisions, to take risks, to assert or involve myself. … I prefer to … keep myself to myself.”

Funny Stuff/Love Stories/Realistic Fiction

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott

“Reality as a whole—past or present—just isn’t a good place to hang out.”

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

“Jethro's flat was in a warehouse that, even from the outside, looked very pleased with its own conversion.”

The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams

“With its symmetry and little dashed isthmus between the two words, ‘hour-glass’ on the page is like the object itself, lying on its side or balanced mid-spin.”